Gyeongnam FC (경남 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in South Gyeongsang Province that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Its home stadium is the Changwon Football Center, located in Changwon. Gyeongnam FC was founded in 2006 and joined the K League as its 14th club for the 2006 season.
History
Gyeongnam FC finished in twelfth place in the 2006 K League, their first-ever participation in the top flight, and achieved third place in the Hauzen Cup. Under the manager Park Hang-seo, the club then finished fourth in the 2007 K League, but were defeated by the Pohang Steelers after a penalty shoot-out in the first round of the play-offs. Cabore became that season's K League top scorer with 18 goals in 26 matches, but left for FC Tokyo after the season.
In 2014, Gyeongnam FC was relegated to the second-tier K League Challenge after finishing the 2014 season in eleventh place, and then losing in the relegation play-offs against Gwangju FC.[1] The team then spent three seasons in the second division, before winning the 2017 K League Challenge and thus achieving promotion back to the top tier.[2] In their first season after coming back, Gyeongnam FC finished in second place, their highest-ever finish in K League, and therefore qualified for the 2019 AFC Champions League.[3] However, the following season, they finished eleventh and were again relegated back to the second division.[4] Manager Kim Jong-boo resigned as a result,[5] and was replaced by Seol Ki-hyeon.[6]
