Yokohama FC

Yokohama Football Club (横浜FC, Yokohama Efushī) is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club currently plays in the J1 League, the first tier of football in the country. The club was formed by fans of Yokohama Flügels as a protest against Flügels' merger with Yokohama Marinos in 1999, becoming the first supporter-owned professional sports team in Japan.[1]

This article is about the men's football club based in Japan. For the women's team, see NHK Spring Yokohama FC Seagulls.
Yokohama FC
横浜FC
Logo
Full nameYokohama Football Club
Nickname(s)Fulie
Founded25 December 1998 (25 December 1998)
GroundMitsuzawa Stadium
Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama
Capacity15,046
ChairmanYuji Onodera
ManagerShuhei Yomoda
LeagueJ1 League
2022J2 League, 2nd of 22 (promoted)
WebsiteClub website

Since gaining J.League membership in 2001, Yokohama FC spent considerable time in the second tier of the Japanese football league system. The club gained promotion to J.League Division 1 for the 2007 season after winning the Division 2 title. However, YFC were immediately relegated in the following season. After 12 years in the J2 League, they returned to Japan's top tier, now called J1 League, for the 2020 season. History repeated itself, as they were relegated to J2 after finishing the season as J1's last-place team. The club was promoted again to J1 in 2022, their third stint in the first division.

Crest

Yokohama FC's crest features a phoenix, symbolizing the rise of Yokohama FC from the ashes of the Yokohama Flugels. The blue ribbon on the top represents the Blue Ribbon Movement, a movement that began at the end of the 1998 J.League season to keep the Flugels alive.

History
Graphical timeline of Yokohama football clubs

Yokohama FC was formed on 25 December 1998 following the merger of Yokohama's two J.League clubs, the Flügels and the Marinos.[2] Flügels supporters felt that their club had essentially been dissolved rather than merged with, so rejected the suggestion that they should start supporting Marinos – who had been their crosstown rivals. Instead, with money raised through donations from the general public and an affiliation with talent management company IMG, the former Flügels supporters founded the Yokohama Fulie Sports Club.[3] Following the socio model used by FC Barcelona, the Fulie Sports Club created Yokohama FC, the first professional sports team in Japan owned and operated by its supporters.[1]

For its first season in 1999, Yokohama FC hired former Germany national team and 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.[4] The club attempted to gain entry directly into the professional J.League, but the Japan Football Association only permitted entry to the amateur Japan Football League (JFL), at the time the third level of the Japanese football league system, and ruled that the club would not be eligible for promotion into J.League Division 2 at the end of its first season. So, despite finishing as JFL champion in 1999, Yokohama FC finished as JFL champion again in 2000 before being promoted to J.League Division 2.[5]

The club spent the next 6 seasons in J.League Division 2 before finishing as champions in 2006 and gaining promotion to J.League Division 1. In 2007, just the ninth year of its existence, Yokohama FC played its first season in the top flight of Japanese football. After a poor season, the team were consigned to relegation with five games of the season still remaining. Despite their early relegation, Yokohama FC nevertheless decided the final outcome at the opposite end of the table; by defeating title contenders Urawa Red Diamonds on the last day of the season, Kashima Antlers secured the J.League Division 1 title.[6]

In 2018, Yokohama FC narrowly missed out on automatic promotion by goal difference. The team made it to the J2 promotion final, losing to Tokyo Verdy on an stoppage time winner. In 2019, Yokohama finished second in J2 and gained automatic promotion to J1.

After finishing in last place in 2021, Yokohama FC would be relegated back to J2 for the 2022 season.

Fight for promotion in 2005 and 2006

Although they had a dire season in 2005, ending 11th out of 12, they were in the top half of table throughout the 2006 season. On 26 November they finished in the top spot of the J2 League, and hence were finally promoted to the J. League 1.

This success story was so dramatic as to make people somewhat excited in Japan. Yokohama FC's financial situation was so poor that they didn't even own their own football ground or a club house. Players did everything themselves including carrying the goal posts and washing the jerseys.

One of their players, Kazuyoshi Miura, last played for the team at the age of 53, and a former player, Atsuhiro Miura (one of their main players before his 2010 retirement) was 36 when he last played for the club. These players once played for the Japan national team.

They lost all pre-season matches, even against college students, then also the first official match of the year. After this, they suddenly changed the player-manager to a freshman with little experience named Takuya Takagi, who was 38. At the beginning of the season few expected them to become champions.

Record as J.League member
Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
LeagueJ.League
Cup		Emperor's
Cup
SeasonDiv.TeamsPos.PW (OTW)DL (OTL)FAGDPtsAttendance/G
2001 J2129th4412 (3)125 (3)5881-23433,0072nd roundRound of 16
2002 1212th44811254381-38353,477–3rd round
2003 1211th441012224988-39423,7433rd round
2004 128th441022124250-8524,219Round of 16
2005 1211th441015194864-16455,9384th round
2006 131st48261576132-29935,1193rd round
2007 J11818th3444261966-471614,039Group stageRound of 16
2008 J21510th421117145156-5506,793–Round of 16
2009 1816th511111294370-27443,5353rd round
2010 196th361661454477545,7913rd round
2011 2018th38118194054-14415,7702nd round
2012 224th4222713624517736,0393rd round
2013 2211th4215131449463586,0642nd round
2014 2211th4214131549472555,1462nd round
2015 2215th421313163358-25525,1132nd round
2016 228th421611155051-1594,892Round of 16
2017 2210th42171213604911635,9672nd round
2018 223rd4221138634419766,1413rd round
2019 222nd4223109664026797,0613rd round
2020 † J11815th3496193860-22333,559Group stageDid not qualify
2021 † 2020th3869233277-45274,511Group stage2nd round
2022 J2222nd4223118664917805,088–3rd round
2023 J118TBD34Group stage3rd round
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
  • Attendance/G = Average home league attendance
  • † 2020 & 2021 season's attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.
  • Source: J. League Data Site

Honours

Current players
As of 8 September 2023.[7]

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 Kengo Nagai (on loan from Shimizu S-Pulse)
2 DF Japan JPN Boniface Nduka
3 DF Japan JPN Takumi Nakamura
4 MF Brazil BRA Yuri Lara
5 DF Brazil BRA Gabriel (captain)
6 MF Japan JPN Takuya Wada
7 FW Japan JPN Ryoya Yamashita
9 FW Brazil BRA Marcelo Ryan
10 FW Brazil BRA Caprini
13 FW Brazil BRA Saulo Mineiro
14 MF Japan JPN Kazuma Takai
15 FW Japan JPN Sho Ito
17 DF Japan JPN Eijiro Takeda (vice-captain)
19 DF Brazil BRA Mateus Moraes
20 MF Japan JPN Shion Inoue
22 DF Japan JPN Katsuya Iwatake (vice-captain)
25 MF Japan JPN Hirotaka Mita (vice-captain)
26 DF Japan JPN Kotaro Hayashi
27 DF Japan JPN Kyohei Yoshino
28 FW Vietnam VIE Nguyễn Công Phượng
No. Pos. Nation Player
29 FW Japan JPN Kaisei Ishii
30 MF Japan JPN Towa Yamane
31 FW Japan JPN Koki Sakamoto
32 DF Japan JPN Shawn van Eerden
33 MF Japan JPN Tomoki Kondo
34 DF Japan JPN Taiga Nishiyama
35 MF Japan JPN Koshiro Uda
36 MF Japan JPN Hayase Takashio
37 MF Japan JPN Yuto Shimizu
40 GK Japan JPN Masaki Endo
42 DF Japan JPN Kento Hashimoto (on loan from Renofa Yamaguchi)
43 MF Japan JPN Hinata Ogura DSP
44 GK Japan JPN Yuji Rokutan
45 MF Japan JPN Jo Hashimoto DSP
46 DF Japan JPN Sota Sato DSP
47 DF Japan JPN Kengo Hayashi Type 2
48 GK Japan JPN Yutaro Nishikata Type 2
49 GK Germany GER Svend Brodersen
50 FW Japan JPN Keijiro Ogawa

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
16 MF Japan JPN Tatsuya Hasegawa (at Tokyo Verdy)
18 MF Japan JPN Koki Ogawa (at Netherlands NEC Nijmegen)
21 GK Japan JPN Akinori Ichikawa (at Gamba Osaka)
41 MF Japan JPN Mizuki Arai (at Vissel Kobe)
— GK Japan JPN Issei Ouchi (at Kagoshima United)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF Japan JPN Hayato Sugita (at FC Gifu)
— MF Japan JPN Kotaro Nagata (at Portugal Oliveirense)
— MF Japan JPN Ryo Tabei (at Fagiano Okayama)
— MF Japan JPN Kohei Tezuka (at Sagan Tosu)
— FW Japan JPN Kazuyoshi Miura (at Portugal Oliveirense)

Yokohama FC Youth
As of 5 May 2023.

The U-18 team of Yokohama FC currently plays in the Prince Takamado U-18 Premier League, the top-flight league for U-18 clubs in the country. Only the registered players for the competition will be displayed.[8]

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 Yutaro Nishikata
2 DF Japan JPN Daichi Iizuka
3 DF Japan JPN Sota Noguchi
4 DF Japan JPN Sora Kunieda
5 DF Japan JPN Kengo Hayashi
6 DF Japan JPN Kosei Mizuki
7 MF Japan JPN Arata Miyamoto
8 MF Japan JPN Takatora Kato
9 FW Japan JPN Ryushin Suda
10 MF Japan JPN Kein Kimura
11 MF Japan JPN Kotaro Nagata
13 FW Japan JPN Masato Nakabayashi
14 MF Japan JPN Yonosuke Nakashima
16 GK Japan JPN Kona Tsutsumi
17 MF Japan JPN Tomoya Takahashi
16 GK Japan JPN Kona Tsutsumi
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF Japan JPN Kota Kosuki
19 MF Japan JPN Ayumu Sasa
20 MF Japan JPN Shota Nakadai
21 GK Japan JPN Tsukasa Ookame
22 FW Japan JPN Rento Tanida
23 FW Japan JPN Keitaro Shoji
24 MF Japan JPN Tomoki Asami
25 DF Japan JPN Riku Fukazawa
26 MF Japan JPN Yuki Tada
27 DF Japan JPN Sota Tsukuda
28 DF Japan JPN Jui Hata
29 MF Japan JPN Taiki Uchibori
30 FW Japan JPN Kantaro Maeda
32 MF Japan JPN Ryosuke Iwasaki
35 DF Japan JPN Sota Matsuo

Colours

As they could not adopt directly Flügels' white and blue strip given its similarity to that of Marinos, Yokohama FC decided to adopt an all-cyan kit, after NKK SC, a former company club which had closed in 1994. NKK SC was based in Kawasaki and played most matches at Todoroki Athletics Stadium, but used Mitsuzawa Stadium on days when the other Kawasaki clubs at the time (Verdy Kawasaki, Toshiba and Fujitsu) used it.

Kit evolution
FP 1st
2001
2002
2003 - 2004
2005 - 2006
2007 - 2008
2009 - 2010
2011 - 2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -
FP 2nd
2001
2002
2003 - 2004
2005 - 2006
2007 - 2008
2009 - 2010
2011 - 2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -

Management staff

For the 2023 season.

RoleNat.Name
Manager Japan Shuhei Yomoda
Assistant manager Australia
Japan		 John Hutchinson
Shunsuke Nakamura
First-team coach Japan
Japan		 Seiya Takeuchi
Keiji Kuraishi
Goalkeeper coach Vacant
Assistant goalkeeper coach Japan Taiki Murai
Analyst Republic of Ireland
Japan		 Gerry Peyton
Tatsuro Takenaka
Physical coach Japan Takeshi Ikoma
Conditioning coach Japan Akihiro Tanaka
Chief trainer Japan Masahiro Watanabe
Trainer Japan
Japan
Japan
Japan
Japan
Brazil		 Kodai Takahashi
Hiroki Naito
Yuki Katase
Shin Fukushi
Hiromi Murata
Hudson
Interpreter Japan
Japan
Japan
Japan		 Ryohei Ikeda
Yuki Masuda
Takayoshi Fujii
Koji Kurosu
Kit Manager Japan
Japan
Japan		 Takaya Amimori
Yuto Nakahata
Yuta Nakashima

Managerial history
ManagerNationalityTenure
StartFinish
Pierre Littbarski Germany1 February 199931 December 2000
Yoshikazu Nagai Japan1 January 200110 September 2001
Yūji Sakakura Japan11 September 200115 September 2001
Katsuyoshi Shintō Japan16 September 200131 December 2002
Pierre Littbarski Germany1 February 200331 January 2005
Yūsuke Adachi Japan1 January 20056 March 2006
Takuya Takagi Japan7 March 200627 August 2007
Júlio César Leal Brazil28 August 200731 December 2007
Satoshi Tsunami Japan1 February 200831 January 2009
Yasuhiro Higuchi Japan1 February 200931 January 2010
Yasuyuki Kishino Japan1 February 201018 March 2012
Takahiro Taguchi Japan18 March 201221 March 2012
Motohiro Yamaguchi Japan21 March 201231 January 2015
Miloš Rus Slovenia1 January 201514 September 2015
Hitoshi Nakata Japan14 September 20151 December 2015
Miloš Rus Slovenia1 December 201515 June 2016
Hitoshi Nakata Japan16 June 201615 October 2017
Tomonobu Hayakawa Japan15 October 201717 October 2017
Yasuhiko Okudera Japan19 October 201723 October 2017
Edson Tavares Brazil24 October 201713 May 2019
Takahiro Shimotaira Japan14 May 20198 April 2021
Tomonobu Hayakawa Japan8 April 202131 January 2022
Shūhei Yomoda Japan1 February 2022Current

Mascot

The Yokohama FC's mascot is named Fulie-maru, an alien-bird like figure. He is, supposedly, a tribute to Yokohama Flugels' mascot, Tobimaru, a flying squirrel.[9]

References
  1. Ichiro Hirose (2014). スポーツ・マネジメント入門 [Introduction to Sport Management] (in Japanese). Toyo Keizai. p. 123. ISBN 4492502602.
  2. "クラブ概要". yokohamafc.com. Yokohama FC. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  3. John Horne, Wolfram Manzenreiter (2013). Japan, Korea and the 2002 World Cup. Routledge. p. 101. ISBN 0415275636.
  4. Kumi Kinohara (27 July 2000). "Yokohama FC struggling to survive despite JFL success". Japan Times. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  5. "Interview with Tomio Tsujino" (PDF) (in Japanese). Yokohama City. 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  6. Andrew Mckirdy (2 December 2007). "Inspired Antlers squad captures J.League title". Japan Times. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  7. "選手・スタッフ" (in Japanese). Yokohama FC. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  8. "選手プロフィール". Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  9. A brief history of J.League mascots | Mascot madness in Japanese football, retrieved 2022-04-07
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