By Jon Dunbar
Attending a Korean football game is a wild experience, with rabid fans waving giant flags, swilling beer and singing along to cheer songs. In recent years, the FC Seoul supporters section has had an increasing number of foreign faces.
“Watching Seoul has given me a lot of pleasure over the years,” British expat Paul Carver, 39, told The Korea Times. He’s been a season-ticket holder for five years here.
Carver, a civil servant who runs the Seoul Global Center, is also part of the FC Seoul supporters club Diablos.
He says Diablos was formed in 2013 by three foreign supporters who kept bumping into each other at games and now has a core group of about 15 regulars. It’s been a subgroup of the official supporters group, Suhoshin.
At home games, the Diablos are found in the north stand to the left of the goal. They also travel to away games together, and every year they pick one or two away games for a full weekend trip, where they watch the game, take in the local culture and experience the nightlife.
This Sunday, they will follow FC Seoul to the Suwon Sports Complex, where the team will take on Suwon FC, which recently advanced into the K-League Classic league for the first time this year. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“It’s FC Seoul’s first visit to Suwon FC’s ground so it should be interesting to see how it compares to a game against the Suwon Samsung Bluewings,” said Carver.
The following week, FC Seoul plays two home games at the World Cup Stadium, on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. with Gwangju, and on Saturday at 7 p.m. against league rivals Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
Last year, FC Seoul ranked a measly fourth in the league out of 12. But this year, they sit at second place behind Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
“Last year they weren’t playing very attractive football, but this year they’ve been scoring lots of goals and their unusually fast start to the season meant we started to believe they’ve got a chance of winning the league this year,” said Carver.
“Unfortunately, the limited tactical ability of the manager and their mental fragility has seen them slip up in the last weeks but they’re still handily placed in the league.”
Visit facebook.com/groups/diablosblancos for helpful resources related to FC Seoul, a schedule of upcoming games and banter from some of its most fervent fans.