FC Gifu

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.[2]

The club finished the 2012 season in 21st place, narrowly missing out on relegation to the Japan Football League.[3]

Between 2013 and 2018, the team has constantly been placed in the lower realms of J. League Division 2 and narrowly avoiding relegation until 2019 when they finished last in the league and were relegated to J. League Division 3.

The team's crest was designed to represent Gifu Prefecture. The top of the crest represents the mountain ranges of the northern part of the prefecture. The flowers are Chinese milk vetch, which are the prefectural flower. Each of the three lines represents one of the Kiso Three Rivers flowing through the prefecture. The banner at the base of the crest is the same as the symbol on the helmet of the victorious Tokugawa clan at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.

Key

As of 16 August 2023.[4][5] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  JPN Michiya Okamoto 2 DF  JPN Hayato Sugita (on loan from Yokohama FC) 3 DF  JPN Tomoya Ugajin 6 DF  JPN Ryoma Kita 7 FW  JPN Toma Murata 8 MF  JPN Ryo Kubota 9 FW  JPN Hirofumi Yamauchi 10 MF  JPN Yoshihiro Shoji 11 FW  JPN Kosuke Fujioka 14 MF  JPN Yoshiatsu Oiji 15 FW  JPN Kensei Ukita 16 MF  JPN Kazune Kubota (on loan from Thespakusatsu Gunma) 17 DF  JPN Takumi Fujitani 18 FW  JPN Junya Tanaka 19 MF  JPN Ayumu Matsumoto 20 GK  JPN Shotaro Hayashi

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 GK  JPN Takuya Matsumoto 23 DF  JPN Kodai Hagino 24 FW  JPN Akito Ueno 25 DF  JPN Yuki Wada 26 DF  JPN Ippei Hada 27 FW  JPN Tomoya Yokoyama 28 FW  JPN Tsubasa Kusumoto 31 GK  JPN Ono Chol-hwan 33 MF  JPN Ryoto Ishizaka 39 DF  JPN Genichi Endo 40 MF  JPN Ryu Kawakami 41 DF  JPN SteviaEgbus Mikuni 42 MF  JPN Yōsuke Kashiwagi 45 FW  JPN Charles Nduka 48 FW  JPN Yuya Taguchi

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 32 MF  JPN Akira Yamauchi (at Reilac Shiga)

For the 2023 season.

Position	Name
Manager	Yusaku Ueno
Assistant manager	Kenichi Amano
First-team coach	Naoaki Morinaga Takuya Honda
Goalkeeper coach	Teppei Uesugi
Conditioning coach	Shuichi Yoshimura
Conditioning supervisor	Nobuyuki Nozaki
Doctor	Atsushi Yamaga
Trainer	Hitoshi Suzuki Yudai Kato
Competent	Tatsuya Hirano
Side affairs	Kotaro Sakaguchi

They also run as a reserve team FC Gifu Second, which currently plays in the Tōkai Adult League Division 2. They have played in the Emperor's Cup and Shakaijin Cup in the past.

• Official website (in Japanese)