Azul Claro Numazu

Azul Claro Numazu
アスルクラロ沼津

Azul Claro Numazu Crest
Full name	Football Club Azul Claro Numazu
Founded	1990 (1990) (as Numazu Arsenal SC)
Ground	Shizuoka Ashitaka Athletic Stadium Numazu, Shizuoka
Capacity	10,000
Managing Organisation	Azul Claro Suruga Corporation (NPO)
Chairman	Hiroyoshi Yamamoto
Manager	Masataka Imai
League	J3 League
2020	12th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Azul Claro Numazu (アスルクラロ沼津, Asuru Kuraro Numazu) is a Japanese professional football team based in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture. They earned promotion to play at the nationwide third-tier J3 League starting in 2017.

History

Azul Claro Numazu was established in 1977 as Numazu Arsenal and slowly progressed through the tiers of Shizuoka prefectural leagues. In 2006 the club began the process of transformation into a professional organization with the ultimate goal of joining the J.League. The same year the club adopted its current name, Azul Claro (Meaning "light blue" in Portuguese and Spanish).

In 2012 Azul Claro won promotion to Tōkai Adult Soccer League and quickly progressed through its ranks, spending only a season in each of its divisions. Though they have finished only fourth in 2013 Tōkai League, they were considered as serious contenders for admission to the newly created J3 League. On September 17, 2013, the club has been granted the J. League Associate Membership and passed all stages of licensing and inspection by the league. However, they were only the 3rd choice club for the only Regional League spot in J3 so eventually, they had to give way to Grulla Morioka. The club has won the promotion anyway though—they were selected by the Japan Football League board as one of the teams to play in the 2014 season.

After a 3rd-place finish in the 2016 season, they've been welcomed to play professional football from 2017 and onward, as they'll be the 14th original club in the J3 League.

Kit history

Home, away, and third kits.

• Home

2017	2018	2019

• Away

	2017	2018	2019

Colour, sponsors and manufacturers

Season(s)	Main Shirt Sponsor	Collarbone Sponsor		Additional Sponsor(s)				Kit Manufacturer
2013	SURUGA bank	–	–	–	–	NNH	–	Puma
2014				USUi		MEIDEN	雄大
2015	USUi			SURUGA Bank		–	MEIDEN
2016						MEIDEN	–
2017
2018		Kawata Construction (Left)	Kawata Construction (Right)
2019
2020		MEIDEN (Left)	MEIDEN (Right)			Kawata Construction

League & cup record

League												Emperor's Cup
Season	Divison	Tier	Place	GP	W	L	D	F	A	+/-	Pts
2004	Shizuoka Prefectural League (Div. 2)	8	4th
2005			1st
2006	Shizuoka Prefectural League (Div. 1)	7	9th
2007			11th
2008			8th
2009			2nd
2010			3rd
2011			2nd
2012	Tokai Football League (Div. 2)	6	2nd	14	8	2	4	22	15	7	26
2013	Tokai Football League (Div. 1)	5	4th	14	8	1	5	20	21	–1	25
2014	JFL	4	8th	26	8	8	10	26	35	–9	32
2015			5th	30	16	6	8	36	28	8	54
2016			3rd	30	18	5	7	47	24	23	59
2017	J3	3	3rd	32	16	11	5	60	27	33	59	3rd Round
2018			4th	32	14	10	8	40	29	11	52
2019			12th	34	11	6	17	35	43	–8	39
2020			12th	34	12	5	17	36	40	–4	41

Current squad

As of 28 June 2020. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
2	DF	JPN	Tomoki Fujisaki
3	DF	JPN	Tatsuya Anzai
4	DF	JPN	Akira Osako
5	FW	JPN	Shusuke Sakamoto
6	MF	JPN	Kenshiro Suzuki
7	MF	JPN	Tomoki Taniguchi
8	MF	JPN	Makoto Fukoin
9	FW	JPN	Naoki Tanaka
10	MF	JPN	Kazuki Someya
11	MF	JPN	Koki Maezawa
13	GK	JPN	Yuya Nagasawa
14	FW	JPN	Yuki Nakayama
15	MF	JPN	Takuya Sugai
16	FW	JPN	Kota Suzuki

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	DF	JPN	Eiichiro Ozaki
20	MF	JPN	Naoki Sato
21	MF	JPN	Yuma Mori
22	DF	JPN	Masayuki Tokutake
23	DF	JPN	Kosuke Goto
24	DF	JPN	Yuki Fukai
25	MF	JPN	Teruyoshi Ito
26	MF	JPN	Seiji Shindo
27	FW	MAS	Hadi Fayyadh (on loan from Fagiano Okayama)
28	DF	JPN	Koki Inoue
29	FW	JPN	Yusuke Imamura
32	GK	JPN	Ryusuke Otomo
34	MF	JPN	Kotaro Tokunaga
35	FW	JPN	Ryo Watanabe
38	DF	JPN	Takumi Hama

External links

• Official Site (in Japanese)