The Sideline Notes: 26.5. From Down South

The "new" WK League team, Gangjin Swans, are in Seoul for Round 4. I say "new" because they are actually the team formerly known as Changnyeong. (As background music, I provide you with music by the artist formerly known as Prince.) Changnyeong was created in 2018 to replace the defunct Incheon Daekyo. They were subsidised by the KFA and the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism to ensure the league remains at eight teams. Despite these subsidies, the team struggled financially, and the location of their stadium contributed to disappointingly low attendances. The subsidy term ended in 2025, and with Changnyeong Council unwilling to bear the cost alone, the team was at risk of disbandment. Gangjin had been looking into creating a team, and rather than start with nothing, it was agreed that Changnyoeng would relocate and rebrand as Gangjin Swans. I've not yet watched any of their matches online, so tonight will be my first opportunity to see them in action under their new name.

Gangjin have had a rough start to their new life, losing their first two matches and drawing one. I was starting to wonder if they would continue the losing ways of Changnyeong. However, their losses were close, and the team is yet to play at home. Tonight will be their fourth away match in a row. I'm not a big believer in home-field advantage, but a month without a home match must be annoying.

Gogga is joining me again this evening, and we both notice that things are different. At the station, we are not the only people exiting the train, and outside are people heading places. Except for the guy in the motorised wheelchair. He reclined his seat fully and is taking a nap under a tree. I don't blame him with the great weather we have right now. Even HomePlus seems to be in business tonight. A reasonable number of people are walking about, and the take-out food section has more options than last week. The lady at a teokgalbi table tries to sell us a plate, but who takes mince patties to a football match? While we wander about, unsure what to take for dinner, she tries her luck again, so we explain to her why we are not interested. Her reaction was one of utter confusion: "Football? Where? WOMEN'S FOOTBALL?!" As soon as we leave, we hear her telling the other employee, with amazement, that such a thing exists. We eventually settled on chicken, again, and to accompany it, I chose a bottle of Yaenal Makgeolli. It's been a while since I've had this extremely fruity brew.

At the stadium, I recognise many of the spectators from the previous match, but this time the cheerleaders are absent. The team didn't even leave us a stack of paper noise makers. It feels like they forgot about us, reminding me of matches I attended in previous seasons. The crowd is smaller than last week, but surprisingly, the Gangjin side has almost as many spectators as the Seoul side. I guess these people live nearby because surely they didn't travel all the way from Down South for a Friday evening match? The official spectator count is 136, and it looks like it's evenly on either side of the stand.

Before the match starts, I set up to take a photo of dinner. If it's not on social media, then it doesn't exist, right? I still don't know how, but as I put the bottle down, the chicken leaves my lap like a flying saucer. It flies to the seat in front of me, bounces like a ball, flips end over end to the next row of seats, and bounces again into the back of the seat two rows down from us. Thankfully, it doesn't bounce over the next seat where someone is sitting. "Oh, no!" escapes my lips as I watch on, stunned. Embarrassed, but relieved, I go to collect the food. By some miracle, the container remained closed, and the chicken is safe. Only one side of the container is cracked, but not deep enough to expose the food. For the next five minutes, Gogga and I behave like drunks, knocking over our bottles, cups, and anything else we have. Thankfully, our clumsiness ends before the match starts, but the embarrassment lasts much longer.

On the railings in front of us is a collection of shirts. I see shirts of at least two local clubs, two UK clubs, and three versions of the National Team. All the shirts belong to Seoul's number 8, Bak Yae-Eun. When I go over to capture a photo, I pass a face I know, former National Team coach Collin Bell. Taking the "speak to strangers" leap, I ask him if he is who I think, and he confirms it. The match will start soon, and I don't feel comfortable talking to him immediately, so I resolve to come back later.

Before the match, players throw signed balls into the stands again. I miss the start, but one of the players comes over and intentionally throws a ball to two women in front of us. I guess they know each other. During the week, Gogga updated her profile on the KWFF site to list Kim Min-Ji as her favourite player. She chose her purely because of my theory on the prevalence of the name, and now she can't help but notice all the Kim Min-Ji's. Other than her name, she knows nothing about the player. With that in mind, I ask the women if I may take a photo of the ball, and specifically the signature of Kim Min-Ji.

The match starts off with Seoul looking dangerous. Despite this, Gangjin are first to score, and even though Seoul keeps up the pressure, Gangjin manages to score a second time. Seoul's attempts are all either completely off target or skillfully blocked. Ganjin's goalkeeper, number 1 Kim Ye-Rin is having a great match.Her playing history is interesting. At only 1.65m tall, she is tiny for a goalkeeper. She played university football in Japan before joining Gyeongju via the WK League draft. During her time at Gyeongju, she never progressed past second-choice keeper and rarely saw playing time. At the end of 2023, she retired and joined a futsal team. She spent one year playing futsal before returning as Changnyeong's first-choice keeper, and moved along with the team to Gangjin.

Throughout the match, we hear sounds coming from the main stadium. It's mostly the deep bass rumble from music. Gogga looks online, and it seems that there is an esports event happening. I have no idea what the biggest game is right now, but it would not be the first time something like League of Legends was played in the main stadium.

During halftime, I go to look at the futsal fields next to the stadium. There are a few people warming up for a game, and one field has a game going. It's clearly a friendly match between friends. They are laughing and joking, and whenever someone is hurt, everyone stops to check on them. When I return, I have the opportunity to talk to Collin Bell. He just finished a contract with the Chinese Women's U20 team, where he successfully completed the goal of qualifying for the World Cup, the first time in 8 years. We chat a bit about his appearances in Shooting Stars (골 때리는 그녀들) and a few football-related things, before someone interrupts us. I leave to give him space to talk to someone he seems to know.

Back to the match, where the second half had already started. As the first half was progressing, Gangjin was looking stronger, and at the start of the second half, the two teams seemed equal. However, Gangjin's confidence is still growing, and by the seventy-minute mark, the Seoul attack has become completely impotent, while Gangjin complete short passes at will. Ironically, Gangjin doesn't score any goals despite playing better, but they leave Seoul with their first win of the season. This definitely does not look like the old Changnyeong, and their performance tonight has me looking forward to what they can achieve this season. I wonder if conditions in Gangjin are much better, because if rumours are to be believed, Changnyeong was the last place any player in the WK League wanted to spend their time.

With four rounds played, the league table is starting to take shape. At the top are Incheon and Mungyeong with ten points. Both lost their perfect record this round, drawing their respective matches. Suwon is close behind on nine points, Hwacheon and Gangjin have four points, Sejong and Seoul have three points, and Gyeongju have two points, still looking for their first win.

The player from the match, put up for Player Of The Round, is Gwon Da-Eun, the first Gangjing player to be nominated.