How Seoul will change.
Seoul made K League attendance history in the 2023 season. The team surpassed 400,000 cumulative fans (439,000) for the first time in the K League since the 2018 paid attendance tally. With an average attendance of 22,633, the team broke the record for the highest average attendance in a single season in Korean professional sports, surpassing the previous record of 21,901 set by the Lotte Giants in 2008.
However, the results were disappointing. Seoul was in contention for a spot in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) at the start of the season, but the team’s performance dropped off dramatically midway through the season, leading to the resignation of head coach Ahn Ik-soo in August.
Seoul tried to stabilize the program by hiring head coach Kim Jin-gyu as acting head coach, but it wasn’t easy. Even in their most favorable position, Seoul failed to finish in the top six and ended up in Final B for the fourth consecutive year. Their final ranking was seventh.
Seoul quickly looked for a new coach to lead the team and prioritized Kim Ki-dong, one of the hottest coaches in the K League.
Kim Ki-dong is one of the most highly regarded coaches in the K League in recent years. Kim took over Pohang in 2019 and led the team to a fourth-place, ninth-place, third-place, and third-place finish through the 2022 season.
Kim signed a new three-year contract with Pohang ahead of this season. The club is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and is determined to win. Kim Ki-dong proved himself to be a perfect fit by finishing as league runner-up and lifting the FA Cup.
Naturally, the interest in Kim Ki-dong has only increased. Chinese teams, including Shanghai, have also approached Kim Ki-dong, and Seoul has even set up a negotiating table. “It is true that we are in talks,” Seoul said on November 11.
Since the negotiations were literally “ongoing,” there was a chance that Seoul would not sign him, but the talks reportedly moved quickly. The two sides came to an agreement on the broad strokes, and Kim Ki-dong is expected to lead Seoul from next season. 헤라카지노
All eyes now turn to Kim Ki-dong’s plans for the Seoul squad.
Seoul also made a “storm signing” last season. The likes of Kim Sang-hyeop, Willian, Kim Kyung-min, Park Soo-il, Lee Si-young, Hossam Iash, and Choi Cheol-won joined the team. However, the ‘utilization range’ was not very wide. Unlike the size of the squad, there were only a limited number of players on the field, and naturally, the gap was felt even more when one of the main players left.