Shonan Bellmare

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Shonan Bellmare
湘南ベルマーレ
Full name Shonan Bellmare
Nickname(s) -
Founded 1968 (1968)
Ground Hiratsuka Athletics Stadium
Hiratsuka, Kanagawa
Ground Capacity 18,500
Chairman Kiyoshi Makabe
Manager Cho Kwi-Jea (2012- )
League J. League Division 2
2013 Division 1, 16th (relegated)
Website Club home page
Home colours
Away colours

Shonan Bellmare (湘南ベルマーレ Shōnan Berumāre) are a Japanese professional football (soccer) club, currently playing in the J. League Division 2. The team is located in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture; their home stadium is Hiratsuka Athletics Stadium in Hiratsuka. The name Bellmare is derived from the Latin "bellus" for "beautiful" and "mare" for "sea". Shonan refers to a coastal area that includes Hiratsuka.

History

Early years as corporate team

The club was founded in 1968 as Towa Estate Development S.C. in Tochigi city. They were promoted to the Japan Soccer League (JSL) Division 1 in 1972. They changed their name to Fujita Kogyo S.C. when Towa Estate Development gave up the ownership to their parent company Fujita Kogyo, which moved the club to Hiratsuka.

They won the JSL three times (including two doubles with the Emperor's Cup) between 1977 and 1981. They were nevertheless relegated to the JSL's Division 2 in 1990. Although they won the last JSL Division 2 season in 1991-92, the professionalization and formation of the J. League meant they did not meet the new top flight league's criteria and the runner-ups, Kashima Antlers (formerly Sumitomo), were promoted instead.

1993 (JFL)

In 1993, they adopted new name Shonan Bellmare. Their application to the J. League Associate membership was accepted. They played in the former Japan Football League Division 1 and won the league championship. After Hiratsuka City Council committed to finance the refurbishment of the Hiratsuka Stadium to meet the J. League requirements, J. League accepted the club.

1994–1997 (Golden era)

Bellmare Hiratsuka 1994-1999 crest

The club was forced to change their name to Bellmare Hiratsuka because J. League required the participants to designate only one city or town as their hometown and include its name in the club names at that time. The club initially struggled to cope with the J. League opponents and finished 11th out of 12 in the first stage of the 1994 season. However, they came back in the second stage and finished 2nd. With this momentum, the club won the 1994-1995 Emperor's Cup. This title qualified Bellmare for the 1996 Asian Cup Winners Cup, which they won by beating Iraq's Al Talaba in the final. Hidetoshi Nakata joined the team in 1995 and they also successfully recruited Brazilian-born Wagner Lopes and influential Korean international Hong Myung-Bo. This is arguably the most successful period of the club.

1998–1999 (Difficult period)

Four Bellmare players were selected for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. They were Nakata, Lopes, Hong and a goalkeeper Nobuyuki Kojima. However, as Nakata left for Italian club Perugia just after the World Cup, the club's fortune started to decline. The main sponsor Fujita decided to discontinue the financial support in 1999 due to their own financial difficulties. It forced the club to release some highly paid players including Lopes, Hong and Kojima. They finished bottom of J1 in 1999 and were relegated to J2.

2000–2009 (J2)

The club made a new start. The ownership was transferred to a community-owned organisation. They also changed their name to Shonan Bellmare as J. League allowed them to enlarge their designated hometowns to include several cities and towns surrounding Hiratsuka. The club's performance on the pitch has not been strong and they have not been serious contenders for the promotion to J1 so far.

A J1 comeback in 2010, if they are able to achieve promotion, will be the first without Fujita as their sponsor. Although for a time they refused to consider their history as the championship-winning Fujita corporate team in their current history, this year they celebrated the club's 40-year anniversary in 2009 as deduced from the badge in their Web site.

On December 5, 2009, Shonan returned to J1 as third place finishers in 2009 seasons.

2010–

Shonan's return to J1 was a brief one as they struggled at the bottom of the table all season long. Their relegation back to J2 was confirmed with four games to go.

Currently is playing in the J2.

Rivalries

Historically the Shonan area was part of a pre-modern province, Sagami Province, whereas Yokohama and Kawasaki were part of Musashi Province, hence Bellmare's intraprefectural rivalries with Yokohama F. Marinos, Yokohama F.C. and Kawasaki Frontale are based on the hard-working port cities of South Musashi as opposed to the more laid-back attitude of Sagami.

Other historical rivals have been Cerezo Osaka, Urawa Red Diamonds and Júbilo Iwata.

Record as J. League member

SeasonDiv.Tms.Pos.Attendance/GJ. League CupEmperor's CupAsia
1994J112517,8361st RoundWinner--
1995J1141116,111-2nd Round--
1996J1161110,483Semi-finalQuarter-finalCWCWinner
1997J11787,841Group StageQuarter-final--
1998J1181110,158Group Stage4th Round--
1999J116167,3881st Round3rd Round--
2000J21184,9681st Round3rd Round--
2001J21284,1121st Round2nd Round--
2002J21254,551-4th Round--
2003J212104,731-4th Round--
2004J212104,691-5th Round--
2005J21275,746-3rd Round--
2006J213115,365-4th Round--
2007J21364,677-4th Round--
2008J21555,994-3rd Round--
2009J21837,273-2nd Round--
2010J1181811,095Group Stage3rd Round--
2011J220146,943-Quarter-final--
2012J22226,852-3rd Round--
2013J118169,911Group Stage3rd Round--
Key
  • Tms. = Number of teams
  • Pos. = Position in league
  • Attendance/G = Average league attendance

Titles

Towa / Fujita

  • All Japan Vase: (1) 1971
  • Japan Soccer League: (3) 1977, 1979, 1981
  • JSL Cup: (1) 1973
  • Emperor's Cup: (2) 1977, 1979

Bellmare Hiratsuka / Shonan Bellmare

  • Emperor's Cup: (1) 1994
  • Asian Cup Winners Cup: (1) 1996

League history

  • Kanto Football League: 1970-71
  • Division 1 (Japan Soccer League Div. 1): 1972-89 (1972-74 as Towa Real Estate Development; 1975-89 as Fujita Industries)
  • Division 2 (Japan Soccer League Div. 2): 1990-91 (as Fujita Industries)
  • Division 2 (Japan Football League (former) Div. 1): 1992-93 (as Fujita Industries)
  • Division 1 (J. League Div. 1): 1994-99 (as Bellmare Hiratsuka)
  • Division 2 (J. League Div. 2): 2000-09 (as Shonan Bellmare)
  • Division 1 (J. League Div. 1): 2010
  • Division 2 (J. League Div. 2): 2011-2012
  • Division 1 (J. League Div. 1): 2013
  • Division 2 (J. League Div. 2): 2014-

Total (as of 2013): 26 seasons in the top tier, 16 seasons in the second tier and 2 seasons in the Regional Leagues.

Player

Current players

As of December 12, 2013. 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 Japan GK Nobuyuki Abe
2 Japan DF Shunsuke Kikuchi
3 Japan DF Wataru Endo
4 Japan DF Hirokazu Usami
5 Japan MF Shota Kobayashi
6 Japan MF Ryota Nagaki
7 Japan MF Yohei Otake
8 Japan MF Ryota Kajikawa
9 Brazil FW Wellington
10 Japan MF Daisuke Kikuchi
11 Japan FW Yuya Nakamura
13 Japan MF Ken Iwao
14 Japan DF Yuichi Maruyama
15 Brazil MF Eder Silva
16 Japan MF Toshiki Ishikawa
17 Japan DF Yuto Misao
No. Position Player
18 Japan FW Tsuyoshi Miyaichi
19 Japan FW Shuhei Otsuki
20 Japan MF Hiroto Nakagawa
21 Japan GK Shunsuke Andō
22 Japan FW Shohei Okada
23 Japan MF Kosuke Shirai
24 Japan MF Naoki Maeda
25 Japan MF Kenji Arabori
26 Japan DF Masashi Kamekawa
27 Japan GK Yuta Suzuki
28 Japan DF Shota Fukuoka
29 Japan MF Ryohei Yoshihama
30 Japan DF Tsuyoshi Shimamura
35 Japan FW Ryosuke Kawano
37 Japan GK Yota Akimoto
39 Japan FW Kosuke Taketomi

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
Japan DF Kohei Mihara (to Ehime)
Japan DF Takahiro Yamaguchi (to V-Varen Nagasaki)
Japan MF Yuzo Iwakami (to Matsumoto Yamaga)
No. Position Player
Japan MF Kosuke Shirai (to Fukushima United)
Japan FW Ryohei Yoshihama (to Fukushima United)
Brazil FW Quirino (to Al-Shaab)

Former players

Worldcup players

Managers

ManagerNat.Tenure
Hisashi Kato  Japan Jan 1, 2000–Dec 31, 2000
Masaki Kanno  Japan June 5, 2006–Dec 31, 2008
Yasuharu Sorimachi  Japan Jan 1, 2009–Dec 31, 2011
Cho Kwi-Jea  South Korea Jan 1, 2012–

External links

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