Full name | Goyang KB Kookmin Bank Football Club 고양 KB국민은행 축구단 |
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Nickname(s) | Goyang KB |
Short name | GKB |
Founded | Original 1969 (Dissolved 1997) Refounded 2000 |
Dissolved | 2012 |
Ground | Goyang Stadium |
Capacity | 41,311 |
Owner | KB Financial Group |
Chairman | Kang Jung-Won |
Manager | Lee Woo-Hyung |
League | National League |
2012 Season | Runner-up |
Goyang KB Kookmin Bank FC (Korean: 고양 KB국민은행 축구단) was a South Korean football club based in the Seoul satellite city of Goyang. It played in the National League, the third tier of Korean football. The club was officially dissolved in November 2012.
Kookmin Bank FC was initially founded on September,1969 and competed in the various amateur football competitions at the time. The club enjoyed success in tournaments such as the Korea Semi-Professional Football League (winners in 1978) and the President's Cup (winners in 1978 and 1983) before becoming founder members of the K-League, the professional football league in South Korea, in 1983.
The club's stay in the professional ranks was a short one, as it finished 5th out of the five teams in the first year. When it came in 8th out of the eight teams in 1984 the decision was made for the club to return to the amateur ranks.
Upon returning to the amateur ranks, the club returned to winning ways and managed President's Cup triumphs in 1986, 1990 and 1995. It also won the 3rd edition of the Industrial Amateur Football championship in 1993, a tournament they would win again in 1996.
The financial crisis that struck South Korea in 1997 saw the club temporarily wound up, with the official decision to pull the plug on the team coming on December 31, 1997. After two years out of the game, Kookmin Bank reconstituted their club on February 28, 2000 and the team returned to the amateur ranks, eventually winning a sixth President's Cup crown in 2003.
Organised league football at amateur level came about in 2003 with the establishment of the National League, a competition with ten members, of which Kookmin Bank were one. Initially based in Gimpo, the club won the first stage of the 2003 championship and then moved its home base to Goyang and the team's name was changed to Goyang Kookmin Bank for the second stage where they finished runners-up on goal difference. They defeated the reserve team of military side Sangmu 5-4 on aggregate in the playoff final to win the league. They retained their championship crown in 2004 with a 4-1 aggregate win over Gangneung City FC after having again won the first stage of the league season.