It's tough time for Suwon Samsung Bluewings

FC Seoul celebrate the team’s first goal against the Suwon Samsung Bluewings during their K League Classic match at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, Saturday. / Yonhap

By John Duerden

It has been a tough few days for Suwon Samsung Bluewings. The proud club lost 4-3 on Saturday at the home of biggest rival FC Seoul. If that was not painful enough, the defeat officially ended Suwon’s hopes of winning the K-League title. That was always a long shot, but still, it hurts.

To make matters worse, Seoul, which started the season terribly, will look back on 2015 with some satisfaction. The team has the FA Cup victory that came last weekend against Incheon United. In Korea, there are only two trophies available. The main one is, of course, the league championship. The other is the FA Cup, so it is always worth winning and it also provides entry into next year’s Asian Champions League. If Seoul can finish above Suwon in the league and also have the FA Cup, then it will be a decent season, although both clubs will be disappointed that they did not genuinely challenge for the league title, something both sets of fans always expect. At least Seoul has something to show for it, Suwon does not.

Yet for Suwon supporters, who always travel to the capital in their thousands, there are bigger issues. It could be that next season starts with the club leaving its Suwon World Cup Stadium home. The “Big Bird” is perhaps the best arena in the country, though the passion and number of fans play a big part. And it has been the team’s home since just before the 2002 World Cup. Unlike many of the stadiums built for that tournament, Suwon’s is not stuck outside the city but is fairly accessible and in the middle of a residential area.

There have been reports that the team is not very happy. Most clubs in Europe and the United States own their stadiums while most Korean teams do not. The 2002 World Cup arenas belong to the city or province.

Suwon Bluewings is the primary tenant of Suwon Cup Stadium and has some issues. One is the claim that there are too many concerts there that damage the playing surface, making it harder for Suwon to play the kind of football it wants to play. Another is that the club is unhappy that the stadium has been displaying LED advertising screens around the arena for companies that have nothing to do with the Bluewings’ sponsors. Also, the rent is seen as too expensive, so it is hard to guess what will happen. Raising the whole issue could be a ploy to try to reduce the rent or it could be a genuine grievance.

The club has delayed selling season tickets for next year until it knows where it will play. There are not many options. Suwon Civil Stadium is the obvious choice but after that who knows? In the NFL in the United States, franchises leave cities if they feel they are not getting the deal they could. K-League clubs do not possess such influence. It is unlikely that the Bluewings will leave their hometown but the uncertainty is not helping anyone.

It would be nice, of course, if K-League teams did own their stadiums but this is not going to happen any time soon and government regulations make it very tricky to build more. All fans, and not just those of Suwon, should hope for a settlement of the issue. Suwon World Cup Stadium is an important part of the K-League.