WK League News

Hwacheon KSPO lifted the 2025 WK League trophy at their home ground, Hwacheon Sports Park, after beating Seoul City Amazones 7-5 on aggregate in the Championship Final. It’s the club’s first WK League title. Having also won at this year’s National Women’s Football Championship and the National Sports Festival, Hwacheon become the first ever team in Korean women’s football to complete a domestic treble.

In the first leg of the final, Hwacheon took first blood with three goals before half time, but Seoul City got two of their own in the second half to keep things interesting heading into the second leg. This time Hwacheon had the home advantage, hosting the match in front of a lively crowd. The home end was so full that supporters were directed to sit on the away side of the park’s only stand, and more local fans sat on rocks around the pitch to watch the action. A team of KSPO cheerleaders got the crowd going, although not always for the right reason — early in the match Seoul fans complained that the cheer captain was making too much noise in the assigned away seating, and after a quick check with staff, the cheer team apologised and didn’t venture out of the home end for the rest of the afternoon.

It was déja-vu all over again in the first half as KSPO took an early lead and went 3-0 up by half time thanks to goals from Lee Soobin and Choi Yoojung. Hwacheon looked more organised and confident early on, while Seoul took longer to settle into the game. By the time they did, they were already four goals behind on aggregate, appearing weary and frustrated as they returned to the dressing room at half time.

Still the Amazones battled on, aided by some substitutions and half time words of encouragement from manager Yoo Youngsil. When Wie Jae-eun scored Hwacheon’s fourth goal, putting them five ahead across both legs, it would have been easy for Seoul City and their fans to give up hope. However, with KSPO’s players tiring, or perhaps already planning their victory celebrations, the Amazones began sowing seeds of doubt. With two minutes left on the clock, Shin Bomi scored for Seoul.

Still with a comfortable lead, Hwacheon didn’t seem too rattled by this, but when City’s Kim Miyeon scored again in the second minute of injury time, something shifted. “Another! Another!” cried the away fans, and Han Chaerin was happy to oblige. Hwacheon manager Kang Sunmi started to look stressed — sure, it seemed very unlikely that Seoul would score twice more in the remaining time, but just minutes earlier it had seemed unlikely that they would score at all, and they had done so not once, but three times. Had KSPO been premature in ordering their commemorative ‘WK League Champions’ T-shirts?

They had not. After an unexpectedly exciting end to the match, time was up for Seoul, and Hwacheon’s players, staff and fans alike could breathe a sigh of relief and celebrate a deserved win. Choi Yoojung, who netted two of Hwacheon’s four goals, was named Player of the Match and attention turned to the 2025 WK League closing ceremony. Conceding late goals is a vulnerability that may concern KSPO’s coaches when they return to training ahead of next season, but as for the present moment, there was a trophy waiting to be lifted.

Seoul’s squad were first presented with their runners-up medals before Hwacheon KSPO, now decked out in their victory T-shirts and matching baseball caps, took to the stage. When captain Jung Jiyeon lifted the trophy, it was a moment that felt a year overdue for Hwacheon and their fans. Jung ran back and forth across the stage, teasing her teammates. As one of them called out, “get on with it!” she held the trophy aloft.

Prior to the beginning of the 2025 WK League season, there were many in the community who thought Gyeongju KHNP would dominate the league table. Kang Sunmi’s Hwacheon KSPO and Yoo Youngsil’s Seoul City have both shown that football is not all about big names or experience on the international stage. What both finalists have had in common is consistency, as well as a strong sense of camaraderie and team identity.

Seoul’s second place finish is an achievement in itself, a powerful statement that the WK League does not have to be two sets of four teams: it is possible for a ‘small club’ to make it into the top half of the table, and stay there. Their place in the final was well deserved, but Hwacheon KSPO’s victory feels right.