With Red Angels’ reign finally over, Suwon FC claim WK League Championship

Suwon FC Women’s 2-1 aggregate win over Hwacheon KSPO on Saturday sealed their first WK League Championship title in 14 years, ending the dominance of the Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels, who had appeared in every Championship final until this year.

Suwon FC Women players celebrate during the WK League Championship match against Hwacheon KSPO at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Nov. 5. [NEWS1]

Suwon FC Women’s 2-1 aggregate win over Hwacheon KSPO on Saturday sealed their first WK League Championship title in 14 years, ending the dominance of the Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels, who had appeared in every Championship final until this year.

Since the Championship began in 2009, the Red Angels finished as runners-up from 2009 to 2013 and clinched victory from 2013 to 2023. The Championship is the final contest in which the WK League champions face the winner of the playoffs between the WK League runners-up and the third-placed team. Suwon’s long-awaited victory came despite the absence of veteran midfielder Ji So-yun, who left Korea to join the National Women’s Soccer League team Seattle Reign in January, ahead of the 2024 WK League season that kicked off in March.

Ji, the highest-scoring player in Korean national team history — men's or women's — initially joined Suwon in 2022 to help elevate the quality of domestic football in Korea ahead of the 2023 World Cup. However, despite this, the Korean women’s team was eliminated early from the tournament following a poor performance in the group stage.

The Red Angels, meanwhile, failed to even make it to the playoffs this season, finishing fourth in the eight-team table.

While the Incheon side’s performance this season does not fully account for their decline, it marks a shift in the league that has often lacked competitiveness and intensity.

Since its inception in 2009, the WK League has lacked a promotion-relegation system, meaning there are no significant consequences for teams finishing near the bottom of the table. Against this backdrop, no team has successfully challenged the dominant Red Angels.

This lack of intensity has also been evident on the international stage, where the women’s national team, composed mostly of WK League players, has consistently underperformed.

The women’s team has never qualified for the Olympics and has only reached the round of 16 at the World Cup. This was the case under former manager Colin Bell, who served as the longest-serving manager from October 2019 to June this year.

Despite nearly four years of preparation for the 2023 World Cup, the team exited the group stage after recording one draw and two losses.

Korea's Park Eun-sun, right, dribbles the ball during a Group H game against Morocco at Hindmarsh Stadium in Hindmarsh, Australia on July 30, 2023. [AP/YONHAP]

The squad also failed to shine at the Hangzhou Asian Games, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by North Korea.

Bell also said during the World Cup that WK League players are not accustomed to playing at a high intensity, as the league does not push them to perform at that level.

Yet, despite these challenges, the WK League has yet to make significant changes to its system.

The league has yet to adopt a promotion-relegation system or overhaul its schedule, which has hindered efforts to raise awareness about the league itself.

Currently, WK League teams play on weekdays, making it difficult for working fans to attend matches.

With little public interest or profit, the league remains semiprofessional and rarely generates much publicity.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]