Daegu FC대구 FC

Daegu Football Club, commonly referred to as Daegu FC (Korean: 대구 FC), is a South Korean professional football club based in Daegu. The club was founded as a community club at the end of 2002, and the club made their K League 1 debut in 2003. Daegu has played mostly in the K League 1 but was relegated at the end of the 2013 season to the K League 2. They were promoted back to the K League 1 for 2017 and went on to win the Korean FA Cup in 2018, which qualified them for the 2019 Asian Champions League. The club's best season in K League 1 was in 2019, when it finished fifth out of 12 teams.

History

Foundation

Daegu FC was established in 2002 as a community club (generally in South Korea, a "community-club" means that the club issues shares) based in the city of Daegu. The city is a key shareholder, and the current mayor is chairman of the club. Following their foundation, the club entered the 2003 season of the K League under manager Park Jong-hwan. Park had previously managed the national side for a number years in the 1980s and 1990s. The club's entry, together with that of Gwangju Sangmu, brought the number of teams participating in the league to 12.

Domestic competitions

Daegu finished the 2003 K League season in 11th place (out of 12 teams), winning seven games, and drawing sixteen. In the 2003 Korean FA Cup, Daegu reached the quarterfinals, where they were defeated 1–0 by Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i. Daegu improved in 2004 to tenth place in the league which, due to Incheon United's entry, now numbered 13 clubs. In the FA Cup, Daegu were knocked out in the round of 32 by National League side Ansan Hallelujah. In the Samsung Hauzen Cup, a new cup competition run as a league competition specifically for K League clubs (thus excluding National League and lower tier clubs) during the K League's mid-season break, finished eighth out of 13 teams. The following season saw Daegu placed eighth place in the league and seventh in the Samsung Hauzen Cup. In