FC Machida Zelvia

Machida is known as "Brazil of Tokyo" due to the popularity of football in the city; it has, in fact, produced the second-largest number of J. League players though its football school. Originally formed in 1977 by Machida's football federation, this school is well known for its development of young talent into professional players. In 1989, in order to retain that talent in Machida, F.C. Machida established its own top team, which, at that time, played in the Tokyo Prefecture League.

In 2003 they became a polideportivo under the name Athletic Club Machida, and in 2005 were promoted to the Kanto League, having won the Tokyo Prefectural League (First Division). They came first in the Kanto league (Second Division) the following year, and were promoted to First Division, where they stayed until promotion to Japan Football League as champions of the Regional Promotion Playoff Series in 2008.

In 2009, they adopted the current nickname Zelvia, a portmanteau of the Portuguese words zelkova (Machida city's official tree) and salvia (a grassy plant commonly used in football pitches).

The same year, the club declared its intent to be promoted to J. League's 2nd division, and its status of semi-affiliate was officially approved by the J. League. However, its home stadium capacity and light specifications did not meet the J. League's requirements, average attendance did not reach 3,000, and the team's final position of 6th place did not allow for Zelvia's promotion to the J. League.

In 2010, Machida Zelvia appointed Naoki Soma, a former star player who played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as its new head coach. The stadium's lighting was renewed, and club added several J. League players to its roster. Zelvia also announced its partnership with Major League Soccer's D.C. United, which became the first historic partnership between a Japanese and American football club.[1] The reborn team beat Tokyo Verdy, its arch-rival from the J. League, in the Emperor's Cup, but was knocked out by Albirex Niigata in the third round. Soma left at the end of the season and was replaced by Ranko Popović, former coach of Oita Trinita.

The stadium's capacity and conditions were still short of fulfilling J. League criteria, so the club completed another renovation between the end of the 2010 and start of the 2011 seasons. Machida Zelvia finished the 2011 season in third place after beating Kamatamare Sanuki in the final match of that season, thereby granting them promotion to J. League (Second Division),[2] but were relegated after a bottom-placed finish. They became one of the original J3 clubs after finishing at 4th place in the 2014 JFL season and returned to J2 as 2015 runners-up by beating Oita Trinita in the promotion/relegation playoff.

Machida Zelvia currently plays at Machida Municipal Athletic Stadium (Nozuta Stadium). Capacity until 2011 was 6,200, including grassy areas, and has had lighting for night games since 2009. Between the 2010 and 2011 seasons the stadium was upgraded and is now all-seated. Although the minimum seating requirement for J2 is 10,000, Nozuta fell short of that number. However, under an agreement made with J-League officials, home games where a large attendance is expected will be played at other stadia leased specifically for the purpose, and upgrades to Nozuta were made to meet the 10,000-capacity requirement. The current capacity of the stadium is 15,489.

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
• † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
• Source: J. League Data Site

• Kanto Soccer League
  • Champions 2007, 2008
• Japanese Regional Leagues Champion
  • Champions 2008

Home and away kits.

• Home

2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
2020	2021 -

• Away

2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
2020	2021 -

As of February 15, 2022.[3] [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 2 DF  JPN Masayuki Okuyama 3 DF  JPN Kai Miki 5 DF  JPN Kota Fukatsu 6 MF  JPN Kaishu Sano 7 FW  BRA Dudu 8 MF  JPN Leo Takae 9 FW  PRK Jong Tae-se 10 MF  JPN Taiki Hirato 13 DF  JPN Shunya Suganuma 16 MF  JPN Zento Uno 17 DF  JPN Shohei Takahashi 18 MF  JPN Ariajasuru Hasegawa 19 MF  JPN Kazuma Yamaguchi (on loan from Matsumoto Yamaga) 20 FW  JPN Daiki Sato

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 MF  JPN Hijiri Onaga 23 GK  JPN William Popp 24 DF  JPN Jun Okano 26 DF  JPN Takumi Narasaka 28 FW  JPN Shunsuke Ota 30 FW  JPN Yuki Nakashima 37 FW  JPN Yu Hirakawa DSP 40 FW  BRA Vinícius Araújo 41 MF  JPN Takuya Yasui 42 GK  JPN Koki Fukui 44 DF  JPN Kazuki Adachi Type 2 45 GK  JPN Sotaro Sasaki Type 2 46 MF  JPN Ken Higuchi 50 GK  JPN Anton Burns

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  JPN Yoshitaka Aoki (on loan at ReinMeer Aomori) — FW  JPN Misaki Haruyama (on loan at FC Imabari)

As of June 2020

Position	Name
Manager	Ranko Popovic
Head Coach	Vladica Grujic
Assistant Coach	Atsushi Yoneyama
Goalkeeping Coach	Jiro Takeda
Physical coach	Tsukoshi Tomoo
Chief Director	Irako Keisuke Ogawa Yutaka
Doctor	Fujisawa Takahiro Otoshi Akio
Chief trainer	Onuma Satoki
Trainer	Osawa Shin
Physio Therapist (Medical Advisor)	Saito Kazuyoshi
Interpretation	Tsukada Takashi
Interpreter & Analysis coach	Kurokawa Takashi
Chief manager	Watanabe Naoya
Kit manager	Kawakita Hiroyuki
Sub manager	Suzuki Yuto
Nutrition Management Advisor	Hamano Jun

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Official Facebook page (in Japanese)
• Official Twitter account (in Japanese)