Korean Job Discussion Forums

[DrTommyTom]

I will be coming to South Korea soon...possibly, late march/early april...

anyways, I am an avid soccer player...played internationally and some pro in Poland and Germany and in Canada...

I am just wondering how competitive is the soccer scene?

Is it hard to get in touch with some pro teams in South Korea for tryouts or training?

What city has the best soccer friendly population? (most available public soccer pitches, best organized leagues (both rec and competitive))

thanks to all that reply

[BS.Dos.]

Been here 5-months and the only football pitches I've seen are dusty, covered in gravel and very hard. Okay for a kickabout, but not so good for crunching sliding tackles etc

I live out in the sticks in the south of the country but there maybe a few open spaces in the bigger cities, but from what I've seen so far, flat arable space is a rather precious commodity over here and it's not generally wasted on football pitches.

[Binch Lover]

Seoul has 2 foreign leagues at the moment that I am aware of. There is a Saturday league which I don't know much about, but I don't think the standard is high.

The Sunday league (SSFL) has 2 divisions of 8 teams which play 2 seasons a year, March-June and August-December. The top 3 teams have generally been Seoul Celtic, Seoul British and Seoul United but the other teams have been getting much better in the past few seasons with Daejeon de la Cuba winning the title this year.

There have been a few ex pros or K League guys that have played over the years and the standard is competitive if not top class. The standard of fields has been getting better lately too. Nearly all games in Division 1 are played on good quality astroturf. Grass pitches are practically non-existent in Seoul so if you're looking to play on grass, you have to look elsewhere.

If you're looking for higher-level football, I know one guy who apparently plays for a K3 team in Gangnam (3rd division). If you contact the KFA, I'm sure they could put you in touch with K2 or K3 teams. From what I've seen a lot of these teams also play on turf, not grass.

Good luck, and if you want more info on the SSFL, PM me.

The website for the Sunday league is at www.ssflkorea.com

Edit: I didn't see you were looking for pro teams, but there's some info there anyway!

[DrTommyTom]

thanks for the responses...

I am looking forward to some possible training with pro teams...just as long they're isn't any red tape immigration bologne to deal with...I do want to try my hand at some competitive leagues but mainly I am looking for a good community of either expats or natives to play with on regular basis...

I feel that if everything goes to hell in south korea, I will at least have soccer to keep me sane...

Cheers..