Giravanz Kitakyushu

Giravanz Kitakyushu
ギラヴァンツ北九州
Full name Giravanz Kitakyushu
Nickname(s) Giravanz, Kita-Q
Founded 2001 (2001)[1]
Ground Honjō Stadium, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture
Ground Capacity 10,202
Chairman Japan Hidemi Hayashi
Manager Japan Koichi Hashiratani (2013– )
League J2 League
2014 5th
Website Club home page

Giravanz Kitakyushu (ギラヴァンツ北九州 Giravantsu Kitakyūshū) is a Japanese football club based in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. The club's name was changed from New Wave Kitakyushu (ニューウェーブ北九州 Nyū Wēbu Kitakyūshū) as of 1 December 2009.[2] They played in the Japan Football League from 2008–2009, and were promoted to J. League Division 2 (J2) for the 2010 season.

History

The club was formed in 1947 as part of Mitsubishi Chemical's Kurosaki factory. Most of its career was spent in the regional and prefectural leagues, as Kitakyushu was represented in the Japan Soccer League by Yawata Steel F.C. Yawata was a founding member of the JSL in 1965, and finished as runner up in its first two seasons in that league. Yawata was renamed New Nippon Steel F.C. in 1970, when Yawata Steel merged with Fuji Steel to form (New) Nippon Steel. It ultimately was relegated to the Second Division in 1982, then relegated from the Second Division to Kyushu regional league after 1990–91 season, and has never returned.

In 2001, Mitsubishi Chemical Kurosaki F.C., which had been a member of Kyushu regional league since 1973, became community-oriented club (New Wave) Kitakyushu F.C.

In 2007 New Wave took second place in the All Japan Regional Football Promotion League Series, and was promoted to the JFL for the 2008 season.

The team applied for J. League Associate Membership in January 2008, and the application was accepted at the J. League board meeting on February 19, 2008.

On 1 April 2009, the club made an announcement that they would be accepting suggestions for a new name. This was because the name "New Wave" may cause trademark or tradename disputes.[3] Therefore, the new name had to be something not yet registered as a trademark.

On 2 October 2009, they announced that the new club name for the 2010 season would be Giravanz Kitakyushu (ギラヴァンツ北九州 Giravantsu Kitakyūshū). According to the official news release, the name "Giravanz" is coined from two Italian words: "Girasole", which means "sunflower", and "Avanzare", which means "moving forward".[4] (The sunflower is one of Kitakyushu's symbol flowers.)

On 23 November 2009, after a 2–1 win away against Arte Takasaki, Kitakyushu secured a top four position in the JFL for the 2009 season, regardless of the result at the final week of 2009 JFL. This means they will play in J. League Division 2 for the 2010 season, something which was confirmed by the J.League board meeting on 30 November 2009.[5][6][7]

New Wave Kitakyusu crest

In its inaugural year in the pro ranks, despite attaining a large number of draw matches, Kitakyushu set new records for fewest wins and points in the season standings.

Current Squad

As of April 23, 2016[8]

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 Nobuyuki Abe
2 Japan DF Naoya Ishigami
3 Japan DF Kenta Hoshihara
4 Japan MF Keita Ichikawa
5 Japan DF Kazuya Maeda
6 Japan DF Hiroyuki Nishijima
7 Japan MF Koki Kazama
8 Japan MF Tsuyoshi Hakkaku
9 Japan FW Kazuki Hara
10 Japan MF Koki Kotegawa
11 Japan MF Shota Inoue
13 Japan DF Takayuki Tada
14 Japan FW Tomoki Ikemoto
15 Japan FW Hideo Oshima
16 Japan DF Kyohei Yumisaki
No. Position Player
17 Japan MF Koken Kato
18 Japan MF Yohei Naito
19 Japan MF Daichi Kawashima
20 Japan MF Sho Hanai
21 Japan GK Ayaki Suzuki
23 Japan DF Masahiro Teraoka
24 Japan MF Junpei Arai
25 Japan FW Rui Komatsu
26 Japan DF Yukiya Kajiwara
27 Japan GK Kaiho Nakayama
29 Japan MF Kengo Kotani
41 Japan DF Ryosuke Tone
43 Japan MF Masashi Motoyama

Record as J. League member

SeasonDiv.Tms.Pos.Attendance/GJ. League CupEmperor's Cup
2010J219194,189-3rd Round
2011J22084,051-3rd Round
2012J22293,346-2nd Round
2013J222163,175-3rd Round
2014J22253,622-Quarter-finals
2015J22273,488-2nd Round
Key

References

  1. Club Profile
  2. News Release:New Wave Kitakyushu became a member of J. League(Japanese) (ニュースリリース ニューウェーブ北九州がJリーグ入会?) J. League official website posted 2009-11-30
  3. Official website (Japanese only)
  4. Announcement of the new team name and its emblem (新チーム名称・エンブレム発表?) New Wave Kitakyushu official website news release : dated 2 October 2009
  5. Official website (Japanese only)
  6. J's Goal Website (Japanese only)
  7. "Players & Staff選手・スタッフ". Giravanz Kitakyushu. Retrieved April 23, 2016.

External links

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