Sangmu's playing staff is made up of young South Korean professional footballers serving their compulsory two-year military duty. Fifteen players join up at the start of every season and spend two years with the side before returning to their previous professional clubs. Due to its military affiliation, Sangmu are not allowed to sign any foreign players nor are they eligible for Asian competitions.
This article also includes the predecessor military-based teams – Sangmu FC, Gwangju Sangmu FC and Sangju Sangmu FC – which are still separate legal entities.
The ROK Army originally established football clubs of each corps, including CIC FC (Counter Intelligence Corps;[1][2] also known as Seoul FC[3] or Seoul Club),[4] HID FC (Headquarters of Intelligence Detachment), Quartermaster Corps FC (consisting of only quartermasters), OPMG FC (Office of the Provost Marshal General; former Military Police Command FC), Engineer Corps FC, and Infantry School FC. Most of them (excluding Quartermaster Corps FC) were merged into the Engineer Corps FC in 1965. These two clubs merged in 1969, and Army FC was established.
Afterwards, the Marine Corps FC was renamed as ROK Navy FC due to the dissolution of the Headquarters Marine Corps in 1973.
Founding and semi-professional Sangmu FC era (1984–2002)
Sangmu FC was founded on 11 January 1984, as the football side of Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps.[5][6] Although Sangmu squad was composed of professional players from K League clubs, Sangmu FC competed in the semi-professional league (now Korea National League). Sangmu joined the K League for the 1985 season, but spent only one year in the league before dropping out.
The reserve side, Sangmu B, competed in the K2 League from 2003 to 2005 before joining the K League reserve league. Sangmu B was based in Icheon and finished as the runners-up in the 2003 K2 League season.
Gwangju Sangmu era (2002–2010)
After establishing a home base in Gwangju in April 2002, the team participated in the Reserve League.[7] The club has rejoined the K League at the start of the 2003 season as Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo FC. Between 2004 and 2010, the club has been known as Gwangju Sangmu FC.
Sangju Sangmu era (2011–2020)
Once Gwangju FC was established, Gwangju Sangmu FC was relocated to Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province, as Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps moved to Mungyeong, near Sangju. The club name was officially changed to Sangju Sangmu Phoenix FC in January 2011.[8][9]
Before the 2013 season, the club officially removed the word "Phoenix" in its name. In the same season, Sangju Sangmu became the first champions of the newly established K League Challenge (second division) and promoted to the K League Classic.[10][11]
Sangju started the 2020 season already knowing they would be relegated to K League 2. The military club decided to move out of Sangju to a new, as yet undisclosed location.[12] Sangju has decided not to establish a football team which would be citizen-owned outfit and also played in K League 2.[13]
Gimcheon Sangmu (2021–present)
On 30 June 2020, the K League administration announced that the city of Gimcheon had officially submitted an application to host the team for at least the 2021 season, offering their local stadium as the football club's new home.[14] After a preliminary review and several meetings and assemblies involving local governors, the K League eventually approved the proposal and began the process of moving the club to Gimcheon.[15]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
↑"상주, 마지노선 1주일 앞두고 시민구단 전환 포기 선언"[Sangju City announced giving up their transition to citizen-owned football club a week before the deadline.]. Sports Seoul. 2020-06-22. Archived from the original on 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
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