Ventforet Kofu

Ventforet Kofu
ヴァンフォーレ甲府

Logo
Full name	Ventforet Kofu
Nickname(s)	Ventforet
Founded	1965 (1965)
Ground	Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium Kofu
Capacity	17,000
Chairman	Kazuyuki Umino
Manager	Satoru Sakuma
League	J. League Division 1
2015	13th
Website	http://www.ventforet.co.jp
Home colours Away colours

Ventforet Kofu (ヴァンフォーレ甲府, Vanfōre Kōfu) are a Japanese football (soccer) club from Kofu. They compete in the J. League Division 1, and their home ground is the Kose Sports Stadium.

The word "Ventforet" is coined combining two French words Vent ("Wind") and Forêt ("Forest"). This derives from the famous phrase Fū-rin-ka-zan (風林火山）that Shingen Takeda, a Kofu-based prominent daimyo in the Sengoku period, liked to see on his war banners. This phrase refers to the idea of Swift as the Wind, Silent as a Forest, Fierce as Fire and Immovable as a Mountain.

History

Kofu Club (1965–1994)

The club were founded in 1965 when the old boys' club of Kofu Dai-ichi High School called Kakujo Club started to recruit graduates of other highs with the intention of promotion to the Japan Soccer League.

The club joined the newly formed JSL Division 2 in 1972. They stayed there until the conclusion of the league in 1992 when they became a founding member of the former Japan Football League.

Kofu Club were a club, in the real sense of the word, formed by voluntary members, unlike other mainstream football clubs at that time in Japan whose players were mostly the employees of their sponsoring companies.

Ventforet Kofu (1995–present)

The club were given new name Ventforet Kofu in 1995 and joined J. League Division 2 in 1999 when it was formed. They survived the difficult times between 1999 and 2001, during which they suffered from financial troubles as well as miserable results on the pitch including a series of 25 losses. They finished bottom for 3 consecutive seasons and were dubbed as "Excess baggage of J2."

The club turned the corner in 2002 as a result of operation restructuring and enthusiastic efforts from their supporters. Kofu finished third in 2005 and were promoted to J1 by winning the promotion/relegation play-offs against Kashiwa Reysol. This spell in the top flight proved short lived after the team were relegated back to the J2 with a week remaining of the 2007 season.

At the end of 2010 season, the team was promoted again, but despite their best efforts (including having striker Mike Havenaar contending for the Top Scorer award for the division), the club was relegated at the end of 2011. Nevertheless, they bounced back and won promotion, this time as champions, after 36 seasons of trying to win the tier title.

League history

• Kanto League: 1967–71 (as Kofu Club)
• Division 2 (JSL Div. 2): 1972–91 (as Kofu Club)
• Division 3 (Old JFL Div. 2): 1992–93 (as Kofu Club)
• Division 2 (Old JFL): 1994–98 (Kofu Club until 1994, Ventforet Kofu since 1995)
• Division 2 (J. League Div. 2): 1999–05
• Division 1 (J. League Div. 1): 2006–07
• Division 2 (J. League Div. 2): 2008–10
• Division 1 (J. League Div. 1): 2011
• Division 2 (J. League Div. 2): 2012
• Division 1 (J. League Div. 1): 2013–

Honours

• J. League Division 2:

2012

• Shakaijin Cup:

1969

• Kantō Soccer League:

1969, 1970

Current squad

As of 20 January, 2015.

Ventforet Kofu team in November 2010

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	JPN	Kota Ogi
2	DF	JPN	Kensuke Fukuda
3	DF	JPN	Hiroto Hatao
4	DF	JPN	Hideomi Yamamoto (Captain)
6	MF	BRA	Marquinhos Paraná
7	MF	JPN	Katsuya Ishihara
8	MF	JPN	Ryohei Arai
9	FW	JPN	Takuma Abe
10	FW	BRA	Baré
11	FW	BRA	Maranhão
13	MF	JPN	Taisuke Akiyoshi
14	MF	JPN	Yuki Horigome
15	FW	JPN	Junya Ito
16	FW	JPN	Masaru Matsuhashi

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	DF	JPN	Takuma Tsuda
18	MF	JPN	Hokuto Shimoda
19	DF	JPN	Kohei Morita
21	GK	JPN	Kohei Kawata
23	MF	JPN	Sho Inagaki
24	FW	JPN	Daiki Matsumoto
26	DF	JPN	Shun Kumagai
27	DF	JPN	Shohei Abe
28	FW	JPN	Yuki Hashizume
30	MF	JPN	Kazunari Hosaka
31	GK	JPN	Kosuke Okanishi
32	GK	JPN	Tasuku Nakamura
41	DF	JPN	Yukio Tsuchiya

Out on loan

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	JPN	Masaki Watanabe (at F.C. Gifu)
—	MF	JPN	Atsushi Izawa (at Kataller Toyama)
—	MF	JPN	Masahiro Kaneko (at Zweigen Kanazawa)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	JPN	Koki Wakasugi (at Saurcos Fukui)
—	FW	JPN	Akito Kawamoto (at Tochigi SC)
—	FW	BRA	Cristiano (at Kashiwa Reysol)

Season by season results and managers

Year	League	Pld	Pt	W	L	D	Place	Manager
1992	Old JFL Div. 2	18	28	9	8	1	5th	Kazutomo Fukazawa
1993		18	-	6	12	-	9th
1994	Former JFL	30	-	9	21	-	14th	Susumu Katsumata
1995		30	43	14	16	-	9th	Yuji Tsukada
1996		30	33	11	19	-	11th
1997		30	52	19	11	-	6th
1998		30	59	22	8	-	4th
1999	J2	36	18	5	27	4	10th	Susumu Katsumata
2000		40	18	5	32	3	11th	Yuji Tsukada
2001		44	25	8	34	2	12th	Reis
2002		44	58	16	18	10	7th	Takeshi Oki
2003		44	69	19	13	12	5th	Hideki Matsunaga (Jan 1, 2002 – Dec 31, 2004)
2004		44	58	15	16	13	7th
2005		44	69	19	13	12	3rd	Takeshi Oki (Feb 1, 2005 – Dec 31, 2007)
2006	J1	34	42	12	15	6	15th
2007		34	27	7	21	6	17th
2008	J2	42	59	15	13	14	7th	Takayoshi Amma (Feb 1, 2008 – Dec 31, 2009)
2009		51	97	28	10	13	4th
2010		36	70	19	4	13	2nd	Kazuo Uchida (Jan 1, 2010 – Dec 31, 2010)
2011	J1	34	33	9	6	19	16th	Toshiya Miura (Jan 1, 2010 – Aug 7, 2011) Satoru Sakuma (Aug 8, 2011 – Dec 31, 2011)
2012	J2	42	86	24	14	4	1st	Hiroshi Jofuku (Jan 1, 2012 – Nov 25, 2014)
2013	J1	34	37	8	13	13	15th
2014	J1	34	41	9	14	11	13th
2015	J1	34	37	10	7	17	13th	Yasuhiro Higuchi (Dec 8, 2014 – May 11, 2015) Satoru Sakuma (May 13, 2015 – )

Affiliated clubs

• Persib Bandung

External links

• Template:Ja icon Official website