Grulla Morioka

Grulla Morioka
Full name Grulla Morioka
Nickname(s) Grulla
Founded 2000
Ground South Park Football Stadium
Morioka, Iwate
Capacity 5,000
Chairman Japan Yasuo Usui
Manager Japan Naoki Naruo
League J3 League
2014 5th
Website Club home page

Grulla Morioka (グルージャ盛岡 Gurūja Morioka) is a Japanese association football club based in Morioka, Iwate. It played in the inaugural season of J. League Division 3 in 2014 after winning the Tohoku Soccer League, one of the Japanese Regional Leagues, in 2013.

Name origin

"Grulla" is the Spanish word of "crane", which was used in the mon of Nanbu clan of former Morioka han and later became the local symbol of Morioka.

History

Initially known as Villanova Morioka (ヴィラノーバ盛岡 Viranōba Morioka), the team was organized by alumni of Morioka Commercial High School and Morioka Chuo High School in 2000.

In 2003, a nonprofit organization Association of Setting Up a J. League Team in Morioka (Jリーグチームを盛岡に作る会 J Rīgu chīmu wo Morioka ni tsukuru kai) was founded, and the team was reorganized and changed their name to Grulla Morioka in February 2004 with the intention of achieving elevation to the J. League by 2008.

Under the new organization, former JEF United and Oita Trinita player Shinichi Muto was invited to coach and captain the team with the company of players from the defunct Villanova Morioka and from J2 league. They played their first match on May 9, 2004, and it could be seen as an introduction to the local press beforehand. They won the second division Tohoku Soccer League in 2004 and moved to the first division in 2005. In the same year, they won their first league championship, which was shared with TDK S.C. Toru Yoshida has been coaching the team since 2006.

Current squad

As of 1 August 2014 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Japan GK Yoshito Matsushita
2 Japan DF Shusaku Tokita
3 Japan DF Ryota Kobayashi
4 Japan DF Yusei Okada
5 Japan MF Shun Tanaka
6 Japan MF Ryusei Morikawa
7 Japan FW Ryota Doi
8 Japan MF Kenta Matsuda
9 Japan MF Akira Takase
10 Japan MF Eiji Tomii
11 Japan FW Kodai Sato
13 Japan DF Koya Saito
14 Japan MF Yusuke Hayashi
15 Japan MF Keisuke Matsumoto
  
No. Position Player
16 Japan MF Hiroyuki Omichi
17 Japan MF Shinji Morita
18 Japan MF Yuma Takahashi
19 Japan MF Tetsuya Nakanishi
20 Japan MF Hikaru Fujishima
21 Japan GK Takuji Yokoyama
22 Japan GK Kohei Doi
23 Japan DF So Morita
24 Japan MF Kohei Yoshioka  
25 Japan FW Toshikazu Soya  
26 Japan DF Masato Hashimoto  
27 Japan FW Taro Sugahara  
28 Japan DF Shuhei Doen

Club records and statistics

YearDivisionPldPtsWDLGFGAGDRankingManager
2003 Tohoku League
Div. 2 North
10 18 5 3 2 16 12 +4 4th placeShinobu Yoshida
2004 10 28 9 1 0 54 9 +45 Champion Shinichi Muto
2005 Tohoku League
Div. 1
12 29 9 2 1 36 10 +26 Champion
2006 14 30 11 0 3 32 18 +14 Runner-up Toru Yoshida
2007 14 39 13 0 1 65 14 +51 Champion
2008 14 38 12 2 0 63 8 +55 Champion
2009 14 36 11 3 0 59 15 +44 Champion
2010 14 37 12 1 1 57 11 +46 Champion
2011 12 27 8 3 1 35 15 +20 Runners-up Naoki Naruo
2012 12 30 10 0 2 48 5 +43 Runners-up
2013 18 49 16 1 1 95 10 +85 Champion
2014 J3 33 45 12 9 12 34 25 +9 5th

External links