Page "FC Seoul" Paragraph 7

The club finished the year as champions.

The club changed its name to LG Cheetahs in 1991 to mirror the LG Twins, a professional baseball team also owned by LG Group.

After several seasons in Seoul, the club was forced to move in 1996, as part of the K-League's decentralization policy.

This policy was carried out to stimulate the growth of football in the provinces.

In addition, in 1995, Korea was bidding to host the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

This warranted the construction of a soccer-specific stadium in Seoul.

The three clubs based in Seoul – LG Cheetahs, Ilhwa Chunma, and Yukong Kokkiri did not want to recognize the decentralization policy.

Ultimately, it proved necessary for the Korean government to issue an eviction order to the disaffected clubs.

However, the government did guarantee if the clubs built a soccer-specific stadium in Seoul, the clubs could have a Seoul franchise and return to Seoul.

As a result, 3 clubs were evicted from Seoul to other cities.

This entailed the move of the LG Cheetahs to the city of Anyang, a satellite city of Seoul, 21 km away.

The club was now known as the Anyang LG Cheetahs.

In the upcoming years, a solid base of supporters was formed, and it established a strong league rivalry with the Suwon Samsung Bluewings.

This rivalry was partly fueled by the fact that LG Group and Samsung Group, which owned the Suwon club, were also considered rivals in the business world, especially in electronics.

The club continued to grow and in 2000, they won their third Championship, behind the firepower of striker Choi Yong-Soo.