"I Knew We Were Not Going Down!" - FC Anyang's Han Ka-ram | OneFootball

The K League 1 regular season wraps up in late November. FC Anyang's win in Jeju cements their place in K League 1 for another year. No awkward midweek trips to Mokdong, Gwangyang, or Bucheon for the Violets is their reward for an impressive season. K League United sat down with midfielder Han Ka-ram to gather his thoughts.

I met Han Ka-ram on a quiet Thursday afternoon at Anyang Stadium before the latest round of international fixtures. If you are unsure of the season, there are plenty of hints around. The leaves are a mixture of red, brown, yellow, orange, and green. Several trees are now bare. It was 17 degrees, unseasonably warm for mid-November, but the shadows now stretch into the distance. It is dark before six, and cold at night.

Kim Dong-jin celebrates promotion. Han Ka-ram's happy day.

In other parts of the world, this environmental change means the football season has only just begun. In Germany, where Han emigrated at 15 to pursue his dream of playing professional football, the Bundesliga has just completed its 10th round. K League, however, is winding down. The sultry summer nights watching city-owned FC Anyang take down local powerhouses are but a distant memory. Coats and mittens replace shorts and cold beers.

Han is excited for a winter vacation, but is less thrilled that the league goes on another hiatus as we approach the end.

There are only two rounds of fixtures left following the international break. The 2–1 win in Jeju last weekend guaranteed their status in the top flight for another season. No nervy late-season play-offs against K League 2 opposition. A trip to Daegu rounds out 2025. By the time the violet-clad fans return to Anyang, the worst of the winter will have passed. Spring will be on the doorstep.

The season is nearly over!

Before all that, there's a campaign to review. Anyang are currently 7th, level on points with Korea Cup finalists Gwangju FC. A return of six points from their remaining matches will guarantee Han and his teammates 7th place — best of Final B. As far as debut seasons go in K League 1, Anyang couldn't have asked for any more.

In a season of numerous highs and only a handful of lows, Han picked a moment from last season as his personal favourite at the club. Just over 52 weeks ago, Anyang secured the result they needed in Bucheon to earn their first-ever ticket to the Big Show. When they got back to their stadium that night, the fans were waiting.

The symbiotic relationship between the players, the club, and the supporters has been a pleasant sidenote to 2025. Throughout the year, I've heard players and staff refer to the organisation as one big family. When Gwangju held Anyang goalless in September, I saw Dutch defender Thomas Oude Kotte and goalkeeper Kim Da-sol FaceTiming a fan. The fans have more flags now, there's theSukhavati beer, and both halves begin after the new club anthem, Zombie.

No Anyang match is complete without a purple can.

Han is from Gunsan; Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. But he's an Anyang fan. Before signing on with the club as a player, he watched matches as a supporter. When Anyang traveled to Gwangju last month, only 2,228 were there. "The huge support that we get, you can never get at the other club, I think. This makes a big difference when we play at home." With one home match to go, Anyang's average gate is 7,578, good enough for seventh in their first season at this level. Three of the six clubs ahead of them are Asian Champions League winners. Four play at World Cup stadiums.

Across town, awareness in the football club is building. Numerous "partnerships" have been signed with local businesses, meaning the club's logo can be seen in many shopfronts. This is a brand worth hitching to. Add to that the enormous housing redevelopment happening outside the stadium walls, and there's plenty of untapped potential. At the stadium, the matchday experience has been greatly improved, even though they are working with very, very little resources.

Three temporary pitchside stands have been erected to maximise the viewing experience of the public. These stands are small because they can't encroach onto the running track used by local residents. Therefore, the club is forced to sell tickets in the original structure. It isn't ideal, but there's no other option. Talk of a new, purpose-built football stadium has been shelved, for now. The club has been forced to make do with what they have, and it's working.

Anyang's brand will grow as long as the team continues to pick up points. They began life as a K League 1 club away to Ulsan HD, the three-in-a-row champions. No one gave them a chance. But Anyang hung in and delivered an opening-day upset to rival anything we've seen before. In added-on time, new striker Bruno Mota rose highest at the back post to head Anyang to victory.

Han recalls this day fondly. "The hardest game, at a big club and a big stadium, was Ulsan away. When I came to Anyang last season, in K League 2, we dominated most teams. But for me, Ulsan was new. Even for most of our players, who hadn't played K League 1 in a long time. I had never seen our players struggle in a game before. The Ulsan game was too fast, too strong. But step by step, we improved. We saw how they play, the tempo. And we won."

Following that win, Han had confidence in his team. Their K League 1 stay would not be short lived.

Anyang have faced Ulsan four times in 2025, having never met them in a league match before. The ledger reads: two wins, one draw, and one defeat. Seven points from a possible 12 is an outstanding return. When the sides met earlier this month, Ulsan scored early but went on to lose 3–1. By now, picking a highlight of the season was becoming a difficult task.

How could a promoted team enjoy so many epic moments? That last entry — the destruction of Gimcheon — parachuted Han into the headlines. Anyang's win ensured Jeonbuk won the title. The rout started in the 47th second when Han rifled home an unstoppable volley from 30 yards that would go on to win October Goal of the Month. Have you ever scored a better goal?

An amusing feature of Han's wonder goal was the (lack of) celebration. The 27-year-old admitted he thought "the ball was too far out" when he struck it, so it was only in the last second he realised it was heading for the net. He circled around the edge of the box, with one arm raised, before finding his teammate Kim Dong-jin.

At training the day before that match, Han admitted he sent an almost identical shot "200 meters wide, like a home run." Manager Yoo Byeong-hoon told him never to shoot again. Barely 24 hours later, the ball found the back of the net. Seeing his manager's smile also showed Han the magnitude of what he had just done.

The Purple Castle 

Sitting with the player in the media centre, it is clear how much love, respect, and adoration he holds for manager Yoo. In the full version of this interview, Han explains why. This part really stood out for me. "Before we talk about him (Yoo) as a manager, I just want to say he's such a nice person." The emphasis on the word such tells its own story.

With the season drawing to a close this month, Han Ka-ram and his Anyang teammates have just 180 more minutes before their winter vacation starts. How many of the squad will return for the start of pre-season is currently undecided, but the club is bracing itself for offers for several key players, including Mota and Thomas. Nevertheless, Han is excited for the new campaign already. Like the players, staff, and fans of FC Anyang, he has every right to do so.