Early starts As a child and approaching the start of his senior career, Cho often played as a forward: for example, while representing South Korea in the
U-20 squad, he was also sided as a left winger. In 2001, after his original plan to join a university club (a practice many Korean footballers do in order to focus on their development) failed, Cho signed with
Ulsan Hyundai, one of the most successful clubs in the K League. After making his professional debut for the Horangi side, in 2003 Cho decided to join the army team
Gwangju Sangmu Phoenix on a loan spell, so he could finish his
military duty and play more regularly.
Suwon Samsung Bluewings After a two-year duty at Gwangju, in 2005 Cho moved from Ulsan to
Suwon Samsung Bluewings, becoming in the process one of the several prominent signings that made the team earn the nickname "Real Suwon" during the regular season of that year. He originally played as a right wing-back or a right full-back at the
Big Bird Stadium, competing for a regular spot with
Song Chong-Gug: however, in 2007, due to a long-term injury of defensive midfielder
Kim Nam-Il, he switched his position to replace his team-mate. Throughout that season, he didn't seem to be totally comfortable in his new position and many fans were especially concerned with his rough passing. Nevertheless, the following season he showed great signs of improvement in his new role and became a first-team regular again, as Suwon experienced one of its best seasons to date, winning both the
K League title and the
Korean League Cup. At the end of the year, Cho was also featured in the
Best XI of the championship (alongside team-mates
Lee Woon-jae,
Mato Neretljak and
Edu). He chose to not renew his contract with Suwon, becoming a
free agent and starting figuring out an even more ambitious move.
Wigan Athletic Following impressive performances for both Suwon and the
South Korean national team, Cho was linked with several
European clubs, including
German side
Schalke 04 and
French side
AS Monaco. After trialing with the latter team in January 2009, Cho sought another trial with
English Premier League side
Wigan Athletic, since Monaco had actually all of their
non-EU player slots filled. He impressed during his tests with the
Tics and, after being granted a
work permit, he was allowed to join Wigan on 6 March 2009, signing a two years, six months-long contract. Cho initially represented the club's
reserve squad, playing his first game in a 2–2 draw against
Liverpool, during which he notched an assist. He was the only player to appear in all of the 30 games for Guangzhou during the 2011 season. On 30 May 2012, Cho suffered a rib fracture in the Round of 16 of the
AFC Champions League, which saw Guangzhou beat Japanese side
FC Tokyo 1–0. Failing to fully recover from that injury, he eventually lost his spot in the team to fellow Korean
Kim Young-Gwon, who had completed a transfer move in August of the same year. Nevertheless, Cho still managed to play his part in the win of two consecutive league titles in 2011 and 2012 with Guangzhou, as well as the
national FA Cup and
Super Cup in the latter year.
Wuhan Zall On 28 November 2012, fellow Chinese club
Wuhan Zall officially announced they had signed Cho on a free transfer.
Gyeongnam FC In February 2014, Cho was loaned to
Gyeongnam FC, thus returning to South Korea after four years from his latest experience at the time. During his brief period of time at
Changwon, he featured twelve times, but the club struggled in
K League Classic, and then lost the promotion-relegation playoff to
Gwangju FC.
Omiya Ardija On 4 July 2014, Cho moved to Japanese side
Omiya Ardija until the end of the season. However, it proved to be another unlucky experience for him, as he managed to make only four appearances due to fitness issues and could not provide the team with much help, as they finished sixteenth out of eighteen teams in
J League 1, failing to stay in the top-tier for just a point: this way, the South Korean got involved in his third relegation in a row in just two years.
Seoul E-Land FC On 5 February 2015, Cho approached a new and definitive homecoming, as he accepted an offer from newly established
Seoul E-Land, which was set to debut in
K League Challenge. After finally regaining full form, the South Korean took a considerable part in Seoul E-Land's season, as the team finished in fourth place before losing their playoff match to eventual winners
Suwon FC, due to ranking rules. Still, Cho himself and fellow team-mates
Kim Jae-sung and
Joo Min-kyu were included in the Best XI of that year. Plus, he set new personal records, as he registered both his highest number of appearances (37) and goals (5) in a single season.
Third spell with Suwon Bluewings and first retirement Following his restoring experience in the
South Korean capital (which is also his birthplace), at the start of 2016 Cho decided to join Suwon Samsung for the third time in his career: he went on playing for the Blue Wings for almost three years, and even though he ended up featuring increasingly less throughout the time, his contributes helped the team win the
Korean FA Cup in 2016 and reach the semi-finals of the
AFC Champions League in 2018, between other achievements. On a side note, this last chapter of his permanence at the club is also remembered for a curious episode of bad luck: at the 89th minute of the seventeenth match of the
2017 season, while playing against
Gangwon FC, Cho tried to smother
Im Chan-ul's attempt to cross into Suwon's penalty box, but his header curved the ball's trajectory unpredictably and eventually turned into a bizarre own-goal, setting the final score of the game into a 3–3 draw. The episode is still well-remembered by football fans all across the country, with Cho himself being repeatedly invited to speak and joke on his error. On 31 March 2019, Cho announced his retirement from professional football through a special ceremony, hold at Suwon World Cup Stadium shortly before an official league match against
Incheon United.
A new experience with Suwon FC and definitive retirement After a year and a half of inactivity, Cho unexpectedly came back in action and moved to the
Gyeonggi city once more, although the final destination was different this time around: in fact, on 22 July 2020, it was officially announced that Cho would join
Suwon FC, the city's second professional team, as a playing coach, thus re-uniting with main manager
Kim Do-kyun (the two were team-mates when Cho started his senior career at Ulsan) and assisting him for the rest of the season in
K League 2. During his six-month spell with the
Dashers, he played only twice: on 1 August, he started the home match against
Ansan Greeners, but he got a yellow card and he was eventually replaced with
Lee Ji-hun at the 40th minute, while Suwon FC suffered a 1–2 loss; on 24 October, he came from the bench as a substitute, replacing Lee himself, at the 77th minute of an away match against
Jeju United, but could not help his side avoid a 2–0 loss. In both cases, he was used as a right-back, his original position. He also featured on the bench for other five consecutive matches, from 21 September to 10 October. Suwon FC eventually had a successful season, finishing second in the championship and winning the final play-off against Gyeongnam to obtain their second promotion ever to the top-tier rank of the K League. In these circumstances, although Cho might have not left a very significant mark as an active player, he actually did it off the pitch: in fact, on 4 January 2021, he donated his entire incentive, consisting of 20-million won (roughly corresponding to $18,365), to the club for their sportive achievements in 2020, declaring that the special fee would be invested in their
youth development sector. The following day (on 5 January), he addressed his donation in a video for his own YouTube channel, explaining what had brought him to that particular decision: moreover, in the same occasion he announced his definitive retirement from professional football at 37 years old. Cho Won-hee's retirement closed an 18-year long career, with a total amount of 352 appearances and 10 goals distributed between South Korea, England, China and Japan. ==International career==