Gwangju FC

Gwangju FC

Full name	Gwangju Football Club 광주시민프로축구단
Founded	2010; 15 years ago (2010)
Ground	Gwangju Football Stadium
Capacity	10,007
Owner	Gwangju Government
Chairman	Kang Ki-jeong (Mayor of Gwangju)
Manager	Lee Jung-hyo
League	K League 1
2024	K League 1, 9th of 12
Website	www.gwangjufc.com
Home colours Away colours

Gwangju FC (Korean: 광주 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Gwangju that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. They joined the K League in the 2011 season.

Gwangju FC was founded in December 2010 and first participated in the K League in 2011. In 2012, Gwangju FC was relegated to the K League Challenge (now K League 2), the newly-formed second-tier professional league in South Korea. In 2014, they were promoted back to the top tier for the 2015 season.

The club oscillated between the first and second tiers, winning the second division championship in 2019 and 2022.^[1]

In the 2023 K League 1 season, Gwangju achieved its best-ever performance under the leadership of Lee Jung-hyo, finishing third in the league and earning a spot in the AFC Champions League Elite for the first time. Under Lee's attacking playing style, Gwangju upset J1 League sides Yokohama F. Marinos 7–3 and Kawasaki Frontale 1–0 in their debut continental matches.^[2]

Since 2020, Gwangju FC plays at Gwangju Football Stadium.^[3] They previously played at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium.

Gwangju's primary rivals are Daegu FC in a match dubbed the Moonlight Derby.^[4] The rivalry between the two clubs mirrors the strong baseball rivalry of Kia Tigers in Gwangju and Samsung Lions in Daegu, partially stemming from the stark difference in political leaning between the two cities.^[5]

Gwangju also shares a rivalry with nearby Jeonnam Dragons in the Yellow Derby.^[6]

As of 15 July 2023^[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  KOR Kim Kyeong-min 3 MF  KOR Lee Min-ki 4 DF  KOR Kim Seung-woo 5 DF  NED Timo Letschert 6 DF  KOR Ahn Young-kyu (captain) 7 MF  KOR Eom Ji-sung 8 DF  KOR Lee Euddeum 9 FW  KOR Heo Yool 10 MF  KOR Kim Han-gil 11 FW  ALB Jasir Asani 13 FW  KOR Doo Hyeon-seok 14 MF  KOR Jeong Ho-yeon 15 DF  KOR Kim Gyeong-jae 16 FW  KOR Lee Hee-gyun 17 MF  KOR Sin Chang-moo 18 FW  KOR Lee Kun-hee 19 FW  KOR Ha Seung-woon

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF  KOR Choi Jun-hyeok 21 GK  KOR Lee Jun 22 DF  KOR Lee Sang-gi 23 MF  KOR Jung Ji-hoon 24 MF  KOR Lee Kang-hyun 27 FW  KOR Kim Dong-gook 28 DF  AUS Aaron Calver 30 FW  BRA Thomás Bedinelli 31 GK  KOR Roh Hee-dong 32 MF  KOR Joo Young-jae 33 MF  KOR Park Han-bin 41 DF  KOR Kim Tae-joon 44 DF  KOR Lee Soon-min (vice-captain) 75 MF  KOR Oh Hu-seong 95 DF  KOR Kim Jae-bong 99 FW  GEO Beka Mikeltadze

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  KOR Shin Song-hoon (to Gimcheon Sangmu for military duty) — DF  KOR Cho Sung-gwon (to Gimpo FC)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  KOR Yeo Bong-hun (to FC Chungju for military duty)

• Manager: Lee Jung-hyo
• Assistant manager: Lee Jeong-kyu
• First team coach: Cho Yong-tae
• Goalkeeping coach: Shin Jeong-hwan
• Physio: Kim Kyung-do

No.	Name	From	To	Season(s)
1	Choi Man-Hee	2010/10/18	2012/12/01	2011–2012
2	Yeo Bum-Kyu	2012/12/06	2013/08/16	2013
C	Nam Ki-il	2013/08/16	2015/01/03	2013–2014
3	Nam Ki-il	2015/01/04	2017/08/14	2015–2017
4	Kim Hak-bum	2017/08/16	2017/11/18	2017
5	Park Jin-sub	2017/12/16	2020/12/01	2018–2020
6	Kim Ho-young	2020/12/22	2021/12/04	2021
7	Lee Jung-hyo	2021/12/28		2022–

• K League 2
  • Winners (2): 2019, 2022
  • Runners-up (1): 2014

Key

• SF = Semi-final
• QF = Quarter-final
• Ro16 = Round of 16
• Ro32 = Round of 32
• 3R = Third round

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gwangju FC.

• Official website (in Korean)