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| Full name | Hwaebul Sports Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2013; 12 years ago (2013)[1] | ||
| Ground | Hwaebul Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 | ||
| Owner | Kim Jong-min | ||
| Manager | Il Mun-ho | ||
| League | DPR Korea Premier Football League | ||
| Hwaebul | |
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 홰불 체육단 |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization | Hwaebul cheyukdan |
| McCune–Reischauer | Hwaepul ch'eyuktan |
Hwaebul Sports Club is a professionalfootball club fromPochon,North Korea, founded in 2013.[2] It is the sports club of theKimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League[3] and is based at the 5,000 capacityHwaebul Stadium. The club plays in theDPR Korea Premier Football League.
The team was given its name byKim Jong-un when it was founded, in the hopes that the club would be a guiding light for football in North Korea, as "Hwaebul" means "torch" in Korean.[2] Despite its newness, the club has already achieved considerable success, finishing third in their inaugural season,[4] winning the Highest Class Football League in the second season, along with securing several wins in thePaektusan Prize, thePoch'ŏnbo Torch Prize, and other competitions.[2]
The club made its competitive debut in the2013 competition of the Poch'ŏnbo Torch Prize,[3] in which forward Kim Yong-gwang was top scorer with twelve goals, seven scored in the first round and five in the second round.[5]
After having finished second in the Highest Class in 2017, Hwaebul are currently taking part in their first continental competition, the2018 AFC Cup.[6] They defeatedErchim FC ofMongolia with a 7–0 aggregate score in thequalifying play-offs,[7][8] and have advanced to the group stage, where they will play matches againstApril 25 of North Korea,Hang Yuen ofTaiwan, andBenfica of Macau to try to qualify for theknockout stage.[6]
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | AFC Cup | Qualifying play-off round | 3–0 | 4–0 | 7–0 | ||
| Group I | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3rd | ||||
| 2–3 | 0–3 | ||||||
| 6–1 | 1–0 |