Consadole Sapporo

Consadole Sapporo
コンサドーレ札幌
Full name Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo
Nickname(s) Consa
Founded 1935 (1935) (as Toshiba Horikawa-cho S.C.)
Ground Sapporo Dome, Sapporo
Ground Capacity 41,484
Owner Isao Ishimizu (11.4%)
Ishiya (9.5%)[1]
Chairman Yoshikazu Nonomura
Manager Shuhei Yomoda
League J2 League
2015 10th
Website Club home page

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo (北海道コンサドーレ札幌 Hokkaidō Konsadōre Sapporo)[2] is a Japanese professional football club, which plays in the J2 League. The team is based in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido.

The club name of "Consadole" is made from consado, a reverse of the Japanese word Dosanko (道産子, meaning "people of Hokkaido") and the Spanish expression Ole.

Unlike other teams, their main home ground at Sapporo Dome is also used by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters baseball team, so some home games are moved to Sapporo Atsubetsu Park Stadium.

History

Toshiba S.C. (1935–1995)

Consadole's club tradition dates back to 1935 when Toshiba Horikawa-cho Soccer Club was founded in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. They were promoted to the now-defunct Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1978.[3] They adopted new name Toshiba Soccer Club in 1980 and were promoted to the JSL Division 1 in 1989.[3] Relegating themselves as they were not ready for J. League implementation, they joined the newly formed Japan Football League in 1992 and played the last season as Toshiba S.C. in 1995.[3]

They sought to be a professional club but the owner Toshiba did not regard Kawasaki as an ideal hometown. This was because Verdy Kawasaki, one of the most prominent clubs at that time, was also based in the city, which Toshiba apparently believed was not big enough to accommodate two clubs. (Verdy has since crossed the Tama River to be based in Chōfu City in the west of Tokyo and has been renamed as Tokyo Verdy 1969; the only remaining professional club is Kawasaki Frontale, originally part of Fujitsu.)

They decided to move to Sapporo where the local government and community had been keen to provide a base for a professional soccer team as they awaited Sapporo Dome to be completed in 2001. The ownership was transferred from Toshiba to Hokkaido Football Club plc. before the start of the 1996 season.[3]

Toshiba does not have financial interest in the club any more but Consadole still boasts their forerunner's red and black colours on their uniform.[4]

Sapporo Dome, Consa's home ground

Consadole Sapporo (1996– )

Consadole Sapporo inherited the JFL status from Toshiba S.C.. Their debut season in 1996 was not overly successful as they finished 5th and missed promotion. However, they won the JFL championship in 1997 and were promoted to J. League.[3]

In 1998, their first J. League season saw them finish 14th out of 18 but this did not guarantee them staying up. From the 1999 season, the J. League had 2 divisions and the play-offs involving five teams (four J. League sides and the champions of the JFL) were to be played. In order to decide who were involved in the play-offs, not only the results of the 1998 season but also those of the 1997 were taken account of. Consadole, who did not play in the previous season, was placed 14th in the aggregate standing and despite finishing above Gamba Osaka (who had finished 4th in 1997), was forced to face the play-offs. They lost all four games, two against Vissel Kobe, and another two against Avispa Fukuoka, and became the first-ever J. League side that experienced relegation.[5]

In 1999, Takeshi Okada, the former Japan national team coach, was appointed as head coach in an effort to make an immediate comeback to J1, but this attempt failed as they finished 5th. Their heavy investment on players counted against them and, at this point, the debt owed by the club exceeded 3 billion yen (33 million USD). The bankruptcy looked a near-certainty.

In 2000, they cut costs dramatically. As a result, the team often included as many as eight on-loan players in the starting line-up. However, this strategy paid off and the club won the J2 championship as well as promotion to J1. The club posted a single-year profit for the first time in their history this year.

In 2001, they finished 11th in J1. However, at the end of the season, the club failed to persuade Okada to renew the contract and several leading players also left the club. In 2002, they finished bottom and were relegated to J2 for a second time.[5]

In 2003, they again tried to return to the top-flight immediately by investing heavily but the team didn't perform well on the pitch. They finished 9th and their debt again crossed the 3 billion yen mark.

The deficit-ridden club realized they needed a drastic restructuring and released highly paid leading players including mainstay Yasuyuki Konno. The rejuvenated but inexperienced team finished bottom of J2 in 2004. The bright side was their improved financial situation where the debt was sharply reduced to less than 100 million yen.

In 2005 and 2006, they finished 6th. In 2007 they finally earned promotion as champions and play in J1 in the 2008 season.[5]

A loss on October 19, 2008 confirmed Sapporo's relegation to J2 for the 2009 season, overtaking Kyoto Sanga as the league's most relegated side. Having won the Japanese second-tier championship a record 5 times (including two JSL Second Divisions as Toshiba, and one former JFL title), they were promoted to Division One after finishing third in 2011. However, a torrid 2012 season ended with Consadole holding the highest goals conceded per game ratio, the worst points per game ratio and the highest loss percentage in J.League history as they were relegated after just 27 matches played, making the 2012 team one of the worst to have ever featured in the top division.[6]

Honours

Toshiba S.C.

Consadole Sapporo

Current players

As of 3 February 2016.[7]

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 Junki Kanayama
4 Japan MF Ryuji Kawai (vice-captain)
5 Japan DF Kazuki Kushibiki
6 Japan DF Takayuki Mae
7 Brazil MF Julinho
8 Japan MF Kazuki Fukai
9 Japan FW Ken Tokura
10 Japan MF Hiroki Miyazawa (captain)
11 Brazil FW Jonathan Reis
13 Japan FW Yoshihiro Uchimura
14 Japan FW Shinya Uehara
16 Japan MF Hiroyuki Mae
17 Japan DF Junichi Inamoto
18 Japan DF Takahiro Masukawa
19 Japan MF Kengo Ishii
No. Position Player
20 Japan MF Kazumasa Uesato
21 Japan GK Shunta Awaka
22 Indonesia MF Irfan Bachdim
23 Brazil MF Diego Macedo
24 Japan DF Akito Fukumori
25 South Korea GK Gu Sung-yun
27 Japan MF Takuma Arano (vice-captain)
28 Japan MF Yumemi Kanda
29 Japan DF Yuto Nagasaka
30 Japan GK Tetsu Sugiyama
31 Japan MF Yuto Horigome
32 Japan MF Shogo Nakahara
35 Japan DF Ryosuke Shindo
37 Japan DF Yuki Uchiyama
44 Japan MF Shinji Ono

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
Japan DF Takaya Osanai (at Fukushima United)
Brazil DF Paulão (at Fukushima United)
No. Position Player
Japan FW Mitsuteru Kudo (at Grulla Morioka)

Record as J. League member

Season Div. Tms. Pos. Attendance/G J. League Cup Emperor's Cup
1998 J 18 14 11,953 Group Stage 4th Round
1999 J2 10 5 10,986 1st Round 3rd Round
2000 J2 11 1 12,910 1st Round 4th Round
2001 J1 16 11 22,228 Group Stage 3rd Round
2002 J1 16 16 19,140 Group Stage 3rd Round
2003 J2 12 9 10,766 – 3rd Round
2004 J2 12 12 9,466 – Quarter-final
2005 J2 12 6 11,133 – 3rd Round
2006 J2 13 6 10,478 – Semi-final
2007 J2 13 1 12,112 – 3rd Round
2008 J1 18 18 14,547 Group Stage 4th Round
2009 J2 18 6 10,207 – 3rd Round
2010 J2 19 13 10,738 – 3rd Round
2011 J2 20 3 10,482 – 2nd Round
2012 J1 18 18 12,008 Group Stage 2nd Round
2013 J2 22 8 10,075 – Quarter-final
2014 J2 22 10 11,060 – 3rd Round
2015 J2 22 10 11,960 – 3rd Round
Key

Managers


Affiliated clubs

References

  1. ↑ "2013 業務報告書" [2013 Financial report] (PDF) (in Japanese). February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Consadole announce name change". J. League. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "北海道コンサドーレ札幌 プロフィール" [Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo; Club profile] (in Japanese). J. League. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  4. ↑ "中村美彦の無頼放談" [A random talk with Yoshihiko Nakamura] (in Japanese). Hokkaido Broadcasting. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "Consadole shoot for immediate success in top division". Japan Times. 6 March 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  6. ↑ "Consadole Sapporo: The worst team in J.League history".
  7. ↑ "2016 Member list" (PDF). Consadole Sapporo. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "Partnership with hokkaido". Johor Southern Tiger. 20 December 2014.

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