Verspah Oita
ヴェルスパ大分

Full name	Verspah Oita
Founded	2003; 19 years ago (2003)
Ground	Oita Sports Park
Capacity	16,000
Chairman	Sanu Toru
Manager	Takashi Yamahashi[1]
League	Japan Football League
2021	3rd of 17
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Verspah Oita (ヴェルスパ大分, Verspah Ōita) is a Japanese football club currently competing in the Japan Football League.^[2] The year 2012 is their first year in the JFL after they were promoted from the 2011 Kyushu Soccer League.

History

The club was formed in 2003 as Hoyo FC. In 2005 they changed their name to Hoyo Atletico Elan, the name in which they competed for many years in the Kyushu Football League. The club is backed by the Hoyo Group, a digital camera and auto parts manufacturer based in nearby Kunisaki. In 2010 they changed their name to Hoyo Atletico Elan Oita. In 2011, they changed their name to Hoyo AC Elan Oita, they won the Kyushu Championship and then earned third place in the Regional League promotion series, and qualified to compete in the JFL beginning in 2012. In 2012, they changed their name to Hoyo Oita.

In December 2013, the club tried to get closer ties to the community and therefore made another name change, this time to Verspah Oita (ヴェルスパ大分, Verspah Ōita), for 2014 season onwards.^[3]

Team name

The current team's name, "Verspah", was coined by combining the Portuguese word "vermelho" meaning "red", the team colour "vermelho", the English word "spa" meaning hot spring (after Beppu Onsen), and the initial letter "H" of the former team name "HOYO.

Home Towns

The main home towns are Beppu and Yufu, on 28 June 2022, at a J.League Board of Directors meeting,^[4] they approved the addition of Ōita city.

Historical Logos

used until 2012	used 2012–2013
Hoyo AC Elan Oita crest, used until 2012	Hoyo Oita crest, used in 2012 and 2013

League & cup record

Key

Honours

• Oita Prefecture League 3rd Division
  • Winners (1): 2005
• Oita Prefecture League 2nd Division
  • Winners (1): 2006
• Oita Prefecture League 2nd Division
  • Winners (1): 2009
• Kyushu League
  • Winners (2): 2010, 2011
• Japan Football League
  • Winners (1): 2020

Current squad

As of 2 August 2022.^[5] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  JPN Takashi Himeno 2 DF  JPN Yuta Nakamura 3 DF  JPN Takahiro Urashima 4 DF  JPN Daigo Nishimura 5 DF  JPN Takuto Honda 6 MF  JPN Naoki Tsuchida 7 MF  JPN Takumi Nakano 8 MF  JPN Hirohito Shinohara (captain) 9 MF  JPN Kazuho Yamasaki 10 MF  JPN Kento Yabuuchi 11 MF  JPN Rui Tone 13 MF  JPN Naoya Yoshida 14 DF  JPN Hayato Nishinoue 15 DF  JPN Asahi Yamade

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  JPN Genki Tateiwa 17 MF  JPN Takumi Fujimoto 18 FW  JPN Makoto Nakamura 19 MF  JPN Mitsuaki Nishimura 20 GK  JPN Yasuhiro Watanabe 21 MF  JPN Kanta Kokura 23 DF  JPN Kimiaki Nishikawa 25 MF  JPN Tomohiro Ogawa 28 MF  JPN Shuto Watanabe 29 DF  JPN Shun Taketa 30 DF  JPN Tsutomu Murata 33 FW  JPN Hiroki Maeda 34 GK  JPN Tatsunori Matsumoto

Club Staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Takashi Yamahashi
Assistant Manager	Toyoki Hasegawa Hiroshi Tanaka
Goalkeeper Coach	Yuya Kumagai
Physical Coach	Shota Maki
Trainer	Takuya Kawasaki
Chief / Hopeiro	Ryota Sakamoto

Managers History

Status: October 2021

Manager	Nationality	Tenure
		From	To
Haruo Yuki	Japan	1 January 1, 2012	31 December 2015
Tōru Sano	Japan	1 February 2016	31 January 2018
Shigemitsu Sudō	Japan	1 February 2018	31 January 2021
Takashi Yamahashi	Japan	1 February 2021	Current