FC Ryukyu

FC Ryukyu
FC琉球
Full name FC Ryukyu
Founded 2003
Ground Okinawa General Athletic Stadium
Okinawa, Okinawa
Ground Capacity 25,000
Chairman Japan Ryo Shimoji
Manager North Korea Kim Jong-song
League J3 League
2016 8th
Website Club website

FC Ryukyu (FC琉球, Efu Shī Ryūkyū) are an Association football club from the Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. They currently play in Japan's J3 League.

The team derive their name from Ryukyu, the historic name for Okinawa Prefecture. The club also has futsal and handball teams.

History

The club was founded in 2003. Most of the players who initially joined the club were those who had left Okinawa Kariyushi FC after a rift with their management, which were beholden to the Kariyushi hotel chain. Their first 2003 season saw them win the championship in Okinawa Prefectural Division 3 North. They were allowed to skip to Division 1 the next season, where they again succeeded in finishing top of the table.

In the 2005 season, they belonged to the Kyūshū Regional League (Kyu League). After finishing 2nd and winning the Regional League play-off, they were promoted to the JFL and became the first ever Okinawan football side who played in a national league.

In December 2007, the club appointed former Japan national coach Philippe Troussier as their general manager. Jean-Paul Rabier was appointed as their manager in January 2008.

They applied for J. League Associate Membership in January 2008, but their application was declined at the J. League board meeting held on February 19, 2008.

In December 2008, the resignation of Rabier was announced. Former coach Hiroyuki Shinzato was promoted to be the new manager in January 2009.

In 2014, FC Ryukyu joined J3 League.

In January 2015, FC Ryukyu announced a partnership with Seoul United from the Korean Challengers League. According to the agreement the teams will play a friendly match every year. The first match was scheduled for 1 March 2015

Team colour and crest

Their team colour is bengara, a shade of red pigment. It is called red ochre in English and can be generally described as claret. Bengara derives from a Dutch word bengala which in turn derives from Bengal, a region in India and Bangladesh. This name was given because the pigment was traditionally imported from Bengal to Japan. Okinawa has a close association with the bengara colour which is prominently applied to Shuri Castle, one of the most symbolic historical buildings in the area.

In 2008 they adopted a sky blue trim for their home uniform, apparently as their bengara pigment pattern was seen as too similar to Aston Villa from England (the claret and sky-blue pattern was around long before Troussier and the French staff arrived, so a coincidence in colors is feasible).

Their crest features a pair of Shisas, imaginary talismanic creatures in the area, and the crown of the kings of the former Ryukyu Kingdom.

Record

Season Div. Tms. Pos. Attendance/G Emperor's Cup
2006 JFL 18 14 3,189
2007 JFL 18 17 2,443
2008 JFL 18 16 2,882
2009 JFL 18 16 1,348
2010 JFL 18 10 1,777 2nd Round
2011 JFL 18 9 1,860 2nd Round
2012 JFL 18 9 2,164 1st Round
2013 JFL 18 11 2,069 2nd Round
2014 J3 12 9 1,398 2nd Round
2015 J3 13 9 1,498 2nd Round
2016 J3 16 8 1,561 2nd Round
Key

Current squad

As of 15 February 2017.[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 North Korea GK Park Iru-gyu
2 Thailand DF Kosuke Masutani
3 Thailand DF Taishi Nishioka
4 Thailand MF Yutaro Chinen
5 North Korea MF Kang Ju-kwang
6 Thailand MF Keisuke Tanabe
7 Thailand MF Park Ri-ki
8 Thailand MF Noritaka Fujisawa
9 Thailand FW Yuta Togashi
10 Thailand MF Yu Tomidokoro
11 Japan FW Ryuji Saito
13 Australia DF Katsuhiro Hamada
14 Thailand FW Satoki Uejo
15 Thailand MF Tatsuya Mochizuki
No. Position Player
16 Japan DF Tatsuro Yamauchi
17 Japan GK Keisuke Tsumita
18 Japan FW Hiroki Maeda
19 South Korea MF Choe Byeong-gil
20 Japan FW Aio Fukuda
21 Japan GK Taisuke Konno
22 Japan DF Shuhei Takizawa
23 Japan FW Desheun Ryo Yamakawa
24 North Korea DF Kim Hyun-beom
25 Japan DF Yu Tamagawa
26 Japan DF Mikihito Arai
28 Japan MF Takumi Nagura
29 South Korea GK Lee Kyung-tae

References

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