| Clubname: | Gyeongju KHNP WFC |
| Fullname: | Gyeongju Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power WFC 경주 한국수력원자력 여자 축구단 |
| Ground: | Gyeongju Football Park |
| Capacity: | 650 |
| Manager: | Song Ju-hee |
| League: | WK League |
| Season: | 2023 |
| Position: | WK League, 4th of 8 |
| Website: | https://www.khnpfc.co.kr/index.php |
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Gyeongju Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power WFC, also known as Gyeongju KHNP Women's Football Club, is a South Korean women's football club. The club was founded by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power in 2017 and competes in the WK League. They play their home games at Gyeongju Football Park.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power FC, a men's team competing in the National League, had moved to Gyeongju in 2013.[1] In October 2016, the president of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd and the mayor of Gyeongju announced the formation of an attached women's team.[2]
The team was formally founded in March 2017 with 27 players and 5 coaches, including manager Ha Keum-jin, who had previously coached the under-20 women's national team in 2014 and the under-16 women's national team in 2015.[3] They played their first match on 17 April 2017 against Boeun Sangmu.[4]
After finishing the 2017 season in seventh place, Gyeongju KHNP finished in second place in the regular league in 2018. Amid speculation over the sudden departure of manager Ha Keum-jin due to "personal reasons", the team beat Suwon FMC in the playoff semi-final to qualify for the two-legged championship final against Incheon Hyundai Steel.[5] Despite leading 3–0 after the first leg at home, the final ended as a 4–4 draw on aggregate, and Gyeongju lost 3–1 in a penalty shoot-out to finish as league runners-up.[6]
In early 2019, the club was investigated by the Korea Football Association after accusations of sexual misconduct by former manager Ha Keum-jin.[7] After it emerged that the real reason for Ha's mid-season departure in 2018 was a dismissal due to sexual violence against a player at the club, KHNP was accused of a cover-up.[8] The club denied this allegation. Following reports that Ha had previously been dismissed from the KFA in January 2016 due to sexual harassment, the Korea Women's Football Federation stated that Gyeongju KHNP had been unaware of this fact when they hired him the following year.[9]
The 2019 season finished with Gyeongju and Suwon FMC in second and third place respectively, leading to a replay of the previous year's playoff semi-final. This time, Suwon won 2–0 and progressed to the final against Incheon Hyundai Steel.[10]
In December 2019, the club announced Song Ju-hee as its new manager.[11]
From 2020 to 2022, the same three teams again finished at the top of the league table, with Gyeongju defeating Suwon to progress to the final against Incheon Hyundai Steel but ultimately finishing as runners-up in all three years.[12] [13] They finished the 2023 season in fourth place.[14]
Song Ju-hee Lee Joo-seop Kim Chang-hee Kwon Ki-bo Noh Jae-hyunSource: Official website[16]
Runners-up (4): 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022
| Season | WK League regular season | Position | Playoffs | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 28 | 5 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 53 | 21 | 7th | Did not qualify | |
| 2018 | 28 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 54 | 35 | 53 | 2nd | Runners-up | |
| 2019 | 28 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 62 | 35 | 49 | 2nd | Semifinals | |
| 2020 | 21 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 43 | 13 | 54 | 2nd | Runners-up | |
| 2021 | 21 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 59 | 17 | 51 | 2nd | Runners-up | |
| 2022 | 21 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 46 | 21 | 49 | 2nd | Runners-up | |
| 2023 | 21 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 25 | 21 | 33 | 4th | Did not qualify | |