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Bucheon to stay with coach Lee Young-min for two more seasons
Bucheon FC 1995 has extended the contract of head coach Lee Young-min (51).
Bucheon FC1995 (Owner: Bucheon Mayor Choi Sung-ik) has agreed to a contract extension with head coach Lee Young-min. This will keep Lee in charge of the club until the 2026 season.
Bucheon made a surprise announcement and signed Lee Young-min's contract extension at the 2024 season kickoff ceremony held on Sunday, Sept. 25, at the Eulmajeong courtyard of Bucheon City Hall. The contract extension, which was announced before the season, confirms the club's trust and support for Lee.
Lee is the first coach in Bucheon's history to lead the team for four consecutive seasons. In his previous three seasons with Bucheon, he won 42 games, drew 30 and lost 42 in 114 matches. During this time, Lee led the team to a franchise-record 100 home wins (26R vs. Gyeongnam on August 14, 2023), 100 away wins (3R vs. Cheonan on March 12, 2023), and 200 career wins (13R vs. Busan on May 13, 2023).
After arriving at Bucheon in 2021, Lee Young-min's first promise was to "develop the team called Bucheon. Instead of just collecting wins, 스포츠토토 he promised to develop the team for the long term and led the team to the playoffs for two consecutive seasons in 2022 and 2023. Now, he's looking to make another promise to Bucheon and take them to greater heights.
When watching Bucheon train, it's often difficult to find Lee's position. That's because of his hands-on approach to coaching, running and kicking the ball with his players. With his gentle charisma and aggressive, detailed coaching, Bucheon has become known as a "prospect restaurant," producing a K League 2 Young Player of the Year (Ahn Jae-joon) last season.
Thanks to this, Bucheon has one of the strongest squads in recent memory, and with Lee Young-min at the helm, the club is looking to reach even greater heights this season.
Lee also emphasizes the importance of love and communication with fans. The fan meeting "Lalala Overtime," which was held after the end of the Chunsan home game on June 11 last season, was initiated by Lee. At the event, Lee had a chance to interact with the fans.
"First of all, I want to thank the owner, the president, the manager, the club, and everyone," said Lee, who agreed to extend his contract.
"I'm very grateful to be able to work with a team like Bucheon, a team that looks at the same place and has the same philosophy. The first thing I said to myself when I arrived in Bucheon was, 'I will develop Bucheon.' I have never forgotten that, and I have always tried to do my best."
Finally, he added a new determination for the future, saying, "Based on what we have been working on for three years, which is not a short time, I will now strive to head to a higher place with Bucheon."
Bucheon head coach Kim Sung-nam commented on the contract extension, saying, "We have a lot of trust in Lee Young-min. The club will also look to higher heights with him and work hard to help him lead 'Bucheon Football'," he said, expressing his expectations and support for the coach.
Meanwhile, the 2024 season under Lee Young-min will begin with a match against Cheonan on March 2 at Bucheon Sports Complex.