Various military clubs (1950s–1983)

Before the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps and its football club Sangmu FC were founded in 1984, the Republic of Korea Armed Forces had three football clubs: ROK Army FC, ROK Marine Corps FC, and ROK Air Force FC.

The ROK Army originally established football clubs of each corps, including CIC FC (Counter Intelligence Corps;^[1][2] also known as Seoul FC^[3] or Seoul Club),^[4] HID FC (Headquarters of Intelligence Detachment), Quartermaster Corps FC (consisted of only quartermasters), OPMG FC (Office of the Provost Marshal General; former Military Police Command FC), Engineer Corps FC, and Infantry School FC. Most of them (excluding Quartermaster Corps FC) were merged into the Engineer Corps FC in 1965. Lastly, these two clubs were united, and Army FC was established in 1969.

Afterwards, the Marine Corps FC renamed as ROK Navy FC due to the dissolution of the Headquarters Marine Corps in 1973.

Founding and semi-professional Sangmu FC era (1984–2002)

Sangmu FC was founded on 11 January 1984, as the football side of Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps.^[5][6] Although Sangmu squad was composed of professional players from K League clubs, Sangmu FC competed in the semi-professional league (now Korea National League). Sangmu joined the K League for the 1985 season, but spent only one year in the league before dropping out.

The reserve side, Sangmu B, competed in the K2 League from 2003 to 2005 before joining the K League reserve league. Sangmu B was based in Icheon and finished as the runners-up in the 2003 K2 League season.

Gwangju Sangmu era (2002–2010)

After establishing a home base in Gwangju in April 2002, the team participated in the Reserve League.^[7] The club has rejoined the K League at the start of the 2003 season as Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo FC. Between 2004 and 2010, the club has been known as Gwangju Sangmu FC.

Sangju Sangmu era (2011–2020)

Once Gwangju FC was established, Gwangju Sangmu FC was relocated to Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province, as Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps moved to Mungyeong, near Sangju. The club name was officially changed to Sangju Sangmu Phoenix FC in January 2011.^[8][9]

Before the 2013 season, the club officially removed the word "Phoenix" in its name. In the same season, Sangju Sangmu became the first champions of the newly established K League Challenge (second division) and promoted to the K League Classic.^[10][11]

Sangju started the 2020 season already knowing they would be relegated to K League 2. The military club decided to move out of Sangju to a new, as yet undisclosed location.^[12] Sangju has decided not to establish a football team which would be citizen-owned outfit and also played in K League 2.^[13]

Gimcheon Sangmu (2021–present)

On 30 June 2020, the K League administration announced that the city of Gimcheon had officially submitted an application to host the team for at least the 2021 season, offering their local stadium as the football club's new home.^[14] After a preliminary review and several meetings and assemblies involving local governors, the K League eventually approved the proposal and began the process of moving the club to Gimcheon.^[15]

Current squad

As of 22 May 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

More information No., Pos. ...

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 MF  KOR Goo Bon-cheul 3 MF  KOR Kim Hyeon-ug 4 MF  KOR Kim Jin-gyu 5 MF  KOR Kim Dong-hyun 8 DF  KOR Yoon Jong-gyu 9 DF  KOR Lee Sang-min 10 DF  KOR Kim Jae-woo 11 MF  KOR Won Du-jae (captain) 14 MF  KOR Kang Hyun-muk 15 MF  KOR Kim Bong-soo 16 MF  KOR Seo Min-woo 17 GK  KOR Kim Jun-hong 18 FW  KOR Yu Kang-hyun 20 DF  KOR Kim Min-deok 21 GK  KOR Kim Dong-heon 22 MF  KOR Kim Dae-won 23 DF  KOR Park Soo-il

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 DF  KOR Jo Jin-woo 25 DF  KOR Park Seung-wook 26 FW  KOR Kim Min-jun 27 FW  KOR Mo Jae-hyeon 28 MF  KOR Lee Jin-yong 29 MF  KOR Choi Gi-yun 30 DF  KOR Lee Sang-min 31 GK  KOR Kang Hyeon-mu 32 FW  KOR Jung Chi-in 33 DF  KOR Cho Hyun-taek 35 DF  KOR Hong Uk-hyeon 40 FW  KOR Lee Young-jun 41 GK  KOR Jeong Myeong-jae 77 DF  KOR Kim Tae-hyeon 88 DF  KOR Park Min-gyu 99 FW  KOR Lee Joong-min

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League

• K League 2
  • Winners (4): 2013,^[a] 2015,^[a] 2021, 2023
• National Semi-Professional Football League
  • Winners (9): 1984, 1991 Fall, 1992 Spring, 1994 Spring, 1996 Fall, 1997 Fall, 1998 Fall, 1999 Fall, 2002 Spring
  • Runners-up (5): 1987 Fall, 1993 Spring, 1999 Spring, 2000 Spring, 2003

Cups

• National Semi-Professional Football Championship
  • Winners (2): 1999, 2001
• National Football Championship
  • Winners (1): 1996

Notes

K League

More information Sangmu all-time records, Season ...

Sangmu all-time records
Season	Teams	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Position	Korean FA Cup	League Cup	Top scorer (league goals)
Sangmu era
1985	8	21	6	7	8	23	30	−7	19	6th	None	None	Hong Seok-min (6)
Gwangju Sangmu era
2003	12	44	13	7	24	41	60	−19	46	10th	Round of 16	None	Lee Dong-gook (11)
2004	13	24	6	11	7	18	20	−2	29	8th	Quarter-finals	10th	Park Jung-hwan (4)
2005	13	24	4	5	15	23	38	−15	17	13th	Round of 16	11th	Kim Sang-rok (5)
2006	14	26	5	8	13	17	29	−12	23	14th	Round of 16	11th	Kang Yong (4) Chung Kyung-ho (4)
2007	14	26	2	6	18	14	44	−30	12	14th	Round of 16	Group stage	Namgung Do (7)
2008	14	26	3	7	16	22	46	−24	16	14th	Quarter-finals	Group stage	Kim Myung-joong (7)
2009	15	28	9	3	16	33	40	−7	30	11th	Round of 16	Group stage	Choi Sung-kuk (9)
2010	15	28	3	10	15	17	43	−26	19	14th	Quarter-finals	Group stage	Choi Sung-kuk (4)
Sangju Sangmu era
2011	16	30	7	8	15	36	53	−17	29	14th	Round of 16	Group stage	Kim Jung-woo (15)
2012	16	44	7	6	31	29	74	−45	27	16th	Round of 16	—

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K League 1 and K League 2