WK League News

There hasn’t been much noise from the football club formerly known as Changnyeong WFC over the winter. Now based in Jeonnam’s Gangjin County, the club has a new name, new look, new manager, and a significantly reshuffled squad as preparations for the 2026 season get underway.

Here’s what we know so far:

New home: Gangjin County

In moving to the coastal county of Gangjin, the club becomes the first WK League side to be based in Jeollanam-do, in the southwest of Korea. Gangjin is known for its Goryeo celadon and plays host to a major annual festival celebrating the traditional craft. The county is almost cut in half by Gangjin Bay, a coastal inlet providing a habitat for marine wildlife, and there are various well-known hiking trails nearby, including in Wolchulsan National Park to the north. From Gangjin visitors can also access several small islands off the south coast. Gangjin’s closest WK League rivals are Sejong Sportstoto, 267km to the north. Their furthest away trip will be to Hwacheon KSPO, whose home ground in the northeast of the country is 394km away from Gangjin as the crow flies, but a whopping 494km by road.

New name: Gangjin Swans WFC

The team’s full name is Gangjin Swans WFC. Whooper swans are among the wildlife inhabiting Gangjin Bay — there is even a giant swan-shaped bridge, among other swan-shaped installations, at the Gangjin Bay Ecological Park. There’s a nice bit of avian continuity here: the emblem of Changnyeong WFC featured a pair of ibises, a species found in Changnyeong’s Upo wetlands, and Changnyeong’s supporters group also adopted the name Ibis.

New look: colours and kits

The club’s 2026 kits are yet to be revealed, but photos from pre-season training show players wearing dark teal and navy training kits with grey jackets. Turquoise and black are also used as accent colours. The club’s emblem is blue and white, depicting a swan and a football (or possibly a swan whose body is a football, depending on how you look at it).

New manager: Kwon Youngin

The Swans will be led by Kwon Youngin, previously manager at Gwangyang Girls’ High School. Kwon is a familiar face to many in the world of women’s football, including several of his players at Gangjin. At 35 years old, Jeonnam native Kwon becomes the youngest manager in the WK League. He started working as a coach at Gwangyang Girls’ High in 2015 and was promoted to manager of the school’s elite football programme the following year. Under his leadership over the past ten years, Gwangyang has become one of the country’s most successful U-18 sides, winning countless honours in domestic competitions. Kwon was named U-18 academy manager of the year at the 2024 KWFF Awards, and has also picked up Best Manager accolades at several tournaments, most recently at the 2025 Fall Women’s Football Championship, where Gwangyang lifted the U-18 trophy.

During his time at Gwangyang, Kwon has coached some of Korea’s top footballers, including Choo Hyojoo, Kim Minji, and Kwak Royoung. His experience at domestic tournaments with Gwangyang means he is familiar with many of the current and up-and-coming players in the WK League, and with the league itself.

New players: the draftees

Gangjin WFC recruited five rookie players at the 2026 WK League draft in December. Midfielder Kim Kyuyeon, who has 12 caps for South Korea at U-20 level, joins the club from Ulsan Technical College. Gangjin’s second pick was Korea University defender Go Da-ae, who also has international experience at youth level, including scoring a hat-trick at the 2023 East Asian Youth Games, where South Korea won the gold medal. Fellow Korea U defender Choi Eunhyoung was also selected by Gangjin. The club also signed goalkeeper Kim Surin from Uiduk University, and midfielder Yoon Yuri from Gangwon State University. Outside of the draft, the club has recruited an additional rookie: Korea University’s Yang Eunseo, a small, quick forward who has scored seven goals in six appearances for South Korea’s U-20 team.

‘New’ players: transfers

The Swans’ squad is considerably larger than it was last year, but there are only a handful of returning players, with a cohort of new faces joining from clubs in the WK League and elsewhere. Making the move to Gangjin from Gyeongju KHNP are goalkeeper Kang Jiyeon, forward Kwak Royoung and defender Lee Siho. The trio of Kim Sungmi (forward), Lee Sohee (midfielder), and Lee Deokju (defence) have joined the Swans from Incheon Hyundai. Gangjin have also signed forwards Lee Youngseo and Hwang Ahyun (formerly of Suwon FC) and defender Lee Hyokyung (previously at Sejong Sportstoto).

Two players will also make their WK League debuts with Gangjin Swans. 24-year-old defender Noh Hyeyeon previously played for Korea University before signing with Iga FC Kunoichi in Japan’s second tier Nadeshiko League 1, where she played for eighteen months before leaving last summer and spending time away from the pitch recovering from an injury and preparing for the 2026 season. Midfielder Manu Polachini originally hails from Brazil, and prior to signing her contract at Gangjin, she has been playing college soccer in the U.S.A.