FC Seoul has achieved a new milestone. The K-League has surpassed 500,000 spectators for the first time since its pay-per-view tally was tallied in 2018. At the last home game, FC Seoul finally opened the door to the public. The opponent team was Ulsan HD, which won the K-League 1 title for the third consecutive year. 37,288 spectators attended the event.
Accumulated attendance at 18 home games was 501,091 people. The average attendance per game is 27,838 people. Korea has opened a new chapter with an unprecedented record, which is the fastest among professional sports teams in Korea.
It was not a premeditated script. Park Chu-young, the legendary player in Seoul, had a farewell match at Sangambeol on the day when the story was written. “I was surprised, too,” Ulsan coach Kim Pan-gon said before the match, adding that Park’s inclusion in the entry surprised me. “There were sudden requests from veteran players including captain Kim Ki-hee and Lee Chung-yong. I didn’t think about it before,” he said. “After winning the championship, I officially talked about my intention to retire this year. As Park has been playing in Seoul for a long time, I wanted him to greet his fans at home. After checking the intentions of the entire team, I also talked to the team. I was busy until last night.”
“Park tried not to do it. I did not want to hurt other players,” Park said. “I thought it too heavy and felt pressured. However, I respected the players’ opinions. I sacrificed myself for having one of the players fall into the list when Park joined the team.”
Park, who joined Seoul in 2005, was a star of the K-League syndrome. “Football genius” was his epitome. Crowds of people gathered at every stadium Park went to. Park won the Rookie of the Year award in his debut season, and stood out as the biggest star in the K-League.
After playing in big leagues such as AS Monaco (France), Arsenal (England), and Celta Vigo (Spain) overseas in 2008, Park returned to Seoul in 2015. Having scored the winning goal in the final match against Jeonbuk Hyundai in 2016 to clinch the K-League trophy is considered one of the best scenes in the history of the Seoul team. Park said goodbye to Seoul ahead of the 2022 season and settled in Ulsan. Having played in a total of 314 matches for 11 years with Seoul, Park scored 90 goals and 32 assists.
Coach Hong Myung-bo of the Korean national soccer team, who was leading Ulsan, held his hand. He played in six K-League 1 matches for Ulsan. Park transformed into a playing coach last year and served as a bridge between the coaching staff and the team. Park was substituted in the 32nd minute of the first half and played for about 18 minutes until extra time. Playing in lieu of Kang, Park made players forget their age with light movements.
After the game, Park said, “I want to say thank you to the players a lot. In fact, I came up without thinking about going into the stadium. I was not prepared at all. I had no expectations, and it was not something I wanted. The players gathered their hearts to help me, and I told the coach,” adding, “It was personally touching to see the coaching staff below the coach listen to me and support each other. Above all else, I want to say thank you to the players including the team and the coaching staff.” 먹튀검증
When asked when he was asked to participate in the game, he said, “After hearing this, I also heard from the coach. In fact, I prepared the uniform in a hurry while I was not ready. I was really grateful. I felt sorry the most. Individual players have their own positions. Everyone wants to play. The biggest part was that I felt sorry for taking my seat. The players understood and helped me, so I had a good time.”