German Werner Lorant was appointed as manager in September of that year, assisted by Chang Woe-ryong and Kim Si-seok.
[2] Sponsorship contracts worth a total of $4m were signed with GM Daewoo and Daeduk Construction Company, while Puma supplied the club's kits.
Lorant and his coaching staff recruited several high-profile players in a bid to make an impact on the league in the club's debut season in 2004.
Goalkeeper Shim Bum-chul was recruited along with talented youngsters Choi Tae-uk, Kim Chi-woo and popular Japanese playmaker Masakiyo Maezono.
The most high-profile of the imports was Turkish international defender Alpay Özalan, recruited from English Premier League side Aston Villa.
Despite that promising start to the year, Incheon recorded just one more victory in the first stage of the season and finished bottom of the table on just nine points.
Incheon faced first stage winners Busan I'Park in the semi-finals, defeating them by a 2–0 scoreline to set up a championship final against Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i.
Sung Kyung-mo replaced Kim in the Incheon goal for the second leg, and though United claimed a 2–1 victory they lost out on the title 6–3 on aggregate, but finished their second season in existence as K League runners-up.
Three months later, Incheon United appointed Huh Jung-moo, who had just led South Korea to the Round of 16 in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as their next manager.
[7] As a consequence, key players were forced out, such as Jung In-whan, Jeong Hyuk, Lee Kyu-ro, Han Kyo-won, Kim Nam-il and Ivo.
Incheon planned to appoint Lee Lim-saeng as their next manager, but he eventually refused to take the seat as he was concerned with the club's controversial sacking of Kim Bong-gil.
[citation needed] After the departure of Kim Do-hoon, former North Korean national team coach Jørn Andersen became Incheon's manager and debuted in the 15th round against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on 7 July 2018.
[11] However, their consecutive defeats to Chinese Super League side Shandong Taishan left them unable to progress beyond the group stage.