News Singapore Premier League • May 18, 2021
AFC Champions League winner Kim Do-hoon takes charge of Lion City Sailors
Kim Do-hoon becomes the Lion City Sailors’ second head coach (Photo: Ulsan Hyundai)
SINGAPORE, 18 MAY 2021 – The Lion City Sailors have unveiled Kim Do-hoon as their new head coach.
The AIA Singapore Premier League (SPL) title contenders confirmed earlier today the appointment of the former South Korea international, who led Ulsan Hyundai to the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League title. He has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal and replaces Aurelio Vidmar, who departed at the end of April.
“I am delighted to be joining the Lion City Sailors. It’s hugely exciting to be part of such an ambitious project – the club has aspirations of becoming one of the top teams in the region, and I’m confident of delivering that success to the Sailors,” the 50-year-old, who is due to arrive in June, said in a club statement.
“Before anything, however, I would like to thank Aurelio for the solid groundwork that he has put in place. The Sailors boast a very talented squad, and the team has been playing exciting attacking football over the past year or so. I intend to build on that, and bring this team to the next level.”
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The Sailors added that Kim was known for a “possession-based style of football that focused on ball retention and attacking at pace” during his time at Ulsan, where he brought the best out of the likes of striker Júnior Negrão, winger Kim In-Seong, and midfielder Lee Dong Kyung.
Sailors CEO Chew Chun-Liang noted that Kim’s appointment was the culmination of an “exhaustive search”.
“There were several top-class candidates, but Do-hoon stood out as the ideal person to take over as head coach because of his professionalism, consistency, and propensity to play an eye-catching style of football,” he said.
“Do-hoon also has a good record of helping players fulfil their potential. This was something that we considered strongly, given the number of young talents that we have at the club.
“More importantly, Do-hoon is a proven winner who has both played and managed at the highest level of Asian football… We are certain that with Do-hoon at the helm, the Sailors will be able to accelerate our progress in our ongoing quest for success.”
Kim, who earned 72 caps and scored 30 times, helmed Ulsan between the 2017 and 2020 seasons. He led the club to the 2017 Korean FA Cup title as well as two runners-up finishes in 2018 and 2020. Ulsan also finished second in the K League 1 in 2019 and 2020. Kim, who chose not to renew his contract at the end of last year, departed on a high after leading Ulsan to their second ACL crown by beating Iran’s Persepolis 2-1 in the final last December.
