Tokushima Vortis

Tokushima Vortis
徳島ヴォルティス
Full name Tokushima Vortis
Nickname(s) Vortis
Founded 1955 (1955)
Ground Naruto Athletic Stadium
Naruto, Tokushima
Ground Capacity 20,000
Owner Otsuka Pharmaceutical
Manager Hiroaki Nagashima
League J2 League
2015 14th
Website Club home page

Tokushima Vortis (徳島ヴォルティス Tokushima Vorutisu) is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J2 League. The team is located in Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture. Their home stadium is Naruto Athletic Stadium, in Naruto, Tokushima.

The name, "Vortis" was named in 1997 (see below), and it was explained as a combination of Italian "Vortice" (meaning whirlpool, after the famous Naruto whirlpool in Naruto Strait).[1]

History

Founded in 1955 as Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Soccer Club, VORTIS joined the J-League in 2005. They are still sponsored by Otsuka's best-known brand, Pocari Sweat sports drink.[1]

They were first promoted to the old Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1989, but the company's reluctance to professionalize the team forced it to compete in the former JFL and current JFL. In the 1997 old JFL season, they first sported a Vortis Tokushima name, but the lack of fan interest at the time forced them to go back to the corporate identity. They finally adopted the Tokushima Vortis name for good after winning the new JFL championship in 2004 and being promoted.[2]

The first season in J2 was naturally a difficult one for Vortis, but they surprised many sceptics with their determination and quality of play. The team rose as high as fourth place, at one point, before slipping down the table later in the season to finish ninth. In 2006, the team was forced to rebuild, as the players who took the team into the J.League began to hit the ceiling of their abilities, and made way for younger replacements. As a result, despite the encouragement of a local rivalry with Ehime FC, Tokushima drifted down-table, and they followed it up with a last-place finish in 2007 and 2008.[2]

In 2013 they earned fourth place in J2, matching the same placement they had two years before in the division and twenty years before in the old JFL Division 1; this time they won the playoff, defeating Kyoto Sanga F.C. in the final round at the National Stadium in Tokyo, thus becoming the first professional Shikoku football club to compete in the top division of their national league.[3]

Until their promotion, they were the only former JSL member currently a member of the J. League which has never competed in the top tier of Japanese football. With promotion and the creation of the J. League Division 3 in 2014, the distinction will be taken over by Blaublitz Akita.

Record as J. League member

SeasonDiv.Tms.Pos.Attendance/GJ. League CupEmperor's Cup
2005J21294,3664th Round
2006J213133,4774th Round
2007J213133,2894th Round
2008J215153,8623rd Round
2009J21894,0732nd Round
2010J21984,6143rd Round
2011J22045,2072nd Round
2012J222153,9913rd Round
2013J22244,3482nd Round
2014J118188,884Group Stage3rd Round
2015J222145,0193rd Round
Key

Honours

2003, 2004
1978, 1979, 1981, 1989

Current players

As of 30 January 2016.[4]

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 Takashi Aizawa
2 Japan DF Yohei Fukumoto
3 Brazil MF Alex
4 Japan DF Kotaro Fujiwara
5 Japan DF Hidenori Ishii
6 Brazil MF Carlinhos Paraíba
7 Japan MF Yuji Kimura
8 Japan MF Ken Iwao
10 Japan FW Junya Osaki
11 South Korea MF Kim Kyung-jung
13 Japan FW Ikki Sasaki
14 Japan MF Takeshi Hamada
15 Japan MF Rikuya Idutsu
16 Japan FW Daiki Watari
No. Position Player
17 Japan FW Ryogo Yamazaki
18 Japan FW Akihiro Sato
19 Japan DF Yuto Uchida
21 Japan GK Yasuhiro Watanabe
22 Japan DF Rikuto Hirose
23 Japan MF Taiga Maekawa
24 Japan MF Yoji Sasaki
25 Japan FW Daisuke Tomita
26 Japan DF Ossan
27 South Korea DF Son Se-hwan
28 Japan MF Atsushi Izawa
29 Japan GK Daichi Sugimoto
31 Japan GK Toru Hasegawa

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
Argentina FW Nicolás Orsini (at South Korea Anyang)

Managers

References

  1. 1 2 "Tokushima Vortis Challenges J1 League Rivals". Otsuka Pharmaceutical. February 7, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "The 2013 Promotion Playoff winners are the first club from the island of Shikoku to participate in Japan's top flight". Goal.com. March 26, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  3. Gus Fielding (December 8, 2013). "Tokushima reaches J1 with playoff final victory". Kyodo News (The Japan Times). Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  4. "Clubs & Players". J. League. February 2, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.

External links

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