Tokushima Vortis

Tokushima Vortis (徳島ヴォルティス, Tokushima Vorutisu) is a Japanese professional football club located in Tokushima, capital of Tokushima Prefecture. The club currently playing in the J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football league.

Tokushima Vortis
徳島ヴォルティス
Full nameTokushima Vortis
Nickname(s)Vortis
Founded1955
GroundNaruto Athletic Stadium
Naruto, Tokushima
Capacity20,000
ChairmanKazuhiro Kishida
ManagerKosaku Masuda
(interim)
LeagueJ2 League
202315th of 22
WebsiteClub website

Name origin

The name, "Vortis" was named in 1997 (see below), and it was explained as a coinage of Italian "Vortice" (meaning whirlpool, after the famous Naruto whirlpool in Naruto Strait). The name was chosen to exhibit the dynamics of a whirlpool in the hope of swallowing up the whole audience in excitement by its power, speed and unity.[1]

History

Founded in 1955 as Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Soccer Club, VORTIS joined the J-League in 2005. They are still sponsored by Otsuka's best-known brand, Pocari Sweat sports drink.[1]

They were first promoted to the old Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1989, but the company's reluctance to professionalize the team forced it to compete in the former JFL and current JFL. In the 1997 old JFL season, they first sported a Vortis Tokushima name, but the lack of fan interest at the time forced them to go back to the corporate identity. They finally adopted the Tokushima Vortis name for good after winning the new JFL championship in 2004 and being promoted.[2]

The first season in J2 was naturally a difficult one for Vortis, but they surprised many sceptics with their determination and quality of play. The team rose as high as fourth place, at one point, before slipping down the table later in the season to finish ninth. In 2006, the team was forced to rebuild, as the players who took the team into the J.League began to hit the ceiling of their abilities and made way for younger replacements. As a result, despite the encouragement of a local rivalry with Ehime FC, Tokushima drifted down-table, and they followed it up with a last-place finish in 2007 and 2008.[2]

In 2013, they earned fourth place in J2, matching the same placement they had two years before in the division and twenty years before in the old JFL Division 1; this time they won the playoff, defeating Kyoto Sanga F.C. in the final round at the National Stadium in Tokyo, thus becoming the first professional Shikoku football club to compete in the top division of their national league.[3]

Until their promotion, they were the only former JSL member currently a member of the J.League which has never competed in the top tier of Japanese football. With promotion and the creation of the J3 League in 2014, the distinction was taken over by Blaublitz Akita.

In the 2019 season, they finished 4th again and were one win away from a return to J1 in the playoffs, but ultimately failed to beat Shonan Bellmare away in the final game. In 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, they did one better and were promoted as J2 champions.

Team name transition
  • Otsuka Pharmaceutical (1955-1996, 1998-2004)
  • Vortis Tokushima (1997)
  • Tokushima Vortis FC (2005–present)

Stadium

The team is Their home stadium is Naruto Otsuka Sports Park Pocari Sweat Stadium, in Naruto, Tokushima.

League & cup record
Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
LeagueJ.League
Cup		Emperor's
Cup
SeasonDiv.TeamsPos.PWDLFAGDPtsAttendance/G
Otsuka Pharmaceuticals
2003 JFL161st30233465214472781Not eligible3rd round
2004 161st302532742054783,0462nd round
Tokushima Vortis
2005 J2129th441216166076-16524,366Not eligible4th round
2006 1313th48811294392-49353,4774th round
2007 1313th48615273167-36333,2894th round
2008 1515th4278274072-32293,8623rd round
2009 189th51191517675215724,0732nd round
2010 198th361561551474514,6143rd round
2011 204th3819811513813655,2072nd round
2012 2215th421312174549-4513,9913rd round
2013 224th422071556515674,3482nd round
2014 J11818th3435261674-58148,884Group stage3rd round
2015 J22214th421314153544-9535,019Not eligible4th round
2016 229th421691746424574,5653rd round
2017 227th42181311714526674,9792nd round
2018 2211th421681848426564,9973rd round
2019 224th42211011674522735,7363rd round
2020 † 221st422598673334843,100Semi-finalist
2021 J12017th38106223455-21365,664Group stage3rd round
2022 J2228th4213236483513624,224Group stage3rd round
2023 2215th421019134353-10495,976Not eligible3rd round
2024 20TBA381st roundTBA
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 league home attendance
  • † 2020 season attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
  • Source: J. League Data Site

Honours
Tokushima Vortis honours
HonourNo.YearsNotes
Shikoku Football League 4 1978, 1979, 1981, 1989 as Otsuka Pharmaceutical
Japan Football League 2 2003, 2004 as Otsuka Pharmaceutical
J2 League 1 2020

Players

Current squad
As of 4 April 2024.[4]

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 Spain ESP José Aurelio Suárez
2 DF Japan JPN Taiki Tamukai
3 DF Japan JPN Ryoga Ishio
4 DF Brazil BRA Kaique Mafaldo (on loan from V-Varen Nagasaki)
5 DF Japan JPN Kodai Mori
6 MF Japan JPN Kohei Uchida
7 FW Brazil BRA Tiago Alves
8 FW Japan JPN Yoichiro Kakitani
9 FW Japan JPN Noah Kenshin Browne
10 MF Japan JPN Taro Sugimoto
11 MF Japan JPN Koki Sugimori
13 FW Japan JPN Taiyo Nishino
14 MF Japan JPN Rio Hyeon
15 FW Japan JPN Akito Tanahashi
16 FW Japan JPN Daiki Watari
17 FW Japan JPN Soya Takada (on loan from Omiya Ardija)
18 DF Brazil BRA Elsinho
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF Japan JPN Shunto Kodama
21 GK Japan JPN Hayate Tanaka
22 DF Japan JPN Ko Yanagisawa
23 MF Japan JPN Yu Takada
26 DF Japan JPN Hayato Aoki
29 GK Japan JPN Daiki Mitsui (on loan from Nagoya Grampus)
30 FW Japan JPN Kiyoshiro Tsuboi
31 GK Japan JPN Toru Hasegawa
33 MF Japan JPN Keita Nakano
40 GK Japan JPN Naoki Goto
42 DF Japan JPN Kento Hashimoto
54 MF Japan JPN Ryota Nagaki
81 FW Japan JPN Yusei Onoe Type 2
82 DF Japan JPN Ayato Takeda Type 2
83 MF Japan JPN Muku Fukuta Type 2
84 DF Japan JPN Teppei Masui Type 2
— GK Japan JPN Raiya Takechi Type 2

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 Naoto Arai (at Cerezo Osaka)
— DF Brazil BRA Cacá (at Brazil Corinthians)
— DF Japan JPN Towa Nishisaka (at ReinMeer Aomori)
— MF Japan JPN Akira Hamashita (at Ehime FC)
— MF Japan JPN Yushi Hasegawa (at SC Sagamihara)
— MF Japan JPN Rin Morita (at Nara Club)
— MF Japan JPN Hiroshi Omori (at Fukushima United)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Japan JPN Ryo Toyama (at Kagoshima United)
— MF Japan JPN Masaki Watai (at Portugal Boavista FC)
— MF Japan JPN Yudai Yamashita (at Reilac Shiga)
— FW Japan JPN Shiryu Fujiwara (at Tegevajaro Miyazaki)
— FW Nigeria NGA Oriola Sunday (at Vanraure Hachinohe)
— FW Japan JPN Wadi Ibrahim Suzuki (at CF Badalona)

Club staff
Position Staff
Interim managerJapan Kosaku Masuda
First-team coachJapan Masaya Yamaguchi
Japan Tsuyoshi Furukawa
Goalkeeper coachJapan Masahiko Nakagawa
AnalystJapan Akira Nakajima
Physical coachBrazil Wellington
Rehabilitation fitness coachJapan Atsushi Nagatani
Chief trainerJapan Shoji Suzuki
TrainerJapan Hisaaki Maehara
Japan Masaya Furukawa
Japan Kenta Saito
InterpreterJapan Masahiro Fukasawa
Japan Masayuki Hatamoto Ferreira
Japan Hiroki Nunome
ManagerJapan Yusuke Abe
Assistant managerJapan Yuya Ishii
Japan Daiki Sugawara

Managerial history
ManagerNationalityTenure
StartFinish
Kunio Yamade Japan198831 January 1993
Hajime Ishii Japan1 February 199331 January 1996
Edinho Brazil1 February 199631 December 1998
Shinji Tanaka  Japan1 January 199928 September 2006
Yutaka Azuma Japan28 September 200631 January 2007
Masataka Imai Japan1 January 200731 January 2008
Naohiko Minobe Japan1 February 200831 January 2012
Shinji Kobayashi Japan1 February 201231 January 2016
Hiroaki Nagashima Japan25 November 201531 January 2017
Ricardo Rodríguez Spain1 February 201731 January 2021
Takeshi Komoto (Interim) Japan1 February 202116 April 2021
Dani Poyatos Spain1 February 2021
Actual start date
16 April 2021[5]		31 January 2023
Beñat Labaien Spain1 February 202322 August 2023
Tatsuma Yoshida Japan23 August 20235 May 2024

Kit evolution
Home kits - 1st
2005-2006
2007-2008
2009-2010
2011-2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -
Away kits - 2nd
2005-2006
2007-2008
2009-2010
2011-2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -
Other kits - 3rd
2017
Summer 3rd
2019
15th Anniversary
Summer Only
2021
Summer

References
  1. "Tokushima Vortis Challenges J1 League Rivals". Otsuka Pharmaceutical. February 7, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  2. "The 2013 Promotion Playoff winners are the first club from the island of Shikoku to participate in Japan's top flight". Goal.com. March 26, 2014. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  3. Gus Fielding (December 8, 2013). "Tokushima reaches J1 with playoff final victory". Kyodo News. The Japan Times. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  4. "Top team". Tokushima Vortis. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  5. "Dani Poyatos arrives in Japan". www.vortis.jp. Archived from the original on 31 December 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
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