Busan Transportation Corporation Football Club
My favorite sports team in Busan is the concisely named Busan Transportation Corporation Football Club, or the BTC for short. Although that is a long name, it isnât the longest team name in Korea. That would be the Gyeongju Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company Limited Football Club. Almost every sports team in Korea is owned by and named after a non-sports-related corporation. So the players for the Busan Transportation Corporation Football Club are technically employees of the public transportation system in Busan.
The BTC play in the National League, the 3rd level of Korean soccer. The top level is the K-League Classic league, and the next level is the K-League Challenge league. Those two leagues have a promotion-relegation system like in European leagues, but the National League isnât connected to that. There is a huge gulf in class between the leagues, and the National League teams generally have no chance against the K-League teams in the FA Cup.
So why would I support a team in the lower leagues?
My first year in Korea, I would go to the Busan IâPark games, too. I even bought a season ticket, as it was only 50,000 won. The team would play ugly soccer. If they scored a goal, they would try to park the bus and go all-out-defense. But they usually ended up conceding a goal, panicking, and then conceding another goal. They just werenât a good team to watch.
But the BTC put a lot of effort into their play. We fans like to call the last 10 minutes of a game âTransport Time.â We noticed that the BTC seemed to score a lot of goals at the end of games. There was also this one bizarre league game where we were down by 1 with a couple minutes left in the game. We got a corner kick, and the fans started jokingly shouting at the goalkeeper to run up the field to play offense. That is unheard of in a league game; it is only done in you are down in a tournament. Much to our surprise, the goalkeeper looked over at the manager, and the manager waved him forward. In the corner kick, the goalkeeper actually got a head on the ball, but he didnât score because sometimes life is disappointing. It was still great to see a team that actually wanted to win every game.
The entire team have fully embraced us as their fan club. The National League doesnât typically get a lot of fans, so when we first started showing up to the stadium, the team was a little amused. They were probably also wondering why we werenât at the IâPark.
When we kept showing up, the team started to feel a bit of pride that they had a foreign fanbase. The club chairman will invite us all out to dinner on the companyâs dime a couple times a year. He also offered to drive Sweet Ji and I up to Gangneung, about 4 hours away from Busan, for a game since he had two empty seats in his car. The goalkeeper that ran forward for the corner kick has given Sweet Ji and I two match-worn jerseys, and he promised to give me his jersey at the end of this season, too. The team captain found me and friended me on Facebook. One of the players nominated me for the ice bucket challenge. When the team wanted to change their away jersey, they let us decide what colors. When the team were celebrating their 10th anniversary, they gave all of us free scarves.
The team really appreciates us. So we love them back.
When I went to the IâPark games, there was a strict hierarchy in the fan section. The guy with the drum called the shots. He started every chant. If you tried to start up a chant, he would shush you and tell you to wait. It was a very awkward atmosphere.
But the BTC didnât have a fanbase like that. So we moved in and created a more European-style atmosphere. If someone wants to start a chant, they can. If nobody is really feeling like chanting, then whatever.
It also helps that the BTCâs stadium is in the southern part of the city. There are a lot of native speaking English teachers in the southern part of the city, so it is easy for them to get to the stadium. Weâve got a good group of people that go and hangout.
4) I got a plaque of appreciation.
I donât really have anything else to add. The team gave me a plaque of appreciation.
The BTC play in Gudeok Stadium near Dongdaeshin subway station. Go out either exit 1 or 2 and keep walking straight. The stadium is at the end of that road.