Shonan Bellmare

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. Their home stadium is Hiratsuka Athletics Stadium. 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 Bellmare
湘南ベルマーレ
Full nameShonan Bellmare
Founded1968 (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

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 (for South Korea) 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 are currently affiliated with Shonan Bellmare:[9]

Players

Current squad

As of 2 May 2024.[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
18 MF Japan JPN Masaki Ikeda
No. Pos. Nation Player
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
34 FW Japan JPN Keigo Watanabe DSP
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 officials

RoleName
Manager Japan Satoshi Yamaguchi
Assistant manager Japan Yoshihiro Natsuka
Japan Masahiro Koga
Japan Yoshihiro Yatsukawa
Coach assistant Japan Taiga Soeda
Goalkeeper coach Japan Takeaki Yuhara
Analyst Japan Masayuki Hirakawa
Physical coach Japan Kazutaka Takahashi
Conditioning coach Japan Yuta Iguchi
Chief team doctor Japan Eiichi Suzuki
Team doctor Japan Hirofumi Katsutani
Japan Makoto Takahashi
Medical group chief trainer Japan Hisayoshi Kojima
Athletic trainer Japan Nobuhide Kurihara
Japan Takahiro Yoshikawa
Physiotherapist Japan Shusuke Shimada
Japan Shigeyuki Shimizu
Interpreter South Korea Kim Fan-ju
Brazil Tiago Higa
Competent Japan Keita Mikami
Side affairs Japan Hiroto Araki
Japan Takahito Hiraga
Japan Hiroto Tanaka

Honours

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

Shonan Bellmare honours
CompetitionNo.Years
All Japan Senior Football Championship 1 1971
JSL Cup 1 1973
Emperor's Cup 3 1977, 1979, 1994
Japan Soccer League (First tier) 3 1977, 1979, 1981
Japanese Super Cup 2 1978, 1982
Japan Soccer League (Second tier) 2 1991–92, 1993,
Asian Cup Winners' Cup 1 1995
J2 League 2 2014, 2017
BTV Cup 1 2016
J.League Cup 1 2018

Managerial history

ManagerNationalityTenure
StartFinish
Yukio Shimomura Japan1 February 197231 January 1979
Yoshinobu Ishii Japan1 January 197531 December 1980
Tsutomu Nakamura Japan1 February 198131 January 1985
Hidemitsu Hanaoka Japan1 February 198530 June 1988
Yoshinobu Ishii Japan1 January 198831 December 1990
Mitsuru Komaeda Japan1 July 199027 November 1995
Shigeharu Ueki Japan28 November 199531 January 1996
Toninho Moura Brazil1 February 199619 September 1996
Shigeharu Ueki Japan20 September 199631 January 1999
Eiji Ueda Japan1 February 199930 June 1999
Mitsuru Komaeda Japan1 July 199931 January 2000
Hisashi Katō Japan1 February 200031 January 2001
Kōji Tanaka Japan1 February 200130 November 2002
Ajam Boujarari Mohammed Morocco1 February 200315 May 2003
Matsuichi Yamada Japan16 May 200314 July 2004
Tatsuya Mochizuki Japan15 July 200413 September 2004
Eiji Ueda Japan15 September 20045 June 2006
Masaaki Kanno Japan5 June 200631 January 2009
Yasuharu Sorimachi Japan1 February 200931 January 2012
Cho Kwi-jae South Korea1 February 20128 October 2019
Kenji Takahashi Japan13 August 20199 October 2019
Bin Ukishima Japan10 October 201931 August 2021
Satoshi Yamaguchi Japan1 September 2021Current

Record as J.League member

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
LeagueJ.League CupEmperor's
Cup
Asia
SeasonDiv.TeamsPos.PW (OTW/PKW)DL (OTL/PKL)FAGDPtsAttendance/G
Bellmare Hiratsuka
1994 J1125th4423-217580-5-17,8361st roundWinner
1995 1411th5221-29 (-/2)94102-86516,1112nd roundCWCWinner
1996 1611th3012-18 (-/0)4758-113610,483Semi-finalQuarter-finalsCWCQuarter Final
1997 178th3214-12 (-/1)55523497,841Group stageQuarter-finals
1998 1811th3412 (2/2)-17 (1/0)5366-134210,158Group stageRound of 16
1999 1616th304 (0/-)122 (3/0)3072-42137,3881st round3rd round
Shonan Bellmare
2000 J2118th4012 (3/0)117 (7/-)5971-12434,9681st round3rd round
2001 128th4416 (4/-)418 (2/0)64613604,1121st round2nd round
2002 125th4416161246463644,551Round of 16
2003 1210th441111223353-20444,731Round of 16
2004 1210th44715223964-25364,691Round of 16
2005 127th441315164659-13545,7463rd round
2006 1311th481310256187-26495,3654th round
2007 136th4823817725517774,6774th round
2008 155th4219815684820655,9943rd round
2009 183rd51291111845232987,2732nd round
2010 J11818th3437243182-511611,095Group stage3rd round
2011 J22014th381210164648-2466,943Quarter-finals
2012 222nd4220157664323756,8523rd round
2013 J11816th3467213462-28259,911Group stage3rd round
2014 J2221st4231838625611018,4783rd round
2015 J1188th34139124044-44812,208Group stage3rd round
2016 1817th3476213056-262711,530Group stageQuarter-finals
2017 J2221st4224117583622838,4543rd round
2018 J11813th341011133843-54112,120WinnerRound of 16
2019 1816th34106184063-233612,848Group stage2nd round
2020 1818th3469192948-19274,467Group stageDid not qualify
2021 2016th38716153641-5374,850Play-off stageRound of 16
2022 1812th341011133139-8419,228Play-off stage3rd round
2023 1815th34810164056-163413,161Group stageQuarter-finals
2024 20TBA38-2nd RoundTBD
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

  • Shonan Bellmare Futsal Club

References

  1. "Stadium Capacity". bellmare.co.jp/stadium. bellmare.co.jp. Archived from the original on 8 October 2016. 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. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  4. "Bellmare boss' passion giving back to community". Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. 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). Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. 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". Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. 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". Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. 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). Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. 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. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  11. "English Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (Wolves) Partnership Announced". bellmare.co.jp. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  12. "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. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
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