Tochigi City FC
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Tochigi City Football Club (栃木シティフットボールクラブ, Tochigi Shiti Futtobōrukurabu), commonly known as Tochigi City (栃木シティ, Tochigi Shiti Efushi) is a Japanese football club based in Tochigi City, Tochigi Prefecture. The club currently plays in the third-tier J3 League, after promotion from the Japan Football League in 2024.
Origin name
In 2006, Tochigi was adopted the moniker Uva (meaning "grape" in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish). Grapes are a specialty in the area of Ohira Town,[1] which is the location of the Hitachi Tochigi Plant in Tochigi Prefecture.
History
The club was formed in 1947 as Hitachi Tochigi Soccer Club, the works team of the local Hitachi, Ltd. affiliate.
After finishing as a runners-up in the local Kanto Soccer League in 2009 season, they were promoted to the 2010 Japan Football League through the All Japan Regional Football Promotion League Series. Prior to their first season in JFL, the club has dropped Hitachi prefix in its name and changed the reference to sport from "soccer" to "football" following general Japanese trend. From the 2019 season, the club has adopted the new name as Tochigi City .[2][3]
Promotion to Japan Football League
In 2023, Tochigi City secured promotion to Japan Football League after defeating Tsukuba 4–0 in final day of 2023 Japanese Regional Football Champions League, Champions of Japanese Regional Football Champions League for the first time in their history due to finishing in second place in Kanto Soccer League and a return to fourth tier after six years absence since change name from Tochigi Uva.
Promotion to J. League
On 24 September 2024, Tochigi City announced that it was officially granted a J3 Club License after approval from the J. League Board of Directors. [4]
On 17 November 2024, Tochigi City secured the 2024 Japan Football League championship and promotion to the J3 League for the first time in history after defeating Atletico Suzuka 6–0 in Kanseki Stadium Tochigi in match week 29, their final home match of the season, returning to the third tier after 11 years.[5][6]
On 13 December 2024, Tochigi City officially announced their first J3 League home game will be against SC Sagamihara on 16 February 2025 and their first away game will be against relegated team from J2, Thespa Gunma on 24 February 2025.[7] Tochigi City will also compete in the Tochigi Derby against Tochigi SC.
League and cup record
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | Emperor's Cup |
J. League Cup | Shakaijin Cup | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Div. | Tier | Teams | Pos. | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||||
| Hitachi Tochigi Uva SC | ||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Kanto Division 2 | 5 | 8 | 2nd | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 35 | 18 | 17 | 30 | Did not qualify | Not eligible | ||
| 2007 | Kanto Division 1 | 4 | 8 | 2nd | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 33 | 17 | 16 | 27 | ||||
| 2008 | 2nd | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 24 | 19 | 5 | 26 | 3rd round | ||||||
| 2009 | 2nd | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 30 | 16 | 14 | 31 | Did not qualify | ||||||
| Tochigi Uva | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Japan Football League | 3 | 18 | 15th | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 41 | 75 | -34 | 31 | 1st round | – | Ineligible | |
| 2011 | 17 | 10th | 33 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 40 | 43 | -3 | 45 | 2nd round | |||||
| 2012 | 17 | 17th | 32 | 4 | 10 | 18 | 36 | 70 | -34 | 22 | Prefectural qualify round | |||||
| 2013 | 18 | 17th | 34 | 9 | 3 | 22 | 34 | 64 | -32 | 30 | 2nd round | |||||
| 2014 | 4 | 14 | 13th | 26 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 16 | 37 | -21 | 19 | 1st round | ||||
| 2015 | 16 | 16th | 30 | 5 | 4 | 21 | 29 | 61 | -32 | 19 | 1st round | |||||
| 2016 | 16 | 15th | 30 | 5 | 1 | 24 | 34 | 77 | -43 | 16 | 1st round | |||||
| 2017 | 16 | 16th | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 22 | 56 | -34 | 24 | 2nd round | |||||
| 2018 | Kantō Soccer League Division 1 | 5 | 10 | 1st | 18 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 55 | 14 | 36 | 52 | Prefectural qualify round | Did not play | ||
| Tochigi City FC | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Kantō Soccer League Division 1 | 5 | 10 | 3rd | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 30 | 15 | 15 | 32 | 1st round | – | 2nd round | |
| 2020 † | 10 | 1st | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 6 | 19 | 23 | 1st round | Cancelled | ||||
| 2021 | 12 | 4th | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 45 | 26 | 19 | 46 | 2nd round | |||||
| 2022 | 10 | 1st | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 33 | 14 | 19 | 37 | Prefectural qualify round | Quarter final | ||||
| 2023 | 10 | 2nd | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 54 | 24 | 30 | 36 | 2nd round | 1st round | ||||
| 2024 | Japan Football League | 4 | 16 | 1st | 30 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 66 | 35 | 31 | 64 | 2nd round | Ineligible | ||
| 2025 | J3 League | 3 | 20 | TBD | 38 | Prefectural qualify round | 1st round | |||||||||
- Key
Honours
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Tochigi Prefecture Division 1 | 10 | 1967, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1983, 1999, 2002 |
| Tochigi Prefecture 2nd Division A | 2 | 1989, 1990 |
| Tochigi Prefecture Division 2 | 1 | 1991 |
| Tochigi Prefectural Football Championship Emperor's Cup Tochigi Prefectural Qualifiers |
11 | 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 |
| Kantō Soccer League | 3 | 2018, 2020, 2022 |
| Japanese Regional Football Champions League | 1 | 2023 |
| Japan Football League | 1 | 2024 |
Current squad
As of 28 June 2025.[8]
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Out on loan
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|
Club staff
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| Position | Staff[9] |
|---|---|
| Manager | Template:Flagicon Naoki Imaya |
| Defense coach | Template:Flagicon Takuma Tsuda |
| Offense coach | Template:Flagicon Atsushi Izawa |
| Goalkeeper coach | Template:Flagicon Yuki Takita |
| Strengthening coach | Template:Flagicon Nobuaki Sekimura |
| Analyst | Template:Flagicon Eishiro Hashiya Template:Flagicon Kazuki Yokoyama Template:Flagicon Kentaro Yoshihara |
| Chief trainer | Template:Flagicon Arihiro Koizumi |
| Trainer | Template:Flagicon Kosuke Inoue |
| Competent/Kitman | Template:Flagicon Masateru Hata |
| Side affair and interpreter | Template:Flagicon Naoki Iwahashi |
| Reinforcement affairs | Template:Flagicon Takumi Abe |
| Doctor | Template:Flagicon Hideyuki Sanuma Template:Flagicon Masataka Hasue Template:Flagicon Akinori Kimura Template:Flagicon Tsuneari Takahashi Template:Flagicon Takahiro Higashi Template:Flagicon Yasuhiro Higai Template:Flagicon Yuya Ogawa Template:Flagicon Taisuke Sato |
References
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- ↑ mainichi.jp
- ↑ sankei.com
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External links
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- Tochigi Uva FC U-15 U-12 Football School (archived)
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