Vegalta Sendai

Vegalta Sendai
Full name Vegalta Sendai
Nickname(s) Vegalta
Founded 1988 (1988)
Ground Yurtec Stadium Sendai
Izumi-ku, Sendai
Ground Capacity 19,694
Chairman Shirahata Yoichi
Manager Susumu Watanabe
League J1 League
2015 14th

Vegalta Sendai (ベガルタ仙台 Begaruta Sendai) is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in J1 League. The team is located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Their home stadium is Yurtec Stadium Sendai, in Izumi-ku, Sendai, although a few home games have also been played at nearby Miyagi Stadium.

History

Founded in 1988 as Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. Soccer Club, Vegalta joined the J-League in 1999 after playing a few years in the JFL, with the nickname Brummell Sendai, to which they had been promoted in 1995 from the Tohoku Regional League. When joining the J-League, the name Vegalta was chosen as a homage to the famous Tanabata festival in Sendai. The names of the two celestial stars of the Tanabata legend, Vega and Altair were combined to form Vegalta.

They were first promoted to the top flight in 2002, but went back down the following season. They were promoted again for the 2010 season.

In 2011, despite the earthquake and tsunami, they achieved their highest position up to that time, 4th place in the top division. In 2012, despite leading the table for most of the season, Sanfrecce Hiroshima's challenge proved too strong, and losing the penultimate week game to relegation battler Albirex Niigata cost them the title, rendering them second-place winners, their highest position in history.

Honours

Supporters and rivalries

Like most football clubs, Sendai's fans are to be heard singing and dancing throughout the match; but, most of the songs used by fans of other clubs are eschewed in favor of a more eclectic set. The club's theme, sung before every game, is Take Me Home, Country Roads, while during the game altered lyrics are sung to the tunes of The Lambrusco Kid by the Toy Dolls, Blitzkrieg Bop, and other songs by KISS and Twisted Sister.

Vegalta's traditional rivals are Montedio Yamagata from Yamagata Prefecture. The two have been rivals since meeting in the Tohoku Football League in 1991.

Current players

As of 13 February 2016.[1]

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 Yuji Rokutan
3 Japan DF Hirofumi Watanabe
4 Japan DF Koji Hachisuka
5 Japan DF Naoki Ishikawa
6 South Korea MF Kim Min-Tae
7 Japan MF Hiroaki Okuno
8 Japan MF Takuya Nozawa
9 Brazil FW Wilson
10 North Korea MF Ryang Yong-Gi
11 Japan FW Hidetaka Kanazono
13 Japan DF Yasuhiro Hiraoka
14 Japan MF Jun Kanakubo
17 Japan MF Shingo Tomita
18 Japan MF Hirotaka Mita
19 Japan MF Kyohei Sugiura
No. Position Player
20 Brazil MF Ramon Lopes
21 Japan GK Kentaro Seki
22 Japan GK Kei Ishikawa
23 Japan DF Hiroshi Futami
24 Japan MF Yuto Sashinami
25 Japan MF Naoki Sugai
26 Japan MF Keita Fujimura
27 Japan DF Kazuki Oiwa
28 Japan MF Takumi Sasaki
29 Japan MF Koki Mizuno
30 Japan FW Takuma Nishimura
31 Japan MF Shunsuke Motegi
32 Japan DF Masaya Kojima
33 Japan DF Masato Tokida
34 Japan MF Keiya Shiihashi

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
Japan DF Keisuke Harada (at Machida Zelvia)

Managers

ManagerNat.Tenure
Takekazu Suzuki  Japan 1995
Choei Sato  Japan 1996
Branko Elsner  Slovenia Feb 1, 1997 – Dec 31, 1997
Miloš Rus  Slovenia 1997
Toshiya Miura  Japan Feb 1, 1997 – Dec 31, 1997
Takekazu Suzuki  Japan 1998–99
Hidehiko Shimizu  Japan 1999–03
Hajime Ishii  Japan 2003
Zdenko Verdenik  Slovenia Sept 21, 2003 – Dec 31, 2004
Satoshi Tsunami  Japan Jan 1, 2005 – Dec 31, 2005
Joel Santana  Brazil Dec 1, 2005 – Dec 31, 2006
Tatsuya Mochizuki  Japan Jan 1, 2007 – Dec 31, 2007
Makoto Teguramori  Japan Feb 1, 2008 – Nov 14, 2013
Graham Arnold  Australia Nov 14, 2013 – April 9, 2014
Susumu Watanabe  Japan April 10, 2014–

Season results

Season League Standing Points Wins Losses Ties Attendance
1995 JFL 15/16 27 9 21 0
1996 JFL 6/16 56 18 12 0
1997 JFL 8/16 40 15 15 0
1998 JFL 7(16) 43 18 12 0
1999 J2 9(10) 31 10 22 4 134,462
2000 J2 5(11) 55 19 19 2 177,967
2001 J2 2(12) 83 27 12 5 308,243
2002 J1 (1° stage) 9(16) 20 7 8 0
J1 (2° stage) 15(16) 12 4 10 1
J1 (season) 13(16) 32 11 18 1 327,925
2003 J1 (1° stage) 15(16) 12 3 9 3
J1 (2° stage) 15(16) 12 2 6 7
J1 (season) 15(16) 24 5 15 10 325,621
2004 J2 6(12) 59 15 15 14 356,359
2005 J2 4(12) 68 19 14 11 350,544
2006 J2 5(13) 77 21 13 14 346,868
2007 J2 4(13) 83 24 11 13 352,432
2008 J2 3(15) 70 18 16 8 295,679
2009 J2 1(18) 106 32 9 10 336,719
2010 J1 14(18) 39 10 9 15 294,644
2011 J1 4/18 56 14 6 14 266,144
2012 J1 2/18 57 15 7 12 282,200
2013 J1 13/18 45 11 12 11 252,725
2014 J1 14/18 38 9 11 14 257,949
2015 J1 14/18 35 9 8 17 234,442

Finances

Despite leading J2 in attendance for the past three years, the club has struggled financially since being relegated from J1. In 2005, the team ran a deficit of 163 million yen, the only year since joining the J. League that they failed to turn a profit.[2] Up until the closing date of the 2006 season (January 31, 2007), the team was projecting a 150 million yen deficit.[3] However, the transfer fee for Borges was enough to drive them into the black for the season. The total profit in 2006 was 27 million yen.[4]

Season Income Expenses
1999 599 578
2000 763 751
2001 1021 998
2002 2152 1950
2003 2348 2211
2004 2110 2103
2005 1787 1950
2006 TBD TBD
in million yen

References

  1. ↑ http://www.vegalta.co.jp/topteam/profile_top.html
  2. ↑ Kahoku Shimpō (河北新報); December 24, 2006
  3. ↑ Team Profile – Vegalta Sendai
  4. ↑ Kahoku Shimpō (河北新報); April 11, 2007

External links

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