Sunday soccer gets serious in Seoul

Mohammed Farhan of Daejeon de la Cuba, right, just misses a header as the St. Patrick’s goalkeeper collects a vicious corner at the Yongsan U.S. Army base in Yongsan, Seoul on June 10. Provided by Sebastian Daman

There are no TV crews, no flashing cameras, and no chanting supporters draped with club banners.
But the Seoul Sunday Football League, which boasts 16 teams and more than 400 members from all over the world, is serious about the sport ― maybe even more serious than the nation’s 14-team professional K-League.
The Seoul League, the biggest foreigner-based sports organization in Korea, wrapped up its first season of the year on Sunday, with four final games that showed how seriously the players take their amateur league. The well-trimmed field at Gyeonggi-Suwon International School served as the battleground for the 90-minute match between the hosts, Seoul United, and the Han River Harriers. The game was tense, despite the fact that United had already clinched the title of season champs.
Two of the eight teams in Division 1 were to be relegated to the eight-team Division 2 based on the results of the day. The Harriers were about to be one of them, unless they managed to beat the seven-time champions.
Members of another club, Daejeon de la Cuba, who beat Anyang FC 3-1 earlier in the day in Anyang, moved to the neighboring town of Suwon to root for United, as the champions’ winning or drawing would mean Daejeon staying in Division 1.
The game grew violent while heading toward the final 2-2 draw, and a fight almost broke out before the scrappers were separated by other players. The final whistle blew with no additional goal, to the distress of the Harriers players. Players of Daejeon de la Cuba jumped in unison and embraced in relief.
“Players are more skilled and a lot more serious. The quality of football is better in Division 1,” said Ryan Fitzgerald, 30, a Daejeon player.
The lack of tangible reward for getting into Division 1 doesn’t seem to bother the players. “No award. Just more prestige, that’s all,” said Canadian Chad Weymouth, another Daejeon player.
According to the players, the level of play in Division 1, which some players call the “Premier League,” is close to semi-professional.
“As time goes on, everything is really improving,” said Youssouf Cisse, a United player, of the five-year-old biannual Seoul League.
“I am sure we have teams in this league that can challenge some teams of Korea’s second division league,” said Cisse, who comes from the Ivory Coast and has played professionally in several countries, including Vietnam.
And he was right. Last year, two teams from the league, including United, made it to the second round of the Korean FA Cup, a football tournament between professional and amateur clubs. In friendlies, some of the teams of the Seoul League often beat teams belonging to the National League, the second-tier league of the K-League, Cisse said.
With the tie, the Harriers will have to grind it out in Division 2 during the second season beginning in late August.
“Of course we’re disappointed,” said 34-year-old Canadian Dean Comeau, a Harriers organizer and player. “There were a number of almost penalties [by United], and if we had had just one of those calls, we might have won the game.”
“We played the hardest, we did the best we could do, but luck just didn’t go our way,” Comeau said.
With enticing features such as professional referees like Will Kubicek, a former professional referee in the United States, the league grew very quickly, and league executives eventually decided to split the teams. Now teams of each division play 14 games during a 14-week season.
“Football is such an international game,” said 32-year-old Australian Aaron Jolly, secretary of the league. “So, when people come from other countries, wherever they live, they always want to play football. If you grow up playing football, and football is in your blood, you can never stop playing football.”
Sebastian Daman, a Scottish Daejeon player who also covers the league for the Korea Herald, says football is more than a sport.
“A lot of English teachers here are lonely, and sport is something that can bring people together,” said Daman. “Shedding blood and sweat for each other, it brings people together. In any other situation, we might not be so close.”
The league is very international, said Jolly, which means it is open to everyone.
“There is nothing to stop a Korean team joining our league. Actually we had a Korean team before and a few of the teams have Koreans playing for them,” he said. “We don’t say no to anybody. We are not a foreigners-only league. It’s international.”
Female players are also welcome. St. Patricks FC has one female member and Daejeon had two until last year. Despite all its merits, some players say the continuity of the league, as in many expatriate activities, is doubtful.
“Some of us are here on one-year contracts, so sometimes we have players and then they leave, and then we get new players,” said Fitzgerald, of Daejeon. “Sometimes they are leaving in the midst of a season. That can be difficult.”
Comeau, of the Harriers, echoes the concern, saying the foundation of the club, rather than getting back into Division 1, will be the team’s priority in the second season.
“We had 40 different players this year and didn’t have a core group of 10 or 11 guys regularly,” he said. “So we had trouble gelling as a team. Too many new players every game; that was our biggest problem this year.”
Jolly, however, says the league as a whole has a bright future.
“If the league continues, naturally, with more people, more foreigners living in Seoul, it’s possible the leagues can get bigger,” he said. “We don’t know what the future holds, but I think a lot of teams have been stable for a long time, and now the league is getting more well known, I am sure. And there are always people who want to play football.”

By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Writer