Gyeongnam FC

History

Gyeongnam FC is a professional football club from South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. They play in K League 2, the country's second division, and call the Changwon Football Center their home ground. The club was founded in 2006 and joined the K League as its 14th team that same year. In their debut top-flight season, they finished 12th and took third place in the Hauzen Cup.

Under manager Park Hang-seo, they climbed to fourth in 2007 but lost to Pohang Steelers on penalties in the playoff first round. Striker Cabore led the league with 18 goals in 26 games that season before moving to FC Tokyo. For 2008, Cho Kwang-rae took over as manager. The team brought in Seo Sang-min and Brazilian midfielder Índio to replace Cabore.

They missed the playoffs after losing to Jeonbuk Motors on the final matchday, but reached the 2008 Korean FA Cup final thanks to Kim Dong-chan’s scoring run, which included a hat-trick in the semifinal. Pohang Steelers beat them in the final, denying them a spot in the AFC Champions League. In 2010, the club moved from Changwon Civil Stadium to Changwon Football Center. Gyeongnam were relegated in 2014 after finishing 11th and losing a relegation playoff to Gwangju FC.

They spent three seasons in the second division before winning the 2017 K League Challenge to earn promotion back. In their first season back, they finished second—their best-ever league finish—and qualified for the 2019 AFC Champions League. The next year, however, they ended 11th and were relegated again. Manager Kim Jong-boo resigned, and Seol Ki-hyeon took his place.