Full name | Ulsan Hyundai Football Club 울산 현대 축구단 |
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Nickname(s) |
Horang-i (Tiger) Gangs of Asia Iron Maces |
Short name | UHFC |
Founded | 1983 | , as Hyundai Horang-i
Ground | Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium |
Capacity | 44,102 |
Owner | Hyundai Heavy Industries |
Chairman | Chung Mong-joon |
Manager | Kim Do-hoon |
League | K League Classic |
2016 | K League Classic, 4th |
Website | Club website |
The Ulsan Hyundai Football Club is a South Korean professional football club, owned by the South Korean corporation Hyundai Heavy Industries. Established on 6 December 1983, they joined the K League in 1984 as Hyundai Horang-i. The home ground of the team is Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium.
Ulsan Hyundai was established in on 6 December 1983, as Hyundai Horang-i, with Horangi (Horangi means tiger in Korean) as its mascot. Their original franchise area was Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. They joined the professional K League from 1984 season. While they finished their debut season as 3rd place, the team's striker Baek Jong-chul became the K League Top Scorer, scoring 16 goals in 28 matches. They won their first professional trophy in 1986, winning the Professional Football Championship, which is the origin of Korean League Cup. From 1987 season, the club moved their franchise from Incheon and Gyeonggi Province to Gangwon Province. In the 1988 season, they finished the season as the runners-up in the league.
Beginning in the 1990 season, the club moved their franchise to Ulsan, where the headquarters of several branches of owner company Hyundai are located at, from Gangwon Province. Former South Korea's legendary striker Cha Bum-kun took the managerial position from the 1991 season, leading the club to the runners-up position in the league in his debut season. However, he failed to win any trophy and was replaced by Ko Jae-wook after the 1994 season. Under Ko Jae-wook, Ulsan won their second Korean League Cup trophy in 1995, which was his debut season as Ulsan manager. Ulsan won their first ever league title in 1996, beating Suwon Samsung Bluewings 3–2 aggregate in the championship playoffs. Ulsan then entered a long dry-spell in terms of league trophies, although they won their third Korean League Cup trophy in 1998, beating Bucheon SK 2–1 aggregate in the finals.