WK League News

Sejong Sportstoto started the 2025 WK League season optimistically, making no secret of their aim to make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Then again, they said the same thing last year. And the year before that. You can’t fault the club’s consistency on this point — they went on to finish in fifth place in both 2023 and 2024, and there’s a good chance of them making in three in a row, albeit with some competition for the questionable honour from defending champions Suwon FC.

With the points gap between the top and bottom halves of the league table widening as the season goes on, low-scoring Sportstoto need to strengthen their attack during this transfer window to maintain their place in the table, never mind trying to improve it. However, the first transfer news to emerge from Sejong is that 26-year-old Greek-American Eva Vlassopoulos has left the club after just a few months there.

Portland native Vlassopoulos was successful as a college athlete in the USA before she signed her first professional contract with PAOK FC in Thessaloniki, Greece. Shortly after her arrival there, she sustained an ACL injury that left her unable to play for a number of months. Fully recovered, Vlassopoulos made an impression in PAOK’s bid to qualify for the 2022-23 UEFA Women’s Champions League, scoring twice against Swansea City in her debut for the club, but another serious injury took her out for the season. During the 2023-2024 season, Vlassopoulos made a number of appearances for Spartak Subotica in Serbia and spent a spell at Israeli side Hapoel Tikva. She returned to PAOK last summer before making the move to Sejong in February of this year, donning the number 10 shirt for Sportstoto.

Vlassopoulos made her first WK League appearance in Sejong’s opening lineup on the first day of the season. With the club’s lofty ambitions set, Sportstoto supporters had high hopes for their new signing. Standing taller than most of her teammates and opponents at 172cm, Vlassopoulos demonstrated speed and physicality on the pitch but failed to contribute to Sejong’s goal tally, with no goals and only one assist to her name in her eleven appearances for the club. In the WK League, clubs and fans alike tend to hold players from overseas to a very high standard, and it’s a tough gig to meet expectations while also settling into an unfamiliar league and culture. In her short time at Sejong, Vlassopoulos never appeared to be fully settled in or happy there — whether this was an on-pitch or off-pitch issue, or a combination of both, is impossible to say as an outsider.

The details of Eva Vlassopoulos’ contract at Sportstoto and the exact circumstances surrounding her mid-season departure are unclear. She made her final WK League appearance in late May, when Sejong were thrashed at home by four goals to one by Mungyeong Sangmu. Her departure is yet to be officially announced by the club, but Vlassopoulos has updated her own LinkedIn page to reflect the move, listing herself as a Free Agent based in Portland. She appeared at a recent talent showcase hosted by The Players Network in Richmond, and her social media shows her enjoying the summer with family and friends in Greece.

As for the club she has left behind, Sejong Sportstoto need to put aside their playoff hopes for another year (at least) and focus on maintaining their position in the table and improving their attacking play. Sejong have a reasonably strong defence, but struggle to convert attacking opportunities into goals. So far this season they have shown poor home form, collecting most of their points on the road. A couple of home victories could do a world of good for team morale, and help the team to finish above Suwon FC by the end of the season — they are currently two points ahead of last year’s champions with a game in hand. Compared to their pre-season targets, a fifth place finish is disappointing, but at this point, it’s a realistic aim.

Sejong should be looking to add to their squad this summer, assuming they can afford to, either from overseas or closer to home. With Vlassopoulos moving on, this has become only more urgent. We saw the impact a key summer signing can make last year when Gyeongju KHNP acquired Kyokawa, who went on to be the 2024 WK League’s top goalscorer and MVP. If Sportstoto haven’t got a similar secret weapon signing lined up overseas, they should certainly be considering former Sangmu recruits Choi Dakyung and Lee Jeongmin. If they’re not playing for Sejong, they will most likely be playing against them, possibly for Suwon FC, Sejong’s rivals in the thrilling race for fifth place.

This summer transfer window could be make or break for Sejong Sportstoto’s thus far underwhelming season — just one or two smart moves could become the catalyst for a more positive finish, while a lack of transfer activity will make Sejong seem resigned to their fate as a bottom-half-of-the-table club. Sportstoto should, however, think beyond this season when making recruitment decisions, finding players who will be able to fit in to the squad and contribute in the long term as the club seeks to compete with the top teams in the league.