TNT FC August Feature | The club between clubs: Why Korea’s footballers turn to TNT FC

Park Yong-woo is the latest Korean international to pass through TNT FC’s doors, but he is certainly not the first. The Ulsan HD midfielder spent this summer training with TNT as he worked his way back to full fitness – prompting one question: just how many big names have used TNT as their training ground over the years?

Following an injury last year, Korea international midfielder Park Yong-woo joined TNT FC this summer as a training member as he prepared for his return to football. Training alongside TNT’s younger players, Park worked to raise his match fitness before eventually rejoining Ulsan HD.

With TNT FC run like a professional club, it provides the ideal environment for players to keep themselves ticking over. Park isn’t the only current or former international who has trained with TNT FC over the years.

TNT FC has clearly become a kind of unofficial “training/refresher home” for established Korean pros, particularly when they’re between clubs, recovering from injury, or preparing to return.

View this post on InstagramA post shared by 양천구 TNT FOOTBALL CLUB (@tnt_fc)

The original TNT model was essentially “give players somewhere serious to train when they don’t have a club.” So for someone like Ki Sung-yueng, it wasn’t that he was joining TNT because he needed to find a club. He was essentially using their established training environment while he was between FC Seoul contracts.

Same with Park Yong-woo: after his injury, TNT provided a proper team environment where he could train with younger players while getting his fitness and rhythm back. TNT’s own announcement says he spent about a month doing exactly that before returning to K League with Ulsan.

That’s a win-win situation. TNT gets elite-level experience around its younger players, while the established player gets a professional training environment.

Ki Sung-yueng

Former national team captain Ki Sung-yueng is perhaps the biggest name to have used TNT’s facilities. The midfielder trained with TNT during a period between spells with FC Seoul, making use of the club’s structured environment while he was between teams.

For a player with Ki’s experience, TNT was never about finding a route back into professional football. Instead, it offered something much simpler and arguably just as important: a place to train properly, with teammates, coaches and the intensity of a football environment.

Lee Chung-yong

Another Korea international and former national team captain, Lee Chung-yong has also trained with TNT during his career.

Like Ki, Lee was already an established professional when he joined TNT’s training environment. His presence further underlines the unusual role TNT has come to play: it isn’t simply a destination for players trying to make it as professionals, but somewhere even established players can turn to when they need a place to train.

Hwang Hee-chan

Perhaps the most interesting example is Hwang Hee-chan. In an interview with The Fact, Kim Tae-ryung explained that KFA fitness coach Lee Jae-hong brought Hwang Hee-chan to TNT in late 2015. Hwang was about to leave for Austria to join Red Bull Salzburg, and rather than simply training on his own, he spent around two months training alongside TNT so they could monitor his physical condition before his departure.

And it wasn’t just a favour to Hwang. He subsequently became one of TNT’s supporters, with reports saying he privately provided bottled water for TNT players’ training and matches.

View this post on InstagramA post shared by 양천구 TNT FOOTBALL CLUB (@tnt_fc)

From a young Hwang preparing for his first move to Europe to established internationals such as Ki Sung-yueng, Lee Chung-yong and Park Yong-woo, TNT has provided a place for Korean footballers at very different stages of their careers.

For TNT’s players, meanwhile, the opportunity to train alongside footballers who have represented Korea and played at the highest levels of the game is an invaluable bonus.

It is a relationship that works both ways — and one that has made TNT FC much more than simply a club for players looking for their next opportunity.