Incheon
United is a professional Korean football team currently
playing in the K League
Classic. The team's home town is Incheon, the third biggest city in the country, and the
club's home stadium is the Incheon Football Stadium.
History
Origins
Officially founded at the end of the 2003 season, the move to
create a professional club in Incheon had come about in part by the
construction of the Incheon Munhak Stadium for the 2002 FIFA World Cup
tournament. Incheon city mayor Ahn Sang-soo began the process of creating the club
in earnest in June 2003 with the official founding of Incheon FC, and German Werner Lorant was appointed as manager of the team
in September of that year, with Chang Woe-Ryong and Kim Si-Seok added to the coaching staff.
A public share issue was launched and ran from October to November
2003, and in December the name Incheon
United was adopted.
Sponsorship contracts worth a total of $4m were signed with Daewoo and Daeduk
Construction, and a deal was struck with Puma to be the inaugural kit suppliers to
the new club.
Debut season
Lorant and his coaching staff recruited several high-profile
players in a bid to make an impact on the league in the club's debut season in
2004. Goalkeeper Shim Bum-chul was recruited along with talented youngsters Choi Tae-Uk, Kim Chi-Woo and
popular Japanese playmaker Masakiyo Maezono. The most high profile of the
imports was Turkish international defender Alpay Özalan, recruited from English Premier League side Aston Villa.
The club's first ever K-League match was a home encounter with Jeonbuk Hyundai
Motors on 3 April 2004
which ended goalless. Their first league victory came in the third game of the
season, also at home, as a Jasenko Sabitovic own
goal gave them a 1–0
victory over defending champions Seongnam Ilhwa
Chunma.
Despite that promising start to the year, Incheon recorded just
one more victory in the first stage of the season and finished bottom of the
table on just nine points. The club's fortunes improved slightly during the
summer Hauzen Cup tournament,
winning three times and finishing eighth out of the thirteen sides involved.
Manager Lorant stepped down as manager at the end of August, and he was
replaced in the hotseat by his assistant Chang Woe-Ryong as caretaker manager.
Talented former Busan I'cons player Radivoje Manic was added to the squad during the
summer transfer window, and both he and caretaker manager Chang made instant
impacts on the side as the club finished fourth overall in the second stage of
the league season, remaining in the race to claim victory in the stage until
the final day.
Title challenge
Chang was confirmed as permanent Incheon manager in January 2005
as the club prepared to embark on what was to become a memorable season. The
team finished runners-up in the first stage of the league season and, after
coming in eighth for the second consecutive season in the Hauzen Cup, finished
joint third in the second stage of the K-League and qualified for the
post-season championship playoffs by virtue of having the best overall record.
Incheon were to face first stage winners Busan I'Park in
the semi-final, and they easily defeated the southern side by a 2–0 scoreline
to set up a championship final against Ulsan Hyundai
Horang-i. In the first leg of the final at the Munhak stadium,
goalkeeper Kim Lee-Sub endured
a torrid ninety minutes as Ulsan hit the back of the net five times in a
stunning display of football, with Dženan Radončić netting a late consolation goal for
the home side. Sung Kyung-Mo replaced Kim in the Incheon goal for
the second leg, and though United claimed a 2–1 victory they lost out on the
title 6–3 on aggregate, but finished their second season in existence as
K-League runners-up.
Incheon United also finished the 2005 season with the highest
total and average home attendance, with 316,591 spectators in total coming
through the gates, an average of 24,353.
Community growth
The 2006 season was something of a disappointment compared with
the highs of 2005. Tenth overall in the first stage of the K-League and sixth
in the second, the team finished bottom of the fourteen-team Hauzen Cup table,
but reached the semi-finals of the Korean FA Cup before being eliminated on penalties
by eventual winners Chunnam Dragons.
Despite a relative lack of success on the field for the top team,
the club continued to strengthen its set-up at reserve and youth level. The
reserve team claimed victory in the K-League reserve league championship, and
the U12 side won the 2006 Youth Football Championship.
2007 season
Manager Chang departed for England at the start of the year to
begin a year of study, so assistant manager Park Lee-Chun stepped up as caretaker manager for
the 2007 season. The club struggled home in 9th place in the regular K-League
season, but reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the second consecutive
season before again losing out to eventual winners Chunnam. There was also an
earlier semi-final defeat in the revamped Hauzen Cup competition, where Incheon
lost 4–3 on penalties to FC
Seoul after a goalless
draw in normal time.
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