Japanese football club
Football club
Iwate Grulla Morioka (いわてグルージャ盛岡, Iwate Gurūja Morioka) is a Japanese association football club based in Morioka, Iwate. It played in the inaugural season of J3 League in 2014 after winning the Tohoku Soccer League, one of the Japanese Regional Leagues, in 2013. They currently play in the second tier of Japanese football J2 League.
Name origin
"Grulla" is the Spanish word of "crane", which was used in the mon of Nanbu clan of former Morioka han and later became the local symbol of Morioka.
History
Initially known as Villanova Morioka (ヴィラノーバ盛岡, Viranōba Morioka), the team was organized by alumni of Morioka Commercial High School and Morioka Chuo High School in 2000.
In 2003, a nonprofit organization Association of Setting Up a J. League Team in Morioka (Jリーグチームを盛岡に作る会, J Rīgu chīmu wo Morioka ni tsukuru kai) was founded, and the team was reorganized and changed their name to Grulla Morioka (グルージャ盛岡) in February 2004 with the intention of achieving elevation to the J. League by 2008.
Under the new organization, former JEF United and Oita Trinita player Shinichi Muto was invited to coach and captain the team with the company of players from the defunct Villanova Morioka and from J2 league. They played their first match on May 9, 2004, and it could be seen as an introduction to the local press beforehand. They won the second division Tohoku Soccer League in 2004 and moved to the first division in 2005. In the same year, they won their first league championship, which was shared with TDK S.C.
In 2013 they won the Regional Promotion Series and were promoted directly to the newly formed J3 League, skipping the Japan Football League which became the new fourth tier.
From the 2019 season, the club has adopted the new name as "Iwate Grulla Morioka".[1] In 2021 they earned promotion to the J2 League as J3 runners-up and will make their debut in the second tier in 2022.
Stadium
Iwate play at or have played at three stadiums. The main stadium is Iwagin Stadium, which has a capacity of 4,938.
The second stadium is Kitakami Stadium in the city of Kitakami, Iwate,this has a capacity of 6,376.
Previously they have played at the Iwate Morioka Stadium
Current squad
As of 2 February 2022[update].[2]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Satoshi Miyano
(promoted)
