Vissel Kobe

Vissel Kobe
ヴィッセル神戸

Logo
Full name	Vissel Kobe
Nickname(s)	Ushi (cows)
Founded	1995 (1995)
Ground	Noevir Stadium Kobe
Capacity	30,132
Owner	Rakuten
Chairman	Katsuhiro Shimizu
Manager	Nelsinho Baptista
League	J1 League
2016	J1 League, 7th
Website	http://www.vissel-kobe.co.jp/
Home colours Away colours

File:VisselKobe.gif

1995–04 crest

first home colours, used from 1995–04

Home's Stadium Kobe

Vissel Kobe (ヴィッセル神戸, Visseru Kōbe) is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J1 League. The team is located in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The home stadium is Kobe Wing Stadium, in Hyōgo-ku, though some home matches are played at Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium in Suma-ku.

History

The club was founded in 1966 as the semi-professional Kawasaki Steel Soccer Club in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. It was first promoted to the Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1986, and stayed there until the JSL's folding in 1992.

In 1995, the city of Kobe reached an agreement with Kawasaki Steel, the parent company, to move the club to Kobe and compete for a spot in the professional J. League as Vissel Kobe. Vissel is a combination of the words "victory" and "vessel", in recognition of Kobe's history as a port city. (Owing to its importance to the city of Kobe, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, parent company of former team patron Kawasaki Steel, remains a Vissel Kobe sponsor. Kawasaki Steel was eventually sold off to become part of JFE Holdings.)

Vissel Kobe began play in 1995 in the Japan Football League, a league below J. League, and the supermarket chain Daiei was slated as the club's primary investor. However, the economic downturn following the Great Hanshin earthquake forced Daiei to pull out and the city of Kobe became responsible for operating the club.

Despite finishing 2nd in the JFL in 1996, Vissel was promoted to the J. League (the champions, Honda FC, refused to abandon their corporate ownership and become a professional club) and began play in the top division of Japanese football in 1997. However, due to mismanagement, including the inability to secure investors and sponsors, Vissel has never been a contender for the league title. In December, 2003, mounting financial losses forced the club to file for bankruptcy protection.

In January, 2004, Vissel was sold to Crimson Group, parent company of online merchant Rakuten, whose president is Kobe native Hiroshi Mikitani. So far, Mikitani's attempts to strengthen the team have met little success. Vissel's first signing under the Mikitani regime, İlhan Mansız, who was acquired partly to capitalize on his popularity during the 2002 FIFA World Cup hosted in Korea and Japan, was a massive failure – the Turkish forward played just three matches before leaving the team because of a knee injury. Mikitani also alienated supporters by changing the team uniform colors from black and white stripes to crimson, after his Crimson Group and the color of his alma mater, Harvard Business School. (The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, a baseball team also owned by Rakuten but based in Sendai, wear the same colors.)

Vissel finished 11th in the league in 2004, the same position as the previous year, and finished 18th and last place in 2005, resulting in automatic relegation from J. League Division 1, or J1, to J2. During the two-year span, Vissel had five different head coaches. 2006 was Vissel's first season in J2 after nine years in the top division of soccer in Japan. They finished 3rd in the 2006 season and were promoted to J1 after beating Avispa Fukuoka in the promotion/relegation play-offs.

During the period of 2007 to 2011 Vissel finished in the bottom half of the table each year. In 2012 they finished 16th, third from last, and were again relegated to J2.

In 2013 Vissel finished in second place, 4 points behind Gamba Osaka, which secured their return to J1 for the 2014 season.

On December 6, 2014, Rakuten Inc. bought the team from the Crimson Group.

Record as J. League member

Season	Div.	Tms.	Pos.	Attendance/G	J. League Cup	Emperor's Cup
1997	J1	17	16	6,567	Group Stage	4th Round
1998	J1	18	17	7,686	Group Stage	3rd Round
1999	J1	16	10	7,691	1st Round	3rd Round
2000	J1	16	13	7,512	2nd Round	Semi-final
2001	J1	16	12	13,872	2nd Round	4th Round
2002	J1	16	14	10,467	Group Stage	3rd Round
2003	J1	16	13	11,195	Group Stage	Quarter-final
2004	J1	16	11	15,735	Group Stage	4th Round
2005	J1	18	18	14,913	Group Stage	4th Round
2006	J2	13	3	6,910	–	3rd Round
2007	J1	18	10	12,460	Group Stage	5th Round
2008	J1	18	10	12,981	Group Stage	5th Round
2009	J1	18	14	13,068	Group Stage	4th Round
2010	J1	18	15	12,824	Group Stage	3rd Round
2011	J1	18	9	13,233	1st Round	3rd Round
2012	J1	18	16	14,638	Group Stage	2nd Round
2013	J2	22	2	11,516	–	3rd Round
2014	J1	18	11	15,010	Quarter-final	2nd Round
2015	J1	18	12	16,265	Semi-final	Quarter-final
2016	J1	18	7	17,018	Quarter-final	Round of 16

Key

• Tms. = Number of teams
• Pos. = Position in league
• Attendance/G = Average league attendance

League history

• Chugoku Soccer League: 1978–85 (as Kawasaki Steel Mizushima)
• Division 2 (Japan Soccer League Div. 2): 1986–91 (Kawasaki Steel Mizushima until 1987; Kawasaki Steel afterwards)
• Division 3 (Old JFL Div. 2): 1992–93 (as Kawasaki Steel)
• Division 2 (Old JFL): 1994–96 (Kawasaki Steel 1994; Vissel Kobe since 1995)
• Division 1 (J. League): 1997–05
• Division 2 (J. League Division 2): 2006
• Division 1 (J. League Division 1): 2007–12
• Division 2 (J. League Division 2): 2013
• Division 1 (J. League Division 1): 2014–

Total (as of 2014): 16 seasons in the top tier, 11 seasons in the second tier, 2 seasons in the third tier and 8 seasons in the Regional Leagues.

In popular culture

A fictional character named Kazuki Sorimachi in the popular Captain Tsubasa manga, becomes a professional soccer player and joins Vissel Kobe.

Players

Current squad

As of 13 February 2016. 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	Yudai Tanaka
3	DF	JPN	Takahito Soma
4	DF	JPN	Kunie Kitamoto
5	DF	JPN	Takuya Iwanami
6	DF	JPN	Shunki Takahashi
7	FW	BRA	Pedro Junior
8	DF	JPN	Shohei Takahashi
9	FW	JPN	Daisuke Ishizu (on loan from Avispa Fukuoka)
10	MF	BRA	Nílton
11	FW	BRA	Leandro
13	FW	JPN	Keijiro Ogawa
14	MF	JPN	Naoyuki Fujita
15	MF	JPN	Seigo Kobayashi
17	FW	JPN	Hideo Tanaka
18	GK	KOR	Kim Seung-gyu
19	FW	JPN	Kazuma Watanabe

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
20	MF	JPN	Asahi Masuyama
21	GK	JPN	Koki Matsuzawa
22	GK	JPN	Kaito Yamamoto
23	MF	JPN	Yoshiki Matsushita
24	MF	JPN	Masatoshi Mihara
25	DF	JPN	Junya Higashi
26	DF	JPN	Shinji Yamaguchi
27	MF	JPN	Ryo Matsumura
29	FW	JPN	Yosuke Tashiro
30	GK	JPN	Kenta Tokushige
31	MF	JPN	Yuya Nakasaka
32	MF	JPN	Ryosuke Maeda
33	DF	JPN	Taisuke Muramatsu
34	DF	JPN	So Fujitani
39	DF	JPN	Masahiko Inoha

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	KOR	Gang Yoon-goo (at Ehime FC)
—	MF	JPN	Tomoki Wada (at Incheon United FC)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	FW	JPN	Ryo Matsumura (at Tochigi SC)

Managers

Manager	Nat.	Tenure
Stuart Baxter	Scotland	1997
Hiroshi Kato	Japan	1997
Benito Floro	Spain	1998
Harumi Kori	Japan	1998
Ryoichi Kawakatsu	Japan	1999–02
Hiroshi Matsuda	Japan	Jan 2002–Dec 02
Hiroshi Soejima	Japan	2003
Ivan Hašek	Czech Republic	Jan 2003–Dec 04
Hiroshi Kato	Japan	2004
Hideki Matsunaga	Japan	Jan 2005–April 05
Émerson Leão	Brazil	May 2005–June 05
Pavel Řehák	Czech Republic	2005
Stuart Baxter	Scotland	Jan 2006–Dec 06
Hiroshi Matsuda	Japan	Jan 2007–Dec 08
Caio Júnior	Brazil	Dec 2008–June 09
Masahiro Wada (interim)	Japan	July 2009–Aug 09
Toshiya Miura	Japan	Aug 2009–Sept 10
Masahiro Wada	Japan	Sept 2010–April 12
Ryo Adachi (interim)	Japan	April 2012–May 12
Akira Nishino	Japan	May 22, 2012 – Nov 8, 2012
Ryo Adachi (interim)	Japan	Nov 9, 2012 – Dec 31, 2012
Ryo Adachi	Japan	Jan 1, 2013 – Dec 11, 2014
Nelsinho Baptista	Brazil	Dec 12, 2014–

Affiliated Clubs

• Chonburi

External links

• Vissel Kobe Official Web Site