Busan IPark
On the onset of the 2005 season, the owners changed the club's name to Busan I'Park (currently Busan IPark). After winning the first round, Porterfield's Busan side reached the 2005 K-League Championship play-offs, but lost to a traditionally lightweight, but then-inspired Incheon United side led by Chang Woe-ryong.
For the 2008 season, Hwang Sun-hong took over as manager. Although Busan did not win any silverware during his tenure, he did manage to bring in players such as Kim Chang-soo, Jeong Shung-hoon, Yang Dong-hyun and Kim Geun-chul while injecting the team with much needed youth by giving prospects such as Han Sang-woon, Park Hee-do, and Park Jong-woo first team opportunities. In his final season in charge of Busan, Hwang managed to lead his side to the 2010 Korean FA Cup final.
For the 2011 season, the board appointed An Ik-soo to take over from Hwang Sun-Hong who had left to manage his former club, Pohang Steelers. Under An, Busan managed to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2005 after finishing fifth on the league table in the regular season. An's Busan side was knocked out in the first round of the play-offs by Suwon Samsung Bluewings by a familiar scoreline of 1–0.
In February 2012, an adjustment was made to the club's name by dropping an apostrophe making the official name read Busan IPark.
In 2015, after nine successive bottom-half finishes, Busan IPark were relegated to the second-tier K League Challenge for the first time in their history. [3]
Towards the end of the 2016 season, with an immediate return to the K League Classic looking unlikely, IPark moved back to their smaller, previous home ground, the Gudeok Stadium.
Busan IPark had an impressive 2017 season, although this was overshadowed by the death of then-manager Cho Jin-ho with only two weeks remaining in the season. Busan finished runners up in the K League Challenge to Gyeongnam FC, losing only 6 games all season. With caretaker manager, Lee Seung-yub in charge, Busan defeated Asan Mugunghwa, in the playoff semi-final, but lost on penalties after a two-legged final to Sangju Sangmu FC, who became the first K League Classic team to retain their league status via the playoffs. Busan also reached the final of the FA Cup, knocking out higher league opposition in Pohang Steelers, FC Seoul, Jeonnam Dragons and Suwon Bluewings but once again lost over a two-legged final, this time to Ulsan Hyundai.
For the 2018 season in the newly re-branded K League 2, Choi Yun-kyum was appointed manager after previously gaining promotion with Gangwon FC. Busan IPark eventually finished third in the K League 2, but for the second consecutive season lost in the two-legged playoff final, this time to FC Seoul. Despite again failing in their promotion bid, Busan broke numerous attendance records for the K League 2, including over 10,000 [4] for the home leg of the playoff final. After failing to get promoted, manager Choi Yun-kyum resigned in the off-season and was replaced by Cho Deok-je. Busan enjoyed a successful 2019 season, with Cho Deok-je implementing an attacking brand of football that saw Busan finish as the top-scoring team in the division. Cho's side were built around young talents such as Kim Moon-hwan, Lee Dong-jun, and Kim Jin-kyu, as well as then national team striker Lee Jung-hyup, veteran midfielder Park Jong-woo, and Brazilian playmaker Rômulo. Busan IPark finished second in the K League 2 behind Gwangju FC, entering the promotion playoffs for the fourth season in a row. After defeating FC Anyang 1–0 at home, Busan faced local rivals Gyeongnam FC in a two-legged final. After a goalless first leg at the Gudeok Stadium, Busan won the away fixture 2–0 to secure their return to Korea's top division for the first time since 2015.
The 2020 season brought quite the opposite feelings, in comparison: the club quickly found itself fighting against relegation, and coach Cho Deok-je eventually left the club in September after a poor run of results. Former Incheon United coach Lee Ki-hyung took over in a caretaker capacity for the remaining four games of the season. After taking four points from his first two games in charge, Busan only needed a single point from either of their final games of the season to guarantee their top flight status for another year. However, despite leading at half-time against both Incheon United and Seongnam FC, Busan lost both games and finished in last place, thus getting relegated back to the K League 2. [5]
Because of this major blow, at the start of 2021 Busan's board chose to pursue a general rebuild, which was opened by massive changes in the locker room: a multi-phased trade with Ulsan Hyundai saw Lee Kyu-seong and homegrown rising star Lee Dong-jun depart, in favour of Choi Jun, Park Jeong-in, Lee Sang-heon and Jung Hoon-sung; other prominent players, including Han Ji-ho (who went to Bucheon FC 1995), Kang Min-soo (to Incheon United), Rômulo (to Chengdu), Kim Moon-hwan (who joined MLS club Los Angeles FC) and Kwon Hyeok-kyu (due to military service at Gimcheon Sangmu), left the club as well; the previous year's top scorer and MVP, An Byong-jun, as well as Ahn Joon-soo, Park Min-gyu (on loan), Valentinos Sielis, Domagoj Drožđek and Ryan Edwards, were all brought in. [6]
The team also had its first permanent foreign manager since 2007, as newcomer Ricardo Peres was appointed, following a conversation between the board and then South Korean national team head coach Paulo Bento, who Peres had worked with for years. [6] [7] Although the young Portuguese manager succeeded in implementing new training strategies at the club and giving young players more chances, he had a controversial relationship with supporters, while the team's results were panned by inconsistency and lack of balance: having the worst defence of the league (with 56 conceded goals) and relying mainly on two players for goals (An Byong-jun and Park Jeong-in), Busan finished fifth in the league and out of the promotion play-offs. [7] Nevertheless, new positives were still taken as backbone player Kim Jin-kyu established himself as one of the best midfielders of the season, while Choi Jun and An Byong-jun were nominated in the league's Best XI, as the latter also won both his second Top Scorer and MVP awards in a row. [7]
