Yoon Young-geul
South Korean footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yoon Young-geul (Korean: 윤영글; born 28 October 1987) is a South Korean former footballer and coach who mostly played as a goalkeeper. With the South Korea national team, she participated at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[1]
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Yoon Young-geul playing for Gyeongju KHNP in 2021 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 28 October 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, South Korea | ||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008–2011 | Seoul WFC | ||
| 2012–2016 | Suwon UDC | ||
| 2017–2021 | Gyeongju KHNP | ||
| 2022 | AGF | 1 | (0) |
| 2023 | BK Häcken FF | ||
| International career‡ | |||
| 2004–2006 | South Korea U20 | 7 | (0) |
| 2015–2023 | South Korea | 29 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals ‡ National team caps and goals as of 25 July 2023 | |||
Youth career
Yoon began playing football in the sixth grade of elementary school after a friend she met through taekwondo classes introduced her to a local football coach.[2] She progressed through the girls' football academies at Osan Middle School, Osan Girls' I.C.T. High School, and Yeoju University.[3] During her youth career, Yoon mostly played in various outfield positions, but she did play as goalkeeper for a short spell while at middle school.[3][4]
Club career
Early years: Seoul City WFC
Yoon was selected by Seoul City WFC at the women's works football new player draft in 2007, initially playing as a defender and midfielder.[5][6] When the WK League was launched in 2009, Yoon only made two league appearances for Seoul due to a knee injury which forced her to rest for most of the season.[4] After recovering from a knee surgery, Yoon began playing as a goalkeeper on the advice of coach Seo Jeong-ho, who told her that an outfield position would be worse for her knee.[7] In 2010, she played all minutes of all of Seoul City's WK League matches as goalkeeper, but after the season ended, at her request she returned to playing as a midfielder.[7]
Becoming established as a goalkeeper
In 2012, Yoon transferred to Suwon UDC, playing in an outfield role for one season before donning the gloves again when the team was short of goalkeepers.[6][8] This time, she found herself enjoying the role, and continued playing as goalkeeper for the rest of her career.[4] In 2017, Yoon moved to newly established team Gyeongju KHNP.[7][9] She considered retiring from football but was encouraged to continue playing and competing for a place in the national team by goalkeeping coach Kim Poong-joo.[10][11] As the oldest member of the squad, Yoon was a key player as KHNP qualified for the 2018 WK League championship final in only the second year since the club's foundation.[7][12][13] With Yoon as goalkeeper, Gyeongju qualified for the league playoff for four consecutive years, playing against her former club Suwon on all four occasions.[14]
Move to Europe
In 2022, she became the first female Korean goalkeeper to play in Europe when she signed with Danish side AGF Fodbold.[3] Dissatisfied with the limited number of opportunities to play, Yoon requested early termination of her contract with AGF after just a few months there, and the club agreed to release her.[15] The following year, she joined Swedish side BK Häcken on a six-month contract.[16][17] Yoon retired from her playing career in late 2023, without having played in a competitive fixture for Häcken.[6][18]
International career
Yoon first played for South Korea at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship as a defender.[2]
By this time playing as a goalkeeper, Yoon made her full international debut for South Korea in March 2015 at the Cyprus Cup in Scotland.[8] She was part of South Korea's squad at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup but as the third choice goalkeeper, she didn't play any matches at the tournament.[19][20] Yoon was the country's first-choice goalkeeper at the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup, 2018 Asian Games, and 2019 EAFF E-1 Championship, but missed out on the 2019 World Cup due to an injury.[21][22] She finally achieved her dream of playing at a World Cup in 2023, appearing in South Korea's first group stage match in what would be her final appearance for the national team.[23] During her career she made 29 A match appearances for South Korea, conceding 15 goals.[23]
Coaching career
After retiring as a player, Yoon initially stepped away from football despite colleagues and friends encouraging her to become a coach. In 2025 she returned to the sport, taking up a coaching position with the Gangwon State University women's football team.[24]