Introducing Gimhae, Paju, and Yongin: K League's new clubs

2 hours ago 1

Three new clubs will join the fully professional ranks of K League football for the first time this year. Their entry continues the rapid expansion of the second tier in recent seasons, taking the total number of teams to 17.

In similar fashion to other expansion teams in recent years — such as Gimpo FC, Cheonan City, and Hwaseong, to name just three — K League 2’s newest additions were not promoted from the third tier in the traditional manner. In fact, one of the clubs — Yongin City — is brand new.

Gimhae and Paju, the other entrants, have been on the K3 circuit for several years. They applied for K League membership, which was granted last year, allowing them — along with Yongin — to make the jump to professional football provided they met certain criteria. Gimhae are the reigning K3 champions, however, and should therefore command plenty of respect from their new opponents.

There are legitimate concerns about endless expansion. The most recent edition of K League 2 was poor apart from a dominant champion and a fun playoff series in early winter. There simply aren’t enough top-class players to justify 17 teams in this league (and a further 12 in K League 1). Additionally, many of these teams are playing in huge stadiums with very small fanbases, separated from the pitch by a running track.

This article serves to introduce the new teams. We will return to the positive and negative points of expansion once the season has begun.

Gimhae FC 2008

Introduction:

K3’s most consistent club of the last few years finally joins K League 2. Unlike Paju and Yongin, Gimhae are located far from the Seoul metropolitan area, nestled in a valley between other K League 2 fallen giants, Busan IPark and Gyeongnam FC. Gimhae should be reasonably competitive on the field, and there should be strong demand for tickets at their simple — but beautiful — stadium.

Year of formation: 2008.

Previous results:

Gimhae are the reigning K3 champions, but it is important to note that the pyramid has not fully opened up yet. Gimhae are not playing in K League 2 because they won K3 — when a club applies to join the fully professional second tier, league standings are not relevant. Still, they arrive on the back of their best-ever season, losing just three of 28 matches.

Gimhae have been competing in the Korea Cup since their formation in 2008. In 2018, they advanced as far as the quarter-finals, their best finish. Ulsan knocked them out 2–0, but they claimed the scalp of Gangwon FC along the way. Last year, Gimhae were beaten in the third round by Daegu FC.

Home stadium: Gimhae Sports Complex (15,066).

Key signings:

Jeong Jin-wook and Choi Pil-soo will provide competition for the goalkeeping spots after swapping other K League 2 clubs to join Gimhae. Park Sang-jun was once a highly-rated player at Ulsan, and the 22-year-old can kick-start his career after moving from Jeonnam Dragons. Meanwhile, central midfielder Lee Jun-gyu joins from Daejeon Hana Citzen, were he made 19 appearances last season, mostly for only a few minutes.

Prospects:

Gimhae are likely to struggle in K League 2, at least initially. New clubs have occasionally fared well — especially Gimpo FC and Hwaseong — so being well organised, having a solid game plan, and maintaining a good mix of youth, experience, and imported players can make a difference.16th.

Paju Stadium gets ready to host K League 2.

Gimhae are managed by Son Hyeon-jun, who has previously worked at FC Seoul and Daegu. They added former Seongnam goalkeeper Choi Pil-su to the squad over the winter, but otherwise there is not a great deal of K League experience in their ranks. Prediction: 16th.

Paju Frontier

Introduction:

Paju Frontier have changed their name as part of a major makeover ahead of their fully professional debut. Paju have been around for some time but have never been very successful. The city offers a new destination even in the crowded Seoul region — Paju Frontier will be the only K League 2 club north of the Han River. In fact, their stadium is much closer to the land border with North Korea than to the edge of Seoul.

Year of formation: 2012.

Previous results:

Like Gimhae, Paju are an established club with a history in K3 and K4. After earning promotion thanks to their K4 championship in 2020, they have mostly been a middling K3 side, apart from a second-place finish in 2022. Last season, Paju finished 10th out of 15 clubs.

Paju’s Korea Cup record is not as impressive as Gimhae’s, but they did reach the round of 16 in 2019, beating three universities along the way before eventually losing to Gangwon FC. None of those previous experiences, in either the league or cup, are likely to benefit the club this year.

Home stadium: Paju Stadium (23,000).

Key signings:

At the time of writing, Paju had added 30 new players to their squad - 14 of whom were either unattached, out of university, or in the lower divisions. Hong Jeong-un is probably the most recognizable, having featured over 200 times for Daegu FC. Lee Joon-suk, Seo Dong-han, and Kim Min-ho have some experience. Then there's Kim Hyun-tae, who notched a rare K League 2 hat-trick for Ansan Greeners last March.

Prospects:

It is reasonable to expect Paju to struggle in K League 2. There are already a number of mediocre clubs, which calls into question the decision to expand when the talent is not there. Paju will pick up points at home against similarly weak opposition, but they are favourites to finish17th (last place).

Yongin FC

Introduction:

The third — and final — new club in K League 2 hails from the city of Yongin in southern Gyeonggi Province. Suwon and Seongnam are close by and combine to place three teams in the same division. It is a very crowded market with established club loyalties already in place. Not only are Yongin new to the division — they are new, full stop.

As both a city and a stadium, Yongin has become a familiar name in recent years. Their striking venue — shaped like a dragon’s tail — hosted Suwon Bluewings for six months, has staged men’s and women’s internationals, the EAFF E-1 Cup, and served as a temporary home for Jeonbuk Hyundai and Gwangju in the ACL Elite.

Year of formation: 2026.

Previous results: N/A.

Home stadium: Yongin Mireu Stadium.

Key signings:

Thirty-four-year-old striker Suk Hyun-jun grabbed the headlines when he arrived from Namyangju. Suk came through the famous Ajax Amsterdam system and spent over a decade in Europe. Kim Min-woo and Choi Young-jun (both ex-Suwon Samsung), Kim Bo-sub and Shin Jin-ho (both ex-Incheon United), and Lim Chai-min (Jeju SK) have also signed on.

Prospects:

Ordinarily, you would expect Yongin to struggle more than their fellow newcomers due to a lack of foundations and local goodwill. However, they were quick out of the traps to hoover up proven K League experience and quality, particularly from Suwon and Incheon. If the manager can mould this group into a unified force, Yongin should finish comfortably ahead of the bottom clubs. Prediction:13th.

Read Entire Article