Kookmin Bank FC

Football club infobox
clubname = Goyang Kookmin Bank
고양 국민은행 축구단

| fullname = Goyang Kookmin Bank FC | founded = 1972 (reestablished 2000)
ground = Goyang Stadium Goyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea
capacity = 42,055
chairman = flagicon|South Korea Kang Jung-won
manager = flagicon|South Korea Lee Woo-hyung
league = National League
season = 2007
position = First - 6th
Second - 9th
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leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=808080|socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_silversides|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFD700|body2=FFD700|rightarm2=FFD700|shorts2=808080|socks2=FFD700

Kookmin Bank FC ( _ko. 고양 국민은행 축구단) is a South Korean football club based in the Seoul satellite city of Goyang. It currently plays in the National League, the second tier of Korean football.

K-League Membership

Kookmin Bank FC was initially founded on February 1st, 1972, and competed in the various amateur football competitions at the time. The club enjoyed success in tournaments such as the Korean Amateur Football Conference (winners in 1978) and the President's Cup (winners in 1978 and 1983) before becoming founder members of the K-League, the professional football league in South Korea, in 1983.

The club's stay in the professional ranks was a short one, as it finished 5th out of the five teams in the first year. When it came in 8th out of the eight teams in 1984 the decision was made for the club to return to the amateur ranks.

After the K-League

Upon returning to the amateur ranks, the club returned to winning ways and managed President's Cup triumphs in 1986, 1990 and 1995. It also won the 3rd edition of the Industrial Amateur Football championship in 1993, a tournament they would win again in 1996.

The financial crisis that struck South Korea in 1997 saw the club temporarily wound up, with the official decision to pull the plug on the team coming on December 31st, 1997. After two years out of the game, Kookmin Bank reconstituted their club on February 28th, 2000 and the team returned to the amateur ranks, eventually winning a sixth President's Cup crown in 2003.

Life at K2 Level

Organised league football at amateur level came about in 2003 with the establishment of the K2 League, a competition with ten members, of which Kookmin Bank were one. Initially based in Gimpo, the club won the first stage of the 2003 championship and then moved its home base to Goyang for the second stage where they finished runners-up on goal difference. They defeated the reserve team of military side Sangmu 5-4 on aggregate in the playoff final to win the league. They retained their championship crown in 2004 with a 4-1 aggregate win over Gangneung City after having again won the first stage of the league season.

Despite a lacklustre 2005 season, the club bounced back to win the 2006 championship (now rebranded the "National League"] , triumphing 2-1 on aggregate in the final after winning the first stage of the season.

Promotion Controversy

It was planned that, subject to meeting certain financial requirements, the winner of the National League in 2006 would be promoted to the K-League. However Goyang Kookmin Bank caused controversy by winning the league but declining to move up. Team owners Kookmin Bank cited a Korean law where banks in Korea were not allowed to be involved in profitable ventures outside of banking which of course a professional football team could be. However the more likely reason is the large financial losses that most K-League teams endure each year as the league struggles for sponsorship money and suffers through low crowd numbers. On top of that any National League champion seeking promotion from the second tier is required to pay an 'entry fee' of around 2 million US dollars simply to join the league. Goyang Kookmin Bank received several threats from the League ranging from being thrown out of the competition, to fines, to point deductions for the upcoming 2007 season. In the end the side received a points deduction penalty, to be split into ten point deductions in the first and second stages of the 2007 season.

Major Honours

Professional

*sport honours|National League Champions|3|2003, 2004, 2006

Amateur

*sport honours|Korean President's Cup Champions|5|1982, 1987, 1988, 1991, 2005
*sport honours|Korean Football Championship Champions|1|1978

ee also

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

External links

* [http://www.n-league.net/team/ky.php Goyang KB page at the National League website]
* [http://www.rokfootball.com/goyang_kb Goyang Kookmin Bank at ROKfootball.com]