Tochigi SC
Tochigi S.C. (栃木S.C., Tochigi Esu Shī) are a football (soccer) club based in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. They play in the J. League Division 2. Their team colour is yellow.
Tochigi, uniquely, is the only major Japanese professional club to retain the word "soccer" in its English name, despite efforts by football authorities to minimize the incidence of the word in the J. League (the very Japanized pronunciation of the word is widely used in American English whereas "football" is more the more common term in Britain, and is thus seen as an effect of the American influence following their occupation after World War II). Its club emblem is very attractive as many clubs such as Tai Chung FC of the Hong Kong first division league also copy its emblem.
History
Teachers in Tochigi Prefecture founded the club in 1953. They were initially called self-explanatory Tochigi Teachers' Soccer Club (栃木教員サッカー部 Tochigi Kyōin Sakkā Bu). They started to welcome players with other professions in 1994 and renamed themselves as Tochigi Soccer Club. In 1999, Tochigi won the Kanto Regional League and were promoted to the Japan Football League after finishing runners-up in the Regional League play-off. In March 2005, they announced that they would set up a task force to give a serious consideration to turn professional and try to gain J. League status.
On January 2007 they achieved J. League Associate Membership status and in the 2008 season they secured qualification for promotion to professional status on November 16; on December 1 promotion was made official by J. League and Tochigi had competed in J2 since 2009.
Record as J. League member
| Season |
Div. |
Tms. |
Pos. |
Attendance/G |
Emperor's Cup |
| 2009 | J2 | 18 | 17 | 4,706 | 2nd Round |
| 2010 | J2 | 19 | 10 | 4,157 | 3rd Round |
| 2011 | J2 | 20 | 10 | 4,939 | 3rd Round |
| 2012 | J2 | 22 | 11 | 3,850 | 2nd Round |
| 2013 | J2 | 22 | 9 | 4,922 | 3rd Round |
| 2014 | J2 | 22 | 12 | 5,294 | 2nd Round |
- Key
- Tms. = Number of teams
- Pos. = Position in league
- Attendance/G = Average league attendance
- Source: J. League Data Site
Current squad
As of January 31, 2015
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
External links
Japanese club football |
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| | | | | | Third-tier club football seasons, 1992–1993, 1999–present |
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| (former) Japan Football League Division 2
1992–1993 | |
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- No national third tier, 1994–1998
| | Japan Football League
1999–2013 | |
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| J3 League
2014–present | |
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Kentaro Arai
