FC Machida Zelvia

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Machida Zelvia
町田ゼルビア
crest used since 2008
Full nameFootball Club Machida Zelvia
Nickname(s)Zelvia
Founded1989; 34 years ago (1989)
GroundMachida Municipal Athletic Stadium
Machida, Tokyo
Capacity15,489
OwnerCyberAgent
ManagerGo Kuroda
LeagueJ2 League
2022J2 League, 15th of 22
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Football Club Machida Zelvia (フットボールクラブ町田ゼルビア, Futtobōru Kurabu Machida Zerubia) commonly known as FC Machida Zelvia (FC町田ゼルビア, Efu Shi Machida Zerubia) is a Japanese football club based in Machida, Tokyo. The club currently play in the J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional league football.

History[edit]

Machida is known as the "Brazil of Tokyo" due to the popularity of football in the city; in fact, it has produced the second-largest number of J. League players though its football school. Originally formed in 1977, this school is well known for its development of young talents into professional players. In 1989, in order to retain talents, Machida founded its own top team, which at that time played in the Tokyo Prefectural League.

In 2003, they became a multi-sport club under the name Athletic Club Machida, and in 2005 were promoted to the Kanto League, having won the Tokyo Prefectural League (First Division). They came first in the Kanto league (Second Division) the following year, and were promoted to First Division, where they stayed until promotion to the Japan Football League as champions of the Regional Promotion Playoff Series in 2008.

In 2009, they adopted the current nickname Zelvia, a portmanteau of the Portuguese words zelkova (Machida city's official tree) and salvia (a grassy plant commonly used in football pitches).

The same year, the club declared its intent to be promoted to J. League's 2nd division, and its status of semi-affiliate was officially approved by the J. League. However, its home stadium capacity and light specifications did not meet the J. League's requirements, average attendance did not reach 3,000, and the team's final position of 6th place did not allow for Zelvia's promotion to the J. League.

In 2010, Machida Zelvia appointed Naoki Soma, a former star player who played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as its new head coach. The stadium's lighting was renewed, and club added several J. League players to its roster. Zelvia also announced its partnership with Major League Soccer's D.C. United, which became the first historic partnership between a Japanese and American club.[1] The reborn team beat Tokyo Verdy, its arch-rival from the J. League, in the Emperor's Cup, but was knocked out by Albirex Niigata in the third round. Soma left at the end of the season and was replaced by Ranko Popović, former coach of Oita Trinita.

The stadium's capacity and conditions were still short of fulfilling J. League criteria, so the club completed another renovation between the end of the 2010 and start of the 2011 seasons. Machida Zelvia finished the 2011 season in third place after beating Kamatamare Sanuki in the final match of that season, thereby granting them promotion to J. League (Second Division),[2] but were relegated after a bottom-placed finish. They became one of the original J3 clubs after finishing in 4th place in the 2014 JFL season and returned to J2 as 2015 runners-up by beating Oita Trinita in the promotion/relegation play-off.

Stadium[edit]

Machida Zelvia currently plays at Machida Municipal Athletic Stadium (Nozuta Stadium). Capacity until 2011 was 6,200, including grassy areas, and has had lighting for night games since 2009. Between the 2010 and 2011 seasons the stadium was upgraded and is now all-seated. Although the minimum seating requirement for J2 is 10,000, Nozuta fell short of that number. However, under an agreement made with J-League officials, home games where a large attendance is expected will be played at other stadia leased specifically for the purpose, and upgrades to Nozuta were made to meet the 10,000-capacity requirement. The current capacity of the stadium is 15,489.

League and cup record[edit]

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
Season Div. Teams Pos. P W D L F A GD Pts Attendance/G Emperor's
Cup
2009 JFL 18 6th 34 14 12 8 38 30 8 54 1,886 –
2010 18 3rd 34 19 4 11 71 44 27 61 3,503 3rd round
2011 18 3rd 33 18 7 8 61 28 33 61 3,515 2nd round
2012 J2 22 22nd 42 7 11 24 34 67 -33 32 3,627 4th round
2013 JFL 18 4th 34 18 7 9 51 44 7 61 3,174 –
2014 J3 12 3rd 33 20 8 5 59 23 37 68 3,134 –
2015 13 2nd 36 23 9 4 52 18 34 78 3,766 4th round
2016 J2 22 7th 42 18 11 13 53 44 9 65 5,123 1st round
2017 22 16th 42 11 17 14 53 53 0 50 4,056 2nd round
2018 22 4th 42 21 13 8 62 44 18 76 4,915 3rd round
2019 22 18th 42 9 16 17 36 59 -23 43 4,718 2nd round
2020 † 22 19th 42 12 13 17 41 52 -11 49 1,302 Did not qualify
2021 † 22 5th 42 20 12 10 64 38 26 72 2,577 2nd round
2022 22 15th 42 14 9 19 51 50 1 51 3,243 2nd round
2023 22 TBA 42
Key
  • Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points gained
  • Attendance/G = Average home league attendance
  • † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
  • Source: J. League Data Site

Honours[edit]

  • Kanto Soccer League
    • Champions (2): 2007, 2008
  • Japanese Regional League
    • Champions (1): 2008

Kit evolution[edit]

Home kit - 1st
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -
Away kit - 2nd
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -

Colour, sponsors and manufacturers[edit]

Season(s) Main Shirt Sponsor Collarbone Sponsor Additional Sponsor(s) Kit Manufacturer
2019 AbemaTV – EAGLE KENSO (Right) odakyu TERADA
株式会社寺田電機製作所		 Tamagawa University svolme
2020 AQUA RESORT (Left) 25th Anniversary[a] (Right)
2021 ABEMA
TV Video & Entertainment		 EAGLE KENSO (Right)
2022 AQUA RESORT (1st)
BEST LAND (2nd)		 — TERADA
株式会社寺田電機製作所		 Tamagawa University —
2023 CyberAgent — — TERADA
株式会社寺田電機製作所		 Tamagawa University Adidas

Current squad[edit]

As of 16 March 2023.[3][4][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 Serbia SRB Nedeljko Stojisic
2 DF Japan JPN Masayuki Okuyama
3 DF Japan JPN Kai Miki
4 DF Japan JPN Jurato Ikeda
5 DF Japan JPN Kota Fukatsu
6 DF Japan JPN Kosuke Ota
7 FW Japan JPN Shunta Araki (on loan from Sagan Tosu)
8 MF Japan JPN Leo Takae
9 FW Japan JPN Takaya Numata
10 MF Japan JPN Daigo Takahashi
11 FW Brazil BRA Erik
13 DF Japan JPN Soichiro Fukaminato
14 DF South Korea KOR Jang Min-gyu
15 FW Australia AUS Mitchell Duke
16 MF Japan JPN Zento Uno
18 MF Japan JPN Hokuto Shimoda
19 MF Japan JPN Shuto Inaba
20 FW Japan JPN Daiki Sato
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 MF Japan JPN Hijiri Onaga
23 GK Japan JPN William Popp
24 DF Japan JPN Mizuki Uchida
25 FW Japan JPN Shota Fujio (on loan from Cerezo Osaka)
26 DF Spain ESP Carlos Gutiérrez
27 FW Japan JPN Yu Hirakawa
28 MF Japan JPN Yohei Okuyama
30 FW Japan JPN Yuki Nakashima
31 FW Japan JPN Yuya Takazawa
32 MF Japan JPN Atsushi Kurokawa
34 DF Japan JPN Yudai Fujiwara (on loan from Urawa Red Diamonds)
40 MF Japan JPN Sho Fuseya
41 MF Japan JPN Takuya Yasui
42 GK Japan JPN Koki Fukui
45 MF Japan JPN Kazuma Yamaguchi (on loan from Matsumoto Yamaga)
46 MF Japan JPN Ken Higuchi
50 GK Japan JPN Anton Burns

Out on loan[edit]

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 Japan JPN Shohei Takahashi (on loan at Vissel Kobe)
— DF Japan JPN Takumi Narasaka (on loan at Kamatamare Sanuki)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF Japan JPN Yoshitaka Aoki (on loan at ReinMeer Aomori)

Technical staff[edit]

Staff for the 2023 season.[6]

Position Name
Manager Japan Go Kuroda
Assistant manager South Korea Kim Myung-hwi
First-Team coach Japan Shin Yamanaka
Goalkeeping coach Japan Nobuyuki Furo
Physical coach Japan Toru Yamazaki
Assistant coach Japan Hikaru Mita
Japan Daiki Ueda
Analyst Japan Sota Kinoshita
Chief doctor Japan Takahiro Fujisawa
Japan Keisuke Irako
Chief trainer Japan Yasuyuki Sasaki
Trainer Japan Yuta Hamada
Japan Shin Osawa
Physiotherapist Japan Takuro Yoshitake
Interpreter Japan Go Murakami
Japan Ken Takahashi
South Korea Lee Seong-ang
Chief manager Japan Naoya Watanabe
Kit manager Japan Hiroyuki Kawakita
Sub manager Japan Yuto Suzuki
Nutrition management advisor Japan Jun Hamano

Managerial history[edit]

Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Sadao Shigeta Japan Japan 1991 1995
Shoji Komoda 1996 2002
Minoru Moriya[7] 2003 2007
Tetsuya Totsuka 1 February 2008 31 January 2010
Naoki Soma 1 February 2010 31 January 2011
Ranko Popović Serbia Serbia 1 February 2011 31 January 2012
Osvaldo Ardiles Argentina Argentina 1 February 2012 17 November 2012
Yutaka Akita Japan Japan 26 November 2012 25 June 2013
Naoki Kusunose 25 June 2013 31 January 2014
Naoki Soma 1 February 2014 31 January 2020
Ranko Popović Serbia Serbia 1 February 2020 31 January 2023
Go Kuroda[8] Japan Japan 1 February 2023 present

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ EAGLE KENSO

References[edit]

  1. ^ "D.C. United to partner with FC Machida Zelvia". Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  2. ^ McKirdy, Andrew, "Ardiles ready to face new challenge Archived 10 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine", Japan Times, 6 March 2012, p. 18.
  3. ^ "2023 FC MACHIDA ZELVIA UNIFORM". FC Machida Zelvia. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Players&Staff Season 2022". FC Machida Zelvia. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  5. ^ "FC Machida Zelvia Club/Player Directory". Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  6. ^ "ＦＣ町田ゼルビアトップチーム 2023シーズン選手・スタッフのお知らせ". zelvia.co.jp (in Japanese). FC Machida Zelvia. 9 January 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  7. ^ Interview Minoru Moriya Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Tokyo Football Magazine. Retrieved on 2010-12-17.
  8. ^ "黒田剛 監督就任のお知らせ". zelvia.co.jp (in Japanese). FC Machida Zelvia. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=FC_Machida_Zelvia&oldid=1144937022"