Saburō Kawabuchi

Saburō Kawabuchi

Saburō Kawabuchi in 1964
Personal information
Full name	Saburō Kawabuchi
Date of birth	December 3, 1936[1]
Place of birth	Takaishi, Osaka, Japan
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Forward
Youth career
1957–1960	Waseda University
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1961–1970	Furukawa Electric	68	(10)
National team
1958–1965	Japan	26	(8)
Teams managed
1973–1975	Furukawa Electric
1980–1981	Japan
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Saburō Kawabuchi (川淵三郎, born December 3, 1936) is a former Japanese football player and head coach of Japan national football team. He is the founder and the honorable chairman of the Japan Professional Soccer League. Between 2002 and 2008 he served as president of the Japan Football Association.

Early life

Kawabuchi was born in Osaka. At first, when he was in Takaishi elementary school and Takaishi Junior high school, he played baseball. He was on to Mikunigaoka High School, Osaka and became a member of football team at the high school. He graduated from Mikunigaoka High School, Osaka in 1955. He went on to Waseda University School of commerce in 1957. He played for Waseda University football team. He earned Bachelor of arts degree in commerce from Waseda University.

Career

Kawabuchi played for Furukawa Electric football team, forerunner to JEF United Ichihara Chiba, in the early days of the Japan Soccer League. In the initial league season, he was the first player to score a hat-trick, against Nagoya Bank.^[2] He became a player for Japan national football team and competed at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.^[1] He retired as a player in 1970, he used to work for Furukawa Electric Corporation.^[3] In 1980, he became the head coach of Japan national football team for a short time.

In 1993, he established Japan professional soccer league and became the first chairman of the league. He was in the office between 1993 and 2002. He was the president of the Japan Football Association between 2002 and 2008.

He was selected for a member of Japan Football Hall of fame by Japan Football Association in 2005.

Club career statistics

Club performance			League
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals
Japan			League
1965	Furukawa Electric	JSL Division 1	14	3
1966			14	4
1967			14	1
1968			14	1
1969			12	1
1970			0	0
Country	Japan		68	10
Total			68	10

National team statistics

Japan national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1958	2	2
1959	9	3
1960	1	0
1961	6	1
1962	6	2
1963	0	0
1964	0	0
1965	2	0
Total	26	8

Awards

• Japan Soccer League Silver Ball (Assist Leader): 1966

Books

• J's career – With Japan football, Nihon Keizai Shimbun Shuppan, 2009

Family

• Wife: Yasuko
• Daughters: Junko and Hideko

References

1. Saburo Kawabuchi. sports-reference.com
2. Japan Soccer League 1965. Homepage1.nifty.com. Retrieved on May 30, 2015.
3. 川淵三郎. Japanese Olympic Committee

External links

• Japan Football Association – http://www.jfa.or.jp/