Choi Kyoung-rok
.jpg) Choi with Gwangju FC in 2025 | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Darren Choi Kyoung-rok | |||||||||||
| Date of birth | 15 March 1995 | |||||||||||
| Place of birth | Seoul, South Korea | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||
| Position | Attacking midfielder | |||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||
Current team | Gwangju FC | |||||||||||
| Number | 10 | |||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||
| –2014 | Ajou University | |||||||||||
| 2014 | FC St. Pauli | |||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||
| 2014–2018 | FC St. Pauli II | 41 | (10) | |||||||||
| 2015–2018 | FC St. Pauli | 42 | (4) | |||||||||
| 2018−2023 | Karlsruher SC | 87 | (11) | |||||||||
| 2024– | Gwangju FC | 74 | (5) | |||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | South Korea U23 | 11 | (0) | |||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 4 August 2026 | ||||||||||||
Darren Choi Kyoung-rok (Korean: 최경록; born 15 March 1995) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Gwangju FC.[1]
Club career
Previously having played football for the Ajou University team, Choi moved to Germany and joined FC St. Pauli in 2014. While still playing for the club's under-19 team, in January 2014, he extended his expiring contract until 2015 including a one-year extension option. From this moment on, he also participated in the first team's training.[2]
Choi made his 2. Bundesliga debut for St. Pauli's first team on 6 April 2015 in a match against Fortuna Düsseldorf, scoring a brace within the first 16 minutes of the game.[3]
In May 2018, Karlsruher SC, newly relegated to the 3. Liga, announced Choi would join for the 2018–19 season having agreed a three-year contract until 2021.[4]
In January 2024, Choi joined K League 1 club Gwangju FC.[5]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 4 August 2026[6]
| Club | Season | League | DFB Pokal, Korean Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FC St. Pauli II | 2014–15 | Regionalliga Nord | 22 | 5 | – | – | 22 | 5 | ||
| 2015–16 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 2016–17 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 3 | 0 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 14 | 4 | – | – | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 41 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 10 | ||
| FC St. Pauli | 2014–15 | 2. Bundesliga | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | 2 | |
| 2015–16 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 22 | 1 | |||
| 2016–17 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 18 | 1 | |||
| 2017–18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 42 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 4 | ||
| Karlsruher SC | 2018−19 | 3. Liga | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 27 | 4 |
| 2019−20 | 2. Bundesliga | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 8 | 1 | ||
| 2020–21 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | 24 | 5 | |||
| 2021–22 | 24 | 5 | 3 | 1 | – | 27 | 6 | |||
| 2022–23 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 12 | 0 | |||
| Total | 87 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 98 | 16 | ||
| Gwangju FC | 2024 | K League 1 | 34 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6[a] | 0 | 40 | 3 |
| 2025 | 32 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 38 | 1 | ||
| 2026 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | ||
| Total | 74 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 87 | 6 | ||
| Career total | 244 | 30 | 13 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 270 | 36 | ||
Notes
- 1 2 Appearances in AFC Champions League Elite
References
- ↑ "Choi, Kyoung-Rok". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ↑ "Kyoung Rok Choi bleibt bis 2015" [Kyoung Rok Choi stays until 2015] (in German). FC St. Pauli. 26 January 2014. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015.
- ↑ "Choi the hero as St. Pauli rout Düsseldorf". bundesliga.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ↑ "Choi unterschreibt für drei Jahre beim KSC". kicker Online (in German). 30 May 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
- ↑ "광주FC 분데스리가2 출신 최경록 영입" [Recruitment of Gwangju FC Bundesliga 2 player Choi Gyeong-rok]. www.gwangjufc.com (in Korean). 15 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ↑ Choi Kyoung-rok at Soccerway. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
External links
- Choi Kyoung-rok – National Team Stats at KFA (in Korean)
- Choi Kyoung-rok at Soccerway
- 1995 births
- Living people
- Men's association football forwards
- South Korean men's footballers
- FC St. Pauli players
- Karlsruher SC players
- Gwangju FC players
- 2. Bundesliga players
- 3. Liga players
- Ajou University alumni
- South Korean expatriate men's footballers
- South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Germany
- Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
- Footballers from Seoul
- 21st-century South Korean sportsmen