Kyoto Sanga FC
京都サンガF.C.
logo
Full nameKyoto Sanga FC
Nickname(s)Sanga
Founded1922; 102 years ago (1922),
as Kyoto Shiko Club (京都紫光クラブ)
GroundSanga Stadium by Kyocera
Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Capacity21,600
OwnerKyoto Purple Sanga Co., Ltd.
ChairmanMasaaki Ito
ManagerCho Kwi-jae
LeagueJ1 League
WebsiteClub website
Current season
Kyoto Purple Sanga Co., Ltd.
Company typePublic
IndustrySports
FoundedJanuary 13, 1994 (1994-01-13) in Kyoto, Japan[1]
Key people
Hiroshi Imai (Chairman)
Kazuo Inamori (Honorary President)[1]
ProductsFootball club
RevenueIncrease ¥ 2140 million (2014)[1]
OwnersKyocera (55.4%)[2]
Nintendo (16.6%)[2]
Sanga Stadium by Kyocera（Kameoka）
Takebishi Stadium Kyoto（Kyoto・Ukyō-ku）
Sanga town Jōyō（Jōyō）

Kyoto Sanga FC (京都サンガF.C.) is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. "Sanga" comes from the Sanskrit word sangha, a term meaning "group" or "club" and often used to denote the Buddhist priesthood, associating the club with Kyoto's many Buddhist temples.[3][failed verification] The club was formerly known as Kyoto Purple Sanga with "purple", the colour of the team uniforms, an imperial colour reflecting Kyoto's status as Japan's ancient imperial capital city. It was decided that, from 2007, the team will simply be known as "Kyoto Sanga". They are the oldest club competing in the J.League.

History

The club was started as Kyoto Shiko Club, one of the few proper Japanese football clubs in the sense of being strictly dedicated to football and not being part of a company. Like Ventforet Kofu, it could not rise to a Japan Soccer League First Division dominated by company teams; in 1993, after the J.League was created, Kyoto Shiko Club, aided by funds from local new sponsors Kyocera and Nintendo, professionalized (though some players broke away and formed their own clubs, see below) and joined the former Japan Football League under the new name Kyoto Purple Sanga.

First joining the J.League in 1996, Kyoto Sanga hold the dubious distinction of being the League's most relegated side, having been demoted on three separate occasions. Relegation to J2 occurred at the end of the 2000, 2003 and 2006 seasons; more than any other team.[3] The 2003 relegation happened despite having many national team players such as Park Ji-sung and Daisuke Matsui on its roster and they eventually left for European clubs.

In December 2007 the club gained J1 status for the fourth time in their history via the promotion/relegation playoff.[4] A 0-2 home defeat to Urawa Reds on 14 November 2010 confirmed Sanga's relegation back to J2, bringing an end to their three-season spell in the top flight.[5]

In 2021 season, Kyoto Sanga secure return to J1 League after 11 years absence and finish in runner-up. In 2022 season, Kyoto Sanga stay in J1 League after draw 1-1 against Roasso Kumamoto in Promotion Relegation play-offs.

Record as J.League member

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
Season Div. Teams Pos. P W (OTW / PKW) D L (OTL / PKL) F A GD Pts Attendance/G J.League
Cup		 Emperor's
Cup
Kyoto Purple Sanga
1996 J1 16 16th 30 8 0 22 22 54 -32 24 9,404 Group stage Quarter-finals
1997 17 14th 32 9 (0 / 0) - 18 (3 / 2) 40 70 -30 27 7,881 Group stage Round of 16
1998 18 13th 34 10 (4 / 1) - 16 (3 / 0) 47 63 -16 39 8,015 Group stage 3rd round
1999 16 12th 30 9 (2) 0 15 (4) 38 58 -20 31 8,859 2nd round Round of 16
2000 16 15th 30 7 (1) 2 15 (5) 39 66 -27 25 7,253 Semi-finals 3rd round
2001 J2 12 1st 44 23 (5) 5 11 (0) 79 48 31 84 3,808 1st round Round of 16
2002 J1 16 5th 30 11 (6) 1 12 44 42 2 46 10,352 Group stage Winner
2003 16 16th 30 6 5 19 28 60 -32 23 10,850 Group stage 3rd round
2004 J2 12 5th 44 19 12 13 65 53 12 69 7,807 Not eligible 4th round
2005 12 1st 44 30 7 7 89 40 49 97 7,857 4th round
2006 J1 18 18th 34 4 10 20 38 74 -36 22 9,781 Group stage 4th round
Kyoto Sanga
2007 J2 13 3rd 48 24 14 10 80 59 21 86 6,629 Not eligible 3rd round
2008 J1 18 14th 34 11 8 15 37 46 -9 41 13,687 Group stage Round of 16
2009 18 12th 34 11 8 15 35 47 -12 41 11,126 Group stage 3rd round
2010 18 17th 34 4 7 23 30 60 -30 19 10,510 Group stage 3rd round
2011 J2 20 7th 38 17 7 14 50 45 5 58 6,294 Not eligible Runners-up
2012 22 3rd 42 23 5 14 61 45 16 74 7,273 3rd round
2013 22 3rd 42 20 10 12 68 46 22 70 7,891 3rd round
2014 22 9th 42 14 18 10 57 52 5 60 7,520 3rd round
2015 22 17th 42 12 14 16 45 51 -6 50 7,491 3rd round
2016 22 5th 42 18 15 9 50 37 13 69 6,524 2nd round
2017 22 12th 42 14 15 13 55 47 8 57 6,748 2nd round
2018 22 19th 42 12 7 23 40 58 -18 43 5,663 3rd round
2019 22 8th 42 19 11 12 59 56 3 68 7,850 2nd round
2020 † 22 8th 42 16 11 15 47 45 2 59 2,924 Did not qualify
2021 † 22 2nd 42 24 12 6 59 31 28 84 5,207 Round of 16
2022 J1 18 16th 34 8 12 14 30 38 -8 36 11,692 Play-off stage Semi-finals
2023 18 13th 34 12 4 18 40 45 -5 40 12,141 Group stage 2nd round
2024 18 TBA 38
Key

Honours

League

Cups

League History

(As of 2023): 13 seasons in the top tier, 28 seasons in the second tier, 1 season in the third tier and 16 seasons in the Regional Leagues.

Current squad

As of 16 February 2024.[6]

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 Japan JPN Shinnosuke Fukuda
3 DF Japan JPN Shogo Asada
4 DF Japan JPN Yoshihiro Matsuda
5 DF Japan JPN Hisashi Appiah Tawiah
6 DF Japan JPN Yuto Misao
7 MF Japan JPN Sota Kawasaki
8 MF Japan JPN Koki Tsukagawa (on loan from FC Tokyo)
9 FW Brazil BRA Marco Túlio
10 MF Japan JPN Shimpei Fukuoka
11 FW Japan JPN Ryogo Yamasaki
13 FW Japan JPN Takumi Miyayoshi
14 FW Japan JPN Taichi Hara
16 MF Japan JPN Shohei Takeda
17 FW Japan JPN Yuto Anzai
18 MF Japan JPN Temma Matsuda
19 MF Japan JPN Daiki Kaneko
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 DF Japan JPN Kazunari Kita
21 GK Suriname SUR Warner Hahn
22 FW Japan JPN Kazunari Ichimi
23 FW Japan JPN Yuta Toyokawa
24 DF Japan JPN Yuta Miyamoto (on loan from Urawa Reds)
25 MF Japan JPN Teppei Yachida
26 GK Japan JPN Gakuji Ota
28 DF Japan JPN Toichi Suzuki
30 DF Japan JPN Rikuto Iida
31 FW Japan JPN Sora Hiraga
36 GK Japan JPN Akira Fantini
39 MF Japan JPN Taiki Hirato
44 MF Japan JPN Kyo Sato
48 MF Japan JPN Ryuma Nakano DSP
50 DF Japan JPN Yoshinori Suzuki
94 GK South Korea KOR Gu Sung-yun

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
— GK Japan JPN Tomoya Wakahara (on loan to V-Varen Nagasaki)
— DF Japan JPN Takahiro Iida (on loan to Ventforet Kofu)
— DF Japan JPN Yuta Ueda (on loan to Omiya Ardija)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— FW Japan JPN Yudai Kimura (on loan to Tokyo Verdy)
— FW Japan JPN Fuki Yamada (on loan to Tokyo Verdy)

Club captains

Club officials

For the 2023 season.

Position Name
Manager South Korea Cho Kwi-jae
Assistant manager Japan Tetsu Nagasawa
First-team coach Japan Ryuji Ishikawa
Japan Koichi Sugiyama
Japan Naomichi Wakamiya
Japan Shuto Wakui
Goalkeeping coach Japan Yasuhiro Tominaga
Physical coach Japan Hirokazu Nishigata
Chief Trainer Japan Minoru Kimoto
Trainer Japan Yoshiaki Shirai
Japan Masaki Dozono
Japan Takuya Kawada
Interpreter Japan Taketo Okamoto
Japan Hiroki Kimura
Competent Japan Naoya Omae
Side Affairs Japan Ryusei Ishikura
Kit man Japan Noriyuki Matsuura

Managerial history

Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Bunji Kimura  Japan 1 January 1983 30 June 1990
George Yonashiro  Japan 1 February 1994 31 January 1995
Oscar  Brazil 1 February 1995 10 June 1996
George Yonashiro  Japan 11 June 1996 31 January 1997
Pedro Rocha  Uruguay 1 January 1997 31 December 1997
Hans Ooft  Netherlands 1 February 1998 1 June 1998
Hidehiko Shimizu  Japan 2 June 1998 30 June 1999
Shū Kamo  Japan 1 July 1999 31 May 2000
Gert Engels  Germany 1 June 2000 31 May 2003
Bunji Kimura  Japan 1 June 2003 30 June 2003
Pim Verbeek  Netherlands 1 July 2003 31 December 2003
Akihiro Nishimura  Japan 1 February 2004 13 June 2004
Kōichi Hashiratani  Japan 14 June 2004 4 October 2006
Naohiko Minobe  Japan 5 October 2006 11 October 2007
Hisashi Katō  Japan 12 October 2007 27 July 2010
Yutaka Akita  Japan 27 July 2010 31 January 2011
Takeshi Ōki  Japan 1 February 2011 31 January 2014
Valdeir Vieira  Brazil 1 January 2014 18 June 2014
Ryōichi Kawakatsu  Japan 29 June 2014 31 January 2015
Masahiro Wada  Japan 1 February 2015 10 July 2015
Kiyotaka Ishimaru  Japan 11 July 2015 6 December 2016
Takanori Nunobe  Japan 1 January 2017 10 May 2018
Boško Gjurovski  North Macedonia 11 May 2018 31 January 2019
Ichizō Nakata  Japan 1 February 2019 31 January 2020
Noritada Saneyoshi  Japan 1 February 2020 31 January 2021
Cho Kwi-jae  South Korea 1 February 2021 Current

Kit evolution

Home Kit - 1st
1997 - 1998
1999
2000
2001 - 2002
2003 - 2004
2005 - 2006
2007 - 2008
2009 - 2010
2011 - 2012
2013
2014
2015 - 2016
2017 - 2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -
Away Kit - 2nd
1997 - 1998
1999 - 2000
2001 - 2002
2003 - 2004
2005 - 2006
2007 - 2008 2nd
2007 - 2008 3rd
2009
2010
2011 - 2012
2013
2014
2015 - 2016
2017 - 2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -
3rd choice
2007 - 2008 3rd
2019
Club 25th Anniversary
2022
September Home Limited

Related clubs

Kyoto Sanga is considered the main continuation of the Kyoto Shiko Club that competed in the Japan Soccer League Second Division. "Shiko" (紫光) means "brilliant purple" and is the colour that Shiko/Sanga have always worn.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Club profile". Kyoto Sanga. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  2. ^ a b Sasaki, Norihiko. "Thoroughly analyzed the financial results of J-League". Shūkan Tōyō keizai. Toyo Keizai. 6058: 148–151.
  3. ^ a b Daniel Sloan (November 5, 2011). Playing to Wiin: Nintendo and the Video Game Industry's Greatest Comeback. John Wiley & Sons. p. 126. ISBN 978-0470825129.
  4. ^ "Kyoto Sanga earns promotion to J.League's first division". Japan Times. December 9, 2007. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  5. ^ "Shonan, Kyoto dropped to J-League's second division". Japan Times. November 25, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  6. ^ "２０２４シーズン トップチーム編成決定のお知らせ". 京都サンガF.C.｜オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). 13 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.

External links

Kyoto Sanga FC
J.League
Japanese club football
Authority control databases
Categories