From The Stands: YF Boys

Continuing our From The Stands series where we introduce supporter groups around the K League for you to join, we chatted with Mark Kelly (and others) about the Seongnam FC supporters, YF Boys, and what it's like cheering for one of K League's most successful clubs. 
(photo via facebook.com/SFC.Seongnam)

Group Background

Who are the Seongnam FC Supporters?

Seongnam Supporters are all the people who support Seongnam with their pride and visit Tancheon Stadium to support the team. There’s no specific name that we have. No matter how and where you support the team, you are a part of the Seongnam supporters group. New members are always made to feel welcome. As for myself, I am a member of the Ultras group called YF Boys.

Where is your HQ?

There’s a place called "Golden Connection" near Yatap plaza. YF Boys members generally have parties there when they have an event or after home games. We’ve been going there for a while, so the owner knows us really well.

Where did your name come from?

YF Boys, means Yellow Flag Boys. The name comes from the guys who flew yellow flags as a symbol of Seongnam Ilhwa back in the day. We started our group in the 2nd tier of the Main stand of Tancheon Stadium (or Sky Seok as it’s often called). It’s all about following Seongnam regardless of race, sex, religion, sexual identity, or faith. We now support the team from the temporary stand or ‘Black Zone’ as it’s known, which is behind the home goal.

Any custom gear?

We have had various t-shirts made down the years which we have used to spread both the YF name and also the ideals we believe in. We also have a scarf that says “we don’t care if we have nobody to love." This phrase came from one of our songs about how we showcase our passion for Seongnam. Of course, there are lots of Seongnam fans who do have somebody to love…


Where can someone find out about you online?

Please visit YFBoys.com or search ‘Ultras YFBoys’ on Instagram. We welcome you to follow us both in and out of the stands.

Contact person?

Just stop by the Black Zone on matchday and ask anyone there about the YF Boys. That will do the job. Or you can visit the homepage.

At The Stadium

Does your section have a name? Do you share the section with others?

Currently we are located in the ‘Black Zone’, which is the temporary home stand behind the goal. The safe standing area is also home to the other groups like YRU, Ultras Reaper, and Ultras Giovanni.

What does your group’s game day look like?

We have a pre-match get together for home games in a first-come-first-served basis. About 1-2 hours before the kick off, we enter the Black Zone and put up our banners. Then start to drink the beer or soju that we brought in. The process wouldn’t be much different when it comes to away games, although smuggled beer in Incheon and The Big Bird always taste better! As you can imagine as a Seongnam fan, there are plenty of excuses to drink beer or soju! When we win the game, we celebrate with players and take photos together. When we lose, particularly after losing a few in a row or to a rival, we criticize the display. Then we're off to Yatap to have a post-match party there to wrap up. There’s a lot of drinking!

What are the group’s favorite chants/songs?

Personally, "My Love Seongnam" is my favourite. The lyric repeats our faith on Seongnam, saying that we will be with Seongnam no matter what happens to the team. Regarding the recent rocky history of Seongnam, it literally says what Seongnam fans are feeling. It was made during the Ilhwa days and we continue to sing it. I think that we have become famous for our "It’s my Girlfriend’s Birthday" chant. It basically says “It’s my girlfriend’s birthday but I’m at the football”. You can listen to it here. Also a lot of our chants are based on European Ultras groups such as Celtic’s Green Brigade, which often leads to us being copied... I’m looking at you Incheon fans!!!!

Traveling

How far is the group willing to travel?

When we had Jeju United away in K-League 1, we generally made the away trips to Jeju by ourselves. Once there we would organize to get together, rent a car and party into the night at a pension. It makes the away trip tremendous regardless of the match result. Now that we are in K-League 2, Busan away is the farthest away for us, and a decent sized crowd made the trip to Godeok last year.

Back in 2015, when we were in ACL, lots of fans travelled to Osaka which was an epic few days of sake, football, sake, sashimi, sake, songs and …… yup more sake. Generally, you can see a lot of fans in Japan for away games.

Is there a supporters bus for away games?

Yes, since the Ilhwa days the club has supported the fans by hiring away buses. For long haul trips, many fans save their voice for the game and try to sleep. In the meantime, you have enough time to talk to other fans, which is a good way to broaden your connections within the fanbase, even if you don’t belong to any supporters group as Mark has found out on several occasions. Now the club doesn’t support us for the away buses to shorter away trips, but it doesn’t bother us and we are still one of (if not the) biggest away support in K2.

If you can’t make it to the game, where can you meet? Do you have watch parties?

We would always watch ACL away games in a pub. But now most of our away matches are domestic, so most of the fans get to away games as well. Therefore there aren’t that many occasions to have watch parties.

Fun Facts

What is the greatest game in Seongnam history?

Definitely that night in Tokyo in 2010 when Seongnam became Asian champions again. Shin Tae-yong was the gaffer back in 2010. He was also one of the legends when Cha Kyung-bok led the team back in 2004 to the final but couldn’t lift the trophy due to lots of injuries. Cha resigned after that shocking defeat in the 2nd leg of the final, then two years later he passed away. If you watch the video, you see the coaching staff full of tears. It was not just from the joy of victory, but also from the memories of Cha. The fans were also full of tears, sharing the same emotions as the coaching staff. It truly was one of the greatest moments in Seongnam’s history.

What makes SFC Supporters one of the best groups in K League?

We follow Seongnam through all the ups and downs of the K League. We are definitely not ‘fair-weather’ fans. Seongnam supporters have experienced all things you can imagine as a K League fan: winning the league, becoming Asian Champions, and winning three titles in a row (TWICE). The club was about to be sold to another city council and then came the conversion to Seongnam City council’s club, and eventually relegation. Recently we’ve had the Municipal Assembly’s lack of cooperation and budget cuts, and now we just await that final piece of the puzzle: promotion. But through all of that we haven’t lost our faith, our passion, or our noise, and still turn out come rain or shine to support the boys in black. We may not have the loudest or largest fan group in Korea, but we believe we have the most passionate. We don’t need gimmicks like umbrellas or bowing dances to support our team!

There are many groups that can boast about their stadium ‘performances’, which are often down to the number of their members. But we at Seongnam are always aware of what football means to the local communities of Seongnam City and try to spread the word. We are not a Chaebeol club. We are a club of the community.  Like our banner says; “As long as you are with Seongnam, we don’t care about your Race, Religion, Nationality, Sexual Identity, Faith, Age or Sex”.


So next time you are in Seongnam and want to come to the stadium, head to the ‘Black Zone’ and ask for the YF Boys. Or alternatively look for Mark in the back row. He’ll no doubt have an extra cold beer for you…….unless the security woman has taken it off him again!

Many thanks to @kingkenny1967 and @JohnnyTano_KS for putting this piece together.