Jeonju is playing again.

Jeonbuk Hyundai drew 1-1 with Daejeon Hana Citizens in the first round of the Hana Bank K League 1 2024 at Jeonju World Cup Stadium on March 1 at 4:30 p.m.

The match drew 24,758 fans to Jeonbuk World Cup Stadium, compared to 10,966 for the last Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) Round of 16 first leg against Pohang Steelers, despite the match being played on a weekday evening. Following the 10,000 fans on a weekday, Jeonju World Cup Stadium was once again covered in a wave of green as nearly 25,000 fans showed up for the opening round. 카지노사이트 It was also the largest crowd for a Jeonbuk home opener since the introduction of paid attendance in 2018.

The atmosphere was definitely different from last year. Jeonbuk started the 2023 season under Kim Sang-sik, but the team faltered early on and lost the trust of fans. There was strong criticism of Kim Sang-sik beforehand, but when he failed to deliver on both content and results, the criticism turned into accusations and he eventually resigned. Even after the appointment of Dan Petrescu, the distrust of the Jeonbuk board of directors continued, and many fans turned their backs.

Average attendance dropped significantly. Jeonbuk’s average attendance of 12,566 was only fourth among K League 1 teams. They were behind FC Seoul, Ulsan Hyundai, and Daejeon. The gap with Daejeon wasn’t too big, but the gap with Seoul and Ulsan was disappointing. Jeonbuk had been one of the leading teams in K League fan culture due to its ability to mobilize huge crowds in Jeonju, a city of 640,000 people, but the loss last year was a blow to its pride.

Jeonbuk made efforts to bring fans back. To make up for their unsuccessful foreign farming, they brought in Thiago and Hernandez, who have proven themselves in the K League. They also brought in Kim Tae-hwan, Kwon Chang-hoon, Lee Young-jae, Jeon Byeong-kwan, and Lee Jae-ik, and reorganized the squad by releasing a number of players with ambiguous positions. The team also paid attention to internal renewal and changed the board of directors. After the squad, the club also endeavored to make changes within the organization. There was also a willingness to make further changes for the 30th anniversary.

The fans took notice of the changes. Considering it was a three-day holiday week, it is significant that around 25,000 people came to the stadium in freezing weather.

Clubs and fans have shown their commitment through action. Now it’s time for the players to respond. To put it bluntly, the match didn’t live up to expectations. It needs to be more polished and a more convincing result to grab the fans’ attention. Both coach Petrescu and captain Kim Jin-soo have expressed that they feel responsible and are working hard to prepare.

Jeonbuk will face Ulsan in the first leg of the ACL quarterfinals on May 5. The match will take place at Jeonju World Cup Stadium. It will be a weekday, but once again, many fans will be cheering for the team. It will be interesting to see if the team will be able to respond well this time and take advantage of the opportunity to advance to the semifinals.