From Harimau Malaya to Ulsan Tigers: Kim Pan-Gon,who quit as Malaysia’s football coach on July 16, will be leading his home club Ulsan HD in the K-League this season.
PETALING JAYA: Kim Pan-gon has never led a Korean League team since taking up coaching in 2002.
But after 22 years, the former Malaysia head coach showed he was ready for the challenge at home as the chief for Ulsan HD, formerly known as Ulsan Hyundai.
Ulsan announced Pan-gon as their 12th head coach since their formation in 1983.
Nicknamed the Tigers, they are currently the defending K-League champions.
Pan-gon replaced legendary South Korean centreback Hong Myung-bo, who has taken over the reins of the South Korean national football team.
Ulsan are considered one of the giants of Asian football, having won the K-League four times in 1996, 2005, 2022 and 2023 and the AFC Champions League twice in 2012 and 2020.
They also won the Korean FA Cup in 2017, and the Korean League Cup five times in 1986, 1995, 1998, 2007 and 2011.
Pan-gon was a former Ulsan player when he featured for them from 1992 to 1996. He was part of the team that won the league in 1996 and also the League Cup in 1995.
He knows the magnitude of his task and looks forward to his first head coach role in South Korea.
“This is my first time coaching in the K-League. In the past, I was just assisting sides like Busan I’Park and Gyeongnam, so it feels good to be a head coach of a K-League club for the first time,” he said.
“Tension and anticipation co-exist together. I feel like I have come a long way in the game but I want to show Korean football fans that I can produce mature performances for Ulsan.”
Before assuming duties as Malaysia’s coach in 2022, the 55-year-old had trained Hong Kong club Buler Rangers (2002-2004) and was an assistant coach with K-League club Busan I’Park (2005-2008).
He then returned to Hong Kong to coach the South China club (2008-2010), before taking over the Hong Kong national team.
Then he returned to South Korea to be an assistant coach for Gyeongnam in 2011, before returning to Hong Kong again, coaching from 2012 to 2017.
Pan-gon resigned from his post as Malaysia’s supremo last week after coaching Harimau Malaya for three years.
During his time with Malaysia, he had a winning percentage of 54.29 percent, the second highest among Malaysia’s national team coaches.
Trevor Hartley had the highest winning percentage of 75 percent, when he coached them in 1989.
