26.17 Things Were Looking Up

Form Guide

Sejong is back in Seoul, but they are hardly in convincing form. Their last five matches produced three draws and two defeats. One loss came against league challengers Hwacheon, which is understandable, but the other is a disappointing result against an inconsistent Mungyeong. Their only real bright spot is last weekend’s draw against an in-form Gyeongju.

Seoul arrive in much better shape than the league table might suggest. Recent defeats came against runaway leaders Suwon and the same in-form Gyeongju side, but between those matches they managed two valuable victories. Somehow, Seoul are looking stronger than several of the teams around them.

Maybe today will be another step forward.

Dinner Plans

Being a weekday match means the usual after-work scramble for food before heading to the stadium.

Last time I noticed a Japanese ramen restaurant that looked interesting, so tonight I decide to give it a chance. Unfortunately, the nicest thing I can say about it is that they serve food.

The broth is painfully salty, and even if I ignore that, the flavour just isn’t very good. The noodles are clumped together at the bottom of the bowl so badly that my first bite lifts almost the entire serving out at once. Then there is the egg. Instead of the soft, marinated egg you expect with ramen, it is a plain hard-boiled egg, the sort you would normally find in naengmyeon or bibimguksu.

Needless to say, next time I’ll be eating at the kimbap shop next door.

HomePlus Lives… Sort Of

On the way out, I spot Incheon Man buying a muffin at a nearby coffee shop. We exchange a quick greeting, but I don’t want to interrupt his dinner for too long.

My original plan was to head over to HomePlus, but he mentions that he has similar plans, but the branch is not open.

In my previous report on our perpetual extra character, I mentioned that all branches closed during the company’s financial troubles. During the week, however, HomePlus received a lifeline. Just days before the deadline, its main creditor finally agreed to provide emergency funding after months of refusing to help. Suddenly, the same creditor is playing the hero. The funding allowed many stores to reopen and some unpaid wages to be settled.

It has also been reported that HomePlus wants to focus more on its own private-label products, moving toward a business model similar to Trader Joe’s in the United States.

I don’t know enough about Trader Joe’s to judge the comparison, but I actually like the idea. Even before the financial problems, I often felt HomePlus should put more emphasis on its own brands. Plenty of supermarkets have private-label ranges, but none make it the core of the business.

Maybe I’m in the minority, but I actually enjoy having fewer choices. I don’t need ten different brands of the same product.

Familiar Faces

As I approach the stadium, Lone Hero is impossible to miss.

He is already in his usual position up front, proudly wearing his yellow Sejong shirt with his banner hanging nearby. Earlier this week he commented on one of my Instagram posts saying he’ll be at the match, so after scanning my ticket I head over to say hello.

Although my Korean has improved tremendously this year, I still lack the confidence to start conversations in Korean. We exchange a few words before I head towards the Seoul supporters section.

Just before I leave, he surprises me.

“When is the book coming out?” he asks. “I’d want to buy it.”

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it on the blog before, but we’re currently rewriting and compiling these posts into a book. The men’s league adventures from last season will form the first half, while this year’s WK League travels will become the second. Hopefully everything will be translated and ready for printing before the end of the year.

But enough about future projects. Back to today’s adventure.

Becoming a Regular

A healthy crowd is already gathered despite the sweltering heat.

Most people are sitting in their usual places, including the dachshund owner who greets me as I arrive. She doesn’t have her dog with her today, but she does have several friends.

I’ve started noticing just how many people she knows around the club. When a young woman arrives wearing a Team Korea T-shirt with the Olympic rings, she immediately walks over to greet her.

For a brief moment I wonder if she’s an Olympian. Part of me wants to ask, but I’ve always felt uneasy with the idea of interrupting players during their private time.

A few rows behind them sit three young women I’ve seen at several recent matches. They’ve become familiar faces without us ever speaking. Perhaps next week I’ll finally say hello.

Side quest accepted.

The Great Ball Hunt

While chatting with Incheon Man before kick-off, the traditional signed ball launch begins, and chaos immediately follows.

One regular supporter—who also happens to be friends with the dachshund owner—charges around the stand collecting balls at an astonishing pace. Every successful catch is followed by an enthusiastic shout of “Assa!”

He even ends up wrestling for one with another regular who turns every home game into his own personal ball-catching mission. I’m honestly surprised neither of them comes away injured.

When the dust settles, Assa Man has collected three balls. At first it seems excessive, but then he hands them to the friends who came with him today. It turns out he wasn’t collecting souvenirs for himself after all. Fine. I’ll forgive him this time. Wink.

Wait… You Read My Blog?

During the first half, I wander back over to the away supporters, hoping for a better angle to photograph Solo Legend.

As I sit down, a man wearing a team shirt looks at me.

“Are you Otto Silver?”

Excuse me… what?

He tells me he reads the blog.

I spend the next few minutes trying to work out how he even found it, but never really get an answer. We chat about Solo Legend, who he initially assumed is from Sejong. He promises to investigate during half-time and report back later.

When I return after the break, drop into a seat in front of a spectator wearing a yellow shirt. As I get the camera ready, I jokingly say, “So noisy!” The man in a yellow shirt agrees.

After taking a photo, I look around to hear what was found out about Lone Hero, and for a moment I’m completely confused because the man isn’t wearing glasses like the other supporter.

Instead, we end up chatting about football anyway. He notices my FC Seoul shirt, tells me he supports Gangwon FC, and we spend a few minutes talking about their excellent season.

Five different conversations in one evening. Two of them with strangers. What is happening?

A Tale of Two Halves

Seoul actually begin the match well.

They move the ball confidently, link together some promising passing sequences and even create a handful of dangerous attacks. Whether it’s confidence from last week’s performance against Incheon or simply the belief that Sejong’s recent goal drought will continue, Seoul look comfortable during the opening stages.

Gradually, though, the momentum shifts. As half-time approaches, Sejong grow stronger.

Right at the end of the first half, Sejong win a corner. The delivery is perfect, and a Sejong player meets it with a header that flies into the top corner beyond the goalkeeper’s reach.

Statistically, corners are not the most efficient route to goal. Against Seoul, however, they are starting to feel like the only reasonable route.

The second half belongs almost entirely to Sejong. The visitors dominate possession, string together the better passing moves and spend most of the half on the Seoul side.

Sejong dominate possession, string together the better passing moves and spend most of the half camped inside Seoul’s defensive third.

Their second goal arrives shortly before the 75th minute. Once again, it begins with a corner. This time the initial delivery doesn’t go straight in, but Seoul fail to clear, and the loose ball is bundled home in the chaos.

If that isn’t painful enough, Sejong add a third well into stoppage time. Let’s just say the defending left plenty to wonder about.

Final Thoughts

It’s a disappointing evening for Seoul.

I’ll always have a soft spot for Gangjin, but perhaps Seoul can bounce back next week by taking points off them instead.

Before the match, the Seoul coach spoke openly about the team’s recent struggles. She pointed to injuries and the lack of meaningful training during the week because of the extreme weather. To her credit, she also admitted every team was dealing with similar conditions and suggested the increasingly congested fixture list may be the main culprit.

Whatever the cause, it does not look like Seoul's struggles will end any time soon, but they’ll need to regroup quickly if they want to get away from the wrong end of the table.

26.4. Home Day

It feels like I've had to wait an eternity for the first home match, but in reality, it's only been 13 days since the first round match in Suwon. It could be much worse. Last year in the 2025 K4 League, Gijang, a brand-new team, didn't have a home match for the first month of the season. This match is also special because Gogga is joining me.

I mentioned before that one of the reasons I chose Seoul this season is the ease of reaching their home ground. It takes about the same time to get to Seoul as it does to get to Suwon, except I don't have to worry that I will accidentally get on the wrong bus (happened), or not realise the bus with open door righ in front of me it is my bus (happened), or be stuck waiting outside in bad weather (happens all the time). Instead, I get on the only train that arrives at the platform, transfer once, and try to pay attention so that I don't miss the World Cup Stadium Station, which I'm embarrassed to say happened multiple times in the past.

We arrive at World Cup Stadium, almost missing that we need to get off, around 6pm and like my previous Friday evening visit, only a few people get off. It's just us, and one other person. How is it possible that so many people live in the area, but the station is this quiet? Similarly, HomePlus is as quiet as a church. Last time I was here on a Friday evening, I thought it was just an odd day, but maybe this is normal. Where do all the people living in the nearby apartments do their shopping, and how do they turn a profit if they dont have a decent number of customers early on a Friday evening?

Inside HomePlus our options for food are disappointingly limited. We have prepacked fried chicken, fresh fried chicken, and jokbal. There are also small packs with ginger and soy sauce for chobab (sushi), but no chobab. For drinks, I manage to find a bottle of my favourite makgeolli in the fridge, but where the beers are supposed to be, there is just empty space. With no cold beer available, Gogga picks up a cheap but drinkable white wine. Yes, we are taking white wine to the football. The shelves in general look odd. Instead of the overwhelming number of options you'd expect in large supermarkets, we see entire shelves displaying one single drink. There was even an entire aisle stocked with just one brand of barley tea. It feels like HomePlus is having a clearance sale before they close down. We leave the weird aisle behind and pay, and with plenty of time to spare, we head over to the Auxiliary Stadium.

At the stadium, Gogga signs up for a permanent QR code. Does this mean she will join me for more matches? I'm hopeful, but only time will tell. She knows she has an open invitation. We find seats in the home section and get settled. Young women dressed in what I can only describe as "slightly sexy Christmas outfits" hand us blow-up noise makers and foldable paper clappers, both ubiquitous at Korean sports events. I assume the ladies will act as our cheerleaders for the match. (For what it's worth, I dont see why cheerleaders can't wear jeans and t-shirts, like Gimpo FC did one season.) There is also a man handing out stacks of paper clappers, but instead of handing them to spectators who don't have any, he hands the stacks to random spectators and motions them to distribute or put them on a chair for others to take. Basically, he is trying to get others to do his job for him.

Both sides of the stand have more people than I expected, and the official count puts us at just short of 300. Our side has as many young people as adults. There is a group of girls wearing the same uniforms as the Seoul team, who I assume are the youth team, possibly the under-18s. I mentioned to Gogga that the vast majority of spectators today will be female. This should not be surprising at the women's league, but over the last few seasons, the percentage of female spectators has also been growing at the men's matches, both in the casual sections and the cheering sections. Quite a few teams even have women manning the drums. I like that women are feeling more welcomed at football, although I suspect there is still that undertone of it being a man's world.

On the Sejong side, someone is already chanting, and I think I know that voice. I stand up and look over, and indeed, it is someone I know as Unique Football Supporter. He is what I call a Lone Hero. A Lone Hero is usually a single man with a drum and a flag, cheering for a small team, while the rest of the spectators watch the match in near silence. Some of these Lone Heroes also support a larger professional team, but that is not their main focus.

The Lone Hero supporting Sejong tonight is special. I first saw him about 4 years ago at a K5 League match where he was cheering on Byuksan FC. I think he lives in the Gwanak area because he also supports K6 League's Renew FC, and both teams are based in Gwanak-gu. When I met him last year, I learned that he has a YouTube channel, and from his channel, I learned that he supports teams in almost every league in the area, including the winter futsal leagues. This evening, he is here for Sejong, which is nowhere close to Gwanak-gu. The man is, to me at least, a Lone Legend.

Before the match starts, a group of young dancers provide us with some entertainment. They perform their first number alone, and are joined for a second number by the cheerleaders. The performance is not to my taste, but they are doing their best to entertain us, and for that I will applaud them. Once they finish, they line up to welcome the players onto the field.

The players walk onto the field to the sound of Pirates of the Caribbean and line up facing the stands. While the players are lined up, a dog barks in the stands. Some of the substitute players standing in front of us turn around, spot the puppy, and point out the fluffy furball to the other substitutes. It's fun being so close to the field that the players can comfortably interact with spectators. Out on the field, the starters greet each other and the referees, then proceed to form circles for their pre-kickoff chant.

For most of the match, Seoul looks the stronger team. It feels like they are starting to gel because their play is definitely less chaotic. It might also just be that Sejong is not as strong as Suwon or Incheon. Despite all the pressure Seoul exerts in the first half, nothing much happens. During the half, I take the opportunity to walk around for photos. There is a tree off to the side, and it's blooming with white flowers, similar to cherry blossoms. It provides me the opportunity to capture the kind of photo you can only get in the springtime. Next to me is a young doggo and its owner. (I found a photo of the doggo from the previous season, so it seems they've been attending matches for a while now.) It's friendly and tries to smell me the whole time I'm taking photos. I offer my hand for it to smell, and the owner seems okay with me touching it. The mess of curls on its head is so hot I could die.

Next, I head out of the stadium for a wider view. There are benches next to the ground, outside the fenced-off area, and invariably, there will be at least one person sitting there. It's almost always an older man, and I'm convinced they sit there because they don't want to pay. More charitably, they probably just walked by, saw something happening on the field, and decided to sit down for a while.

In the second half, Seoul continues to pressure, but it still feels like we are heading to a scoreless draw. That is, until the sixty-eighth minute, when there is a flurry of goals. Number 15 Gang Yu-Mi scores first, and No 2 Bin Hyeon-Jin joins her for a fun celebration dance right in front of us. Two minutes later, number 9 Gang Tae-Gyeong makes it 2-0 for Seoul, and just one minute after that, Sejong scores. Fun times. Sejong spends the rest of the match pressing hard, but they don't manage to equalise. The way Seoul handles this pressure concerns me. With only a handful of minutes left, they try to play the ball out of danger rather than just going route one and hoofing it downfield.

The match finishes without further goals, and instead of their immediate circle conference, the players come straight to the home fans to thank them. It's a small thing, but it makes me really happy. While the team has their circle conference, the youth team start making their way down to the field for what we assume will be a photo session, and we make our way out of the stadium.

As we leave, I notice Sejong players lined up on the halfway line with a coach in front of them. They sprint to the goal area, where they line up and repeat. I'm not sure what's going on, but it looks like they are being punished for losing the match. I suspect that they are the reserves and players who were not in the match-day squad getting a workout.

It was another fun night of football with much to write about. However, as the season unfolds, I suspect the novelty of home matches will start to wear off. It will be the same subway ride, with mostly the same pre-match routine, and most of the same spectators every week. I doubt I'll post on every match, and at some point, I will start grouping matches together.

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2026.04.17 - Seoul City Hall Amazones WFC 2:1 Sejong Sportstoto WFC

2. Travel, And More Travel.

There've been multiple semi-professional teams in Sejong City in recent years. The WK League team Sejong Sportoto WFC has called the city home since 2019, and between 2022 and 2024 FC Sejong (formerly Sejong Vanesse FC) played here. At the end of the 2024 season, FC Sejong was suspended from participating in the 2025 season due to not paying player wages, and they subsequently decided to cease operations completely. Within weeks, as a new team, Sejong SA FC was created to enter the K3/4 league structure starting in 2025. It is this team I'm on my way to watch today.

Sejong City itself is spread over an extensive area, with the Citizen Stadium located on the edge of what seems to be the least populated urban area. There is no direct access to the stadium from my home, and I must take the subway, then two buses, just to get close enough to walk to the stadium. That's a three-hour trip, one way, if transfers are kind to me.

But that does not mean it is a horrible trip. Of course, there is the inconvenience of multiple transfers, and sitting for at least two and a half hours while constantly looking at the map on my phone to make sure I'm still going in the correct direction, but it's perfect for an adventure. I start with a ride down Line 1 to Cheonan Station. From Cheonan, I get a bus that meanders Southwards through the City and into the middle-of-nowhere countryside. Once we hit the countryside, the driver turns into a rally driver, and we must hold on and pray we don't tip over somewhere along the winding roads. While holding on, I must also look for landmarks and find them on the map to confirm my location, because I'm not sure what will happen if I get off at the wrong transfer point. Did I mention we're in the middle of nowhere? 

There are only 5 people on the bus by the time we get to the transfer point, but I'm not the only one getting off. I am, however, the only one standing there looking lost. The other passenger immediately takes out his phone and orders a taxi to take him where he needs to be. I've only done half the bus part of my trip, and a taxi to Sejong will cost a fortune, so I have to wait for my next bus, which may or may not come soon.

The bus eventually appears around the corner, and I stick my arm out for a good while until I'm sure the driver knows I need to board. I really don't want to miss the bus and have to wait 30-45 minutes for the next one. My inexperience with taking multiple buses made me paranoid, and I planned a huge time buffer in case I got lost. So, even if I do screw up somewhere, I'm confident I'll be able to recover. Not that I want to go through that mess, though.

On the new bus, I check the map for a few minutes before I'm satisfied that I'm heading in the correct direction, then settle in knowing I don't need to worry again until we hit a clearly urban area. On the way, I learn something interesting. Korea University has a huge campus in Sejong. This is the same campus where the university's women's team plays, the team that would win the Queen's Cup later in the season. 

As expected, I arrive well before kick-off, and I start my search for a comfortable and affordable coffee shop to stay warm in. Unsurprisingly, there isn't much in this area, just a coffee shop or two, a few meat restaurants, and a Kimbab Changguk if you venture too far off the main road, as well as a Paris Baguette and a convenience store. There is ALWAYS a Paris Baguette and a convenience store.

I choose one of the coffee shops and settle in to do some productive time-wasting. I'm so early that I see the opposition team bus pass by. There is even enough time for some of their management to come to the coffee shop for coffee. I really hope my planning ability will improve as this year's adventure unfolds.

Remember the Kimbab Changguk I mentioned? When lunchtime arrives, I find it and order a plate of good old Kimchi Fried Rice. After lunch, I slowly make my way towards the stadium along a small road with apartments on one side and small-scale farms on the other. Here I find a bungabbang shop. Not a stand, but a permanent structure dedicated to the making of this delicious winter snack. It's an odd location, but I don't care because how can you say "no" to a warm Fishy-Bread in cold weather like this?

With a hot snack in hand, I walk the final 300 or so metres to the stadium, while enjoying the blessing and curse of bungabbang. Blessing: The hot snack keeps your hands nice and warm. Curse: Trying to eat it results in heavy open-mouthed breathing as you try to cool the scolding bite on your tongue.

Sejong SA FC went all out for this first game of the season. They have four food trucks selling coffee and food. Those used to attending matches featuring bigger teams will scoff at this, but down here in the K4 League, it's a luxury when you have a convenience store nearby.

As is common for K3 and K4 League matches, there's no entry fee, but there are volunteers sitting at the main entrance giving away face tattoos. I'm not interested, so I make my way up onto the pavilion. For all the effort it took to get here, I'm just happy it's the correct day and found the venue without any fuss. I find a seat behind the Daegu B supporters and settle in for kick-off. As I look at the Daegu fans, I wonder to myself what kind of supporter travels this far to cheer on the B team, but then I remember that I travelled all the way here to support neither team. I guess they are "my people".

Before the match starts, we have the obligatory opening ceremony. This one is longer than usual because we have to introduce everyone and their dog. Actually, they don't introduce the dog, but they definitely should have. Someone's dog made it onto the playing field, and during the ceremonial kick-off, it sees the opportunity to play and runs full pelt between the balls. It's not chasing the balls, no, just running for the pure joy of it. Simple pleasures make Dog happy. (You can see it arrive on the scene about 90 seconds into the video at the end of this post.)

During the match, I wander around to look at the spectators and the surroundings. On the opposite side of the main pavilion, I find more farms as well as Sejong's small fan group. I wonder if they supported the previous team, and if they attend the WK League matches, which, as far as I know, are played at the same venue. There are also a fair number of regular spectators. Other than the two cheering squads, nothing is interesting about the spectators, so I settle in to watch the rest of the match.

The match is okay, but nothing special. Sejong scores first, and early, but despite a brave defence, they are just not able to hold off their professional opposition. Before the half is done, Deagu B is ahead 1-2, and they add one more in the second half.

After the match, on the way to the bus stop, it starts raining. I'm not prepared for rain! But there is nothing to do about it, so I just try to get to the bus stop as quickly as possible, hoping my bus comes quickly. I don't look forward to the travel stress of getting to Cheonan Station, but such is the adventurous life, I guess.

I doubt I will ever go to Sejong again if it involves public transport, but I'm glad I finally made it.

2025.03.01 - Sejong Citizen Stadium

Sejong SA FC 0:5 Daegu FC B

Note: The original owners of FC Sejong have since created a new club called Seoul Phoenix FC and entered them into the Malaysian semi-professional league system. I don't understand how it's possible, but they are a Korean team, playing in the Malaysian leagues, claiming the history of FC Sejong.