WK League News

With a little over a week until the season gets underway, Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels became the final WK League club to officially publish a 2026 squad list, announcing their lineup for the season on Instagram. Compared to other clubs in the league, the Red Angels are less active on social media, especially during the off-season, but it seems that there was a further reason for holding out until now — a late addition to the squad.

Just like last year, when Hur Jeongjae added Yuka Toriumi and Haruhi Suzuki to the books just a couple of days before the 2025 WK League began, the Incheon manager is hoping to boost the team’s attacking play with the late signing of English striker Fiona Worts, who joins the club from Australian side Adelaide United Women.

Worts grew up in England and spent time at the academies of Nottingham Forest and Leicester City, making her senior debut with Leicester while also studying for a degree. She first travelled to Adelaide as part of a year abroad programme, playing for the university team before returning to her home country to finish her studies. Worts spent time at several English clubs before going back to Australia in 2020, this time to play for Adelaide United. She also spent a brief spell on loan at LSK Kvinner FK in Norway, and a season at Sydney FC, but returned to Adelaide in 2024.

Adelaide United announced Worts’ departure from the club last week, describing her as “one of the most significant players in Club history”, having racked up a total of 32 goals in 73 appearances for the Reds. Adelaide’s joint all-time leading goalscorer’s transfer to Incheon was completed for a club-record fee.

Worts joins the Red Angels at a pivotal time in the club’s history. After eleven consecutive titles from 2013 to 2023, the team slumped in 2024, finishing outside of the WK League playoff positions for the first time ever. Under a new manager, 2025 saw the Red Angels finish in third place but their WK League campaign ended after a goalless playoff match against Seoul City Amazones.

This winter has seen significant squad turnover at Incheon, with talk of a generational shift as several veterans of the club move on to pastures new, making way for new and emerging talent. Among the departures are national team veterans Kim Jungmi, who has been at the club since 2004, and Lim Seonjoo, a Red Angel since 2011. Having been ‘one-club women’ up until now, both are now on the books at Seoul City. Choe Yuri, who returned to Incheon last year after two seasons with Birmingham City, has moved to Suwon FC to link up with fellow overseas returnees Ji Soyun and Kim Hyeri.

Meanwhile, in Incheon, while a few more experienced players remain, it is expected that younger talents such as 2025 draftees Kim Myungjin and Bae Yebin will make a greater impact this year. The club has also acquired several talents from other WK League clubs. Among them is Chun Garam, a 23-year-old forward who made her league debut for Hwacheon KSPO in 2023, having joined the club as the first pick in the first round of that year’s new players draft. Chun was named Young Player of the Year by the KFA in 2022, and Player of the Year just one year later following an impressive start in the league and a trip to the World Cup with South Korea. She now joins Incheon Hyundai having won the WK League title with KSPO last year.

At 30 years old, Fiona Worts doesn’t quite fit the ‘generational shift’ narrative, but no doubt her proven goalscoring ability is highly attractive to Incheon Hyundai. The club’s third-place finish last year was largely thanks to a tight defence and high-quality goalkeeping; the Red Angels relied on clean sheets and low scoring draws to carry them up the table as they netted significantly fewer goals than their rivals in the top half of the table.

Supported by a consistent and experienced defensive setup and a roster of pacy, hardworking youngsters in the midfield, scoring more goals should be a priority for the Red Angels this season. If Fiona Worts can deliver for Incheon Hyundai what she has been consistently delivering for Adelaide United, she will help to make Hur Jeongjae’s team a truly formidable opponent in this year’s WK League. As the club looks to rebuild and make a return to domestic glory and continental competition, Worts could have a significant impact not only for Incheon but also for the 2026 WK League as a whole.