Suzuka Point Getters

Suzuka Point Getters (鈴鹿ポイントゲッターズ, Suzuka Pointo Gettāzu) is a Japanese professional football club based in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture. They play in the Japan Football League, Japanese fourth tier of football league.

Suzuka Point Getters
鈴鹿ポイントゲッターズ
Full nameSuzuka Point Getters
Nickname(s)The Racers
Founded1980 (1980)
StadiumSuzuka Sports Garden
Suzuka, Mie
Capacity12,500 (3,330 seated)
ChairmanTakao Yamaguchi [1]
ManagerYasutoshi Miura
LeagueJapan Football League
20229th of 16
WebsiteClub website

History

The club was originally established in Nabari, Mie in 1980 under the name Mie Club, and it became a member of Mie Football Association to join the Mie prefectural league in 1982. The club went up to the top division in 1991 and remained there until 2005, when local organisers kicked off the idea of developing a larger and more ambitious football team.

The region to the southwest of Nagoya has been traditionally very populous but still undeveloped from a football perspective despite a number of successes by local high school football. In mid- 2005, a group of local businessmen, football fans and coaches from Mie Prefecture, who were eager to put together a team to represent the area, approached Bunji Kimura, an ex-football manager of Kyoto Sanga F.C. and Yokohama Flügels. Kimura was convinced to accept the position of the president and technical director of a club that was then going by the name of "W.S.C. Nabari Admiral". Kimura plunged in and began a very ambitious project to transform the team from a bunch of amateur kickers in a tiny town to a much more competitive and tightly run organisation representing the aspirations of the entire prefecture.

At Kimura's insistence, the team in February 2006 took the name "MIE FC Rampole", taking its name from the famous Japanese mystery novel writer Rampo Edogawa, who was born in Mie Prefecture. The part "ole" of the name is supposedly a Spanish word "Olé" used to cheer and applaud (cf. Consadole Sapporo). Following the name change the club launched its official website on February 22. Kimura quickly began drawing upon his network of J.League contacts to bring in more experienced coaches and organisers, and by the end of his first season in charge the club advanced to the second division of the Tōkai Regional League.

Whereas its progress on the pitch has stalled temporarily, with third-place finishes in both 2007 and 2008, the club has been focusing most of its attention on the organisational goals. An independent corporation was established in 2006, fulfilling one of the requirements of J. League Associate Membership, and in 2008 the team merged with nearby Suzuka Club, thereby absorbing a youth program that can help to meet another key requirement. Following the merger, the team announced on September 1, 2008, that it changed its name to "F.C. Suzuka Rampole" and moved its home playing ground from Ueno Athletic Park Stadium to Suzuka Sports Garden from 2009 season. The club carried out the move since first, Suzuka is the city world-famous for the F1 circuit located outside town, and second, its population base and location, squarely in the middle of Mie Prefecture's main population centres is considered to be ideal.

On January 28, 2016, the team announced an immediate change of the team's name to Suzuka Unlimited FC(鈴鹿アンリミテッドFC).[2]

With the appointment of coach Milagros "Mila" Martínez from the 2019 season, the club was the first and to date only in any of Japan's national level divisions to have a female leading the club.

On February 1, 2020, the club announced that it would change its name to Suzuka Point Getters (鈴鹿ポイントゲッターズ).[3] Their logo and attire were updated to reflect Suzuka's status as home of the Suzuka Circuit.

On July 5, 2021, Suzuka announced Martínez's departure by mutual consent after her contract lapsed and published her gratitude to Point Getter fans throughout her tenure.[4] Ten days later, former J3 League coach Yasutoshi Miura was hired to succeed her and also be Suzuka's general manager.[5]

League and cup record

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
LeagueEmperor's CupShakaijin Cup
SeasonDivisionTierPos.PWDLFAGDPtsAtt/G
MIE FC Rampole
2005 Mie Prefectural League
(Div. 1)
63rd1383241113026Did not qualifyDid not qualify
2006 2nd1410223362732
2007 Tōkai Adult Soccer League
(Div. 2)
53rd1473424131124
2008 3rd147432113825
2009 1st141040431033341st round
2010 Tōkai Adult Soccer League
(Div. 1)
44th167632415927Did not qualify
2011 2nd147252221-1232nd round
2012 1st14941281513312nd round
2013 6th146262224-220Did not qualify
2014 51st14110333151833
2015 2nd14101332141831
Suzuka Unlimited FC
2016 Tōkai Adult Soccer League

(Div. 1)

5 2nd141022381721322nd roundRunners-up
2017 1st141112351124341st roundWinners
2018 1st14121137631371st round2nd round
2019 JFL412th3099124044-436553Did not qualifyNot eligible
Suzuka Point Getters
2020 JFL45th1563623194212461st roundNot eligible
2021 4th321551251465503852nd round
2022 9th30125133140-9412,3122nd round
2023 TBD28Did not qualify
Key
  • Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points gained
  • Att/G (Attendance per game) = Average home league match attendance
  • 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
  • Source: J.League Data Site

Honours

  • Tōkai League Division 2
    • 2009
  • Tōkai Soccer League Division 1
    • 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018
  • Shakaijin Cup
    • 2017

Current squad

As of 29 August 2023.[6] 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 Japan JPN Shunta Awaka
2 DF Japan JPN Toshiki Nakamura
3 DF South Korea KOR Kim Tae-woo
4 MF Japan JPN Shun Ando
5 DF Japan JPN Ryo Hiraide
6 MF Japan JPN Ryota Onodera
7 MF Japan JPN Kaito Miyake
8 MF Japan JPN Shu Maeda
9 FW Japan JPN Takeshi Yamauchi
10 MF Japan JPN Kento Nakamura (captain)
13 DF Japan JPN Shunsuke Ishikawa
14 MF Japan JPN Shota Suzuki
15 DF Japan JPN Takushi Yuzawa
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF Japan JPN Kazuki Arima
17 MF Japan JPN Shunsuke Yagihashi
18 MF Japan JPN Keita Takami
19 FW Japan JPN Yuiku Fujiyama
20 GK Hong Kong HKG To Chun Kiu
21 DF Japan JPN Kaito Kuwahara
24 DF Japan JPN Takaichi Yamashita
25 DF Japan JPN Kyosuke Fujiyama
26 MF Japan JPN Seiya Nawa
27 DF Japan JPN Taiga Hagiwara
28 FW Japan JPN Tatsunori Miyoshi
29 MF Japan JPN Hiroto Kawasaki

Coaching Staff

Position Staff
ManagerJapan Yasutoshi Miura
Assistant ManagerJapan Hayashi Kazuaki
Japan Yohei Iwasaki[7]
Goalkeeper CoachJapan Akira Teramine
Chief trainerJapan Motohashi
TrainerJapan Jun Nakamura

Managerial history

ManagerNationalityTenure
StartFinish
Bunji Kimura Japan1 January 200731 December 2010
Narita Takaki Japan1 February 201131 January 2015
Koichi Ozawa Japan1 February 201531 August 2017
Yohei Kurakawa Japan1 September 201731 January 2018
Keiju Karashima Japan1 February 201831 January 2019
Mila Martínez Spain1 February 20195 July 2021
Tsukasa Ozawa Japan5 July 202115 July 2021
Yasutoshi Miura Japan15 July 2021Current

References

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