The Seoul Sunday Football League or SSFL is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

league in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Organisation

The league was founded in 2002 by Darren Barber and Daniel Behrendt and is recognized by the

Korea Football Association The Korea Football Association () is the governing body of football and futsal within South Korea. It sanctions professional, semi-professional and amateur football in South Korea. Founded in 1933, the governing body became affiliated with ...

, with the leading finishers qualifying for the preliminary rounds of the Korean FA Cup. Two separate seasons, known as "Spring" and "Fall" take place each year. The league originally featured 4 teams and expanded to 8 in its second season. Further expansion lead to the creation of two separate divisions in 2004 and a name change to the "Seoul Sunday Football League". 16 teams now compete in the SSFL, with 8 teams in each division. Approximately half of the teams are based in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, with teams also based in

Suwon Suwon (; ) is the largest city and capital of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea's most populous province. The city lies approximately south of the national capital, Seoul. With a population of 1.2 million, Suwon has more inhabitants than Ulsan, tho ...

Cheonan Cheonan (; ) is the largest and most densely populated city of South Chungcheong Province, South Korea, and the third largest city in the Hoseo region after Daejeon and Cheongju. Cheonan borders Gyeonggi Province ( Pyeongtaek and Anseong) i ...

Anyang Anyang ( zh, s=安阳, t=安陽; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan, China. Geographical coordinates are 35° 41'~ 36° 21' north latitude and 113° 38'~ 114° 59' east longitude. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the eas ...

Daejeon Daejeon (; ) is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of nearly 1.5 million. Located in a central lowland valley between the Sobaek Mountains and the Geum River, the city is known both as a ...

Cheongju Cheongju (; ) is the capital and largest list of cities in South Korea, city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. The 'Cheong' in the name of Chungcheong Province is the Cheong of Cheongju. History Cheongju has been an important prov ...

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

Goyang Goyang (; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province in the north of South Korea. It is part of the Seoul Metropolitan Area, making Goyang one of Seoul's Satellite city, satellite cities. It is one of the largest cities in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, w ...

, and

Osan Osan (; ) is a Subdivisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, approximately south of Seoul. The population of the city is around 200,000. The local economy is supported by a mix of agricultural and industrial enterprises. ...

. The

Korea Herald ''The Korea Herald'' () is a South Korean English-language daily newspaper founded in August 1953 and published in Seoul. The editorial staff is composed of Korean and international writers and editors, with additional news coverage drawn from i ...

and other Korean media sources report on the matches and standings of the league. The lowest ranked team from Division 1 and champion of Division 2 are relegated and promoted respectively, with the second-bottom and second-top teams contesting a play-off for Division 1 status in the following season. SBFC claimed the Fall 2006 Championship, despite a points deduction and fine for disciplinary reasons.

Participants

The teams and players in the league are generally semi-professional or amateur, with several

K-League K League () is South Korea's professional football league. It includes the first division K League 1 and the second division K League 2. Clubs competing in the K League have won a record total of twelve AFC Champions League titles, the top conti ...

contracted players featuring in the league. The majority of players are foreign-born, and are generally employed in Korea by the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

US Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

, Airforce and

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

and in the private and tertiary-education sectors as English language teachers. Foreign students also play in the league. Most teams feature several Korean nationals, and some teams are predominantly Korean. The most successful team in the history of the league has been SBFC, with Seoul United Seoul Celtic, and Inter Suwon F.C. also consistently challenging for honors.

Previous Champions

Fall 2019: SBFC
Spring 2019: Inter Suwon F.C.
Fall 2018: Inter Suwon F.C.
Spring 2018: SBFC
Fall 2017: Songdo Celtic FC
Spring 2017: Anyang F.C
Fall 2016: Anyang F.C.
Spring 2016: SBFC
Fall 2015: SBFC
Spring 2015: Anyang F.C.
Fall 2014: SBFC
Spring 2014: Inter Suwon F.C.
Fall 2013: SBFC
Spring 2013: SBFC
Fall 2012: SBFC
Spring 2012: Inter Suwon F.C.
Fall 2011: Inter Suwon F.C.
Spring 2011: Inter Suwon F.C.
Fall 2010: Inter Suwon F.C.
Spring 2010: Seoul Celtic F.C.
Fall 2009: Seoul Celtic F.C.
Spring 2009: Seoul Celtic F.C.
Fall 2008: Seoul United F.C.
Spring 2008: Seoul Celtic F.C.
Fall 2007: Daejeon De La Cuba
Spring 2007: Seoul United F.C.
Fall 2006: SBFC
Spring 2006: SBFC
Fall 2005: SBFC
Spring 2005: SBFC
Fall 2004: SBFC
Spring 2004: Seoul United F.C.
Fall 2003: Seoul United F.C.
Spring 2003: Seoul United F.C.
Fall 2002: SBFC
Spring 2002: Soccer N' Love

List of Champions

SBFC 14 (F 2002, F 2004, S 2005, F 2005, S 2006, F 2006, F 2012, S 2013, F 2013, F 2014, F 2015, S 2016, S 2018, F 2019)
Inter Suwon F.C. 7 (F 2010, S 2011, F 2011, S 2012, S 2014, F 2018, S 2019)
Seoul Celtic F.C. 4 (S 2008, S 2009, F 2009. S 2010)
Seoul United F.C. 4 (S 2003, F 2003, S 2004, F 2008)
Anyang F.C. 3 (S 2015, F 2016, S 2017)
Daejeon De La Cuba 1 (F 2007)
Soccer N' Love 1 (S 2002)
Songdo Celtic FC 1 (F 2017)

Notes

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External links

SSFL Official site
Football competitions in South Korea