Tokyo Verdy (東京ヴェルディ , Tōkyō Verudi) , is a Japanese professional football club, based in Tokyo, Japan, that plays in J2 League.
Founded as Yomiuri FC in 1969, Tokyo Verdy is one of the most decorated teams in the J. League, with honours including 2 J. League titles, 5 Emperor's Cups, 6 JSL Cup / J. League Cups and an Asian Club Championship title, and the most successful team in Japanese football history with 25 titles.
Verdy's plays its home games at the 50,000 capacity Ajinomoto Stadium, which it shares with F.C. Tokyo, although many home matches are played in other stadiums in Tokyo, including Tokyo National Stadium.
In October 1968, following Japan's bronze medal triumph at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City and the massive interest in football that ensued, Japan Football Association president Ken Nozu visited Yomiuri Giants chairman Matsutaro Shoriki to ask him if Yomiuri was willing to ride on the wave of the game by establishing their own football club. Shoriki died a year later, in 1969, but not before signing his name to the plans to establish Yomiuri Football Club. Backed by the Yomiuri Group and NTV, Yomiuri Football Club firstly launched at Tokyo Local League B (5th tier) in 1969. They began gaining promotions from the Tokyo Local League to the Kanto Football League (3rd tier) in 1971. In 1971, Yomiuri marked 3rd place and promoted Japan Soccer League Second Division.
At last, They were promoted to First Division in 1978, starting a long career of success in the top flight. Their first major title was the Japan Soccer League Cup in 1979.
From its days as Yomiuri FC, the ownership had visions of a football equivalent of the baseball Yomiuri Giants – a star-studded powerhouse with fans across Japan. As Japanese football began its transition from the JSL to the J. League in the early 1990s, it invested heavily in stars and featured Japan internationals Kazuyoshi Miura, Ruy Ramos and Tsuyoshi Kitazawa.
The team immediately met expectations, being the first Asian to win a continental treble in 1987, (winning the First Division, Emperor's Cup and the Asian Club Championship), the last two JSL championships as Yomiuri FC in 1990–91 and 1991–92, and then winning the first two championships as Verdy Kawasaki in 1993 and 1994, effectively winning four straight Japanese league titles making a total of seven overall; the highest in the Japanese system. Verdy also won the 1996 Emperor's Cup and three consecutive J. League Cups from 1992 to 1994.
Ehime Football Club (愛媛フットボールクラブ ) is a professional football club based in Matsuyama, the capital city of Ehime Prefecture of Japan. After winning the JFL championship in 2005, the club now plays in J2 League.
The club was founded in 1970 as Matsuyama Soccer Club and renamed itself as Ehime Football Club in 1995. For many years it competed in the regional and prefectural league, as Matsuyama was represented in the Japan Soccer League by the local club belonging to the Teijin company.
Ehime F.C. was promoted to the Japan Football League in 2003. After winning the JFL championship in 2005, Ehime now plies its trade in J. League Division 2.
On November 28, 2007, Ehime pulled off a major shock by consigning the Urawa Red Diamonds, the AFC Champions League 2007 winners, to a fourth-round exit from the Emperor's Cup courtesy of a 2–0 win on Urawa's home soil, Urawa Komaba Stadium.
Thespakusatsu Gunma (ザスパクサツ群馬 , zasupa kusatsu Gunma) is a professional football (soccer) club based in Gunma Prefecture in Japan. The club plays in J2 League, the second professional football league in Japan.
The club was founded in 1995 in Kusatsu town, one of the most well-known spa resorts in Japan, in 1995 as Liaison Kusatsu Football Club. The players were the students of specialized training college Higashi Nihon Soccer Academy. When the school was closed in 1999 due to financial difficulties, the players decided to stay in Kusatsu and keep the club alive. In 2002, the club was incorporated as K.K. Kusatsu Onsen Football Club with a future promotion to J. League in mind and adopted new team name Thespa Kusatsu (ザスパ草津 , zasupa kusatsu) , which name basically meant "The Spa, Kusatsu.".
Because of J. League restrictions on stadiums, they play at Shoda Shoyu Stadium Gunma (Shikishima Athletics Stadium) in nearby Maebashi, the prefectural capital since the club was promoted to J. League Division 2 from 2005 season.
From 1 February 2013, the club has adopted the new name as "Thespakusatsu Gunma", to give out the impression of the club as representative of entire Gunma Prefecture, while still leaving the name of "Kusatsu" in it, as well as the logo of the club as is.
Yokohama F.C. (横浜FC , Yokohama Efushī) are a Japanese football club based in the city of Yokohama. The club was formed by fans of Yokohama Flügels after that team folded in the 1998 season. They have played at the J2 League, except in 2007 when they played at the J1 League.
The club was formed in 1999, following the merger of the city's two J. League clubs, Yokohama Flügels and Yokohama Marinos the previous year. Flügels supporters, whose club was essentially dissolved, rejected the suggestion that they should start supporting Marinos, their crosstown rivals. Instead, with money raised through donations from the general public and an affiliation with IMG, the talent management company, the former Flügels supporters founded the Yokohama Fulie Sports Club. Following the socio model used by FC Barcelona, the Fulie Sports Club created Yokohama F.C., the first professional sports team in Japan owned and operated by its supporters.
For its first season in 1999, Yokohama F.C. hired former German World Cup star Pierre Littbarski to be the manager and Yasuhiko Okudera, the first Japanese footballer to play professionally in Europe, to be the chairman. Despite attempts to win straight entry into the J. League, the Japan Football Association only permitted the team to enter the Japan Football League and ruled that the club would not be eligible for promotion to J2 at the end of its first season. After two seasons as JFL champions, the team was promoted to the J2 Division of the J. League.
The club spent the next 6 seasons in J2, finishing mid-table between 2001 and 2005. However, Yokohama F.C. won the J2 championship in 2006 and gained promotion to J. League Division 1 in the process. In 2007, Yokohama F.C. played its first season in the top flight of Japanese football in only its ninth year of existence. After a poor season the team were relegated with five games of the season still remaining. Despite their early demotion, Yokohama F.C. still lived to help decide the final outcome at the opposite end of the table. By beating title contenders Urawa Red Diamonds on the last day of the season, they helped Kashima Antlers claim their fifth J. League crown.
Football Club Gifu, abbreviated as F.C. Gifu (FC岐阜 , Efu Shī Gifu) is a Japanese football club based in Gifu, Japan. They plays in the J2 League, the second tier of Japanese professional football.
During the Japan Soccer League and former Japan Football League years, the city and prefecture of Gifu were represented by the Seino Transportation Co. (西濃運輸 Seinō Un'yu) works team, which was relegated from the old JFL for the last time in 1997 and folded shortly thereafter.
The modern-day Gifu club was founded in 2001 (Seino's last manager Masayuki Katsuno was among the founders, and a former Seino player, Takashi Umeda, recently returned to town and joined the club following a decade-long stint with Oita Trinita). The club was promoted to the new Japan Football League in 2007 after beating Honda Lock S.C. in the promotion/relegation play-offs.
The team earned third place at the end of the 2007 season, meaning it qualified for promotion to J. League Division 2. On December 3, 2007, J. League approved a promotion for the team for the 2008 season.
The club finished the 2012 season in 21st place, narrowly missing out on relegation to the Japan Football League.
Fagiano Okayama Next (Fagiano Okayama Next) is a Japanese football team based in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture. They currently play in Japan Football League, the fourth-tier of Japanese nationwide football and the top level of amateur football in the country.
The club has been established in 2009 after Fagiano Okayama ! Fagiano Okayama won the promotion to J. League in order to give more practice to youngsters and reserve players of the senior team. They began to play in Okayama Prefectural league but immediately championed it and won promotion to Chugoku Regional League.
In 2012, they obtained third place in All Japan Senior Football Championship and therefore participated in the Regional League promotion series but finished only fourth in the final group. Next year they have won the Chugoku league and finished second in the Regional League promotion series, thus earning the right to play in Japan Football League in 2014.
Football Club Machida Zelvia is a Japanese football club based in Machida, Tokyo.
Machida is known as "Brazil of Tokyo" due to the popularity of football in the city; it has, in fact, produced the second-largest number of J. League players though its football school. Originally formed in 1977 by Machida's football federation, this school is well known for its development of young talent into professional players. In 1989, in order to retain that talent in Machida, F.C. Machida established its own top team, which, at that time, played in the Tokyo Prefecture League.
In 2003 they became a polideportivo under the name Athletic Club Machida., and in 2005 were promoted to the Kanto League, having won the Tokyo Prefectural League (First Division). They came first in the Kanto league (Second Division) the following year, and were promoted to First Division, where they stayed until promotion to Japan Football League as champions of the Regional Promotion Playoff Series in 2008.
In 2009, they adopted the current nickname Zelvia, a portmanteau of the Portuguese words zelkova (Machida city's official tree) and salvia (a grassy plant commonly used in football pitches).
The same year, the club declared its intent to be promoted to J. League's 2nd division, and its status of semi-affiliatiate was officially approved by the J. League. However, its home stadium capacity and light specifications did not meet the J. League's requirements, average attendance did not reach 3,000, and the team's final result of 6th place did not allow for Zelvia's promotion to the J.League.
In 2010, Machida Zelvia appointed Naoki Soma, a former star player who played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as its new head coach. The stadium's lighting was renewed, and club added several J. League players to its roster. Zelvia also announced its partnership with Major League Soccer's D.C. United, which became the first historic partnership between a Japanese and American football club. The reborn team beat Tokyo Verdy ! Tokyo Verdy , its archrival from the J. League, in the Emperor's Cup, but was knocked out by Albirex Niigata in the third round. Soma left at the end of the season and was replaced by Ranko Popović, former coach of Oita Trinita.
Urawa Red Diamonds , colloquially Urawa Reds are a professional association football club playing in Japan's football league, J1 League. The club has been able to boast the highest average gates for fourteen of the J-League's twenty season history. This includes 2012's highest average of over 36,000. After the club began hosting games at the new Saitama Stadium in 2001, they could accommodate a sharp increase in crowd numbers, a boom which peaked in 2008 with an average of over 47,000. In 2014, the club was forced to play the March 23rd match in front of an empty stadium due to a controversial banner that was hung during the previous home fixture. The name Red Diamonds alludes to the club's pre-professional era parent company Mitsubishi. The corporation's famous logo consists of three red diamonds, one of which remains within the current club badge. Its hometown is the city of Saitama in Saitama Prefecture, but its name comes from the former city of Urawa, which is now a part of Saitama City.
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