FC Tokyo
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| Full name | Football Club Tokyo | ||
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| Founded | 1935, (as Tokyo Gas SC) 1999, (as FC Tokyo) | ||
| Ground | Ajinomoto Stadium Chōfu, Tokyo | ||
| Capacity | 49,970 | ||
| Chairman | Naoki Ogane | ||
| Manager | Kenta Hasegawa | ||
| League | J1 League | ||
| 2019 | J1 League, 2nd of 18 | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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FC Tokyo (FC東京, Efushī Tōkyō) is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team is one of only four in the J.League to be simply called Football Club without an extended name.
History
The team started as a company team, Tokyo Gas Soccer Club (東京ガスサッカー部) in 1933[1][2] Their first appearance in the national leagues was in 1991, the last season of the old Japan Soccer League.[3] With addition of the Brazilian football player Amaral and the manager Kiyoshi Okuma at the helm, the team gradually became competitive and in 1997, the team finished second, winning the JFL championship the next year. However, at the time the team lacked the necessary qualifications for a promotion to the J1 league and so stayed in J2.
Following this, on 1 October 1998, companies like Tokyo Gas, TEPCO, ampm, TV Tokyo, and Culture Convenience Club, set up a joint company Tokyo Football Club Company with the aim of making the team eligible for joining the J.League. In 1999, the same year the team became eligible, they finished second in the J2 league and were automatically promoted to J1 beginning in the 2000 season. Despite a widespread belief that the team would barely win enough to stay in the J1, the team won four games in a row since its opening game and managed to finish at the 7th spot.
Helped by its winning record, the attendance shot up and it is still above that of well-known Tokyo Verdy 1969 that moved its home town from Kawasaki, Kanagawa in 2001. Since 2002, the team welcomed Hiromi Hara as its manager and aimed for a championship with a strong offense. The 2003 season had the team finish in 4th, its highest ever. In August of the same year, it held a friendly match against one of the greatest football clubs, Real Madrid losing 3–0 but gaining valuable experiences both on and off the field for what it takes to be a great football club.
Long-time leader Amaral, nicknamed The King of Tokyo by his fans, departed the team to join Shonan Bellmare in 2004. He was replaced by Athens Olympics national football team player Yasuyuki Konno from Consadole Sapporo. In November of the same year, it won the J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup for its first major title since joining the J.League.
After 10 years of participation in the J.League without a mascot character, the team adopted Tokyo Dorompa, a tanuki-like figure, as its mascot in January, 2009.
On December 4, 2010 FC Tokyo had to win their final game of the season away to already relegated Kyoto Sanga FC. FC Tokyo lost 2–0 and went back down to the second tier for the first time in 11 years. Nevertheless, they bounced back at the first attempt, winning the J2 title in November 2011.
Before their 2011 Emperor's Cup win, FC Tokyo reached the semifinals of the competition three times: in 1997 (as Tokyo Gas), 2008, and 2010. Their 2011 win was remarkable in that the club was a second division team during the season. They became the first J2 champions, and third second-tier champions overall (after NKK SC in 1981 and Júbilo Iwata in 1982), to accomplish the feat.
Stadium
FC Tokyo uses Ajinomoto Stadium as its home ground (the official name of this stadium is Tokyo Stadium). For a long time it did not have a home stadium of its own and played at various football fields such as the National Olympic Stadium, the National Nishigaoka Football Field, Edogawa Special Ward Stadium, and the Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium, but in 2001 it finally found a permanent home. Club's training grounds are Sarue Ground in Koto, Tokyo and Kodaira Ground in Kodaira, Tokyo.
Players
Current squad
- As of 10 January 2020[4]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Under-23 Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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World Cup players
The following players have represented their country at the World Cup whilst playing for FC Tokyo:
Teruyuki Moniwa (2006)- Yoichi Doi (2006)
- Yasuyuki Konno (2010)
- Yuto Nagatomo (2010)
- Shuichi Gonda (2014)
- Masato Morishige (2014)
Olympic players
The following players have represented their country at the Summer Olympic Games whilst playing for FC Tokyo:
- Naohiro Ishikawa (2004)
- Teruyuki Moniwa (2004)
- Yasuyuki Konno (2004)
- Yuhei Tokunaga (2004, 2012)
- Yōhei Kajiyama (2008)
- Yuto Nagatomo (2008)
- Shuichi Gonda (2012)
- Sei Muroya (2016)
- Shoya Nakajima (2016)
Managers
| Manager | Nat. | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Kiyoshi Okuma |  Japan |
Jan 1, 1995 – Dec 31, 2001 |
| Hiromi Hara | Japan |
Jan 1, 2002 – Dec 19, 2005 |
| Alexandre Gallo |  Brazil |
Dec 20, 2005 – Aug 14, 2006 |
| Hisao Kuramata | Japan |
Aug 15, 2006 – Dec 6, 2006 |
| Hiromi Hara | Japan |
Dec 7, 2006 – Dec 31, 2007 |
| Hiroshi Jofuku | Japan |
Jan 1, 2008 – Sept 19, 2010 |
| Kiyoshi Okuma | Japan |
Sept 20, 2010 – Jan 2, 2011 |
| Ranko Popović |  Serbia |
Jan 2, 2012 – Dec 31, 2013 |
| Massimo Ficcadenti |  Italy |
Jan 2, 2014 – Dec 31, 2015 |
| Hiroshi Jofuku | Japan |
Jan 1, 2016 – Jul 24, 2016 |
| Yoshiyuki Shinoda | Japan |
Jul 26, 2016 – Sep 10, 2017 |
| Takayoshi Amma | Japan |
Sep 11, 2017 – Dec 3, 2017 |
| Kenta Hasegawa | Japan |
Dec 3,2017 – |
Record as J.League member
| Season | Div. | Tms. | Pos. | Attendance/G | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup | AFC CL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | J2 | 10 | 2 | 3,498 | Semi-final | 4th round | - |
| 2000 | J1 | 16 | 7 | 11,807 | 2nd round | 3rd round | - |
| 2001 | J1 | 16 | 8 | 22,313 | 2nd round | 3rd round | - |
| 2002 | J1 | 16 | 9 | 22,173 | Quarter-final | 3rd round | - |
| 2003 | J1 | 16 | 4 | 24,932 | Quarter-final | 4th round | - |
| 2004 | J1 | 16 | 8 | 25,438 | Winner | Quarter-final | - |
| 2005 | J1 | 18 | 10 | 27,101 | Group Stage | 5th round | - |
| 2006 | J1 | 18 | 13 | 24,096 | Group Stage | 5th round | - |
| 2007 | J1 | 18 | 12 | 25,290 | Group Stage | Quarter-final | - |
| 2008 | J1 | 18 | 6 | 25,716 | Quarter-final | Semi-final | - |
| 2009 | J1 | 18 | 5 | 25,884 | Winner | 4th round | - |
| 2010 | J1 | 18 | 16 | 25,112 | Quarter-final | Semi-final | - |
| 2011 | J2 | 20 | 1 | 17,562 | - | Winner | - |
| 2012 | J1 | 18 | 10 | 23,955 | Semi-final | 2nd round | Round of 16 |
| 2013 | J1 | 18 | 8 | 25,073 | Group Stage | Semi-final | - |
| 2014 | J1 | 18 | 9 | 25,187 | Group Stage | Round of 16 | - |
| 2015 | J1 | 18 | 4 | 28,784 | Quarter-final | Quarter-final | - |
| 2016 | J1 | 18 | 9 | 24,037 | Semi-final | Quarter-final | Round of 16 |
| 2017 | J1 | 18 | 13 | 26,490 | Quarter-final | 2nd round | - |
| 2018 | J1 | 18 | 6 | 25,745 | Group Stage | 4th round | - |
| 2019 | J1 | 18 | 2 | 31,540 | Quarter-final | 3rd round | - |
- Key
- Tms. = Number of teams
- Pos. = Position in league
- Attendance/G = Average league attendance
Honours
Domestic
FC Tokyo
- J.League Cup
- Emperor's Cup
- Winners (1) : 2011
- J2 League
- Winners (1) : 2011
Tokyo Gas Football Club (Amateur era)
- Regional League Promotion Series
- Winners (1) : 1990
- Japan Football League
- Winners (1) : 1998
International
FC Tokyo
- Suruga Bank Championship
- Winners (1) : 2010
Continental record
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
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| 2012 | AFC Champions League | Group F |  Brisbane Roar
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4–2 | 0–2 | 2nd |
 Ulsan Hyundai
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2–2 | 1–0 | ||||
 Beijing Guoan
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3–0 | 1–1 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Guangzhou Evergrande
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| 2016 | AFC Champions League | Play-off round |  Chonburi
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| Group E | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
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0–3 | 2–1 | 2nd | ||
 Becamex Bình Dương
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3–1 | 1–2 | ||||
| Jiangsu Suning
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0–0 | 1–2 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Shanghai SIPG
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2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 (a) | ||
| 2020 | AFC Champions League | Play-off round |  Ceres-Negros
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| Group F | Ulsan Hyundai
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1–1 | ||||
| Perth Golory
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1–0 | |||||
| Shanghai Shenhua
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Personnel awards
- J.League Best Eleven
Tuto (2000)- Yoichi Doi (2004)
- Naohiro Ishikawa (2009)
- Yuto Nagatomo (2009)
- Masato Morishige (2013, 2014, 2015, 2019)
- Kosuke Ota (2014, 2015)
- Yoshinori Muto (2014)
- Akihiro Hayashi (2019)
- Sei Muroya (2019)
- Kento Hashimoto (2019)
- Kensuke Nagai (2019)
- Diego Oliveira (2019)
- J.League Cup MVP
- Yoichi Doi (2004)
- Takuji Yonemoto (2009)
- J.League Cup New Hero Award
- Yukihiko Sato (1999)
- Takuji Yonemoto (2009)
Former players
In popular culture
In the Captain Tsubasa manga series, one character played for FC Tokyo. The midfielder Jun Misugi, which also was player of Bellmare Hiratsuka (today Shonan Bellmare) in the manga.
See also
References
- ^ FC Tokyo Profile at J.League Official Website
- ^ http://www.jfa.or.jp/jfa/history/.
- ^ Basic infos and history of FC Tokyo
- ^ "ニュース｜FC東京オフィシャルホームページ". www.fctokyo.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
External links
- FC Tokyo Official website (in Japanese and English)
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- FC Tokyo
- J.League clubs
- Japan Soccer League clubs
- Football clubs in Japan
- Association football clubs established in 1999
- Football clubs in Tokyo
- Emperor's Cup winners
- Japanese League Cup winners
- Multi-sport clubs in Japan
- Tokyo Gas Group
- 1999 establishments in Japan
- Japan Football League (1992–1998) clubs
- Works association football clubs in Japan