FC Seoul is one of the major powerhouse clubs in the K-League in Korea, backed by the GS Group. The club began life in 1983 as the Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso Football Club, and in 1990 moved into Seoul. This proved to be very lucrative for the club, and it changed its name to the LG Cheetahs.

However, the K-League wanted to create strong regional identities within the league, and forced many clubs out of Seoul and other major cities. This saw the club relocate to Anyang.

However, in time for the 2002 world cup that Korea was to jointly host, the K-League was encouraged by the Korean organising committee and Korean FA to relocate clubs to the new stadia being built. This meant that the stadia would not saddle the local governments with debts incurred, and no regular income to help pay them off.

The K-League partially relented, and allowed clubs to move, but Seoul remained off-limits. However, the Seoul World Cup Stadium remained vacant. The Seoul Government and the KFA pushed the K-League to let a club play there.

The K-League again relented, but only if the club helps with the costs of the stadiums construction. LG aw this as a fantastic opportunity. The club had been forcibly moved from Seoul, and a return would allow LG to increase its presence in the city.

However, a huge public backlash  nearly scuppered the move. The local fans wanted them to stay, but the lure of Seoul was too much for LG, and besides, they where only “going home.” However, they ended up having to re-brand the club FC Seoul as part of the deal to move the club.

The clubs logo is based on traditional octagonal kites in Korea, a design matched by the roof of the stadium they call home. The sun that is biting the ball is in a traditional design and is supposed to represent the  fans, and their passion for football. Below the clubs name are two dates. 1983, the year of the clubs foundation, and 2004, the year the club finally returned to Seoul.

The club opted for three colours. Red, Black, and Gold. Red is for passion, gold for glory, and black for strength.

The kit itself is supplied by Adidas, using their Formotion wear. The template is similar to the template used for the last Spain kit, with some re-working. The trim on the right is now thinner, and worked into a black ‘S’ shape trimmed with gold to represent the city of Seoul. The body of the shirt is black and red stripes, whilst the shoulders and sleeves are red. Any trimming, and the Adidas stripes are finished in gold. The collar itself is red, with the Adidas logo underneath on the chest.

On the right of the shirt, Adidas built in a large red panel under the arm, and at the base of this panel printed into the red is a copy of the flaming sun taken from the clubs logo.

The clubs logo is located on the left side of the shirt on the chest, with the clubs primary sponsor logo on the centre chest. The sponsor is Xi, one of the divisions of the clubs parent company, GS Group.

Paul Woodcock