Mito HollyHock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mito HollyHock 水戸ホーリーホック |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Football Club Mito HollyHock Ibaraki | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | HollyHock, FC Mito | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1990, 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Kasamatsu Stadium Naka, Ibaraki (Capacity 22,022) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Tadahisa Onizuka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Takashi Kiyama (2008-) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | J. League Div.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | 12th Place | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mito HollyHock (水戸ホーリーホック Mito Hōrīhokku?) is a Japanese professional football (soccer) club, currently playing in the J-league Division 2. The team's hometown is located in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture.
Its nickname "HollyHock" derives from the family crest of the Tokugawa clan who governed from Mito in the Edo period.
Contents |
[edit] History
The club was founded in 1990 as Prima Aseno FC by the factory workers of Prima Ham (a food company) in Tsuchiura. It changed its name to Prima Ham FC Tsuchiura and gained promotion to the Japan Football League after finishing as runner-up in the 1996 Regional League play-off. It merged with FC Mito (founded in 1994) and re-branded itself as Mito HollyHock before the start of the 1997 season when Prima Ham decided to discontinue its financial support to the club.
Mito's application to play in the inaugural 1999 season of J. League Division 2 was initially turned down due to an unstable financial and fan base. However, after finishing 3rd in the Japan Football League in 1999 and gaining support, the club was invited into the J. League in 2000.
[edit] Strategy
Being a traditionally weak club in the league, Mito has tended to play a defensive game and has proven successful at it. This stinginess at the back is often referred to as "Mito-nachio" after the Catenaccio playing style, which is also a pun on the hometown's local specialty, Mito natto.
Recently, though, the team has been implementing new, strong offensive tactics. After a string of losses in the second half of the 2006 season and in the transition through 2007, the team began seeing great improvement, including a surprising 5-1 away win against Tokyo Verdy 1969. Should this continue, the team's tactical ability will have incorporated strength at both ends of the field for the first time since leaving the JFL. Although the team finished in the bottom half of the league in 2006 as in previous years, many players and coaches in the league mention Mito as a sleeper to enter Division 1 in an upcoming season, similar to the success Montedio Yamagata had in the first half of the 2007 season.[citation needed]
[edit] 2008 Roster
"As of February 18, 2008"
|
|
[edit] Yearly Results
| Year | League | Matches | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws | League Placement | Coach | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Former JFL | 30 | 10 | 4 | 26 | ― | 16th | Yuji Nakano | ― |
| 1998 | 30 | 23 | 8 | 22 | ― | 14th | Toshiya Miura | ― | |
| 1999 | JFL | 24 | 45 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 3rd | Hiroshi Ninomiya | Promotion to J2 |
| 2000 | J League Div. 2 | 40 | 43 | 15 | 21 | 4 | 9th | Babichi Blanco | ― |
| 2001 | 44 | 25 | 8 | 32 | 4 | 11th | Hiroshi Kobayashi／Masaaki Kanno | ― | |
| 2002 | 44 | 40 | 11 | 26 | 7 | 10th | Masaaki Kanno | ― | |
| 2003 | 44 | 56 | 15 | 18 | 11 | 7th | Hideki Maeda | ― | |
| 2004 | 44 | 37 | 6 | 19 | 19 | 9th | ― | ||
| 2005 | 44 | 52 | 13 | 18 | 13 | 10th | ― | ||
| 2006 | 48 | 51 | 14 | 25 | 9 | 10th | ― | ||
| 2007 | 48 | 34 | 8 | 30 | 10 | 12th | ― |
[edit] Notable former players
[edit] Images
 Home side goal seat section |
 Home side A seat section, with supporters |
 Mito vs. Sapporo, November 18, 2006 |
