Ulsan Hyundai FC

Ulsan Hyundai
울산 현대
Full name Ulsan Hyundai Football Club
울산 현대 축구단
Nickname(s) Horang-i (Tiger)
Gangs of Asia
Iron Maces
Short name UHFC
Founded 1983 (1983), as Hyundai Horang-i
Ground Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium
Ground Capacity 44,102
Owner Hyundai Heavy Industries
Chairman Chung Mong-joon
Manager Kim Do-hoon
League K League Classic
2016 K League Classic, 4th
Website Club website

The Ulsan Hyundai Football Club is a South Korean professional football club, owned by the South Korean corporation Hyundai Heavy Industries. Established on 6 December 1983, they joined the K League in 1984 as Hyundai Horang-i. The home ground of the team is Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium.

History

2012 AFC Champions League Final in Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium.

Early years: before Ulsan (1983–1989)

Ulsan Hyundai was established in on 6 December 1983, as Hyundai Horang-i, with Horangi (Horangi means tiger in Korean) as its mascot. Their original franchise area was Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.[1] They joined the professional K League from 1984 season. While they finished their debut season as 3rd place, the team's striker Baek Jong-chul became the K League Top Scorer, scoring 16 goals in 28 matches. They won their first professional trophy in 1986, winning the Professional Football Championship, which is the origin of Korean League Cup. From 1987 season, the club moved their franchise from Incheon and Gyeonggi Province to Gangwon Province. In the 1988 season, they finished the season as the runners-up in the league.

Move to Ulsan and Rise to Power (1990–1999)

Beginning in the 1990 season, the club moved their franchise to Ulsan, where the headquarters of several branches of owner company Hyundai are located at, from Gangwon Province. Former South Korea's legendary striker Cha Bum-kun took the managerial position from the 1991 season, leading the club to the runners-up position in the league in his debut season. However, he failed to win any trophy and was replaced by Ko Jae-wook after the 1994 season. Under Ko Jae-wook, Ulsan won their second Korean League Cup trophy in 1995, which was his debut season as Ulsan manager. Ulsan won their first ever league title in 1996, beating Suwon Samsung Bluewings 3–2 aggregate in the championship playoffs. Ulsan then entered a long dry-spell in terms of league trophies, although they won their third Korean League Cup trophy in 1998, beating Bucheon SK 2–1 aggregate in the finals.

Two Kims Era (2000–2013)

Failure to add a major title for years did affect the team negatively. After the exodus of key players like Kim Hyun-seok and a terrible start in the 2000, manager Ko Jae-wook resigned in the middle of the season.

Kim Jung-nam era: Gangsters of Asia (2000–2008)

Ulsan appointed Kim Jung-nam, who had formerly managed South Korean national football team, as their next manager. They finished runners-up in 2002 and 2003, and started to emerge as a strong force. In 2005, with return of two key players, Yoo Sang-chul and Lee Chun-soo, they qualified for the Championship Playoffs. In the play-off semi-final, they beat Seongnam Ilhwa 2–1, and in the final, they beat Incheon United 6–3 aggregate, with a hat-trick from Lee Chun-Soo in the first leg. They became the league champions second time in their history.

The club also went on to win the A3 Champions Cup in 2006, which they participated as K-League champions. Although they lost their first match in the competition against JEF United Ichihara Chiba 2–3, they beat Dalian Shide 4–0 and Gamba Osaka 6–0 to clinch the trophy. Lee Chun-soo became the competition's top scorer, scoring 6 goals in 3 matches. They repeated the merciless attacks in the AFC Champions League that season, beating Al-Shabab 6–0 in the first leg of the quarter-finals. These overwhelming attacks they showed in the season gave Ulsan the nickname "Gangsters of Asia".[2]

Ulsan won the 2007 Korean League Cup, beating FC Seoul 2–1 in the final on 27 June 2007.

Kim Ho-kon era: Iron Mace Football (2009–2013)

Manager Kim Jung-nam stepped down after the 2008 season. Kim Ho-kon, who had managed the South Korea national under-23 football team that reached the quarter-finals in the 2004 Summer Olympics was appointed as Ulsan's next manager.

Kim Ho-kon did not enjoy Ulsan fans' full support for his first few seasons at the club, mainly because of his defensive tactical style and unsatisfying outcomes. 2011 season was a dramatic changeover; Ulsan won their fifth Korean League Cup, beating Busan IPark 3–2 in the final. Ulsan also finished the season as runners-up in the K League that season. Ulsan's unique style of having many players pushing forward in counterattacks earned them the nickname "Iron mace football".[3]

In 2012, the club won the AFC Champions League, defeating Al-Ahli 3–0 in the final on 10 November. In the run up to the final, Ulsan went on an unbeaten run throughout the 12 games of the competition, winning nine consecutive games and scoring 27 goals in the process.[4]

Player

Current squad

As of 16 June 2017

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

No. Position Player
1 South Korea GK Kim Yong-dae
3 South Korea DF Lee Ki-je
4 South Korea DF Kang Min-soo
5 South Korea MF Park Yong-woo
6 South Korea MF Jung Jae-yong
7 South Korea MF Kim In-sung
8 South Korea MF Kim Sung-hwan
9 Croatia MF Mislav Oršić
10 South Korea FW Lee Jong-ho
11 South Korea FW Seo Myeong-won
13 South Korea DF Lee Myung-jae
14 South Korea FW Lee Sang-heon
16 South Korea MF Kim Keon-woong
17 South Korea FW Jang Seong-jae
18 South Korea GK Jang Dae-hee
19 South Korea FW Kim Seung-jun
No. Position Player
20 South Korea FW Han Sang-woon
21 South Korea GK Jo Su-huk
22 South Korea DF Kim Chi-gon
23 South Korea DF Choi Kyu-baek
25 South Korea DF Jeong Dong-ho
26 South Korea MF Seol Tae-soo
27 South Korea DF Kim Chang-soo
30 South Korea MF Lee Eun-seong
31 Switzerland FW Danijel Subotić
32 South Korea MF Lee Yeong-jae
33 South Korea DF Lee Ji-hoon
40 Austria DF Richard Windbichler
42 South Korea MF Han Seung-gyu
50 South Korea GK Moon Jeong-in
87 Japan FW Takuma Abe

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
— South Korea GK Lee Hee-sung (to Yangju Citizen FC)
— South Korea DF Yoo Jun-soo (to Sangju Sangmu for military duty)
— South Korea MF Cho Young-cheol (to Sangju Sangmu for military duty)
— South Korea MF Kim Tae-hwan (to Sangju Sangmu for military duty)
— South Korea MF Lee Chang-yong (to Asan Mugunghwa for military duty)
No. Position Player
— South Korea FW Kim Min-kyu (to Gimhae FC)
— South Korea MF Koo Bon-sang (to Hwaseong FC)
— South Korea DF Jang Soon-hyeok (to Hwaseong FC)
— South Korea FW Nam Hee-cheol (to Gyeongju KH&NP)

Club officials

Managers

# Name From To Season Notes
1 South Korea Moon Jung-Sik 1983/07/12 1986/04/22 1984–86
C
 South Korea Cho Chung-Yun 1986/04/22 1986/12/?? 1986
2 1986/12/?? 1987/12/30 1987
3 South Korea Kim Ho 1987/12/30 1990/11/19 1988–90
4 South Korea Cha Bum-Kun 1990/11/23 1994/11/27 1991–94
5 South Korea Ko Jae-Wook 1994/11/30 2000/06/12 1995–00
C South Korea Chung Jong-Soo 2000/06/12 2000/08/21 2000
6 South Korea Kim Jung-Nam 2000/08/22 2008/12/25 2000–08
7 South Korea Kim Ho-Gon 2008/12/26 2013/12/04 2009–13
8 South Korea Cho Min-Kook 2013/12/04 2014/11/30 2014
9 South Korea Yoon Jung-hwan 2014/12/03 2016/11/13 2015–16
10 South Korea Kim Do-hoon 2016/11/21 present 2017–

Kit supplier

Honours

Domestic competitions

League

Winners (2): 1996, 2005
Runners-up (7): 1986, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2011, 2013

Cups

Runners-up (1): 1998
Winners (5): 1986, 1995, 1998, 2007, 2011
Runners-up (3): 1993, 2002, 2005
Winners (1): 2006
Runners-up (2): 1989, 1999

International competitions

Asian

Winners (1): 2012
Winners (1): 2006

Friendly

Third place (1): 2011

Records

Season Division Tms. Pos. FA Cup AFC CL
1984 1 8 3 – –
1985 1 8 4 – –
1986 1 6 6 – –
1987 1 5 4 – –
1988 1 5 2 – –
1989 1 6 6 – –
1990 1 6 5 – –
1991 1 6 2 – –
1992 1 6 3 – –
1993 1 6 3 – –
1994 1 7 4 – –
1995 1 8 2 – –
1996 1 9 1 Semi-final –
1997 1 10 3 Quarter-final –
1998 1 10 2 Runners-up Round of 16
1999 1 10 6 Semi-final –
2000 1 10 10 Quarter-final –
2001 1 10 6 Semi-final –
2002 1 10 2 Quarter-final –
2003 1 12 2 Semi-final –
2004 1 13 4 Semi-final –
2005 1 13 1 Round of 16 –
2006 1 14 5 Round of 32 Semi-final
2007 1 14 4 Quarter-final –
2008 1 14 3 Quarter-final –
2009 1 15 8 Round of 32 Group stage
2010 1 15 5 Round of 16 –
2011 1 16 2 Semi-final –
2012 1 16 5 Semi-final Winners
2013 1 14 2 Round of 16 –
2014 1 12 6 Round of 16 Group stage
2015 1 12 7 Semi-final –
2016 1 12 4 Semi-final –
Key

Asian clubs ranking

As of 25 September 2016.[5]
Current Rank Country Team
29 Japan Yokohama F. Marinos
30 Thailand Chonburi FC
31 Uzbekistan Bunyodkor
32 China Shanghai SIPG
33 South Korea Ulsan Hyundai
34 Indonesia Persipura Jayapura
35 China Beijing Guoan

See also

Footnotes

    References

    1. ↑ "울산현대축구단". 울산현대축구단. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
    2. ↑ "울산, 6년 전 '아시아 깡패' 부활위한 3가지 조건" (in Korean). Sports Chosun. September 20, 2012.
    3. ↑ "김호곤, 편견과 싸워 이긴 울산 사령탑 5년" (in Korean). Best Eleven. December 5, 2013.
    4. ↑ "Ulsan's ultimate victory". ESPNFC. 10 November 2012.
    5. ↑ "Asia Football / Soccer Clubs Ranking". FootballDatabase.


    Achievements
    Preceded by
    Ilhwa Chunma    		 K-League Champions
    1996     		Succeeded by
    Pusan Daewoo Royals
    Preceded by
    Suwon Samsung Bluewings    		 K-League Champions
    2005     		Succeeded by
    Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
    Preceded by
    Al-Sadd
    Qatar    		 Champions of Asia
    2012     		Succeeded by
    Guangzhou Evergrande
    China
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