From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
Gwangju FC
Association football club in South Korea
Association football club in South Korea
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| clubname | Gwangju FC |
| image | Gwangju FC.svg |
| upright | 0.6 |
| fullname | Gwangju Football Club |
| 광주시민프로축구단 | |
| founded | |
| ground | Gwangju World Cup Stadium |
| capacity | 40,245 |
| owner | Gwangju Government |
| chairman | Kang Ki-jeong (Mayor of Gwangju) |
| manager | Lee Jung-kyu |
| league | K League 1 |
| season | 2025 |
| position | K League 1, 7th of 12 |
| website | |
| leftarm1 | EDBA23 |
| body1 | EDBA23 |
| rightarm1 | EDBA23 |
| shorts1 | 641C20 |
| socks1 | EDBA23 |
| leftarm2 | FFFFFF |
| body2 | FFFFFF |
| rightarm2 | FFFFFF |
| shorts2 | FFFFFF |
| socks2 | FFFFFF |
광주시민프로축구단
Gwangju 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.
History
Gwangju FC was founded in December 2010, becoming the 16th club in the K League, with Choi Man-hee appointed as the first manager. After finishing their first season in 11th place, the club was relegated to the newly-formed second division K League Challenge (now K League 2) the following season after finishing in 15th place. 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.
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 in the 2024–25 edition, qualifying for the knockout stage as the only South Korean club. After losing 2–0 in the first leg of the round of 16 against Vissel Kobe, they secured a 3–0 victory at home and advanced with a 3–2 aggregate score, becoming the first citizen club to reach the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League.
Lee guided Gwangju to the 2025 Korea Cup final, the club's first ever major cup final, but left the club for Suwon Samsung Bluewings at the end of the season.
Stadium
Main article: Gwangju World Cup Stadium, Gwangju Football Stadium
Gwangju FC plays its home games at the 40,245-capacity Gwangju World Cup Stadium. Between 2020 and 2024, they played at the Gwangju Football Stadium, but had to move back to the World Cup Stadium ahead of the 2025 season due to the small size of the field and lack of seating.
Rivalries and supporters
Gwangju's primary rivals are Daegu FC in a match dubbed the Moonlight Derby. 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.
Gwangju also shares a rivalry with nearby Jeonnam Dragons in the Yellow Derby.
The club's main supporters' group is called Bitgoeul, the native Korean name for Gwangju.
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Backroom staff
Coaching staff
- Manager: South Korea Lee Jung-kyu
- Head coach: South Korea Ma Chul-jun
- Coach: South Korea Cho Yong-tae
- Goalkeeping coach: South Korea Shin Jeong-hwan
- Fitness coach: South Korea Kim Kyung-do
- Analysis coach: South Korea Park Won-gyo
Support staff
- Analyst: South Korea Yook Tae-hun
- Medical staff: South Korea Shin Yong-sub, South Korea Kim Min-shik, South Korea Go Han-seul, South Korea Yang Jae-hyuk
- Interpreter: South Korea Choi Hyuk-soon
- Kit manager: South Korea Oh Dong-yeong
- Logistics manager: South Korea Jeon Chung-hwi
- Team doctor: South Korea Lee Jun-young
Source: Official website
Managers
| No. | Name | From | To | Season(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea Choi Man-hee | 2010/10/18 | 2012/12/01 | 2011–2012 | |
| South Korea Yeo Bum-kyu | 2012/12/06 | 2013/08/16 | 2013 | |
| South Korea Nam Ki-il | 2013/08/16 | 2015/01/03 | 2013–2014 | |
| South Korea Nam Ki-il | 2015/01/04 | 2017/08/14 | 2015–2017 | |
| South Korea Kim Hak-bum | 2017/08/16 | 2017/11/18 | 2017 | |
| South Korea Park Jin-sub | 2017/12/16 | 2020/12/01 | 2018–2020 | |
| South Korea Kim Ho-young | 2020/12/22 | 2021/12/04 | 2021 | |
| South Korea Lee Jung-hyo | 2021/12/28 | 2025/12/21 | 2022–2025 | |
| South Korea Lee Jung-kyu | 2025/12/24 | 2026– |
Honours
Season-by-season records
Domestic
| Season | League | Cup | Division | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Pos. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1 | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 32 | 43 | –11 | 35 | 11 | Ro32 | ||
| 2012 | 44 | 10 | 15 | 19 | 57 | 67 | –10 | 45 | 15↓ | Ro16 | |||
| 2013 | 2 | 35 | 16 | 5 | 14 | 55 | 54 | +1 | 53 | 3 | Ro16 | ||
| 2014 | 36 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 40 | 35 | +5 | 51 | 4↑ | Ro16 | |||
| 2015 | 1 | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 35 | 44 | –9 | 42 | 10 | Ro32 | ||
| 2016 | 38 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 41 | 45 | –4 | 47 | 8 | Ro16 | |||
| 2017 | 38 | 6 | 12 | 20 | 33 | 61 | –28 | 30 | 12↓ | QF | |||
| 2018 | 2 | 36 | 11 | 15 | 10 | 51 | 41 | +10 | 48 | 5 | 3R | ||
| 2019 | 36 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 59 | 31 | +28 | 73 | 1↑ | Ro16 | |||
| 2020 | 1 | 27 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 32 | 46 | –14 | 25 | 6 | Ro16 | ||
| 2021 | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | 42 | 54 | –12 | 37 | 12↓ | 3R | |||
| 2022 | 2 | 40 | 25 | 11 | 4 | 68 | 32 | +36 | 86 | 1↑ | Ro16 | ||
| 2023 | 1 | 38 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 47 | 35 | +12 | 59 | 3 | QF | ||
| 2024 | 38 | 14 | 5 | 19 | 42 | 49 | –7 | 47 | 9 | SF | |||
| 2025 | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 40 | 41 | –1 | 54 | 7 | RU |
Key
- RU = Runners-up
- SF = Semi-final
- QF = Quarter-final
- Ro16 = Round of 16
- Ro32 = Round of 32
- 3R = Third round
Continental
All results list Gwangju's goal tally first.
AFC Champions League Elite
| Season | Round | Opposition | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 | League stage | JPN Yokohama F. Marinos | 7–3 | align=center | 4th out of 12 |
| JPN Kawasaki Frontale | align=center | 1–0 | |||
| MYS Johor Darul Ta'zim | 3–1 | align=center | |||
| JPN Vissel Kobe | align=center | 0–2 | |||
| CHN Shanghai Shenhua | 1–0 | align=center | |||
| CHN Shanghai Port | align=center | 1–1 | |||
| CHN Shandong Taishan | align=center | 1–3 | |||
| (voided) | |||||
| THA Buriram United | 2–2 | align=center | |||
| Round of 16 | JPN Vissel Kobe | 3–0 | 0–2 | 3–2 | |
| Quarter-final | KSA Al Hilal | 0–7 |
References
References
- (16 December 2010). "광주 FC, K리그 16번째 구단으로 창단식".
- "South Korea 2011".
- "South Korea 2012".
- (6 December 2014). "Gwangju FC earns promotion to first division football league for next season".
- "역사". Gwangju FC.
- (2024-10-21). "How the rookie 'Korean Mourinho' has Gwangju taking the ACL Elite by storm".
- (18 February 2025). "1 K League club in AFC Champions League Elite knockouts after Pohang Steelers lose".
- (14 March 2025). "Lee Jung-hyo leads Gwangju FC to stunning AFC Champions League victory over Vissel Kobe".
- (2 January 2026). "New Suwon Samsung head coach emphasizes process over outcome".
- (5 February 2025). "[공식발표] 광주, 2025시즌 홈 개막전 장소 변경…광주월드컵경기장에서 새 시즌 출발".
- (2020-08-17). "'전용구장 첫 입성' 광주 팬들 "지붕은 없지만, 거대한 변화"".
- (2024-10-18). "'달빛 더비'로 시작하는 K리그1 파이널 라운드".
- (2024-10-21). "Flying bottles, burned bus, broken dreams: history of rivalry between 2024 Korean Series foes".
- (17 June 2022). "광주-전남 '옐로더비'…'1년 차' 사령탑 지략대결 누가 웃을까".
- (19 February 2025). "빛고을 전사들, 돌풍 넘어 아시아 챔피언 정조준".
- "프로선수단 전체". Gwangju FC.
- "코칭스태프". Gwangju FC.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about Gwangju FC — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report