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Don't Cha wish your manager was Cha Du-ri? Time will tell as Hwaseong kicks off first pro season in K League 2

Published: 20 Feb. 2025, 14:22 Updated: 20 Feb. 2025, 17:01

Hwaseong FC manager Cha Du-ri, left, poses with forward Woo Je-wook during a media day event at Nuritkum Square in western Seoul on Feb. 19. [YONHAP]

Rookie manager Cha Du-ri is on a mission to lead Hwaseong FC to success in the club’s first season in the K League 2 this year — with a goal of surpassing his father Cha Bum-kun as a manager.

The junior Cha, 44, took the helm of Hwaseong in December last year to lead the team in the 2025 K League 2 season, their first season in a professional league.

Hwaseong, which had only competed in the semi-pro K3 since their foundation in 2013, turned pro in January last year by joining the K League 2.

And Cha will be the first manager to attempt to bring the best out of Hwaseong on the pro stage, which coincides with his debut season as a pro team manager.

“A pro team manager position is where you always feel special and have a sense of responsibility,” Cha said during a K League 2 media day event at Nuritkum Square in western Seoul on Wednesday. “I have mixed feelings. I am also very curious to find out whether I can embody the football that I have prepared so far on the pro stage."

Cha Du-ri poses after being appointed Hwaseong FC manager on Dec. 24, 2024. [NEWS1]

“I have not decided a specific objective with Hwaseong, which will make its K League debut. I will go into every match with the mindset that it is a gift and opportunity. I think the most important task will be introducing our games to the people of Hwaseong and football fans and make them want to watch our games again.”

Cha will start K League 2 action on the back of his years of past experience in coaching and advisory roles. After hanging up his boots in 2015, he worked as a match analyst for the Korean senior national team in 2016 and became an assistant coach in July 2017. He later managed FC Seoul's U-18 squad in 2019 and served as the club’s academy manager from 2022 to 2023.

Cha returned to the Korean national team as an adviser in March 2023 under then-manager Jurgen Klinsmann and resumed an assistant manager role in September that year. He held the position until last February, when Klinsmann was dismissed.

He is also the son of Cha Bum-kun, often referred to as Tscha Bum in Germany, widely regarded as Korea’s greatest-ever footballer — a title that only Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur has rivaled in recent years.

“I have not had a time to have a long chat with my father,” the younger Cha said. “I am always to be compared to my father as long as I stay in football. Since my father is a big figure, it does give me a burden.”

Cha Bum-kun, left, poses with Cha Du-ri during a Qatar World Cup official ball exhibition event at the Adidas Hongdae Brand Center in western Seoul on April 28, 2022. [ADIDAS]

The younger Cha attracted media attention during his playing days for being the son of Cha Bum-kun, who established himself as a legendary forward in the Bundesliga from 1978 through 1989, during which he won the UEFA Cup — now called the UEFA Europa League — in 1980 and 1988, which earned him multiple accolades such as a place in the Asia Men's Team of the 20th Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics.

But the younger Cha did not see as much success overseas, only winning the Scottish Premiership once in the 2011-12 season with Celtic and failing to lift silverware with Bayer Leverkusen, Mainz 05 and other Bundesliga teams.

The younger Cha, however, is not afraid to challenge his father’s managerial career, which included winning two K League titles, two Korean FA Cups — now called the Korea Cup — and two now-scrapped Korean League Cups with the Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the 2000s.

“I chose to become a player and coach after all,” the younger Cha said. “Since my father won the K League at Suwon and led the Korean national team to the World Cup, he probably has high hopes for me.

“I wasn’t as good as my father as a player, but I think maybe I can surpass him as manager if I prepare well.”

The younger Cha is especially keen to beat the Bluewings in the K League 2, not just because his father coached the team, but also they are rivals of FC Seoul, where the younger Cha played at the end of his career.

Hwaseong FC manager Cha Du-ri speaks during a media day event at Nuritkum Square in western Seoul on Feb. 19. [YONHAP]

“Realistically, we have a significant level gap with Suwon, but I will do my best to give them trouble with the players I have,” Cha said.

Cha will face four-time K League 1 champions Bluewings, who return to K League 2 action after a disappointing run last season that saw them blow a chance to earn promotion back to the top flight.

Hwaseong will also have to compete against an Incheon United side that played in the K League 1 until last year with coveted promotion to the top tier on the line.

A maximum of three K League 2 teams can earn promotion to the K League 1 every season, but only the K League 2 winners are guaranteed direct promotion, while two other teams have to go through a complicated playoff system to secure berths in the top tier.

The second-place team in the K League 2 plays the 11th-place team in the K League 1, with the winner of that game playing the next season in the top tier.

As if that wasn't complex enough, the fifth- and fourth-place K League 2 teams then play each other, with the winner then facing the third-place finisher. The winner of that game plays the 10th-place K League 1 team in yet another playoff, with the winner of that game also playing the next season in the top tier.

Promotion to the K League 1 has proved to be challenging for most teams in recent seasons, as only Gimcheon Sangmu reached the K League 1 in 2023 and FC Anyang landed in the top tier in 2024 both by winning the K League 2 season, while other teams failed cruise past K League 1 teams in the promotion-relegation playoffs.

Hwaseong will face their first test on the pro stage with a clash against Seongnam FC at Tancheon Sports Complex in Seongnam, Gyeonggi on Sunday.

BY SONG JI-HOON [[email protected]]