2025 Season Review: Ansan Greeners

The Greeners ended the season with the ignominious title of being the first Ansan professional team to finish bottom of the league. Recording the worst points-per-game ratio in the second division in a decade, and managing just 0.64 goals per game, this was a season the Green Wolves will soon want to forget.

What Went Well

In a season of few highlights for the Green Wolves, any positives came earlier in the campaign. Despite opening the season with four straight defeats, performances were not too concerning, but a laboured cup performance against K4 outfit Pyeongtaek Citizen was perhaps a warning of what was to come. Ansan managed to take 2025 Korean double-champions Jeonbuk to extra-time in Jeonju, in the cup, and despite going down 3-0 in extra-time, it would not have seemed an injustice if a smash and grab had taken place. Back-to-back wins in May and early June hinted that the team was coming together... although they would then fail to win for 19 matches. 

What Didn't Go Well

It does not require much analysis to see what went wrong at the Wa this season... everything. The team achieved the lowest points-per-game total since the league became the K2 in 2017. With just 25 league goals, Ansan averaged 0.64 goals a game, the lowest of any Ansan team in 18 seasons across the National League, Challenge and K2 eras. The team simply provided no attacking threat, failing to score in 18 league matches, and managing to go 8 games without a goal from open play between September and November (of that, one goal was a penalty and the other, an own goal). 4-0 and 6-0 defeats to Seongnam and E-land respectively highlighted that things were not exactly rosy on the defensive side either, although the team did manage 10 clean-sheets during the campaign. Not long after the season concluded, the team bus decided enough was enough and burnt down. 

Young Player of the Year

Park Shi-hwa

The left-sided 21-year-old defender put in some impressive displays during the season, and was key in earning several of Ansan's clean-sheets. Also showed some threat going forward, notably scoring the winner at Cheonan in April.

Park Si-hwa jostles with Gyeongnam's Woo Joo-sung in Changwon

Team MVP

Jo Ji-hun 

Despite Ansan's lack of goal-scoring threat, the former Suwon Bluewings and FC Seoul veteran still managed to demonstrate his creativity and ability to get the ball moving up-field. He rarely misplaced a pass, and got the ball moving out of dangerous areas at the back. With more threat up front, he may have ended the season better than the 2 assists and 1 goal that he ultimately returned.

Jo Ji-hun wore the captain's armband for the visit of Suwon Bluewings in the last game of the season at the Wa Stadium.

Most Disappointing Player

The Entire Club 

Struggling clubs usually have something to shout about, or at least a memory that they will take with them into the future. However, this season has been for the most part, an absolute disaster. The club's average score was 0.6-1.5 per game, demonstrating performances that were poor at the back, but even worse up front. Another mid-season managerial change, as well as players departing mid-season, points to plenty of off-field issues in both recruitment and the general stability of the club. The Greeners topped the K2 attendance charts in 2019, that support has understandably suffered since and has reached a low-point also. The Greeners need a serious review at all levels.

Most Important Decision of the Off-Season

The club needs to seriously check its values and where it is going. Stability is the first step, and maintaining some of the players who finished the season with some positives, need to be retained. The end of year release list is not quite as extensive as the wholesale cull in 2024 which triggered protests at the stadium. Off-field issues also need to stop being a distraction at the club. A constant of late summer in the K2 is a managerial change at the Wa, and this cycle needs to end. The ascension of Choi Moon-sik to the managerial role at the end of the season was not well met by the fanbase, and his one game in charge was the 6-0 defeat in Mokdong. There are building blocks for this team however, as noted, they had the highest attendances in the K2 2019, and the club must rebuild with the fanbase in mind. Daejeon, Seongnam, Bucheon and Seoul E-land have all finished bottom of the K2, so clearly it does not de facto mean long-term doom for the Green Wolves. It seems Ansan cannot sink any lower, and perhaps a new era awaits in 2026... from the ashes of the team bus.