Daegu FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in Daegu that competes in the K League 2, the second-tier of South Korean professional football. Founded as a community club at the end of 2002, they made their K League debut in 2003. The club won the 2018 Korean FA Cup and have advanced to the round of 16 in the 2021 and 2022 editions of the AFC Champions League.
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 of 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 the FA Cup, after defeating University and National League sides, Daegu were knocked out in the quarterfinals in a 2–1 loss to another K League side, the Chunnam Dragons.
For the 2006 K League season, the club placed seventh overall in the league and was 13th in Samsung Hauzen Cup. It reached the quarterfinals of the 2006 edition of the FA Cup but lost (again) to the Chunnam Dragons. Following completion of the 2006 season, Park Jong-hwan stepped down as manager after four years with the club. On 1 December 2006, Byun Byung-joo was appointed as the new manager. A former South Korean international, Byun had no previous K League management experience prior to his appointment as Daegu FC's manager. The club's performance slipped in comparison to its previous two seasons, and it placed 12th. The club failed to get out of the group stage in the 2007 Samsung Hauzen Cup and achieved a similar level of performance in the FA Cup, where Daegu lost to Incheon United in the round of 16.
In 2008, Daegu played extremely aggressive football, becoming the joint equal top-scoring team of the K League, alongside Suwon Samsung Bluewings. However, they also conceded the most goals in the league. An 11th place in the K League standings was the eventual outcome. For the first time in its history, Daegu reached the semi-finals of the Korean FA Cup, by defeating Ulsan in the quarterfinals, following a win in the round of 16 over Ansan Hallelujah. However, they then lost to their opponents Pohang Steelers in a 2–0 loss. The club placed fifth (out of six teams) in their group in the Samsung Hauzen Cup.
The 2009 season was one of the worst in the club's history. In a now expanded league of 15 clubs, thanks to new entrant Gangwon FC, Daegu would place in the last, 15th place, winning only five games. In the FA Cup, Daegu reached the quarterfinals, against Daejeon Citizen, the game finished with a 1–1 scoreline. Daegu lost out in the subsequent penalty shoot-out. In the league cup, the club finished third in their group, one point away from qualifying for the knockout phase of the cup. Later in the year, Lee Young-jin was appointed as manager for the 2010 season. Lee, who has previously coached FC Seoul, replaced Byun who had resigned after being embroiled in a scandal involving a player's agent and payoffs for selecting specific players.
On field, Daegu repeated their dismal performances of the previous season, finishing 15th in the K League standings, equal with Gwangju Sangmu on points. Daegu conceded the most goals of any club in the league, losing 19 games out of 28 games, with five wins and four draws. In the FA Cup, Daegu lost 1–0 after extra time to the National League side Suwon City. Better results were achieved in the League Cup, with Daegu progressing out of their group to the knockout stage, thanks to wins over Daejeon Citizen and Busan, before losing to FC Seoul after a penalty shoot-out.
By virtue of winning the 2018 Korean FA Cup, Daegu qualified for its first appearance in the AFC Champions League.
After a controversial fall out with the club's executive director, manager André left Daegu FC in January 2020. The club then announced Lee Byung-keun, who had joined the club as the chief assistant coach at the beginning of the 2019 season, as a caretaker manager to lead the club in the upcoming 2020 K League 1 season.
Daegu narrowly avoided relegation in 2024 by defeating second division club Chungnam Asan in the promotion-relegation play-offs after finishing 11th in the regular season. However, the club was automatically relegated in 2025, finishing bottom of the table.
International competitions Prior to the start of the 2006 K League season, Daegu participated in the Tongyeong Cup. The Tongyeong Cup was a four-team invitational tournament held in Tongyeong, South Korea. As well as Daegu and fellow K League club Incheon United, A-League side Queensland Roar and Beijing Guo'an were also part of the tournament. After beating both Incheon and Beijing, Daegu drew 0–0 with Queensland, winning the Tongyeong Cup and thus its first trophy.
In 2019, the club played in the 2019 AFC Champions League, and for the group stage was placed with Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Guangzhou Evergrande and Melbourne Victory. Despite having the lowest wage bill of all the K-League clubs, it won its first game, against Melbourne Victory. It went on to win two more games in the group stage but failed to progress to the knockout phase.
Daegu made it to the knockout stages of the 2021 and 2022 editions of the AFC Champions League, and defeated eventual tournament winners Urawa Red Diamonds 1–0 in the group stage of the 2022 competition before being knocked out by compatriots Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the next round.
Rivalries Daegu shares a rivalry with the nearby Daegu–Gyeongbuk club Pohang Steelers. The city of Daegu was previously part of North Gyeongsang Province, which Pohang is now the largest city of.
The club also shares a rivalry with Gwangju FC, mirroring the Samsung Lions-Kia Tigers baseball rivalry between the two cities. The 'Moonlight Derby' between the two cities (borrowed from the 'Moonlight Series' rivalry name in baseball) stems from differences in their respective political leanings.
Stadium
The club's first home ground, Daegu Stadium (formerly Daegu World Cup Stadium), was opened on 28 June 2001 and is owned by the Daegu Metropolitan City. The stadium was one of the venues for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosting three group stage matches, as well as the third-place match between South Korea and Turkey. Daegu FC used the stadium as their main venue between 2003 and 2018. The stadium has 66,422 seats, and it is covered by natural grass. The name was changed to Daegu Stadium on 5 March 2008. Occasionally, Daegu FC played its home games at the Daegu Civic Stadium.
In the 2019 season, Daegu FC relocated to the DGB Daegu Bank Park, a 12,419-capacity football-specific stadium built at the same location as the demolished Daegu Civic Stadium. The small but compact stadium located in the Buk District of the city has led to it constantly selling out and consistently breaking their attendance record year after year. In 2025, the stadium was renamed as Daegu iM Bank Park due to the name change of the stadium's sponsor, iM Bank.
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Retired number(s)
12 – Club Supporters (the 12th Man) 24 – Park Jong-jin
Captains Season Captain 2003 Oh Ju-po 2003 Kim Hak-chul 2004 Roh Sang-rae 2005 Jin Soon-jin 2005 Song Jung-hyun 2006 Lee Sang-il 2006–07 Kim Hyun-soo 2008 Hwang Sun-pil 2009 Jang Nam-seok 2010 Bang Dae-jong 2011 Back Min-chul 2012–13 Yoo Kyoung-youl 2014 An Sang-hyun 2015 Heo Jae-won 2016 Park Tae-hong 2017–19 Han Hee-hoon 2020 Hong Jeong-un 2021–2022 Kim Jin-hyuk 2022–present Cesinha
R-League From 2008 to 2011, Daegu FC fielded a team in the R-League, established in 2000 for the reserve squads of the professional K-League clubs. The National Policy Agency also entered a team in the league. The league format provided for two groups of teams (six to eight in each group), each group member playing the others in the group, three or four times, depending on the number of teams in the groups. The top two teams in each group moved onto a playoff round although from 2010, the title was shared between the winners of each group.
In 2008, Daegu placed 7th out of the 8 teams in their group, winning three of 18 games. They fared little better in 2009, finishing last in their group of five teams. In 2010, Daegu's reserve squad only won one of their group games, while they drew two, and lost 11 times. The side's return of 5 points saw it place 8th and last in their group. In 2011, the club improved to 5th in its group, with eight wins. It did not enter the 2012 edition of the competition.
Club officials Chairman: Hong Joon-pyo (Daegu mayor) Executive director: Cho Kwang-rae Scout: Sung Ho-sang
Coaching staff Head coach: Choi Sung-yong Assistant head coach: Jung Seon-ho Goalkeeping coach: Lee Yong-bal Fitness coach & interpreter: Lee Jong-hyun Medical trainer: Park Hae-seung, No Hyeon-uk, Lee Dae-gyun Data analyst: Park Jun-chul
List of managers No.NameFromToSeason(s) 1 Park Jong-hwan 2002/10/09 2006/11/05 2003–2006 2 Byun Byung-joo 2006/11/28 2009/12/07 2007–2009 3 Lee Young-jin 2009/12/22 2011/10/31 2010–2011 4 Moacir Pereira 2011/11/02 2012/12/01 2012 5 Dang Sung-jeung 2012/12/03 2013/04/20 2013 6 Baek Jong-chul 2013/04/23 2013/11/30 2013 7 Choi Deok-ju 2013/12/20 2014/11/18 2014 8 Lee Young-jin 2014/11/24 2016/08/12 2015–2016 C Son Hyun-jun 2016/08/13 2016/11/21 2016 9 2016/11/22 2017/05/22 2017 C André 2017/05/23 2017/11/15 2017 10 2017/11/16 2020/01/28 2017–2019 C Lee Byung-keun 2020/01/30 2020/11/05 2020 11 2020/11/06 2021/12/20 2021 12 Alexandre Gama 2021/12/22 2022/08/14 2022 C Choi Won-kwon 2022/08/15 2022/11/07 2022 13 2022/11/07 2024/04/19 2023–2024 14 Park Chang-hyun 2024/04/23 2025/04/13 2024–2025 C Seo Dong-won 2025/04/13 2025/05/26 2025 15 Kim Byung-soo 2025/05/27 2026/04/19 2025–2026 16 Choi Sung-yong 2026/04/20 present 2026–
Honours K League Challenge Runners-up (1): 2016
Korean FA Cup Winners (1): 2018 Runners-up (1): 2021
Season-by-season records Domestic record SeasonLeagueKorean Cup2003 1 44 7 16 21 38 60 –22 37 11 QF2004 24 7 7 10 30 31 –1 28 10 Ro322005 24 8 6 10 30 29 +1 30 8 QF2006 26 8 10 8 32 30 +2 34 7 QF2007 26 6 6 14 35 46 –11 24 12 Ro162008 26 8 2 16 46 58 –12 26 11 SF2009 28 5 8 15 20 45 –25 23 15 QF2010 28 5 4 19 28 57 –29 19 15 Ro322011 30 8 9 13 35 46 –11 33 12 Ro322012 44 16 13 15 55 56 –1 61 10 Ro162013 38 6 14 18 36 57 –21 32 13↓ Ro322014 2 36 13 8 15 50 47 +3 47 7 Ro322015 40 18 13 9 67 47 +20 67 3 Ro322016 40 19 13 8 53 36 +17 70 2↑ Ro322017 1 38 11 14 13 50 52 –2 47 8 Ro322018 38 14 8 16 47 56 –9 50 7 W2019 38 13 16 9 46 37 +9 55 5 Ro162020 27 10 8 9 43 39 +4 38 5 Ro162021 38 15 10 13 41 48 –7 55 3 RU2022 38 10 16 12 52 59 –7 46 8 SF2023 38 13 14 11 42 43 –1 53 6 Ro162024 38 9 13 16 45 52 –7 40 11 R32025 38 7 13 18 47 67 –20 34 12↓ QF
Key W = Winners RU = Runners-up SF = Semi-final QF = Quarter-final Ro16 = Round of 16 Ro32 = Round of 32 R3 = Third round
AFC Champions League record