Pohang Steelers

Football club infobox
clubname = Pohang Steelers
포항 스틸러스


fullname = Pohang Steelers FC
포항 스틸러스 축구단
nickname =
founded = 1973
ground = Steelyard
capacity = 20,000
chairman = flagicon|KOR Kim Hyun-Sik
manager = flagicon|BRA Sergio Farias
league = K-League
season = K-League 2008
position = 10th
pattern_la1=_black_hoops|pattern_b1=_blackhoops|pattern_ra1=_black_hoops
leftarm1=FF0000|body1=FF0000|rightarm1=FF0000|shorts1=000000|socks1=FF0000
pattern_la2=_black_hoops|pattern_b2=_blackhoops|pattern_ra2=_black_hoops
leftarm2=AAD0FF|body2=AAD0FF|rightarm2=AAD0FF|shorts2=000000|socks2=000000
"For the American football team, see Pittsburgh Steelers. For other uses, see Steelers (disambiguation)."

Pohang Steelers are a Korean football club. They were originally called "POSCO", after the Pohang Iron and Steel Company that owned it, the club was founded in 1973 and is one of Korean football's most successful sides.

The club professionalized for the 1984 season and changed its name to "POSCO Dolphins", but by the 1985 season they had changed yet again to "POSCO Atoms". 1986 saw them win their first Championship, and they enjoyed a great spell of domination in the league; between 1985 and 1998 they were continually in the top four of the League.

The club achieved a Korean football 'first' at the end 1990 with the opening of their purpose-built 20,000 seater "Steelyard Stadium", still the only football specific stadium constructed by a Korean football club.

1995 saw yet another name change, becoming "Pohang Atoms" to further strengthen local ties, and in 1997 adopted the name "Pohang Steelers" which they still use today. The side scaled Asian football heights, winning the Asian Champions Cup in 1997 and 1998 to establish themselves as one of Asia's top teams.

Unfortunately the club suffered something of a fall from grace in the 2000s struggling near the foot of the table, but bounced back to the forefront of Korean football by winning the first stage of the 2004 K-League championship. The club qualified for the final Championship match of the 2004 season, but lost 4-3 on penalties to Suwon Samsung Bluewings.

In 2007, the club won the championship playoff by beating Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, who finished in 1st place in the K-League. Pohang won the first leg at home 3-1, and then traveled to Seongnam and recorded a 1-0 victory to seal a 4-1 aggregate triumph. The Steelers had ended the K-League season in 5th place, but then defeated Daejeon Citizen, Gyeongnam FC, Suwon Samsung Bluewings and finally Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in the playoffs to win the championship.

Crest

Club honors

Domestic

Professional

*sport honours|K-League Champions|4|1986, 1988, 1992, 2007
*sport honours|K-League Runners-up|4|1985, 1987, 1995, 2004
*sport honours|FA Cup Champions|1|1996
*sport honours|FA Cup Runners-up|3|2001, 2002, 2007
*sport honours|Adidas Cup Champions|1|1993
*sport honours|League Cup Runners-up|1|1997

Amateur

*sport honours|Korean President's Cup Champions|1|1989
*sport honours|Korean Football Championship Runners-up|2|1977, 1985

International

*sport honours|AFC Champions League Champions|2|1997, 1998
*sport honours|Asian Super Cup Runners-up|2|1997, 1998
*sport honours|A3 Champions Cup Runners-up|1|2005

Current squad

"As of October, 2008"

2008 Season transfers

;In

;Out

Club official

Coaching staff
* Manager : flagicon|BRA Sergio Ricardo de Pavia Farias
* Coach : flagicon|KOR Park Tae-Ha
* Physical Coach : flagicon|BRA Renato Vinhas Antunes
* Reserve Team Coach : flagicon|KOR Gong Mun-Bae
* Goalkeeper Coach : flagicon|KOR Kim Sung-Su
* Trainer : flagicon|KOR Kim Tae-Soo, flagicon|KOR Ahn Seung-Hoon
* Interpreter : flagicon|KOR Na Young-Jun

Youth Club Staff
* U-18 Manager : flagicon|KOR Kim Kyung-Ho
* U-18 Coach : flagicon|KOR Baek Ki-Tae
* U-15 Manager : flagicon|KOR Choi Moon-Sik
* U-15 Coach : flagicon|KOR Kim Jung-Chan
* U-12 Manager : flagicon|KOR Kim Dong-Young
* U-12 Coach : flagicon|KOR Kim Sung-Jin
* Goalkeeper Coach : flagicon|KOR Kim Il-Jin
* Youth Academy Head Coach : flagicon|KOR Lee Young-Hwan
* Youth Academy Coach : flagicon|KOR Kwon Ki-Duk

Managers

"As of November 30, 2006. Only competitive matches are counted."

Famous former players

*flagicon|ARG Carlos Esteban Frontini
*flagicon|BRA Paulinho Criciúma
*flagicon|BRA Santos
*flagicon|CRO Jasenko Sabitović (now naturalized and known as flagicon|KOR Lee Sa-Vik)
*flagicon|IRQ Abbas Obeid Jassim
*flagicon|MKD Goran Petreski
*flagicon|ENG Greg Brown
*flagicon|SER Rade Bogdanović
*flagicon|KOR Choi Soon-Ho
*flagicon|KOR Ha Seok-Ju
*flagicon|KOR Hong Myung-Bo
*flagicon|KOR Hwang Sun-Hong
*flagicon|KOR Jeon Kyung-Joon
*flagicon|KOR Kim Byung-Ji
*flagicon|KOR Ko Jeong-Woon
*flagicon|KOR Lee Dong-Gook
*flagicon|KOR Lee Heung-Sil
*flagicon|KOR Lee Min-Sung
*flagicon|KOR Woo Sung-Yong

Some of the current coaches, such as Park Tae-Ha and Choi Moon-Sik, also played for the club during their active years.

Kit Supplier

* 1982-1986,1990-92 : Adidas
* 1987-89,1993-95:Pro-Specs
* 1996-2001 : Adidas
* 2002 : Diadora
* 2003-2005 : Puma
* 2006-Present : Kappa

ee also

*List of football clubs in South Korea
*List of Korea-related topics

External links

*en icon [http://www.steelers.co.kr/ Pohang Steelers Official Website]
* [http://www.rokfootball.com/pohang_steelers Pohang Steelers at ROKfootball.com]
* [http://www.marines.or.kr Pohang steelers supporters Club "Marines"]