Giravanz Kitakyushu
Giravanz Kitakyushu (ギラヴァンツ北九州, Giravantsu Kitakyūshū) is a Japanese football club based in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. The club's name was changed from New Wave Kitakyushu (ニューウェーブ北九州, Nyū Wēbu Kitakyūshū) as of 1 December 2009.[2] They played in the Japan Football League from 2008–2009, and were promoted to J. League Division 2 (J2) for the 2010 season. They played in J2 until the 2016 season, but suffered relegation to the 2017 J3 League after being ranked 22nd. After slumping to the bottom of the 2018 J3 League, they bounced back to become champions in 2019, so were then promoted back to J2 for the 2020 season.
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| Full name | Giravanz Kitakyushu | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Giravanz, Kita-Q | ||
| Founded | 1947[1] | ||
| Ground | Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture | ||
| Capacity | 15,300 | ||
| Chairman | Yukito Tamai | ||
| Manager | Kenichi Amano | ||
| League | J3 League | ||
| 2021 | J2 League, 21st of 22  (relegated) | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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History
Mitsubishi Chemical SC (1947–2000)
The club was formed in 1947 as part of Mitsubishi Chemical's Kurosaki factory. The club was a founding member of Kyushu regional league since 1973. Most of its career was spent in the regional and prefectural leagues, as Kitakyushu was represented in the Japan Soccer League by Yahata Steel F.C. Yahata was a founding member of the JSL in 1965, and finished as runner-up in its first two seasons in that league. Yahata was renamed New Nippon Steel F.C. in 1970, when Yahata Steel merged with Fuji Steel to form (New) Nippon Steel. It ultimately was relegated to the Second Division in 1982, then relegated from the Second Division to Kyushu regional league after 1990–91 season, and closed in 1999.
New Wave Kitakyushu (2001–2009)
In 2001, the club became a community-oriented club (New Wave) Kitakyushu F.C.
In 2007 New Wave took second place in the Regional League promotion series, and was promoted to the JFL for the 2008 season.
The club applied for J. League Associate Membership in January 2008, and the application was accepted at the J. League board meeting on February 19, 2008.
On 1 April 2009, the club made an announcement that they would be accepting suggestions for a new name. This was because the name "New Wave" may cause trademark or tradename disputes.[3] Therefore, the new name had to be something not yet registered as a trademark.
Giravanz Kitakyushu (2010–)
On 2 October 2009, they announced that the new club name for the 2010 season would be Giravanz Kitakyushu (ギラヴァンツ北九州, Giravantsu Kitakyūshū). According to the official news release, the name "Giravanz" is coined from two Italian words: "Girasole", which means "sunflower", and "Avanzare", which means "moving forward".[4] (The sunflower is one of Kitakyushu's symbol flowers.)
On 23 November 2009, after a 2–1 win away against Arte Takasaki, Kitakyushu secured a top four position in the JFL for the 2009 season, regardless of the result at the final week of 2009 JFL. This means they will play in J. League Division 2 for the 2010 season, something which was confirmed by the J.League board meeting on 30 November 2009.[5][6][7]
In its inaugural year in the pro ranks, despite attaining a large number of draw matches, Kitakyushu set new records for fewest wins and points in the season standings.
After several seasons in J2 League, on 20 November 2016 they suffered their first relegation to J3 League.
After the 2018 J3 League season when they eventually ranked bottom, they named Shinji Kobayashi as the new manager, who also took a role as the newly-established Sports Director position concurrently. In 2019 J3 League, Kobayashi led the club to become the champions & promoted to the 2020 J2 League. Although they are successful enough as far as ranked top at the end of the first half, and eventually ranked 5th at the end of the 2020 season, they had a dozen of key players, including Akira Silvano Disaro who scored 18 goals in 2020 season, transferred to other clubs after the season. In 2021, they have ranked at or near the bottom for the entire season, which resulted in suffering relegation to the 2022 J3 League, becoming the first J.-League club relegated to the J3 League second time.
League and cup record
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| Season | Div. | Tier | Teams | Pos. | Attendance/G | Emperor's Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Kyushu Soccer League | 4 | 10 | 6th | - | Did not qualify |
| 2005 | 10 | 6th | - | |||
| 2006 | 9 | 3rd | - | |||
| 2007 | 11 | 1st | - | |||
| 2008 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 10th | 1,149 | 3rd round |
| 2009 | 18 | 4th | 3,411 | 1st round | ||
| 2010 | J2 | 2 | 19 | 19th | 4,189 | 3rd round |
| 2011 | 20 | 8th | 4,051 | 3rd round | ||
| 2012 | 22 | 9th | 3,346 | 2nd round | ||
| 2013 | 22 | 16th | 3,175 | 3rd round | ||
| 2014 | 22 | 5th | 3,622 | Quarter finals | ||
| 2015 | 22 | 7th | 3,488 | 2nd round | ||
| 2016 | 22 | 22nd | 3,224 | 2nd round | ||
| 2017 | J3 | 3 | 17 | 9th | 5,939 | 2nd round |
| 2018 | 17 | 17th | 4,501 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2019 | 18 | 1st | 6,049 | 2nd round | ||
| 2020 † | J2 | 2 | 22 | 5th | 3,352 | Did not qualify |
| 2021 † | 22 | 21st | 2,974 | 2nd round | ||
| 2022 | J3 | 3 | 18 | TBA |
- Key
Honours
- J3 League 1
- Kyushu Soccer League 8
- 1973, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 2007
Current squad
As of 7 April 2022.[9]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Manager history
| Manager | Nationality | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yoshinori Sembiki |  Japan | 1 February 2005 | 31 January 2007 |
| George Yonashiro | Japan | 1 February 2007 | 31 January 2011 |
| Yasutoshi Miura | Japan | 1 February 2011 | 31 January 2013 |
| Kōichi Hashiratani | Japan | 1 February 2013 | 31 January 2017 |
| Takeo Harada | Japan | 1 February 2017 | 31 January 2018 |
| Hitoshi Morishita | Japan | 1 February 2018 | 17 June 2018 |
| Tetsuji Hashiratani | Japan | 20 June 2018 | 31 January 2019 |
| Shinji Kobayashi | Japan | 1 February 2019 | 31 January 2022 |
| Kenichi Amano | Japan | 1 February 2022 | Current |
Kit evolution
| FP 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          2010 - 2012 |
     2013 |
   2014 |
   2015 |
     2016 |
     2017 |
     2018 |
     2019 |
     2020 |
     2021 - |
| FP 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
     2010 - 2012 |
     2013 |
   2014 |
   2015 |
     2016 |
     2017 |
     2018 |
     2019 |
     2020 |
     2021 - |
References
- Club Profile
- News Release:New Wave Kitakyushu became a member of J. League(Japanese) (ニュースリリース ニューウェーブ北九州がJリーグ入会) Archived 2009-12-01 at the Wayback Machine J. League official website posted 2009-11-30
- Official website (Japanese only)
- Announcement of the new team name and its emblem (新チーム名称・エンブレム発表) Archived 2009-10-07 at the Wayback Machine New Wave Kitakyushu official website news release : dated 2 October 2009
- Official website (Japanese only) Archived 2009-12-03 at the Wayback Machine
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-12-04. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) J's Goal Website (Japanese only) - http://www.tvq.co.jp/news/news.php?did=5162
- "J. League Data Site". J. League. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- "Players & Staff選手・スタッフ". Giravanz Kitakyushu. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
External links
- Official "Giravanz" site (in Japanese)
- Kitakyushu Football Club (in Japanese) club organization and subsidiary teams