Giravanz Kitakyushu

Giravanz Kitakyushu
ギラヴァンツ北九州
Full name Giravanz Kitakyushu
Nickname(s) Giravanz, Kitakyushu
Founded 1947
Ground Honjō Stadium, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture
(Capacity: 10,202)
Chairman Hidemi Hayashi
Manager Yasutoshi Miura (2011-)
League J. League Division 2
2011 8th
Home colours
Away colours

Giravanz Kitakyushu (ギラヴァンツ北九州 Giravantsu Kitakyūshū?) is a Japanese football club based in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. The club's name was changed from New Wave Kitakyushu (ニューウェーブ北九州 Nyū Wēbu Kitakyūshū?) as of 1 December 2009.[1] They played in the Japan Football League from 2008-2009, and were promoted to J. League Division 2 (J2) for the 2010 season.

Contents

History

The club was formed in 1947 as part of Mitsubishi Chemical's Kurosaki factory. Most of its career was spent in the regional and prefectural leagues, as Kitakyushu was represented in the Japan Soccer League by Yawata Steel F.C. Yawata was a founding member of the JSL in 1965, and finished as runner up in its first two seasons in that league. Yawata was renamed New Nippon Steel F.C. in 1970, when Yawata Steel merged with Fuji Steel to form (New) Nippon Steel. It ultimately was relegated to the Second Division in 1982, then relegated from the Second Division to Kyushu regional league after 1990-91 season, and has never returned.

In 2001, Mitsubishi Chemical Kurosaki F.C., which had been a member of Kyushu regional league since 1973, became community-oriented club (New Wave) Kitakyushu F.C.

In 2007 New Wave took second place in the All Japan Regional Football Promotion League Series, and was promoted to the JFL for the 2008 season.

The team applied for J. League Associate Membership in January 2008, and the application was accepted at the J. League board meeting on February 19, 2008.

On 1 April 2009, the club made an announcement that they would be accepting suggestions for a new name. This was because the name "New Wave" may cause trademark or tradename disputes.[2] Therefore, the new name had to be something not yet registered as a trademark.

On 2 October 2009, they announced that the new club name for the 2010 season would be Giravanz Kitakyushu (ギラヴァンツ北九州 Giravantsu Kitakyūshū?). According to the official news release, the name "Giravanz" is coined from two Italian words: "Girasole", which means "sunflower", and "Avanzare", which means "moving forward".[3] (The sunflower is one of Kitakyushu's symbol flowers.)

On 23 November 2009, after a 2-1 win away against Arte Takasaki, Kitakyushu secured a top four position in the JFL for the 2009 season, regardless of the result at the final week of 2009 JFL. This means they will play in J. League Division 2 for the 2010 season, something which was confirmed by the J.League board meeting on 30 November 2009.[4][5][6]

In its inaugural year in the pro ranks, despite attaining a large number of draw matches, Kitakyushu set new records for fewest wins and points in the season standings.

Players

Current Squad

As of 15 April 2011[7]

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 Hiroki Mizuhara
2 DF Kazuya Kawabata
3 DF Kim Soo-Yeon
4 DF Satoshi Nagano
5 MF Hiroyoshi Kuwabara
6 DF Yuki Fuji
7 MF Shinya Sato
8 MF Tomoaki Komorida
9 FW Yasuaki Oshima
10 MF Yuya Sano
11 FW Tomoki Ikemoto
13 MF Mitsuhiro Seki
14 MF Kota Morimura (on loan from FC Tokyo)
15 DF Takaki Shigemitsu
16 DF Ryoji Fukui
No. Position Player
17 MF Yuji Kimura
18 FW Daisuke Miyakawa
19 FW Hiroyuki Hayashi
20 MF Leonardo
21 MF Kodai Yasuda
22 MF Takayuki Tada
23 MF Yuki Nagahata
24 FW Yuta Kawachi
25 DF Ryosuke Kawanabe
26 DF Toru Miyamoto
27 MF Yuta Hashimura
28 MF Oh Seung-Rok
30 GK Shogo Tokihisa
31 GK Yuya Satō

Record as J. League member

Season Div. Tms. Pos. Attendance/G J. League Cup Emperor's Cup
2010 J2 19 19 4,189 - 3rd Round
2011 20 8 4,051 - 3rd Round
Key

References

  1. ^ News Release:New Wave Kitakyushu became a member of J. League(Japanese) (ニュースリリース ニューウェーブ北九州がJリーグ入会?) J. League official website posted 2009-11-30
  2. ^ Official website (Japanese only)
  3. ^ Announcement of the new team name and its emblem (新チーム名称・エンブレム発表?) New Wave Kitakyushu official website news release : dated 2 October 2009
  4. ^ Official website (Japanese only)
  5. ^ [1] J's Goal Website (Japanese only)
  6. ^ [2]
  7. ^ [3]

External links