Eland on Monday expressed its ambition to create a Seoul-based soccer club.

“We will try to put together the most popular football club in the nation,” said Park Sung-kyung, the company’s vice chairwoman, during a press conference held to showcase Eland’s hopes and vision for the new club.

“Win-loss records are important,” said Park, who will double as the owner of the football club yet to be named. “But our primary goal is to be the team that can bring joy to fans.”

She also said she hopes for the club to become “a pillar of development in Korean football.” 

Eland, which has about 250 affiliates in retail, apparel and food service, declared its intention to found a new pro football club here last Wednesday. The group on Monday submitted its formal proposal to the K League, the operator of the two tiers of professional circuits, the K League Classic and the K League Challenge.

The new club plans to enter the K League Challenge in 2015. There are 10 teams in the second division, and 12 in the top-tier K League Classic.

Starting this year, the worst-perfrorming team from the K League Classic will be relegated to the second division at the end of each season, and the K League Challenge champion will earn an automatic promotion to the first division.

The second-worst K League Classic team will face the second-best K League Challenge club in a playoff. The winner of this match will play in the K League Classic the following year and the loser will play in the lower-tier league.

Currently, FC Seoul of the K League Classic is the only pro football club in the capital city. FC Seoul is based at Seoul World Cup Stadium in northwestern Seoul. Eland’s team plans to use Jamsil Olympic Stadium in the southeastern part of the city as its home.

Seoul World Cup Stadium, which hosted FIFA World Cup matches in 2002 when South Korea cohosted the tournament with Japan, has a capacity of about 66,000. Jamsil Olympic Stadium can hold up to 69,000 spectators.

Eland once ran a semi-pro football club here from 1992 to 1998. Two years ago, it entered a bid to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball before losing out to a group that included the former LA Lakers great Magic Johnson.

Park said she hopes to learn from the strengths of other clubs in Korea and other countries. She added she hopes to get fans involved in the process of launching the new club, and said the team’s nickname and emblem would be decided through open contests.

She added that Eland’s experience in a wide range of industries should help the group create “content that can put fans in the seats.” Kwon Oh-gap, commissioner of the K League, welcomed the entry of the new team.

By Bae Ji-sook and news reports
(baejisook@heraldcorp.com)