At a glance, there are teams of various age groups. The main character is Shin Man-deok, a K7 league team in Busan where father and son play together.
On the 7th, the 2023 K7 Busan Regional League was held at the soccer field at Hwamyeong Ecological Park in Busan. The teams that participated in the game on this day were Mandeok and Shin Mandeok from Buk-gu, Busan, and the so-called ‘Mandeok Derby’ was held.
Players on both sides were stiff right before the match due to the lowest temperatures and rain in recent weeks. Some players waited wearing long padding. It was hard to see in ‘Busan in May’. A chaotic atmosphere was created, with a player bleeding from an injury while training before the match.
The atmosphere completely changed once the game started. Mandeok, composed of a relatively high age group, scored consecutively. Shin Man-deok then scored a chase goal to tie the game. Mandeok’s additional goal in the second half ultimately decided the win. It was a game that was inevitable for Shin Man-deok, who rode a good flow, but all the players’ expressions were bright.
In addition to the bright expression contrasting with the cloudy weather, there was one more thing that caught our attention. The fact is that the age of the players is remarkably diverse. In fact, Shin Man-deok consists of players of a wide age range from 20s to 60s. 안전놀이터
Sohn Gyeong-seop, director of Shin Man-deok in Buk-gu, Busan, expressed his pride, saying, “The team called ‘Shin Man-deok’ is a traditional team that has been handed down from father to son for several decades, with a player who joined the team once and later joined his son.” In fact, Shin Man-deok’s Park Seong-gwang and Yoo Jun-seo and other fathers or sons are helping each other by playing the same game. They laughed brightly, saying, “I am not tired because I run with my son.”
Although father and son do not play together like Shin Man-deok, Man-deok also had his family guarding the bench. When the whistle blew, the family’s consideration was visible, such as wiping the faces of the players who played in the rain. As it is the ‘Family Month’, both teams finished the game laughing with their families.