Jeju SK FC (Korean: 제주 SK FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Jeju Province that competes in the K League 1, the top division in South Korea. In the past, the club has been known as the Yukong Elephants, Bucheon SK, and Jeju United.
The club was founded on 17 December 1982 as Yukong Elephants, and became one of the founding members of the K League. The club was owned and financially supported by the Sunkyoung Group's subsidiary, Yukong (currently SK Group's "SK Energy"), along with Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi as its franchise. Yukong Elephants won the league championship on only one occasion, in 1989.
At the end of 1995, the team moved from the Dongdaemun Stadium in Seoul to the Mokdong Stadium on the western edge of the city, as part of the K League's decentralization policy. The three clubs based in Seoul (Yukong Elephants, LG Cheetahs and Ilhwa Chunma) didn't accept this policy, so the Seoul government gave an eviction order to the three clubs. However, they guaranteed that if clubs built a football-specific stadium in Seoul, they could have a Seoul franchise and return to Seoul. As a result, the three clubs were evicted from Seoul to other cities. The Yukong Elephants moved to the city of Bucheon, a satellite city of Seoul. Mid-way through the 1997 season, the club re-branded itself as Bucheon SK.
Because the city of Bucheon lacked a stadium, they used the Mokdong Stadium in Seoul until 2000. At the start of the 2001 season, the team moved to the 35,545-capacity Bucheon Leports Complex.
In 2006, Bucheon SK announced their move to Jeju without any fore notice, and renamed as Jeju United FC. They adopted the vacant Jeju World Cup Stadium as their new home ground.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
