Nara Club

Not to be confused with Nara United F.C..
Nara Club
奈良クラブ
Nickname(s)Nara
Founded1991; 33 years ago (1991)
StadiumRohto Field Nara, Nara[1]
Capacity30,600
Coordinates34°41′54″N 135°49′45″E / 34.69833°N 135.82917°E / 34.69833; 135.82917
ChairmanMitsuru Hamada[2]
ManagerSpain Julián Marín Bazalo[3]
LeagueJ3 League
2023J3 League, 5th of 20
WebsiteClub website

Nara Club (奈良クラブ, Nara Kurabu) is a Japanese football (soccer) club based in the city of Nara, capital of Nara Prefecture. They currently play in J3 League, the third tier professional in the Japanese football league system.

History[edit]

The club was originally established in Nara in 1991 under the name Tonan Club (都南クラブ, Tonan Kurabu) and it became a member of the Football Association of Nara. The club went up to the top division in 1997.

It was renamed to its current name in 2008, and was promoted to the regional league in 2009. In 2014, they won the Regional League promotion series, earning promotion to the Japan Football League, where they played from 2015 to 2022.

On 5 November 2022, Nara was promoted to the J3 League for the first time in their history, after beating Veertien Mie in a narrow 1–0 win, with Sotaro Yamamoto scoring the winning goal in the 86th minute, to confirm their early access to the J3, a few rounds before the end of the season. The Nara-based club was promoted after eight consecutive seasons in the JFL. 15 days later at the same month, Nara secured their first JFL title, after drawing 1–1 with Sony Sendai at the last round of the competition. A ten-goal difference in Nara's favor them and FC Osaka was the determining factor that gave Nara the league title.

On 24 October 2023, Nara Club announcement officially granted J2 License after approval of Club Licensing Board.[4]

Stadium[edit]

Nara Club currently plays its home matches at the Rohto Field Nara. The stadium is confirmed to host every Nara Club home match at the 2023 J3 League, after its schedule was revealed on 20 January 2023.

League and cup record[edit]

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League Emperor's Cup J League Cup Shakaijin Cup
Season Division Tier Teams Pos. P W D L F A GD Pts
Tonan Club
1992 Nara Pref. League Edu. 11 * 3rd * * * * * * * * * Not Eligible *
1993 Nara Pref. League Div. 5 10 1st * * * * * * * *
1994 Nara Pref. League Div. 4 8 1st * * * * * * * *
1995 Nara Pref. League Div. 3 7 1st * * * * * * * *
1996 Nara Pref. League Div. 2 6 1st * * * * * * * *
1997 Nara Pref. League
(Div. 1)		 5 6th * * * * * * * *
1998 4th * * * * * * * *
1999 6 3rd * * * * * * * *
2000 2nd * * * * * * * *
2001 1st * * * * * * * *
2002 11 7th 10 3 3 4 14 14 0 12 Did not qualify Did not qualify
2003 5th 10 6 0 4 17 14 3 18
2004 1st 10 8 1 1 25 8 17 25
2005 [* 1] 3rd 10 6 1 3 25 11 14 19
2006 [* 2] 1st 10 8 1 1 31 11 20 25
2007 12 3rd 11 6 1 4 22 10 12 22
Nara Club
2008 Nara Pref. League
(Div. 1) 		6 12 2nd 11 8 3 0 39 9 30 27 Did not qualify Not Eligible 1st round
2009 Kansai Soccer League (Div. 2) 5 8 1st 14 9 3 2 47 18 29 30 2nd round Did not qualify
2010 Kansai Soccer League
(Div. 1) 		4 4th 14 6 6 2 36 24 12 24 1st round
2011 1st 14 11 2 1 42 13 29 35 1st round
2012 2nd 14 8 5 1 28 11 17 29 2nd round
2013 5th 14 3 4 7 11 22 −11 14 2nd round
2014 5 1st 14 10 3 1 30 11 19 33 3rd round Quarter final
2015 JFL 4 16 7th 30 13 7 10 33 28 5 46 1st round Not eligible
2016 10th 30 11 7 12 41 48 -7 37 1st round
2017 7th 30 10 10 10 41 51 -10 40 1st round
2018 8th 30 12 6 12 33 32 1 42 2nd round
2019 14th 30 8 10 12 27 32 -5 34 1st round
2020 13th 15 5 3 7 21 21 0 18 2nd round
2021 17 10th 32 10 13 9 39 36 3 43 Did not qualify
2022 16 1st 30 16 11 3 48 25 23 59 1st round
2023 J3 3 20 5th 38 15 12 11 45 32 13 57 1st round
2024 TBD 38 2nd Round TBC
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
  • Source: http://naraclub.jp/club
  1. ^ It was originally 12 teams participating. Tenri Univ. FC was disqualified, and the rest of 11 teams had to compete.[5]
  2. ^ It was originally 12 teams participating. Ikoma SC was disqualified, and the rest of 11 teams had to compete.[6]

Honours[edit]

Nara Club Honours
Honour No. Years
Nara Prefecture League Division 5 1 1993
Nara Prefecture League Division 4 1 1994
Nara Prefecture League Division 3 1 1995
Nara Prefecture League Division 2 1 1996
Nara Prefecture League Division 1 3 2001, 2004, 2006
Kansai League Division 2 1 2009
Kansai League Division 1 2 2011, 2014
Japan Football League 1 2022

Players[edit]

Current squad[edit]

As of 19 April 2024.[7] 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 Japan JPN Shinji Okada
3 DF Japan JPN Yudai Sawada
4 DF Japan JPN Wataru Ise
5 DF Japan JPN Daisei Suzuki
6 DF Japan JPN Haruhi Terashima
7 MF Japan JPN Ryota Kuwajima
8 MF Japan JPN Hayato Horiuchi
9 FW Japan JPN Tatsuma Sakai
10 MF Japan JPN Sotaro Yamamoto
11 MF Japan JPN Megumi Nishida
13 DF Japan JPN Yuta Tsunami
14 MF Japan JPN Kensei Nakashima
15 FW Thailand THA Patrik Gustavsson (on loan from BG Pathum United)
17 FW Japan JPN Manato Hyakuda
18 MF Japan JPN Shunsuke Mori
19 GK Thailand THA Kiadtiphon Udom (on loan from BG Pathum United)
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF Japan JPN Yuto Kunitake
22 DF Japan JPN Kei Ikoma (on loan from Tiamo Hirakata)
23 DF Japan JPN Yuki Kotani (captain)
25 MF Japan JPN Riku Kamigaki
27 FW Japan JPN Tomoya Sekiguchi Type 2
28 MF Japan JPN Daichi Kawai Type 2
29 MF Japan JPN Katsutoshi Hayashi Type 2
31 MF Japan JPN Yuki Okada
39 MF Japan JPN Shota Yomesaka
40 DF Japan JPN Yuzuru Yoshimura
41 MF Japan JPN Rin Morita (on loan from Tokushima Vortis)
43 MF Japan JPN Ryosuke Tamura
49 DF Japan JPN Yota Shimokawa
51 GK Japan JPN Noa Sekinuma
96 GK Spain ESP Marc Vito

Club staff[edit]

Position Staff
Manager Spain Julián Marín
Assistant manager Spain Oriol Fernandez Peix
Japan Kenta Betsuki
Goalkeeper coach Japan Masatoshi Hayashi
Interpreter Japan Yosuke Fukuda
Analyst and side affairs Japan Kazuki Fujiwara
Chief trainer Japan Hiroshi Fujimoto
Chief tainer Japan Kazushi Matsumura

Managerial history[edit]

As of November 2022
Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Koji Yamaguchi  Japan 1991 2009
Ken'ichiro Fujimoto  Japan 2010
Satoru Yoshida  Japan 1 January 2011 31 December 2011
Masashi Hachūda  Japan 1 February 2012 3 January 2013
Jiro Yabe  Japan 3 July 2012 7 October 2013
Jun Mizukoshi  Japan 8 October 2013 31 January 2014
Atsushi Nakamura  Japan 1 February 2014 31 January 2017
Norihiro Satsukawa  Japan 12 February 2017 31 January 2019
Koichi Sugiyama  Japan 12 February 2019 31 January 2020
Maiki Hayashi  Japan 1 February 2020 31 January 2021
Julián Marín Bazalo  Spain 1 February 2021 present

Kit evolution[edit]

Home kit - 1st
2009 - 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -
Away kit - 2nd
2009 - 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Jリーグ準加盟審査結果について" (Press release) (in Japanese). Japan Professional Football League. 17 September 2013. Archived from the original on 20 September 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  2. ^ 今後のクラブ運営体制について. Nara Club (in Japanese). 26 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  3. ^ "フリアン氏 トップチーム監督就任のお知らせ" (Press release) (in Japanese). Nara Club. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  4. ^ "2024年シーズン「Ｊ2クラブライセンス」交付のお知らせ". naraclub.jp. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  5. ^ "１部リーグ勝敗表" (PDF). Nara Football Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  6. ^ "平成18年度 奈良県社会人サッカーリーグ１部星取表" (PDF). Nara Football Federation. 23 November 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  7. ^ "2024トップチーム". naraclub.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 15 April 2024.

External links[edit]

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