On 27 December 1972, Cha got a five-month suspension due to having a fight with an opponent in the middle of a match.[12] Around the same time, he retired as a player and became a coach of Industrial Bank. On 23 September 1975, he played a match as a substitute player due to lack of players in the club.[13]
Cha was appointed as a manager of Jeju provincial team in July 1980, but was sacked for hitting a referee after just three months.[14]
Refereeing career
Cha qualified as a referee in 1982,[15] and umpired two matches in the 1984 Summer Olympics.[16] He also performed the role of assistant referee in the final match.[17]
Cha became the head of KFA's technical committee on 30 January 1993.[19] However, he resigned from the association on 8 November due to internal fights of the national team and a defeat to Japan, although the national team succeeded in qualifying for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.[20] On 12 December 1994, he joined K League club Jeonbuk Dinos as their first manager.[21]
Cha had returned to KFA as the head of referees' committee in 1997 after two years with Jeonbuk Dinos, but contracted with Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma (renamed Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in 2000) after one and a half years. He left his best result at Seongnam alongside his assistant coach Kim Hak-bum. He dominated players with his great leadership, and endowed Kim with authority of the team's tactics.[22] He achieved three consecutive K League titles from 2001 to 2003, and was named the Asian Coach of the Year by Asian Football Confederation in 2003.[23] His team advanced to the AFC Champions League final in 2004, and made a good opportunity to win the Asian title by having a 3–1 away win over Al-Ittihad in the first leg. However, he suffered a shocking 5–0 home defeat in the second leg, and resigned from his post after the match.[22]
Cha died on 31 October 2006 after suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) for five months.[1]