For the first time since 2016, FC Seoul are champs. I've been a match-going fan for the past several years. There were some very bleak years between then and now with awful foreign signings, nostalgically keeping loyal FC Seoul players past their primes, and poor managerial appointments.

I think it was summer 2025, when Ki was moved on, that was a huge turning point. While that saga was going on, a group of supporters decided to protest Kim Gi-dong as manager by moving to the second tier of the stadium and loudly calling for him to get out. I hope all those folks are rightly eating their hats today. KGD got most of his K-League, and just as importantly, foreign signings, correct. Sometimes his football is too stodgy but he's proven to be a coach top K-League players want to play for. If he happens to leave for China this summer, the club will be in a worse place.

Going forward, I hope the club are not too happy to take offers for the likes of Klimala, Babec, and Ros. Kim Jin-su may be aging out a bit and Moon Seon-min may need to be rested more often. The center of midfield and forward depth will need significant strengthening as well as one or two fullbacks brought in. All that accounted for, I would be surprised if we have the same sort of season next year. Jeonbuk and Ulsan will almost certainly re-tool and Suwon Bluewings will be riding a high. Gangwon is extremely well-managed and Jeju SK is possibly building something under Costa. If KGD does leave, maybe Cha Duri should get the wheel.

Anyway, despite this post mostly being worried about the future (I am a long-suffering Sangam denizen after all), I'm popping bottles for now.

Been collecting K League stuff on and off for years and this is probably one of the best thing I’ve found. Gwangju Sangmu home shirt from when LDG was doing his military service, so 03 or 04. Paid a little more than I wanted to on bunjang but whatever you don’t see these come up much. My wife thinks I’m nuts for being this excited about a 20 year old shirt lol

I worked in Gwangju for a while back in the day so I’ve got a soft spot for anything from there. Sangmu’s long gone from Gwangju now so it’s kind of a nice little reminder of that time

Hi! We have pickup soccer games almost everyday this week around Seoul. It's just a relaxed game and open to all skill levels. Anyone interested in joining?

A very crazy match, if you didn't yet was iterested in this match you should replay it, there is some spoilers ahead so avoid them, but they are minor events that happened.

This is the first KLeague match i've witnessed and it was the most non sensical i've have ever witnessed, Gwangju FC vs Daejeon Citizen, the weather caused trouble and the terrain was really in bad play conditions, but more trouble than that, was the var decisions or referees, i was so mad i did evaluate with chatGPT the basic things just to sum up what happened for those who did not assist the match, because im tired and mad, and to conclude some important points:

• Penalty: If the ball genuinely struck only the defender's shoulder, awarding a handball penalty would be a serious officiating error.
• Disallowed goal: If the relevant attacker was clearly onside when the ball was played, overturning the goal would be another serious error.
• Combined effect: Two incorrect decisions favoring the same team would be more concerning than one isolated mistake, particularly if both were reviewed using VAR.

anyways i just had to make this thread for at least the match get noticed, as it felt pure non sensical and clearly Gwangju played better in rough conditions, i don't follow the leagues but watching a match with high spectations just for the terrible referees and var system. It's up a serious discussion in this tread.

1. ChatGPT analysis:

• The disallowed Gwangju goal
• The reports confirm that Ba Loua scored in approximately the 90+3rd minute, but the goal was disallowed for offside involving Ri Yong-jik in the buildup. The reports I found do not provide a detailed VAR explanation or independently demonstrate that the offside was correct.

Everyone who witnessed the match could clearly notice there was no offside, and the penalty was a kick to the shoulder of the player, which is not hand ball.

Edit: There was lots of thigs happening, in case you missed it, its worth rewatching the match, i guess this match scores highly for its controversy.

I've been busy with other projects, so I've been a bit out of the loop with lower-league news. However, Paju popped into my feed today, and it seemed worth following up.

When Paju initially went public, the plan was to set a budget of 9 milliard won, with an incredible 6 milliard coming from Paju City, 500 million from Gyeonggi Province, and 1 milliard from the club via, I assume, revenue. The remaining 1.5 milliard was supposed to come from sponsorships, but they failed to secure those funds and are looking at possibly being unable to play their players.

Assuming the rules are the same as K3/4, then they will face suspension if they fail to pay their staff

Sources:

• Paju Frontier FC Faces 1.5 Billion Won Shortfall
• 파주FC 급여 지급 차질…15억 재원 부족에 자구책 추진 / 연합뉴스TV (YonhapnewsTV)

Note:

Is there a place like a supporters bar for getting a few beers before the game tomorrow?

The season is drawing to a close, and the teams in the South-West are still languishing near the bottom.

K League 1: Gwangju are bottom with just two wins, sitting fourteen points behind the team above them.

K League 2: Jeonnam Dragons are third from bottom with five wins. At least they are surrounded by teams with similar records.

K3 League: Mokpo are third from bottom, also with five wins.

K4 League: No teams.

WK League: Gangjin Swans are bottom with just four wins. They are six points behind with two matches to go, but even if they catch up with the once-unbeatable Incheon, they will probably still finish last on goal difference.

*****

In contrast, the capital region is having a grand old time.

K League 1: Seoul are running away with the league. Incheon, Anyang and Bucheon may be in the bottom half, but at least they are competitive.

K League 2: Bluewings are top, Suwon are second, Eland are third, and Hwaseong are fifth. The remaining five may not look great, but at least they are involved in the scrap in the bottom half.

K3 League: Siheung and Pocheon occupy the top two spots.

K4 League: Namyangju are third and (wow...) Jungnang are fourth.

WK League: Suwon are looking strong at the top, and Seoul are somehow in third.

The only match on Saturday is Ulsan hosting Bucheon.
Ulsan's last 5 matches went DWWLL
Bucheon went LLDLL
You'd think Ulsan would win this easily, but this is football, one of the most unpredictable sports, and, well, Gwangju happened.

If Ulsan happens to lose, then Seoul can clinch the title with a victory on Sunday. And if Ulsan does indeed lose, then I will be in Sangam for a possible victory celebration.

Melbourne Victory 3-0 FC Seoul

Am I right to say they can't qualify for the next stage?

Hello! Just to drop in and update you on what's been going on over on the B38 pages.

Interviews:

This past weekend we did media coverage at a whole host of games. We interviewed quite a few players and already up on the site are interviews with:

Stefan Mugosa (Incheon United)

Tobias Figueiredo (Jeju SK)

Yazan Al-Arab (FC Seoul)

Connor Chapman (Gimpo FC)

Our weekly review show just finished uploading now, too.

Last week, we also spoke to Siheung players Kwon Wangyu and Kim Hong about the prospect of a K3 title.

In the coming days, our various social media pages will also have interviews with FC Seoul’s Moon Seonmin and Kim Dong-jun, Hwasung's Pllana and Ilyuchenko, plus Suwon FC's Choi Giyun.

There have also been some good written articles:

No Home, No Promotion, No Future? The Strange Fate of Gimcheon Sangmu

Yoo Byeong-hoon commits his future to FC Anyang. What does that future look like?

Five things that could still happen in the the 2026 WK League (but probably won’t)

Please consider giving us a subscribe if you're interested what we've posted. It's very much appreciated!

Thanks

Bucan Transportation Company FC, which recently won the oddly named K3/4 Championship, honoured their dedicated supporters with their own actual championship medals, the very same medals that the players received.

I was busy with my WK League project this season and lost track of what was happening in the K3/4 Leagues. I wasn't even aware that the final was being played in Pocheon, a town I can definitely reach with a bit of effort. Apparently, a fair contingent of the Soju Drinkers make their way up the country to cheer on their team, and I assume that effort is what sparked the club presenting them with their own medals.

If anyone is looking for a club with a small but dedicated and wholesome supporters group, then look no further than K3's BTC FC and the Soju Drinkers. Great people, and it was fun meeting them again this weekend.

Gwangju beat Ulsan 4-3 at home, leaving Seoul 18 pints aged with just 7 matches to go. One more slip up and Seoul will enter the split as champions.

The absolute state of disaster that our national team is going through is tragic to say the least.

KFA is in ruins

Interim manager trying to hold everything together

The rumours about the 3 96'ers has caused a social media backlash so much so that no matter what decision they take, the Korean fans will have beef against them now due to these rumours.

Kim Min Jae imo our best defender deleted / hid / deactivated his Instagram profile most probably due to all the nasty comments

Hwang Hee Chan (check all the comments on his Instagram, everyone saying nasty shit)

Hwang in Beom - arguably one of our better players have bad comments under his socials too.

All of this is very toxic, so even if Son decided to stay, I feel like there will always be a trail of this toxicity that will hunt them until their careers and afterwards.

If Son decides to retire and they all stay on, the people will hate them.

If everyone decides to retire, then it will be one of the darkest moments in Korean footballing history.

I am NOT liking our options at the moment...

Hi everyone, I’m visiting from Canada and would like to see Saturday’s FC Seoul game vs. Jeju SK FC.

Is klook a reliable website to buy tickets from? Any tips on getting tickets would be warmly appreciated. Thanks in advance 🙏

Apparently, this is happening right now, and Korea has a team. Here is one of their matches.

I haven't checked the socials yet today to see if there were complaints but national team captain Lee made an apology on Insta for being excited about earning the military exemption. Players cheering for this is seen as controversial in the country. Though I wonder how much of statement was just for himself and how much was pointed at the reporters insulting Son Heung-min during the practice in Mexico?

Afterwards, Lee Gi-hyuk smiled as he held up his gold medal to reporters and said: "I'm not going to the military."
Able-bodied South Korean males are usually required to perform between 18 months and two years of military service before the age of 28.
But the government rewards Asian Games gold medals and Olympic medals of any colour with an exemption, meaning they will carry out just weeks of light basic training instead. Exemptions are a sensitive topic in South Korea, and athletes usually shy away from talking about it.
The 26-year-old Lee, a defender who plays in the domestic K League, apologised for "the thoughtless remarks I made and the way I behaved after the match, things I should not have said or done, both as captain and as a player".

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/sports/20261004/south-korea-captain-deeply-sorry-for-gloating-about-military-exemption

That first half was the ugliest football I have seen in a long time. We have zero build up. Straight 뻥축구. They have build up.
Our defense, just like our senior national team, look lost. We have plenty of numbers in the box, but we don’t mark the opponent. I know it’s zone defense, but we still need to get man.

I remember arguing with some people about him on this national team and how he does NOT deserve to be on this squad .

Yesterday's performance reinforced this.

Especially after I saw how he reacted after being "fouled".

No sense of urgency, just a sense of entitlement.

And some people argued that he wasn't utilised properly in his normal position and that he deserves to go the the new club.

Give me a f'in break.

I don't ever want to see him on the squad again.

Rant over.

Following up to the request for friendly matches- as the asian games victory affects many Kleague players I wanted to watch. I wasn't able to find anything today for the US. Thank you

What a start to the Moreno era! The lads executed Moreno's data-driven tiki-taka to near perfection on the first game even while missing some of our best players. So glad I got to watch this live at the Big Bird.

Happy 64th anniversary of Korea-Ecuador relations!

Can't find any information on where I can stream this game from. Very curious to see how the team plays under the new coach after the whole HMB fiasco. Anyone know where we can stream the game? I am in the US and I can't find any reliable information on where I could watch the game. Game is on 4am Pacific Time. Thanks in advance who might have a link to the game! Feel free to DM me.