SUWON, South Korea -- WHEN THE K LEAGUE implemented a decentralisation policy in 1995 to move teams out of the capital Seoul and into other regions of South Korea, neighbouring Suwon has -- for the longest time since -- been synonymous with one team.
Three decades on, the largest city and capital of the country's most-populous province also currently has a one club to cheer for in the top flight of South Korean football.
But while it was once Suwon Samsung Bluewings who were the pride and joy of the city, it is now the team who were originally founded effectively as their feeder club flying the flag in K League 1.
It is a remarkable tale of opposite trajectories, especially after Bluewings' shocking relegation to K League 2 last season.
Now, it is Suwon FC who are representing the city on the big stage, and they are not just making up the numbers -- with their current championship-round status guaranteeing a top-half finish for the first time in three years.
It makes for quite the story. Suwon FC were formed in 2003 as a semi-professional side with the intent of a bridging pathway between school-level football and the Bluewings.
They would eventually become professional in 2013 and it only took them three season to be promoted to K League 1 for the first time. Intriguingly, they continue to be owned by the local government, whose mayor also happens to be the club's chairman.
Yet, for a club who undeniably had the shadow of their neighbours to deal with, they are holding their own.
Last weekend, their home game against FC Seoul drew a crowd of 7,971. It is a figure common enough when the big boys -- like Seoul, Ulsan HD or Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors -- are in town.
"They (Suwon FC) usually average an attendance of 2,000, but when it is against big clubs like Seoul, Ulsan or Jeonbuk, an attendance like this of over 7,000 is easily achievable," Kim Young-Hoon, a reporter for MK Sports, told ESPN.
"Meanwhile, Suwon Bluewings can still pull crowds of 10,000 even playing in K League 2."
FOR THE RECORD, the attendance for Bluewings' home game against Chungnam Asan on Wednesday? 5,936 -- bearing in mind it was a midweek game.
Their previous home game that fell on a weekend? Indeed a turnout of 10,632 on Oct. 6 against FC Anyang.
Even while they languish in the second tier for the first time ever, playing in their home away from home -- in the next-door city of Yongin with the Suwon World Cup Stadium undergoing refurbishment -- the fans continue to turn out.
Throughout the 90 minutes, the Bluewings faithful never stopped singing. There were genuine roars when a player was fouled or when a counterattack was on. They have a famed umbrella display each time the second half gets underway which was mesmerising to witness in person.
They remain a proper club.
Sure, what does that even mean? There is no quantitative definition of that. Neither is there such a thing as an "improper" club and, yet, you probably get the idea.
In spite of their fall to the second tier, notable personnel stayed on to help return the club to its former glory.
There is veteran left-back Lee Ki-Je, who was -- at one point -- the first-choice in his position for South Korea. On Wednesday, it was a superb long-range strike from the 33-year-old that ignited a come-from-behind victory over Chungnam Asan and kept their promotion bid on track.
There is also Fejsal Mulić, who first took South Korean football by storm with a 13-goal debut campaign with Seongnam FC back in 2021 and whose ten goals this term have been pivotal for the Bluewings.
With two more rounds to go in the regular season, the Bluewings are currently fourth in K League 2. Given there is only one automatic promotion berth, they will have to go through the playoffs yet, if there is one club that could rise to the occasion, it is them.
PERHAPS ONE PERSON can be acknowledged as the catalyst behind Suwon FC's rise to prominence.
And it isn't the local mayor and club chairman, nor is it coach Kim Do-Kyun -- who has been at the helm since guiding them back to K League 1 in 2020 and preserving their top-flight status ever since.
Rather, it was Lee Seung-Woo -- a graduate of Barcelona's famed La Masia academy who was once anointed "the Korean Messi" -- whose shock move to Suwon FC at the start of 2022 made headlines all over the country, as well as captured the imagination of an entire city.
"Yes, they started out as a community team but then, all of a sudden, they've had more star names than Bluewings recently," said Park Geon-Do, a reporter with STARNEWS' sports bureau.
"Someone like Lee Seung-Woo is probably the biggest local player to ever play in the K League, since Son Heung-Min is yet to do so. He happens to be from Barcelona too!"
Lee has since left for Jeonbuk, perhaps a peculiar move given they are at the opposite end of the table battling against relegation in a fall from grace not dissimilar to the Bluewings.
Still, Suwon FC continue to exert impressive pulling power having landed former Bundesliga stalwart Ji Dong-Won, who also had a spell in the Premier League with Sunderland, at the start of this year.
"To be honest, I support both teams but Suwon FC now have the bigger players compared to Bluewings," said a fan who wanted to be known as Ain Ian, who was at Suwon FC's clash with FC Seoul along with his wife and two young children.
"Players like Lee Seung-Woo from Barcelona, even Ji Dong-Won."
FANS WHO SUPPORT both clubs of the same city.
It may seem an unthinkable proposition elsewhere in the world but perhaps it isn't that strange in South Korean football.
The longstanding history of each region primarily being represented by one club has led to the prevalence of intercity enemies, as opposed to local rivalries.
The Bluewings' fiercest duels come against Seoul -- referred to as the Super Match. Next in line is the Donghaean derby they contest with Seongnam, from a rivalry that dates back to the mid-1990s when both teams were the top dogs of the land.
Nonetheless, there is no clash in football quite like a local derby. As South Korean football continues to grow even bigger, could a city as big as Suwon actually accommodate two separate fanbases -- rather than a community that has affiliation to both clubs?
The foundation for a genuine rivalry is there -- starting with a simple geographical divide.
Mok Jin-Ha, director of Sportivo Media, explained how Bluewings occupy more of the centrally-located Paldal, while Suwon FC are situated in the further-northern Jangan district.
Ain Ian himself said he regularly attends Suwon FC games simply because he lives but a stone's throw away from Suwon Sports Complex.
While not immediately evident, there are hints of underlying tension between the two teams.
It may have seemed peculiar that Bluewings opted for Yongin-Mireu Stadium as their temporary homeground -- in the wake of Suwon World Cup Stadium's ongoing refurbishment -- rather than be co-tentants with Suwon FC for the time being.
There are, however, unsubstantiated suggestions that this is to avoid ever being in a position where they would need to repay the favour -- and have to allow Suwon FC to use the magnificent 44,000-capacity Suwon World Cup Stadium as a base, if such a scenario ever arose.
For now, the Bluewings and Suwon FC have largely been able to happily coexist, even more so this year with the duo in separate leagues.
Still, as one side continues to grow in voice and potentially be increasingly viewed as the noisy younger sibling by the other, who themselves are looking to reassert their authority after a fall from grace, there could soon be a genuine battle to be the big boys of the town.
Then, the city of Suwon could just lay claim to being the first with a legitimate local rivalry in South Korean football.