Honda FC

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Honda Football Club
ホンダフットボールクラブ
Full nameHonda Motor Football Club
Founded1971; 53 years ago (1971)
GroundHonda Miyakoda Soccer Stadium
Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
Capacity4,000
OwnerHonda Motor Company
ChairmanMasaaki Miyaji
ManagerHidekazu Kobayashi
LeagueJapan Football League
20231st of 15 (Champions)
WebsiteClub website

Honda Football Club (ホンダフットボールクラブ, Honda Futtobōru Kurabu) commonly known as Honda FC (ホンダFC, Honda Efu Shī) is a Japanese professional football club based in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. They currently play in the Japan Football League, the country's 4th tier of professional league football.

History[edit]

The club was founded as Honda Motor, Honda works team in 1971. They were promoted to the Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1975 and to the JSL Division 1 in 1981; the closest they came to the title was in 1985–86 and 1990–91 seasons, when they finished in third place. In 1991 they also made the finals of both the Japan Soccer League Cup and Konica Cup, but lost both times. They also made the Emperor's Cup semi-finals in 1990 and 1991. They stayed in the top flight until the conclusion of the league in 1992.

In the early 1990s, the club considered the possibilities of turning professional and participating in J. League. They sought the merger with their sister club Honda Motor Sayama F.C. and Urawa was chosen as a possible hometown. However, they failed to persuade the owner Honda Motor who insisted they should abide by their principle to concentrate on their core business of automobile manufacturing.

As a result of this decision, many players left the club. They played in the newly formed Japan Football League Division 1 in 1992 and finished 9th out of 10. They were relegated to Division 2 where they won the championship in 1993. The 2 divisions of the JFL were merged in 1994 and the club joined the league.

In 1996, they won the championship in the JFL. Around that time, the club made the second effort to be a professional club. They acquired associate membership in J. League under new name Acute Hamamatsu but the inadequate stadium and insufficient local support (the closest professional club is Júbilo Iwata, formerly part of Yamaha Motor Corporation), forced them to give it up. Iwata was a common derby foe in the JSL and their fixtures were known as Tenryu-side Derby (天竜川決戦).

In 1999, the JFL was reorganised as the new JFL. They have been playing in the league since its inception.

J's Gatekeeper[edit]

Honda F.C. does not intend to be promoted to the J. League due to the mandatory loss of corporate backing, although they have been always considered one of the JFL title contenders. They provide a big hurdle for those independent sides who wish to gain promotion. In order to achieve this goal, these teams need to finish in the top two in the league. Honda perennially occupying one of these spots makes their challenge even more difficult. Supporters of these clubs have dubbed Honda F.C. as J's Gatekeeper (the Gatekeeper of J. League) with respect and some resentment.[1]

Honda F.C., having played in the old Japan Soccer League in the past but never contending for the title, has in 2007 given some J1 teams a run for their money in the Emperor's Cup, reaching the quarterfinals after disposing of former champions Kashiwa Reysol and top contenders Nagoya Grampus (their first quarterfinals since 1991). They were nevertheless defeated by J1 champions Kashima Antlers on 22 December.[2] The 2008 cup did not go well for them, as they were eliminated by Sagan Tosu 4–0 in the third round, but they still won the JFL championship.

Stadium[edit]

Miyakoda Soccer Stadium

The club's home arena is the Honda Miyakoda Soccer Stadium located in Kita-ku, Hamamatsu. It is owned by Honda Motor Company. The stadium was redeveloped in 1996. This reconstruction included the building of a new mobile platform (1,000 seats) and corner floodlights. The stadium now holds 4,000 spectators.[3]

League & cup record[edit]

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League League Cup Emperor's Cup
Season Division Tier Teams Pos. P W D L F A GD Pts
1971 Western Shizuoka 1st Did not qualify
1972 Shizuoka 1st
1973 Tōkai - 8 1st 14 12 1 1 48 13 35 25 3rd round
1974 10 1st 13 9 3 1 53 11 42 21 2nd round
1975 JSL Div.2 2 10 4th 18 10 2 6 33 29 4 22 Did not qualify
1976 10 4th 18 6 9 3 25 17 8 21 Quarter final 1st round
1977 10 7th 18 8 0 10 25 24 1 29 Semi final 2nd round
1978 10 1st 18 14 0 4 39 9 30 57 Quarter final 2nd round
1979 10 4th 18 11 0 7 31 25 6 44 2nd round 2nd round
1980 10 1st 18 13 2 3 43 17 26 28 2nd round 2nd round
1981 JSL Div.1 1 10 6th 18 5 4 9 23 28 -5 14 2nd round 2nd round
1982 10 9th 18 4 6 8 17 29 -12 14 Quarter final 1st round
1983 10 8th 18 4 6 8 17 23 -6 14 Quarter final Quarter final
1984 10 5th 18 7 5 6 26 23 3 19 Semi final Quarter final
1985–86 12 3rd 22 8 12 2 30 20 10 28 Semi final 2nd round
1986–87 12 9th 22 6 8 8 20 24 -4 20 Semi final Semi-final
1987–88 12 8th 22 6 8 8 19 22 -3 20 Semi final Quarter final
1988–89 12 9th 22 7 6 9 20 23 -3 27 2nd round Quarter final
1989–90 12 6th 22 10 2 10 32 29 3 22 2nd round 2nd round
1990–91 12 3rd 22 10 8 4 29 21 8 38 Semi final Semi-final
1991–92 12 10th 22 5 8 9 18 25 -7 23 Final Semi-final
1992 JFL (former) Div.1 10 9th 18 4 4 10 19 36 -17 16 2nd round
1993 JFL (former) Div.2 2 10 1st 18 15 - 3 62 21 41 - Did not qualify
1994 JFL (former) 3 16 9th 30 12 - 18 49 62 -13 -
1995 16 7th 30 16 - 14 58 42 16 49 1st round
1996 16 1st 30 25 - 5 83 3 48 75 3rd round
1997 16 4th 30 23 - 7 60 37 23 65 3rd round
1998 16 5th 30 19 - 11 57 45 12 54 4th round
1999 JFL 3 9 2nd 24 18 1 5 69 34 35 50 3rd round
2000 12 2nd 22 17 0 5 51 29 22 49 3rd round
2001 16 1st 30 22 5 3 74 19 55 71 3rd round
2002 18 1st 17 13 2 2 39 14 25 41 3rd round
2003 16 2nd 30 21 4 5 73 30 43 67 3rd round
2004 16 2nd 30 19 5 6 64 36 28 62 4th round
2005 16 5th 30 17 5 8 59 37 22 56 4th round
2006 18 1st 34 26 5 3 77 36 41 83 4th round
2007 18 5th 34 16 10 8 61 42 19 58 Quarter final
2008 18 1st 34 22 8 4 80 33 47 74 3rd round
2009 18 7th 34 13 12 9 49 38 11 51 2nd round
2010 18 4th 34 18 5 11 52 43 9 59 2nd round
2011 18 6th 34 15 7 11 40 36 4 52 Did not qualify
2012 17 5th 32 16 5 11 55 39 16 53
2013 18 5th 34 14 11 9 54 38 16 53
2014 4 14 1st 26 16 5 5 58 28 30 53
2015 16 3rd 30 21 5 4 73 22 51 68
2016 16 1st 30 18 7 5 52 29 23 61 Round of 16
2017 16 1st 30 21 7 2 72 20 52 70 2nd round
2018 16 1st 30 25 4 1 76 25 51 79 2nd round
2019 16 1st 30 19 6 5 59 30 29 63 Quarter final
2020 16 4th 15 5 7 3 20 12 8 22 Quarter final
2021 17 2nd 32 20 5 5 69 25 44 67 3rd round
2022 16 3rd 30 16 8 6 47 23 24 56 2nd round
2023 15 1st 28 14 8 5 48 25 23 50 2nd round
2024 16 TBD 30 TBC
Key
  • Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points gained
  • Source: JFL, Honda FC website

Honours[edit]

Honda FC honours
Honour No. Years
Japan Soccer League Division 2 2 1978, 1980
Japan Football League (former) Division 2 1 1993
Japan Football League (former) 1 1996
Japan Football League 10 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023
All Japan Senior Football Championship 2 1974, 1999
Konica Cup 1 1991

Current squad[edit]

As of 9 March 2023.[4] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Japan JPN Yuta Aoki (captain)
2 DF Japan JPN Daiki Ikematsu
3 DF Japan JPN Masafumi Miura
4 DF Japan JPN Yuta Hachinohe
5 DF Japan JPN Yuya Suzuki
6 MF Japan JPN Kazuki Ishida
7 MF Japan JPN Kazuki Matsumoto
8 MF Japan JPN Toshiki Sasaki
9 FW Japan JPN Reon Kodama
10 MF Japan JPN Yuya Tomita
11 FW Japan JPN Hayato Kawabata
13 FW Japan JPN Yuki Okazaki
14 MF Japan JPN Riku Suzuki
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF Japan JPN Yusuke Kishida
16 DF Japan JPN Tappei Kawanami
17 MF Japan JPN Ryusei Kusakari
18 MF Japan JPN Kenshin Yuba
19 MF Japan JPN Kenshin Iwakiri
20 GK Japan JPN Teppei Yasuhara
21 GK Japan JPN Yuki Kusumoto
22 DF Japan JPN Koshiro Chibana
23 MF Japan JPN Kosuke Shimizu
24 MF Japan JPN Go Nakashima
25 DF Japan JPN Daichi Miwa
26 MF Japan JPN Takaya Hirakawa

Coaching staff[edit]

Position Staff
Manager Japan Hidekazu Kobayashi
Assistant Manager Japan Takahiro Tsuchiya
Goalkeeper coach Japan Moto Nakamura
Physical coach Japan Shoji Takagi
Trainer Japan Masataka Oba
Japan Tomoya Oba
Doctor Japan Yoshifumi Ozawa
Japan Hiroko Kumaoka

Managerial history[edit]

Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Katsuyoshi Kuwabara  Japan 1 February 1973 31 January 1983
Masakatsu Miyamoto  Japan 1 February 1983 30 June 1990
Masataka Imai  Japan 1 July 1990 31 December 1992
Kazuaki Nagasawa  Japan 1 February 1997 31 January 1998
Akiyoshi Ohashi  Japan 1 January 2000 31 December 2001
Takayoshi Amma  Japan 1 February 2002 31 January 2005
Hideo Yoshizawa  Japan 1 February 2005 31 December 2006
Masakazu Ishibashi  Japan 1 January 2007 31 December 2009
Takahiro Ōkubo  Japan 1 January 2010 31 December 2011
Yoshitaka Maeda  Japan 1 February 2012 31 January 2014
Hiroyasu Ibata  Japan 1 February 2014 31 January 2021
Hiroyuki Abe  Japan 1 February 2021 31 January 2023
Hidekazu Kobayashi  Japan 1 February 2023 current

Kit evolution[edit]

Home kit - 1st
2007 - 2008
2009 - 2010
2011 - 2012
2013 - 2014
2015 - 2016
2017 - 2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -
Away kit - 2nd
2007 - 2008
2009 - 2010
2011 - 2012
2013 - 2014
2015 - 2016
2017 - 2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -

References[edit]

  1. ^ Utsunomiya, Tetsuichi (13 October 2009). "Emperor's Cup 2009 report" (in Japanese). Y's Sports Inc. Archived from the original on 21 October 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  2. ^ Shizuoka Shimbun. "The 90th Emperor's Cup: Prefectural finals winners" (in Japanese). JFA. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  3. ^ "Stadium guide" (in Japanese). Honda FC. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  4. ^ "選手・スタッフ紹介". www.honda-fc.gr.jp. Retrieved 9 March 2023.

External links[edit]