Life in the Bottom Tier - What's It Like to Play in K7 League? | OneFootball

It’s 8 a.m. on a chilly Sunday morning at a small football stadium in north Daegu. One team is just beginning to knock the ball around amongst themselves and perform the routine stretches that players typically do before a game. The other team is in a bit of a panic, as only four of their players have arrived on time ahead of a fairly standard breakfast-time kickoff at 8:30 a.m. Welcome to K7 League, the bottom tier of the Korean football league—a world far removed from the high salaries, shiny all-seater stadiums, and Jesse Lingards of the top tier.

There is something very unique about one of the teams playing in today’s fixture: nowadays they are made up almost entirely of foreign players. Deer FC (or Chimac FC, as they sometimes go by—but more on that later) has been competing in the bottom two tiers of the K League for the past five seasons.

The club’s history dates back to 2008, when it started out as Daegu FC (something tells us they might have had problems with copyright if they had continued with that name) before changing its name to Deer FC a year later in response to another foreign-based side called Devils FC. During this time, they competed in the KFFL (Korean Foreign Football League), as well as in regular tournaments such as the Ulsan Cup, where they enjoyed significant success. In 2020, they merged with another local team, Chimac FC, adopting their name and joining the K League, starting out in K7 League.

The first season in K7 League was a great success, and they earned promotion to K6 League, where they remained for the next two seasons before being relegated back to where we find them playing today. The 2024 season saw another name change, as the sponsorship with the Chimac Festival ended, and the club reverted to its original name, Deer FC. The club is now generously sponsored by two Daegu bars, Who’s Bob and GoGo, whose support has enabled the team to continue this season.

What’s it like playing in K7 League?

The league is strictly amateur, although the organization and officiating are on par with professional leagues in many countries. There is a strict registration process for any players wishing to sign up, and each game is officiated by an official KFA referee, two assistants, and a fourth official. The league is split into different groups, and rather than teams having home-and-away fixtures, games are played at the same stadiums each week, depending on the geographical location of the group. The level of the teams is mixed, but generally, the games are played at a high standard, and many of the players could be plying their trade at a higher level.

As well as being of a fairly decent standard for a bottom-tier league, there is generally a high level of respect between the teams, with very little foul play—a welcome change for some players who have competed in more physical leagues in the past.

One player who has experience in more physical football is current Deer FC captain Tom Holgate, who grew up playing football on the park pitches of his native Chorley in the northwest of England. He feels that the officials play a large role in stamping out unsportsmanlike behavior, saying: “There is a high level of respect between players, and teams are trying to play decent football and not kick you for the most part, with the referees not allowing the nastier side of football.”

While the professionalism of the organization cannot be faulted, one downside of the current setup in K7 League and K6 League is the lack of games. The two groups that make up Buk-gu K7 League currently have only eight teams, and with sides playing each other only once, the season can feel very stop-start. The games are also bizarrely only 30 minutes per half (35 minutes in K6), and Tom feels this is something that should be addressed: “My only real criticism of the league is that the games are short and there aren’t enough fixtures in the season. It would be better if teams could play each other twice.”

A Successful Season for Deer FC

So, how has this season been for Deer FC? It has been a fairly successful one: they secured a 3rd-place finish in the league, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the playoffs for promotion to K6 League. However, they did pick up some silverware, finishing first and second in two tournaments run by the KFA. Although it’s been a season of transition, with several players leaving and new signings coming in, a few players have been involved with the team for close to a decade.

One such player is current player-coach Nikolas Tromp, originally from New Zealand. He’s been living in Korea for 16 years now and says that amateur football is about much more than the sport itself. “The Deer is a family away from home for many of us. The social aspect is just as important—if not more important—than the football, and one reason that myself and many other players remain in Daegu and Korea,” he explained.

Regarding the football side of things, he added: “I think amateur football is still in its infancy in Korea. However, the KFA is doing a great job, and the amateur K Leagues have come a long way since I’ve been involved. The only slight frustration we have, though, is with the lack of games—there’s only one game a month in K7 League and just five games a year in K6.”

While the majority of the team comes from outside Korea, there are a few Koreans in the squad. One such player, Kim Kyung-dong, has been one of the side’s key players over the last few years. A technical midfielder with an eye for goal, Kyung also has experience of playing football in the New Zealand football pyramid. When comparing K7 League to his experience abroad, he praised the technical ability of the Korean players, saying, “I played over there for two years, and while there is a clear physical difference—players in New Zealand generally have a stronger build—Korean amateur players, even at K7 League level, tend to excel more on the technical side.”

Much like his teammate Nikolas, Kyung also mentioned that the team is about more than just the football for him: “Playing with people from different countries has been a real highlight. After coming back from New Zealand, I didn’t get much of a chance to speak English regularly, so the fact we mainly communicate in English is a real bonus. Despite our different backgrounds and languages, everyone’s passion for football is the same, which has made it all the more enjoyable.”

Reflecting on his time in Korea, Kyung fondly recalled, “The first year was probably the most memorable. We went unbeaten for the entire season and won promotion to K6 League. At the time, we were training three times a week; I sometimes miss those intense but rewarding days.”

The Future of Grassroots Football in Korea

Currently, there are three disparate promotion and relegation systems that apply to teams at the same level. K League 1 and 2 are professional, K3 and K4 League are semi-professional, while K5, 6, and 7 Leagues are amateur. At the moment, it’s not possible to be promoted or relegated between these three tiers, meaning a K League 7 team can only go as high as K League 5. This is set to change in 2027, however, with the KFA planning to open up promotion and relegation between all seven tiers.

So, do these upcoming changes mean that one day we could see Deer FC playing higher up the pyramid? Nikolas feels that, for now, Deer FC is happy where they are: “Given the low number of games in the league above and the age of our players, we prefer to stay where we are. We actually won promotion last season but turned it down. The Daegu Buk-gu K7 League  is really well-run, and there is a great community of organizers, coaches, and players, so we are happy where we are at the moment.”

Deer FC is currently recruiting new players for the 2025 season. If you are based in the Daegu area and are interested in joining, please email stuart.warren10@gmail.com for more information.