Suwon Samsung Bluewings is a Korean football team based in the Korean city of Suwon. Founded in December 1995, they have become one of Asian football’s most famous clubs with a host of domestic and continental honours. Suwon are the reigning K-League champions, having triumped in the championship playoff final at the end of the 2008 K-League season. They have won the championship on three previous occasions, in 1998, 1999 and 2004.

Cha Bum-keun has been the manager of the club since the beginning of 2004, when he replaced former national team manager Kim Ho who had been the club’s inaugural manager.

The club was officially founded in December 1995 by the Samsung Group to be the ninth member of the K-League from the 1996 season. It was also the first club to be founded in one specific city, a plan which led to the K-League initiating plans to encourage the other member clubs to forge similar links with local communities.

Former national team manager Kim Ho took charge of the side from their first season in the K-League, and the team finished runners-up in the championship play-off that season. The championship was secured in 1998 and retained in 1999 as Suwon started to dominate Korean football.

Suwon lifted the AFC Champions League twice in succession in 2001 and 2002, and also added the Asian Super Cup to their roll of honors on two occasions.

The departure of Kim Ho in 2003 saw Korean football legend Cha Bum-keun appointed manager ahead of the 2004 season, and the club won its third league title in his debut season as manager.

Suwon finished runners-up in both major domestic competitions in 2006 as Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma claimed victory in the K-League championship playoff final and Chunnam Dragons won in the FA Cup final, thwarting Suwon’s attempts to win the first ever domestic double in Korean football.

The 2008 season became one of the most successful seasons in club history. Suwon achieved a domestic “double” by winning the K-League Championship and the League Cup.

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