Daewoo Royals After topping the league for most of the
1983 season, Daewoo finished second in their debut season, losing the title by one point to
Hallelujah FC after a goalless draw against
Yukong Elephants in the Masan Series. In its second season, the club turned professional, renamed as Daewoo Royals, and clinched its first league title after defeating Yukong Elephants by an aggregate score of 2–1 in the
1984 K League Championship playoff. Daewoo Royals headed into the
1986 K League season as continental champions after clinching the
1985–86 Asian Club Championship, becoming the first South Korean side to accomplish this feat after defeating
Al-Ahli 3–1 after
extra time in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Despite the continental success, the team suffered a poor season and failed to reach the
1986 K League Championship playoff after finishing fourth in the first round of the league and third in the second. The Royals clinched their second league title after finishing atop the league with 46 points in the
1987 season. They won their third title in
1991 after finishing ten points clear of their nearest rivals that season, Hyundai Horang-i. The Royals' momentum didn't last as the club struggled in subsequent seasons, finishing at or near the bottom of the league.
Pusan Daewoo Royals At the end of the
1995 season, K League sides began the process of "localizing", and the club became known as Pusan Daewoo Royals () in reference to its city of residence. In
1997, they won their fourth league title, becoming the first team to win the K League Championship four times. Although the
1998 season marked the emergence of a forward
Ahn Jung-hwan, the Royals finished mid-table. The club did however manage to qualify for the
1999 K League Championship playoffs after finishing fourth in the regular season. During the playoffs, the Royals managed to knock out
Chunnam Dragons and
Bucheon SK to secure the right to face the defending champions,
Suwon Samsung Bluewings, but lost in the final 4–2 on aggregate.
Pusan i.cons As a company-owned club, the Royals' success was invariably linked to the health and success of its owner,
Daewoo Corporation. In the early 2000s, the company parted ways with its once-successful sports franchise due to
major financial problems that had accumulated since the late 1990s. IPark Construction, the domestic construction division of
Hyundai, secured ownership of the club and acquired all of its history and records. The new owners not only renamed the club as Pusan i.cons, but also changed the club's home colours from blue to red and relocated the club from
Busan Gudeok Stadium to
Busan Asiad Stadium. Under new ownership, the club rarely challenged for the title, finishing mid-table or near bottom of the league in the 2000s. Aside from winning the
Korean FA Cup for the first time in the club's history in 2004 under the guidance of Scottish manager
Ian Porterfield (defeating Bucheon SK in a
penalty shoot-out), the trophy cabinet remained largely empty.
Busan IPark On the onset of the 2005 season, the owners changed the club's name to Busan I'Park (currently Busan IPark). After winning the first round, Porterfield's Busan side reached the
2005 K-League Championship play-offs, but lost to a traditionally lightweight, but then-inspired
Incheon United side led by
Chang Woe-ryong. For the 2008 season,
Hwang Sun-hong took over as manager. Although Busan did not win any silverware during his tenure, he did manage to bring in players such as
Kim Chang-soo,
Jeong Shung-hoon,
Yang Dong-hyun and
Kim Geun-chul while injecting the team with much needed youth by giving prospects such as
Han Sang-woon,
Park Hee-do, and
Park Jong-woo first team opportunities. In his final season in charge of Busan, Hwang managed to lead his side to the
2010 Korean FA Cup final. For the 2011 season, the board appointed
An Ik-soo to take over from Hwang Sun-Hong who had left to manage his former club,
Pohang Steelers. Under An, Busan managed to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2005 after finishing fifth on the league table in the regular season. An's Busan side was knocked out in the first round of the play-offs by Suwon Samsung Bluewings by a familiar scoreline of 1–0. In February 2012, an adjustment was made to the club's name by dropping an apostrophe making the official name read Busan IPark. In 2015, after nine successive bottom-half finishes, Busan IPark were relegated to the second-tier
K League Challenge for the first time in their history. Towards the end of the
2016 season, with an immediate return to the K League Classic looking unlikely, IPark moved back to their smaller, previous home ground, the Gudeok Stadium. Busan IPark had an impressive
2017 season, although this was overshadowed by the death of then-manager
Cho Jin-ho with only two weeks remaining in the season. Busan finished runners up in the K League Challenge to
Gyeongnam FC, losing only 6 games all season. With caretaker manager, Lee Seung-yub in charge, Busan defeated
Asan Mugunghwa, in the playoff semi-final, but lost on penalties after a two-legged final to
Sangju Sangmu FC, who became the first K League Classic team to retain their league status via the playoffs. Busan also reached the final of the FA Cup, knocking out higher league opposition in Pohang Steelers,
FC Seoul,
Jeonnam Dragons and Suwon Bluewings but once again lost over a two-legged final, this time to
Ulsan Hyundai. For the
2018 season in the newly re-branded
K League 2,
Choi Yun-kyum was appointed manager after previously gaining promotion with
Gangwon FC. Busan IPark eventually finished third in the K League 2, but for the second consecutive season lost in the two-legged playoff final, this time to FC Seoul. Despite again failing in their promotion bid, Busan broke numerous attendance records for the K League 2, including over 10,000 for the home leg of the playoff final. After failing to get promoted, manager Choi Yun-kyum resigned in the off-season and was replaced by
Cho Deok-je. Busan enjoyed a successful
2019 season, with Cho Deok-je implementing an attacking brand of football that saw Busan finish as the top-scoring team in the division. Cho's side were built around young talents such as
Kim Moon-hwan,
Lee Dong-jun, and
Kim Jin-kyu, as well as then
national team striker
Lee Jung-hyup, veteran midfielder
Park Jong-woo, and Brazilian playmaker
Rômulo. Busan IPark finished second in the K League 2 behind
Gwangju FC, entering the promotion playoffs for the fourth season in a row. After defeating
FC Anyang 1–0 at home, Busan faced local rivals Gyeongnam FC in a two-legged final. After a goalless first leg at the Gudeok Stadium, Busan won the away fixture 2–0 to secure their return to Korea's top division for the first time since 2015. The
2020 season brought quite the opposite feelings, in comparison: the club quickly found itself fighting against relegation, and coach Cho Deok-je eventually left the club in September after a poor run of results. Former Incheon United coach
Lee Ki-hyung took over in a
caretaker capacity for the remaining four games of the season. After taking four points from his first two games in charge, Busan only needed a single point from either of their final games of the season to guarantee their top flight status for another year. However, despite leading at half-time against both Incheon United and
Seongnam FC, Busan lost both games and finished in last place, thus getting relegated back to the K League 2. Because of this major blow, at the start of
2021 Busan's board chose to pursue a general rebuild, which was opened by massive changes in the locker room: a multi-phased
trade with Ulsan Hyundai saw
Lee Kyu-seong and homegrown rising star Lee Dong-jun depart, in favour of
Choi Jun,
Park Jeong-in,
Lee Sang-heon and
Jung Hoon-sung; other prominent players, including
Han Ji-ho (who went to
Bucheon FC 1995),
Kang Min-soo (to Incheon United), Rômulo (to
Chengdu), Kim Moon-hwan (who joined
MLS club
Los Angeles FC) and
Kwon Hyeok-kyu (due to
military service at
Gimcheon Sangmu), left the club as well; the previous year's top scorer and MVP,
An Byong-jun, as well as
Ahn Joon-soo,
Park Min-gyu (on loan),
Valentinos Sielis,
Domagoj Drožđek and
Ryan Edwards, were all brought in. The team also had its first permanent foreign manager since 2007, as newcomer
Ricardo Peres was appointed, following a conversation between the board and then South Korean national team head coach
Paulo Bento, who Peres had worked with for years.
Club name history == Youth teams ==