Kyoto Sanga F.C.

Kyoto Sanga FC
京都サンガFC
Full name Kyoto Sanga FC
Nickname(s) Sanga
Founded 1922,
as Kyoto Shiko Club (京都紫郊クラブ)
Ground Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium
Ukyo-ku, Kyoto
(Capacity: 20,389)
Chairman Toru Umemoto
Manager Takeshi Oki
League J. League Division 2
2011 7th
Home colours
Away colours

Kyoto Sanga FC (京都サンガFC Kyōto Sanga Efushī?) is a Japanese professional football (soccer) club based in Kyoto. The word "Sanga" is a Sanskrit term meaning "group" or "club", often used to denote Buddhist congregations. This reflects Kyoto's tradition of Buddhist temples (see sangha). The club was formerly known as Kyoto Purple Sanga with "purple", the colour of the team uniforms, an imperial colour reflecting Kyoto's status as Japan's ancient imperial capital city. It was decided however that, from 2007, the team will simply been known as "Kyoto Sanga". They are the oldest club competing in the J. League.

Contents

History

The club was started as Kyoto Shiko Club, one of the few proper Japanese football clubs in the sense of being strictly dedicated to football and not being part of a company. Like Ventforet Kofu, however, it could not rise to a Japan Soccer League First Division dominated by company teams; in 1993, after the J. League was created, Kyoto Shiko Club, aided by funds from local new sponsors Kyocera and Nintendo, professionalized (though some players broke away and formed their own clubs, see below) and joined the former Japan Football League under the new name Kyoto Purple Sanga. First joining the J. League in 1996, Kyoto Sanga hold the dubious distinction of being the League's most relegated side, having been demoted on three separate occasions. Relegation to J2 occurred at the end of the 2000, 2003 and 2006 seasons; more than any other team. The 2003 relegation happened despite having many national team players on its roster. Stars like Park Ji-Sung and Daisuke Matsui have since left for greener pastures. In December 2007 the club gained J1 status for the fourth time in their history via the promotion/relegation play off. A 0-2 home defeat to Urawa Reds on 14 November 2010 confirmed Sanga's relegation back to J2, bringing an end to their three-season spell in the top flight.

Players

Current squad

As of June 11, 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 Yuichi Mizutani
2 DF Ryusuke Sakai
3 DF Shun Morishita
4 DF Michitaka Akimoto
6 DF Yuta Someya
7 MF Jung Woo Young
8 MF Jun Ando
9 MF Dutra
13 FW Takumi Miyayoshi
14 FW Dan Howbert
15 MF Hiroki Nakayama
16 DF Takayuki Fukumura
17 MF Taisuke Nakamura
No. Position Player
19 DF Yohei Naito
20 MF Kohei Kudo
21 GK Tatsuya Morita
22 MF Yoshiaki Komai
23 FW Atsutaka Nakamura
24 MF Toshiki Yamada
25 MF Yūta Ito
26 DF Shogo Shimobatake
30 GK Tsuyoshi Kodama
31 FW Yuya Kubo
32 DF Takashi Uchino

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
FW Yohei Toyoda (to Sagan Tosu)

International players

Japan
AFC
CONMEBOL

World Cup Players

World Cup 1998

World Cup 2002

World Cup 2006

Managers

Manager Nat. Tenure
Takeshi Takama  Japan 1993
Seishiro Shimatani  Japan 1994
Jorge Yonashiro  Japan 1994
José Oscar Bernardi  Brazil 1995-96
Jorge Yonashiro  Japan 1996
Pedro Rocha  Uruguay 1997
Marius Johan Ooft  Netherlands 1998
Hidehiko Shimizu  Japan 1998-99
Bunji Kimura  Japan 1999
Shu Kamo  Japan 1999-00
Gert Engels  Germany 2000-03
Bunji Kimura  Japan 2003
Pim Verbeek  Netherlands 2003
Bunji Kimura  Japan 2003
Akihiro Nishimura  Japan 2004
Koichi Hashiratani  Japan 2004-06
Naohiko Minobe  Japan 2006-07
Hisashi Kato  Japan 2007-10
Yutaka Akita  Japan 2010-

Record as J. League member

Season Div. Tms. Pos. Attendance/G J. League Cup Emperor's Cup
1996 J1 16 16 9,404 Group Stage Quarter-final
1997 J1 17 14 7,881 Group Stage 4th Round
1998 J1 18 13 8,015 Group Stage 3rd Round
1999 J1 16 12 8,859 2nd Round 4th Round
2000 J1 16 15 7,253 Semi-final 3rd Round
2001 J2 12 1 3,808 1st Round 4th Round
2002 J1 16 5 10,352 Group Stage Winner
2003 J1 16 16 10,850 Group Stage 3rd Round
2004 J2 12 5 7,807 - 4th Round
2005 J2 12 1 7,857 - 4th Round
2006 J1 18 18 9,781 Group Stage 4th Round
2007 J2 13 3 6,629 - 3rd Round
2008 J1 18 14 13,687 Group Stage 5th Round
2009 J1 18 12 11,126 Group Stage 3rd Round
2010 J1 18 17 10,510 Group Stage 3rd Round
Key

Honours

All Japan Senior Football Championship (as Kyoto Shiko)
1988
Emperor's Cup
2002
J. League Division 2
2001, 2005

Related clubs

Kyoto Sanga is considered the main continuation of the Kyoto Shiko Club that competed in the Japan Soccer League Second Division. "Shiko" (紫光) means "brilliant purple" and is the color that Shiko/Sanga have always worn.

External links