Shonan Bellmare

Shonan Bellmare
湘南ベルマーレ
Full nameShonan Bellmare
Founded1968; 56 years ago (1968) as Towa Real Estate SC
StadiumLemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka
Hiratsuka, Kanagawa
Capacity15,380[1]
ChairmanKiyoshi Makabe
ManagerSatoshi Yamaguchi
LeagueJ1 League
2023J1 League, 15th of 18
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Shonan Bellmare (湘南ベルマーレ, Shōnan Berumāre) is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country.

Shonan refers to a coastal area along Sagami Bay that includes Hiratsuka. Bellmare is a portmanteau of the Italian words bello and mare, meaning "beautiful sea".

Shonan have won 3 Emperor's Cup, 2 J.League Cup and 2 Japanese Super Cup in their history.

History

Early years as corporate team (1968–1992)

The club was founded in 1968 as "Towa Real Estate SC" in Nasu, Tochigi.[2] They were promoted to the Japan Soccer League (JSL) Division 1 in 1972. They changed their name to "Fujita Kogyo SC" when Towa Estate Development gave up the ownership to their parent company Fujita Industries, which moved the club to Hiratsuka.

They won the JSL three times (including two doubles with the Emperor's Cup) between 1977 and 1981. They were nevertheless relegated to the JSL's Division 2 in 1990. Although they won the last JSL Division 2 season in 1991–92, the professionalization and formation of the J.League meant they did not meet the new top flight league's criteria and the runners-up, Kashima Antlers (formerly Sumitomo), were promoted instead.

1993: JFL

In 1993, they adopted new name "Shonan Bellmare". Their application to the J.League Associate membership was accepted. They played in the former Japan Football League Division 1 and won the league championship. After Hiratsuka City Council committed to finance the refurbishment of the Hiratsuka Stadium to meet the J.League requirements, J.League accepted the club.

1994–1997: Golden era

Hidetoshi Nakata, who won the Asian Cup Winners' Cup trophy in 1996

The club was forced to change their name to Bellmare Hiratsuka because J.League required the participants to designate only one city or town as their hometown and include its name in the club names at that time. The club initially struggled to cope with the J.League opponents and finished 11th out of 12 in the first stage of the 1994 season. However, they came back in the second stage and finished 2nd. With this momentum, the club won the 1994–1995 Emperor's Cup. This title qualified Bellmare for the 1996 Asian Cup Winners' Cup, which they won by beating Iraq's Al Talaba in the final. Hidetoshi Nakata joined the team in 1995 and they also successfully recruited Brazilian-born Wagner Lopes and influential Korean international Hong Myung-bo. This is arguably the most successful period of the club.[3]

1998–1999: Difficult period

Four Bellmare players were selected for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. They were Nakata, Lopes, Hong and a goalkeeper Nobuyuki Kojima. However, as Nakata left for Italian club Perugia just after the World Cup, the club's fortune started to decline. The main sponsor Fujita decided to discontinue the financial support in 1999 due to their own financial difficulties. [4] It forced the club to release some highly paid players including Lopes, Hong and Kojima. They finished bottom of J1 in 1999 and were relegated to J2.

2000–2009: J2 League

The club made a new start. The ownership was transferred to a community-owned organisation. They also changed their name to Shonan Bellmare as J.League allowed them to enlarge their designated hometowns to include several cities and towns surrounding Hiratsuka. [4] The club's performance on the pitch has not been strong and they have not been serious contenders for the promotion to J1 so far.

A J1 comeback in 2010, if they are able to achieve promotion, will be the first without Fujita as their sponsor. Although for a time they refused to consider their history as the championship-winning Fujita corporate team in their current history, this year they celebrated the club's 40-year anniversary in 2009 as deduced from the badge in their Web site.

On 5 December 2009, Shonan returned to J1 as third-place finishers in 2009 seasons.

2010–present: Return to J1 League

The club returned to the J1 in 2010, but injured one after another and J2 was relegated after leaving four games. In the end, he won 21 consecutive league games. It was the worst record of J1 at that time. After that, the team will be repeatedly demoted to J2 and promoted to J1.

In recent years, the team has been steadily emphasizing. In 2014, the team made good progress in the J2, winning 14 consecutive games from the opening. The team was defeated by Ehime FC in the 15th round, but after that they lost 21 battles. J1 automatic promotion is confirmed. As a result, he won the J2 with 31 wins, 8 draws, 3 losses and 101 points in the 2014 season. In 2016, in the J1, Shonan Bellmare was the final result in 8th place, and it was the first time for J1 to remain in history. In addition, at the EAFF E-1 Football Championship 2015 held in August, Wataru Endo, who was on the team at the time, participated as a representative of Japan. In 2018, won the J.League Cup. [5] It was the first time for Shonan Bellmare to win three major titles since winning the 74th Emperor's Cup in the Bellmare Hiratsuka.

On the operational side, there was some report that the club fell into excess debt of more than 100 million yen in February 2012, and in the worst case the club itself could be dissolved (the actual amount of excess debt was 82.68 million yen). However, the debt insolvency was resolved by two capital increases. [6] In April 2018, SANEI ARCHITECTURE PLANNING, which was the largest shareholder of Shonan Bellmare, established "Merudia RIZAP Shonan Sports Partners" in collaboration with RIZAP GROUP. The new company acquired a 50% stake in Shonan Bellmare.[7] RIZAP GROUP intends to invest 1 billion yen in Bellmare over the next three years. [8]

Rivalries

Historically the Shonan area was part of a pre-modern province, Sagami Province, whereas Yokohama and Kawasaki were part of Musashi Province, hence Bellmare's intraprefectural rivalries with Yokohama F. Marinos, Yokohama FC and Kawasaki Frontale are based on the hard-working port cities of South Musashi as opposed to the more laid-back attitude of Sagami.

Affiliated clubs

The following clubs ars currently affiliated with Shonan Bellmare:[9]

Players

Current squad

As of 15 February 2024.[11][12] 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 South Korea KOR Song Bum-keun
2 DF Japan JPN Daiki Sugioka
3 DF Japan JPN Taiga Hata
4 DF Japan JPN Koki Tachi (vice-captain)
5 MF Japan JPN Satoshi Tanaka (vice-captain)
6 DF Japan JPN Takuya Okamoto
7 MF Japan JPN Hiroyuki Abe
8 DF Japan JPN Kazunari Ono
9 FW Japan JPN Akira Silvano Disaro
10 MF Japan JPN Naoki Yamada
11 FW Brazil BRA Lukian
13 MF Japan JPN Taiyo Hiraoka
14 MF Japan JPN Akimi Barada
15 MF Japan JPN Kohei Okuno
16 FW Japan JPN Ryo Nemoto
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF Japan JPN Masaki Ikeda
19 MF Japan JPN Sho Fukuda
21 GK Japan JPN Hiroki Mawatari
22 DF Japan JPN Kazuki Oiwa
23 GK Japan JPN Daiki Tomii
28 DF Japan JPN Arata Yoshida
29 FW Japan JPN Akito Suzuki
30 MF Japan JPN Junnosuke Suzuki
31 GK Japan JPN Kota Sanada
32 DF Japan JPN Sere Matsumura
33 DF Japan JPN Naoya Takahashi
37 MF Japan JPN Yuto Suzuki (vice-captain)
47 DF South Korea KOR Kim Min-tae (captain)
77 FW Japan JPN Hisatsugu Ishii
88 MF Japan JPN Kosuke Onose

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 Japan JPN Hayato Fukushima (to Tochigi SC)
DF Japan JPN Kodai Minoda (to Vanraure Hachinohe)
DF Japan JPN Taisei Ishii (to FC Tiamo Hirakata)
No. Pos. Nation Player
DF Japan JPN Toru Shibata (to Fukushima United)
MF Japan JPN Sosuke Shibata (to Vanraure Hachinohe)
MF Japan JPN Yoshihiro Nakano (to Yokohama FC)

Club official

For the 2024 season.[13]

Role Name
Manager Japan Satoshi Yamaguchi
Assistant manager Japan Kenji Takahashi
Japan Yoshihiro Natsuka
Japan Yoshihiro Yatsukawa
First-team coach Japan Masahiro Koga
Goalkeeper coach Japan Takeaki Yuhara
Physical coach Japan Kazutaka Takahashi
Conditioning coach Japan Yuta Iguchi
Chief Team Doctor Japan Eiichi Suzuki
Team Doctor Japan Koji Nikaido
Japan Makoto Takahashi
Physiotherapist Japan Shusuke Shimada
Japan Shigeyuki Shimizu
Chief Trainer Japan Hisayoshi Kojima
Athletic trainer Japan Nobuhide Kurihara
Japan Takahiro Yoshikawa
Interpreter Japan Taiga Soeda
Brazil Higa Chiago
South Korea Park Chung-woo
Competent Japan Masataka Takada
Side affairs Japan Hiroto Araki

Honours

League

As Towa / Fujita (until 1992); Bellmare Hiratsuka (1993–1999); Shonan Bellmare (2000–present)

Cup

Continental

Invitational

Managerial history

Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Yukio Shimomura  Japan 1 February 1972 31 January 1979
Yoshinobu Ishii  Japan 1 January 1975 31 December 1980
Tsutomu Nakamura  Japan 1 February 1981 31 January 1985
Hidemitsu Hanaoka  Japan 1 February 1985 30 June 1988
Yoshinobu Ishii  Japan 1 January 1988 31 December 1990
Mitsuru Komaeda  Japan 1 July 1990 27 November 1995
Shigeharu Ueki  Japan 28 November 1995 31 January 1996
Toninho Moura  Brazil 1 February 1996 19 September 1996
Shigeharu Ueki  Japan 20 September 1996 31 January 1999
Eiji Ueda  Japan 1 February 1999 30 June 1999
Mitsuru Komaeda  Japan 1 July 1999 31 January 2000
Hisashi Katō  Japan 1 February 2000 31 January 2001
Kōji Tanaka  Japan 1 February 2001 30 November 2002
Ajam Boujarari Mohammed  Morocco 1 February 2003 15 May 2003
Matsuichi Yamada  Japan 16 May 2003 14 July 2004
Tatsuya Mochizuki  Japan 15 July 2004 13 September 2004
Eiji Ueda  Japan 15 September 2004 5 June 2006
Masaaki Kanno  Japan 5 June 2006 31 January 2009
Yasuharu Sorimachi  Japan 1 February 2009 31 January 2012
Cho Kwi-jae  South Korea 1 February 2012 8 October 2019
Kenji Takahashi  Japan 13 August 2019 9 October 2019
Bin Ukishima  Japan 10 October 2019 31 August 2021
Satoshi Yamaguchi  Japan 1 September 2021 Current

Record as J.League member

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League J.League Cup Emperor's
Cup
Asia
Season Div. Teams Pos. P W (OTW/PKW) D L (OTL/PKL) F A GD Pts Attendance/G
Bellmare Hiratsuka
1994 J1 12 5th 44 23 - 21 75 80 -5 - 17,836 1st round Winner
1995 14 11th 52 21 - 29 (-/2) 94 102 -8 65 16,111 2nd round CWC Winner
1996 16 11th 30 12 - 18 (-/0) 47 58 -11 36 10,483 Semi-final Quarter-finals CWC Quarter Final
1997 17 8th 32 14 - 12 (-/1) 55 52 3 49 7,841 Group stage Quarter-finals
1998 18 11th 34 12 (2/2) - 17 (1/0) 53 66 -13 42 10,158 Group stage Round of 16
1999 16 16th 30 4 (0/-) 1 22 (3/0) 30 72 -42 13 7,388 1st round 3rd round
Shonan Bellmare
2000 J2 11 8th 40 12 (3/0) 1 17 (7/-) 59 71 -12 43 4,968 1st round 3rd round
2001 12 8th 44 16 (4/-) 4 18 (2/0) 64 61 3 60 4,112 1st round 2nd round
2002 12 5th 44 16 16 12 46 46 3 64 4,551 Round of 16
2003 12 10th 44 11 11 22 33 53 -20 44 4,731 Round of 16
2004 12 10th 44 7 15 22 39 64 -25 36 4,691 Round of 16
2005 12 7th 44 13 15 16 46 59 -13 54 5,746 3rd round
2006 13 11th 48 13 10 25 61 87 -26 49 5,365 4th round
2007 13 6th 48 23 8 17 72 55 17 77 4,677 4th round
2008 15 5th 42 19 8 15 68 48 20 65 5,994 3rd round
2009 18 3rd 51 29 11 11 84 52 32 98 7,273 2nd round
2010 J1 18 18th 34 3 7 24 31 82 -51 16 11,095 Group stage 3rd round
2011 J2 20 14th 38 12 10 16 46 48 -2 46 6,943 Quarter-finals
2012 22 2nd 42 20 15 7 66 43 23 75 6,852 3rd round
2013 J1 18 16th 34 6 7 21 34 62 -28 25 9,911 Group stage 3rd round
2014 J2 22 1st 42 31 8 3 86 25 61 101 8,478 3rd round
2015 J1 18 8th 34 13 9 12 40 44 -4 48 12,208 Group stage 3rd round
2016 18 17th 34 7 6 21 30 56 -26 27 11,530 Group stage Quarter-finals
2017 J2 22 1st 42 24 11 7 58 36 22 83 8,454 3rd round
2018 J1 18 13th 34 10 11 13 38 43 -5 41 12,120 Winner Round of 16
2019 18 16th 34 10 6 18 40 63 -23 36 12,848 Group stage 2nd round
2020 18 18th 34 6 9 19 29 48 -19 27 4,467 Group stage Did not qualify
2021 20 16th 38 7 16 15 36 41 -5 37 4,850 Play-off stage Round of 16
2022 18 12th 34 10 11 13 31 39 -8 41 9,228 Play-off stage 3rd round
2023 18 15th 34 8 10 16 40 56 -16 34 13,161 Group stage Quarter-finals
2024 18 TBA 34 - TBD TBD
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
  • OTW / PKW = Overtime wins / Penalty kicks wins 1997 & 1998 seasons - 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2002 Overtime wins only
  • OTL / PKL = Overtime losses / Penalty kicks losses 1997 and 1998 seasons - 1999, 2000 & 2001 Overtime losses only
  • 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances were reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
  • Source: J.League Data Site

League history

  • Kanto Football League: 1970–71
  • Division 1 (Japan Soccer League Div. 1): 1972–89 (1972–74 as Towa Real Estate Development; 1975–89 as Fujita Industries)
  • Division 2 (Japan Soccer League Div. 2): 1990–91 (as Fujita Industries)
  • Division 2 (Japan Football League (former) Div. 1): 1992–93 (as Fujita Industries)
  • Division 1 (J.League Div. 1): 1994–99 (as Bellmare Hiratsuka)
  • Division 2 (J.League Div. 2): 2000–09 (as Shonan Bellmare)
  • Division 1 (J.League Div. 1): 2010
  • Division 2 (J.League Div. 2): 2011–12
  • Division 1 (J.League Div. 1): 2013
  • Division 2 (J.League Div. 2): 2014
  • Division 1 (J1 League): 2015–16
  • Division 2 (J2 League): 2017
  • Division 1 (J1 League): 2018–

Total (as of 2017): 28 seasons in the top tier, 18 seasons in the second tier and 2 seasons in the Regional Leagues.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Stadium Capacity". bellmare.co.jp/stadium. bellmare.co.jp. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  2. ^ Osumi, Yoshiyuki (1995). Yume no ishizue. Astro publishing. pp. 239–267. ISBN 4755508576.
  3. ^ "11年ぶりのJ1昇格を果たした湘南ベルマーレ 前例のない道を切り開く地域密着の挑戦に迫る" (in Japanese). Shonan Keizai Shimbun. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Bellmare boss' passion giving back to community". Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  5. ^ "トーナメント表:2018JリーグYBCルヴァンカップ:Jリーグ.jp". Jリーグ.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  6. ^ "【御礼】湘南ベルマーレ持株会へご参加いただいた皆様へ « 湘南ベルマーレ公式サイト". Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  7. ^ "株式会社湘南ベルマーレ 募集株式発行及び株式会社メルディアRIZAP湘南スポーツパートナーズへの割当決定のお知らせ « 湘南ベルマーレ公式サイト". Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  8. ^ "RIZAPは湘南ベルマーレの「優勝」にコミットできるのか". ITmedia ビジネスオンライン (in Japanese). Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  9. ^ "ベルマーレ・アジア・フットボール・アライアンス(BAFA)設立のお知らせ". bellmare.co.jp (in Japanese). Shonan Bellmare. 15 January 2022. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  10. ^ "หนองบัว พิชญ ประกาศเป็นพันธมิตรกับ โชนัน เบลมาเร ในเจลีก เซ็น MOU สัญญา 3 ปีเพื่อนพัฒนาสโมสร". twitter.com (in Thai). Yingrak Raksuwan. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  11. ^ "2024トップチーム « 湘南ベルマーレ公式サイト". www.bellmare.co.jp. Shonan Bellmare. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  12. ^ "2024シーズン キャプテン・副キャプテン決定のお知らせ". www.bellmare.co.jp (in Japanese). Shonan Bellmare. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  13. ^ "2023シーズン 湘南ベルマーレトップチーム コーチングスタッフ&スタッフ体制". bellmare.co.jp (in Japanese). 9 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.

External links

  • (in Japanese) Shonan Bellmare Official Web Site
  • (in English) Shonan Bellmare Official Web Site
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