Vegalta Sendai

Vegalta Sendai
Full name Vegalta Sendai
Nickname(s) Vegalta
Founded 1988
Ground Yurtec Stadium Sendai
Izumi-ku, Sendai
(Capacity: 20,000)
Chairman Shirahata Yoichi
Manager Makoto Teguramori
League J. League Division 1
2011 4th
Home colours
Away colours
Current season

Vegalta Sendai (ベガルタ仙台 Begaruta Sendai?) is a Japanese professional football (soccer) club, currently playing in J. League Division 1. The team is located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Their home stadium is Yurtec Stadium Sendai, in Izumi-ku, Sendai, although a few home games have also been played at nearby Miyagi Stadium.

Contents

History

Founded in 1988 as Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. Soccer Club, Vegalta joined the J-League in 1999 after playing a few years in the JFL, with the nickname Brummell Sendai, to which they had been promoted in 1995 from the Tohoku Regional League. When joining the J-League, the name Vegalta was chosen as a homage to the famous Tanabata festival in Sendai. The names of the two celestial stars of the Tanabata legend, Vega and Altair were combined to form Vegalta.

They were first promoted to the top flight in 2002, but went back down the following season. They were promoted again for the 2010 season.

In 2011, despite the earthquake and tsunami, they achieved their highest position to date, 4th place in the top division.

Honours

Fan Song

Like most football clubs, their fans are to be heard singing and dancing throughout the match; but, most of the songs used by fans of other clubs are eschewed in favor of a more eclectic set. The club's theme, sung before every game, is Take Me Home, Country Roads, while during the game altered lyrics are sung to the tunes of The Lambrusco Kid by the Toy Dolls, Blitzkrieg Bop, and other songs by KISS and Twisted Sister.

Current players

As of December 26, 2011 Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 GK Shigeru Sakurai
2 DF Jiro Kamata
3 DF Kodai Watanabe
5 DF Cho Byung-Kuk
6 DF Makoto Kakuda
8 MF Toshihiro Matsushita
9 FW Takayuki Nakahara
10 MF Ryang Yong-Gi
11 MF Kunimitsu Sekiguchi
13 FW Yuki Nakashima
14 MF Yoshiki Takahashi
15 MF Yoshiaki Ota
16 GK Takuto Hayashi
17 MF Shingo Tomita
No. Position Player
19 FW Yuki Muto
20 MF Max
22 GK Kei Ishikawa
23 MF Naoya Tamura
24 FW Shingo Akamine
25 MF Naoki Sugai
27 DF Park Joo-Sung
28 DF Keisuke Harada
29 DF Toshio Shimakawa
30 FW Atsushi Yanagisawa
35 FW Hiroaki Okuno
MF Keita Fujimura
MF Yuta Echigo

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
GK Kentaro Seki (to Yokohama F.C.)

2012 season transfers

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

No. Position Player
MF Yuta Echigo (Promoted from youth team)
MF Keita Fujimura (Drafted from Morioka Commercial High School)
FW Hiroaki Okuno (Drafted from Sendai University)

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

No. Position Player
4 DF Junya Hosokawa (Released)
18 MF Diego (Loan return to Kyoto Sanga F.C.)
21 GK Shinichiro Kawamata (loan return to Kashima Antlers)
26 FW Goshi Okubo (Transferred to Sony Sendai F.C.)

Notable Players

Japan
AFC
CONMEBOL
UEFA

Managers

Manager Nat. Tenure
Takekazu Suzuki  Japan 1995
Choei Sato  Japan 1996
Branko Elsner  Slovenia 1997
Milos Rus  Slovenia 1997
Toshiya Miura  Japan 1997
Takekazu Suzuki  Japan 1998-99
Hidehiko Shimizu  Japan 1999-03
Hajime Ishii  Japan 2003
Zdenko Verdenik  Slovenia 2003-04
Satoshi Tsunami  Japan 2005
Joel Santana  Brazil 2006
Tatsuya Mochizuki  Japan 2007
Makoto Teguramori  Japan 2008-

Season results

Season League Standing Points Wins Losses Ties Attendance
1995 JFL 15(16) 27 9 21 0
1996 JFL 6(16) 56 18 12 0
1997 JFL 8(16) 40 15 15 0
1998 JFL 7(16) 43 18 12 0
1999 J2 9(10) 31 10 22 4 134,462
2000 J2 5(11) 55 19 19 2 177,967
2001 J2 2(12) 83 27 12 5 308,243
2002 J1 (stage1) 9(16) 20 7 8 0
J1 (stage2) 15(16) 12 4 10 1
J1 (season) 13(16) 32 11 18 1 327,925
2003 J1 (stage1) 15(16) 12 3 9 3
J1 (stage2) 15(16) 12 2 6 7
J1 (season) 15(16) 24 5 15 10 325,621
2004 J2 6(12) 59 15 15 14 356,359
2005 J2 4(12) 68 19 14 11 350,544
2006 J2 5(13) 77 21 13 14 346,868
2007 J2 4(13) 83 24 11 13 352,432
2008 J2 3(15) 70 18 16 8 295,679
2009 J2 1(18) 106 32 9 10 336,719
2010 J1 14(18) 39 10 9 15 294,644


Finances

Despite leading J2 in attendance for the past three years, the club has struggled financially since being relegated from J1. In 2005, the team ran a deficit of 163 million yen, the only year since joining the J. League that they failed to turn a profit.[1] Up until the closing date of the 2006 season (January 31, 2007), the team was projecting a 150 million yen deficit.[2] However, the transfer fee for Borges was enough to drive them into the black for the season. The total profit in 2006 was 27 million yen.[3]

Season Income Expenses
1999 599 578
2000 763 751
2001 1021 998
2002 2152 1950
2003 2348 2211
2004 2110 2103
2005 1787 1950
2006 TBD TBD
in million yen

References

  1. ^ Kahoku Shimpō (河北新報); December 24, 2006
  2. ^ Team Profile - Vegalta Sendai
  3. ^ Kahoku Shimpō (河北新報); April 11, 2007

External links

Vegalta Sendai
Club
History · Players · All articles
Stadium
Seasons
1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011