FC Machida Zelvia facts for kids
 |
|||
| Full name | Football Club Machida Zelvia | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Zelvia | ||
| Founded | 1989 as FC Machida | ||
| Ground | Machida GION Stadium Machida, Tokyo |
||
| Capacity | 15,489 | ||
| Owner | CyberAgent | ||
| Chairman | Takehisa Otomo | ||
| Manager | Go Kuroda | ||
| League | J2 League | ||
| 2022 | J2 League, 15th of 22 | ||
|
|
|||
Football Club Machida Zelvia (フットボールクラブ町田ゼルビア, Futtobōru Kurabu Machida Zerubia), often called just Machida Zelvia, is a professional football team from Machida, Tokyo, Japan. They play in the top Japanese league, the J1 League. They earned their spot in the J1 League by winning the J2 League championship in 2023.
Contents
History of Machida Zelvia
How the Club Started (1989–2002)
FC Machida is sometimes called the "Brazil of Tokyo." This is because football is super popular in Machida. Many players from this city have gone on to play in Japan's professional J. League. The club started its own football school in 1977. This school was great at helping young players become pros. To keep these talented players, Machida created its main team in 1989. At first, they played in the Tokyo Prefectural League.
Climbing the Ranks to Japan Football League (2002–2011)
In 2003, the club grew and became a multi-sport club called Athletic Club Machida. They won the Tokyo Prefectural League (First Division) in 2005. This win helped them move up to the Kanto League. The next year, they won the Kanto League (Second Division) and got promoted to the First Division.
In 2008, they won the Regional Promotion Playoff Series. This big win helped them get promoted to the Japan Football League.
In 2009, the team got its current nickname, "Zelvia." This name is a mix of two Portuguese words: zelkova (Machida city's official tree) and salvia (Machida city's official flower).
That same year, the club wanted to move up to the J. League's 2nd division. The J. League even approved them as a semi-affiliate. But their home stadium wasn't big enough, and the lights weren't good enough. Also, not enough fans came to games (they needed 3,000, but didn't reach it). The team also finished 6th, which wasn't high enough for promotion.
In 2010, Naoki Soma, a famous player from the 1998 FIFA World Cup, became the new head coach. The stadium got new lights, and the team added more J. League players. Machida Zelvia also partnered with Major League Soccer's D.C. United in the USA. This was the first partnership between a Japanese and American club. The team beat their rivals, Tokyo Verdy, in the 2010 Emperor's Cup. But they lost to Albirex Niigata in the third round. Soma left at the end of the season. Ranko Popović became the new coach.
Ups and Downs: The Yo-yo Years (2012–2022)
The stadium still needed improvements to meet J. League rules. So, it was renovated again between 2010 and 2011. In 2011, Zelvia finished third after beating Kamatamare Sanuki. This earned them a promotion to the J. League (Second Division)! However, they were relegated (moved down) the next year because they finished last.
They became one of the first clubs in the J3 League in 2014. In 2015, they finished second in J3. They beat Oita Trinita in a play-off game and returned to J2. In their first season back in J2 (2016), Machida finished 7th. They were only four points away from the play-off spots.
In 2017, Zelvia finished 15th. In 2018, they had a great season and finished 4th. This was a play-off spot! But they couldn't join the play-offs because their stadium didn't meet the rules for the J1 League. In 2019, the club finished 18th. By the end of this season, they finally got a J1 license for their stadium.
In 2020, Zelvia finished 19th. In 2021, they finished 5th. However, there were no promotion play-offs that season because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. So, Zelvia stayed in J2. In 2022, they finished 15th.
Winning the J2 League and Debuting in J1 (2023–Present)
On October 22, 2023, after seven years in the J2 League, Machida Zelvia finally made it to the J1 League! This was a first for the club. Their manager, Go Kuroda, led them to win the 2023 J2 League title with 87 points. They secured the title after a 3–0 win against Roasso Kumamoto. They were officially crowned champions on October 28, 2023.
Zelvia played their first ever J1 League game on February 24, 2024, against Gamba Osaka. The game ended in a 1–1 draw. Junya Suzuki scored the club's first goal in the top league. Zelvia had an amazing start to their J1 League season. They led the league table with three wins, one draw, and no losses, earning 10 points.
Home Stadium
Zelvia plays their home games at Machida GION Stadium, also known as Nozuta Stadium. Until 2011, it could hold 6,200 people. It has had lights for night games since 2009. The stadium was improved between 2010 and 2011. Now, all seats are proper stadium seats. The J2 League requires stadiums to have at least 10,000 seats. Nozuta Stadium was smaller than that at first. But the club made a deal with the J-League. For big games, they would use other stadiums. They also upgraded Nozuta to meet the 10,000-seat rule. The stadium can now hold 15,489 fans.
Team Uniforms and Sponsors
Sponsors
Machida Zelvia has different companies that sponsor their uniforms. These sponsors help the club financially.
| Season(s) | Kit Manufacturer | Main Shirt Sponsor | Collarbone Sponsor | Additional Sponsor(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | svolme | AbemaTV | – | EAGLE KENSO (Right) | odakyu | TERADA 株式会社寺田電機製作所 |
Tamagawa University |
| 2020 | AQUA RESORT (Left) | 25th Anniversary (Right) | |||||
| 2021 | ABEMA TV Video & Entertainment |
EAGLE KENSO (Right) | |||||
| 2022 | AQUA RESORT (1st) BEST LAND (2nd) |
— | TERADA 株式会社寺田電機製作所 |
Tamagawa University | — | ||
| 2023 | Adidas | CyberAgent | — | TERADA 株式会社寺田電機製作所 |
Tamagawa University | ||
| 2024 | Rudel | ||||||
Kit Evolution: How the Uniforms Changed
The team's uniforms have changed over the years. Here you can see how their home, away, and special kits have looked.
| Home kit - 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          |
     |
     |
     |
    |
     |
     |
     |
     |
     |
     |
     |
     |
     |
     |
| Away kit - 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
     |
     |
     |
     |
     |
     |
     |
     |
   |
     |
     |
     |
     |
     |
     |
| Special kit - 3rd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
   25th anniv. |
  30th anniv. |
     |
     35th anniv. |
|
Current Team Players
Here are the players currently on the Machida Zelvia team.
|
|
Players on Loan to Other Teams
Some players from Machida Zelvia are currently playing for other teams for a short time. This is called being "on loan."
|
|
Club Officials
These are the people who work behind the scenes to help the club run smoothly.
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Go Kuroda |
| Assistant manager |  Kim Myung-hwi |
| First-team coach | Shin Yamanaka Hikaru Mita Yuto Kurimoto Daiki Ueda |
| Goalkeeping coach | Nobuyuki Furo |
| Physical coach | Toru Yamazaki |
| Interpreter and coach |  Leonardo Moreira |
| Analytics coach and Head of analysts | Yasuhiko Nishimura |
| Analytical coach | Yoshiro Akano |
| Technical staff | Sota Kinoshita Ryang Yoon-ho |
| Interpreter | Go Murakami Ken Takahashi Lee Seong-ang |
| Chief trainer | Yasuyuki Sasaki |
| Trainer | Yuta Hamada Shin Osawa Takashi Imai |
| Physiotherapist | Takuro Yoshitake |
| Medical coordinator | Akihisa Yamamoto |
| Chief manager | Naoya Watanabe |
| Sub manager | Ryota Kiyofuji |
| Kit manager | Hiroyuki Kawakita Yuto Suzuki |
| Nutrition management advisor | Jun Hamano |
| Chief doctor | Takahiro Fujisawa Keisuke Irako |
Team Managers Over Time
Here's a list of the managers who have led Machida Zelvia.
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | ||
| Sadao Shigeta | Japan |
1991 | 1995 |
| Shoji Komoda | 1996 | 2002 | |
| Minoru Moriya | 2003 | 2007 | |
| Tetsuya Totsuka | 1 February 2008 | 31 January 2010 | |
| Naoki Soma | 1 February 2010 | 31 January 2011 | |
| Ranko Popović |  Serbia |
1 February 2011 | 31 January 2012 |
| Osvaldo Ardiles |  Argentina |
1 February 2012 | 17 November 2012 |
| Yutaka Akita | Japan |
26 November 2012 | 25 June 2013 |
| Naoki Kusunose | 25 June 2013 | 31 January 2014 | |
| Naoki Soma | 1 February 2014 | 31 January 2020 | |
| Ranko Popović | Serbia |
1 February 2020 | 31 January 2023 |
| Go Kuroda | Japan |
1 February 2023 | present |
League and Cup Results
This table shows how Machida Zelvia has performed in different leagues and cups each season.
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | J. League Cup | Emperor's Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | JFL | 18 | 6th | 34 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 38 | 30 | 8 | 54 | 1,886 | Not eligible | – |
| 2010 | 18 | 3rd | 34 | 19 | 4 | 11 | 71 | 44 | 27 | 61 | 3,503 | 3rd round | ||
| 2011 | 18 | 3rd | 33 | 18 | 7 | 8 | 61 | 28 | 33 | 61 | 3,515 | 2nd round | ||
| 2012 | J2 | 22 | 22nd | 42 | 7 | 11 | 24 | 34 | 67 | -33 | 32 | 3,627 | 4th round | |
| 2013 | JFL | 18 | 4th | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 51 | 44 | 7 | 61 | 3,174 | – | |
| 2014 | J3 | 12 | 3rd | 33 | 20 | 8 | 5 | 59 | 23 | 37 | 68 | 3,134 | – | |
| 2015 | 13 | 2nd | 36 | 23 | 9 | 4 | 52 | 18 | 34 | 78 | 3,766 | 4th round | ||
| 2016 | J2 | 22 | 7th | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 53 | 44 | 9 | 65 | 5,123 | 1st round | |
| 2017 | 22 | 16th | 42 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 53 | 53 | 0 | 50 | 4,056 | 2nd round | ||
| 2018 | 22 | 4th | 42 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 62 | 44 | 18 | 76 | 4,915 | 3rd round | ||
| 2019 | 22 | 18th | 42 | 9 | 16 | 17 | 36 | 59 | -23 | 43 | 4,718 | 2nd round | ||
| 2020 † | 22 | 19th | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 41 | 52 | -11 | 49 | 1,302 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2021 † | 22 | 5th | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 64 | 38 | 26 | 72 | 2,577 | 2nd round | ||
| 2022 | 22 | 15th | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 51 | 50 | 1 | 51 | 3,243 | 2nd round | ||
| 2023 | 22 | 1st | 42 | 26 | 9 | 7 | 79 | 35 | 44 | 87 | 7,426 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2024 | J1 | 20 | TBD | 38 | TBD | 2nd round |
- Key
- Attendance/G = Average home league attendance
- † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
- Source: J. League Data Site
Club Achievements
Machida Zelvia has won several honors throughout its history.
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Kanto Soccer League Division 2 | 1 | 2006 |
| Kanto Soccer League Division 1 | 1 | 2007, 2008 |
| Japanese Regional Football Champions League | 1 | 2008 |
| Tokyo Metropolitan Football Tournament | 2 | 2011, 2015 |
| J2 League | 1 | 2023 |
See also
In Spanish: FC Machida Zelvia para niños
