Tochigi SC
Tochigi Soccer Club (栃木サッカークラブ),[1] commonly referred to as Tochigi SC are a football (soccer) club based in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. They will play in the J3 League. Their team colour is yellow.
Tochigi, uniquely, is the only major Japanese professional club to retain the word "soccer" in its English name, despite efforts by football authorities to minimize the incidence of the word in the J.League (the very Japanized pronunciation of the word is widely used in American English whereas "football" is more the more common term in British English, and is thus seen as an effect of the American influence following their occupation after World War II).
History
Teachers in Tochigi Prefecture founded the club in 1953. They were initially called self-explanatory Tochigi Teachers' Soccer Club (栃木教員サッカー部 Tochigi Kyōin Sakkā Bu). They started to welcome players with other professions in 1994 and renamed themselves as Tochigi Soccer Club. In 1999, Tochigi won the Kanto Regional League and were promoted to the Japan Football League after finishing runners-up in the Regional League play-off. In March 2005, they announced that they would set up a task force to give a serious consideration to turn professional and try to gain J.League status.
On January 2007 they achieved J.League Associate Membership status and in the 2008 season they secured qualification for promotion to professional status on November 16; on December 1 promotion was made official by J.League and Tochigi had competed in J2 since 2009.
In 2015 Tochigi finished bottom and were relegated for the first time to J3, the third and lowest professional level in the league system.
Record as J.League member
| Season |
Div. |
Tms. |
Pos. |
Attendance/G |
Emperor's Cup |
| 2009 | J2 | 18 | 17 | 4,706 | 2nd Round |
| 2010 | J2 | 19 | 10 | 4,157 | 3rd Round |
| 2011 | J2 | 20 | 10 | 4,939 | 3rd Round |
| 2012 | J2 | 22 | 11 | 3,850 | 2nd Round |
| 2013 | J2 | 22 | 9 | 4,922 | 3rd Round |
| 2014 | J2 | 22 | 12 | 5,294 | 2nd Round |
| 2015 | J2 | 22 | 22 | 5,167 | 1st Round |
- Key
- Tms. = Number of teams
- Pos. = Position in league
- Attendance/G = Average league attendance
- Source: J. League Data Site
Current squad
As of January 15, 2016.[2]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
References
External links
Masanobu Nakatsu
