Football in Seoul
Football is one of the most popular sports, both in terms of participants and spectators, in Seoul. It hosted several of South Korea's leading football clubs and has the biggest football stadium in the country, the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
History
Football was introduced to Koreans by the crew of the Royal Navy's in the Port of Incheon in June 1882, and it was adopted as a physical education course at in 1904. The first senior football match in Korea was contested between Korea Sports Club and Korea YMCA at Seoul Dongdaemun Stadium in 1905.In 1902, after the establishment of a football team at Paichai Academy in Seoul, there was a footballing boom throughout Korea. Many football clubs and school football teams were formed in the 1910s, including Bulgyo Cheongnyeonhoe, Geongang Gurakbu and Joseon Football Club in Seoul. The football clubs in Seoul usually had rivalries against the clubs in Pyongyang, the second biggest city in Korea. Kyungsung FC, named according to Seoul's name at the time, was formed in 1933 and became the only Korean club to win the Emperor's Cup in Japan.
Clubs
Clubs in bold are still active.Honours
Only champions located in Seoul are counted.| Type | Competition | Total | Club | Titles |
| Domestic | K League 1 | 7 | FC Seoul | 4 |
| Domestic | K League 1 | 7 | Ilhwa Chunma | 3 |
| Domestic | Korean Semi-professional League (Spring) | 3 | Seoul City | 3 |
| Domestic | Korean Semi-professional League (Autumn) | 2 | Seoul City | 2 |
| Domestic | K3 League (2007–2019) | 1 | Seoul United | 1 |
| Domestic | Korean FA Cup | 1 | FC Seoul | 1 |
| Domestic | Korean National Championship | 3 | Seoul City | 3 |
| Domestic | Korean League Cup | 3 | FC Seoul | 2 |
| Domestic | Korean League Cup | 3 | Ilhwa Chunma | 1 |
| International | Asian Club Championship | 1 | Ilhwa Chunma | 1 |
Derbies in Seoul
Dongdaemun derby
In the 1980s, South Korean baseball felt that marketing in Seoul was important for the popularity of the KBO League, so it set up two baseball clubs at Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium in Seoul. On the other hand, the K League only superficially assigned locations to its clubs and, until the mid-1980s, ordered all clubs to visit all stadiums in order instead of a home-and-away system. The K League allowed three clubs to settle at Dongdaemun Stadium after adopting a home-and-away system; however, the clubs left Seoul in 1996 to comply with the K League decentralization policy.From 1990 to 1995, the Dongdaemun derby was contested between three clubs, namely Ilhwa Chunma, LG Cheetahs and Yukong Elephants. The rivalry at Dongdaemun Stadium received attention despite its short period and the great popularity of baseball. Two of the derbies were the 1992 Korean League Cup finals between Ilhwa Chunma and LG Cheetahs, and ended in Ilhwa's victory.
| Team | Ilhwa | LG | Yukong | |||||||
| Ilhwa Chunma | 76 | 30 | 29 | 17 | 97 | 81 | — | 15W, 14D, 13L 56GF, 52GA | 15W, 15D, 4L 41GF, 29GA | |
| Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso LG Cheetahs | 76 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 92 | 95 | 13W, 14D, 15L 52GF, 56GA | — | 11W, 12D, 11L 40GF, 39GA | |
| Yukong Elephants | 68 | 15 | 27 | 26 | 68 | 81 | 4W, 15D, 15L 29GF, 41GA | 11W, 12D, 11L 39GF, 40GA | — |