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Giravanz Kitakyushu
ギラヴァンツ北九州
Giravanz Kitakyushu logo.svg
Full name Giravanz Kitakyushu
Nickname(s) Giravanz, Kita-Q
Founded 1947; 78 years ago (1947)
Stadium Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu
Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture
Stadium
capacity		 15,300
Chairman Yukito Tamai
Manager Kohei Masumoto
League J3 League
2022 J3 League, 13th of 18

Giravanz Kitakyushu (ギラヴァンツ北九州, Giravantsu Kitakyūshū) is a Japanese football team. They are based in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Currently, they play in the J3 League, which is the third level of professional football in Japan.

Club History

How the Club Started (1947–2000)

The club began in 1947. It was part of the Mitsubishi Chemical company's factory in Kurosaki. The team was one of the first members of the Kyushu regional league in 1973. For most of its early years, the club played in regional and local leagues. Another team, Yahata Steel F.C., used to represent Kitakyushu in the top league. Yahata Steel F.C. was a founding member of the Japan Soccer League in 1965. They finished second in their first two seasons. In 1970, Yahata Steel F.C. changed its name to New Nippon Steel F.C. This happened when Yahata Steel joined with Fuji Steel. The team later moved down to lower divisions and closed in 1999.

Becoming New Wave Kitakyushu (2001–2009)

In 2001, the club changed its focus. It became a community-based club called New Wave Kitakyushu F.C. In 2007, New Wave finished second in a special competition. This allowed them to move up to the JFL (Japan Football League) for the 2008 season.

The club wanted to join the J. League, Japan's top professional league. They applied in January 2008. The J. League board accepted their application in February 2008. On April 1, 2009, the club announced they needed a new name. Their old name, "New Wave," might have caused problems with trademarks. So, they needed a name that was not already registered.

The Giravanz Era (2010–Present)

On October 2, 2009, the club announced its new name for the 2010 season: Giravanz Kitakyushu. The name "Giravanz" comes from two Italian words. "Girasole" means "sunflower," and "Avanzare" means "moving forward." The sunflower is a special flower for Kitakyushu city.

On November 23, 2009, Kitakyushu won a game against Arte Takasaki. This win helped them finish in the top four of the JFL for the 2009 season. Because of this, they were promoted to J. League Division 2. They played in J2 from 2010 to 2016.

In their first year as a professional team (2010), Kitakyushu had many tied games. They set new records for the fewest wins and points in the season. After finishing last in the 2018 J3 League season, Shinji Kobayashi became their new manager. In 2019, Kobayashi led the team to a great comeback. They won the league championship and moved up to the 2020 J2 League. They finished 5th in 2020.

At the end of the 2021 season, they were moved down to the J3 League. This made them the first J.League club to be relegated to J3 a second time. They finished 13th in 2022. In 2023, they finished last. However, they avoided being moved down to the JFL. This was because the top teams in the JFL that season did not have the right license to be promoted. In 2024, Kitakyushu finished seventh. They missed qualifying for the playoffs by just two points. The 2025 J3 season is the last season played on a calendar year format.

Home Stadium

Giravanz played at the Honjo Athletic Stadium from 2010 to 2016. Since the 2017 season, Giravanz has played their home games at the Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu.

League and Cup Performance

This table shows how Giravanz Kitakyushu has performed in different leagues and cups over the years.

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League J. League Cup Emperor's
Cup
Season Div. Tier Teams Pos. P W (PKW) D L (PKL) F A GD Pts Attendance/G
New Wave Kitakyushu
2003 Kyushu
Soccer
League		 4 12 4th 22 12 (1) - 5 (4) 65 46 19 42 - Not eligible –
2004 10 6th 18 9 (0) - 8 (1) 41 39 2 28 - Did not qualify
2005 10 6th 18 10 (0) - 5 (3) 51 30 21 33 -
2006 9 3rd 16 11 (1) - 3 (1) 45 23 22 36 -
2007 11 1st 20 17 (1) - 1 (1) 53 7 46 54 -
2008 JFL 3 18 10th 34 13 10 11 49 48 1 49 1,149 3rd round
2009 18 4th 34 16 10 8 49 31 18 58 3,411 1st round
Giravanz Kitakyushu
2010 J2 2 19 19th 36 1 12 28 20 65 -45 15 4,189 Not eligible 3rd round
2011 20 8th 38 16 10 12 45 46 -1 58 4,051 3rd round
2012 22 9th 42 19 7 16 53 47 6 64 3,346 2nd round
2013 22 16th 42 13 10 19 50 60 -10 49 3,175 3rd round
2014 22 5th 42 18 11 13 50 50 0 65 3,622 Quarter finals
2015 22 7th 42 18 5 19 59 58 1 59 3,488 2nd round
2016 22 22nd 42 8 14 20 43 64 -21 38 3,224 2nd round
2017 J3 3 17 9th 32 13 7 12 44 37 7 46 5,939 2nd round
2018 17 17th 32 6 9 17 22 42 -20 27 4,501 Did not qualify
2019 18 1st 34 19 9 6 51 27 24 66 6,049 2nd round
2020 † J2 2 22 5th 42 19 8 15 59 51 8 65 3,352 Did not qualify
2021 † 22 21st 42 7 14 21 35 66 -31 35 2,974 2nd round
2022 J3 3 18 13th 34 11 7 16 41 45 -4 40 3,613 1st round
2023 20 20th 38 7 10 21 33 45 -12 31 3,857 2nd round
2024 20 7th 38 15 11 12 41 39 2 56 4,649 2nd round 2nd round
2025 20 TBD 38 2nd round TBD
Key
* Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goal 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.

Team Achievements

Giravanz Kitakyushu has won several titles throughout its history.

Giravanz Kitakyushu Honours
Honour No. Years
Kyushu Soccer League 8 1973, 1981, 1982, 1983,
1984, 1987, 1989, 2007
Fukuoka Prefectural Football Championship
Emperor's Cup Fukuoka Prefectural Qualifiers		 5 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024
J3 League 1 2019

Team Players

Current Squad

As of July 10, 2025.

No. Position Player
1 Japan GK Go Ito
4 Japan DF Koki Hasegawa
6 Japan MF Kota Hoshi
7 Japan MF Ryuki Hirahara
8 Japan MF Yamato Machida
9 Japan FW Shuntaro Kawabe
10 Japan FW Ryo Nagai
11 Japan MF Kohei Kiyama
13 Japan DF Renta Higashi (on loan from FC Tokyo)
14 Japan MF Haruki Izawa (captain)
17 Japan MF Rimpei Okano
18 Japan FW Sota Watanabe
19 Japan FW Futo Yoshihara
20 Japan MF Asahi Yada
21 Japan MF Taku Ushinohama
22 Japan DF Kaoru Yamawaki
24 Japan FW Mahiro Yoshinaga (on loan from Júbilo Iwata)
25 Japan FW Raiki Tsubogo
No. Position Player
27 Japan GK Yuya Tanaka
28 Japan MF Kaito Konomi (on loan from Cerezo Osaka)
29 South Korea FW Koh Seung-jin
31 Japan GK Koki Otani
32 Japan MF Fumiya Takayanagi (on loan from Omiya Ardija)
34 Japan MF Shoma Takayoshi
37 Japan FW Kosei Yoshida DSP
39 Japan GK Rissei Taniguchi
41 Japan GK Mitsuki Sugimoto (on loan from Júbilo Iwata)
42 Japan DF Tsukasa Sera
44 Japan DF Yuma Tsujioka (on loan from Iwaki FC)
49 Japan FW Naoya Komazawa (on loan from Yokohama FC)
50 Japan DF Koji Sugiyama
51 Japan MF Yutaro Sakashita Type 2
66 Japan MF Daigo Takahashi (on loan from Machida Zelvia)
76 Japan DF Kiriya Sakamoto (on loan from Montedio Yamagata)
99 Japan FW Ryosuke Kabayama (on loan from Sagan Tosu)

Players on Loan to Other Clubs

No. Position Player
3 Japan DF Shinnosuke Ito (at Fukuyama City)
5 Japan DF Takeaki Hommura (at Tokyo 23 FC)
No. Position Player
23 Japan DF Kakeru Sakamoto (at FC Osaka)
25 Japan FW Raiki Tsubogo (at Belugarosso Iwami)

Coaching Staff

These are the people who help train and manage the Giravanz Kitakyushu team.

Position Name
Manager Japan Kohei Masumoto
Assistant manager Japan Norichika Kanemura
First-team coach Japan Yusuke Sudo
Goalkeeper coach Japan Shuto Yoshikawa
Physical coach Japan Gakuya Tatsuta
Trainer Japan Tatsuya Murakoshi
Japan Shinichi Todake
Japan Yuji Nakamura
Side managers Japan Tetsuya Tsuda
Japan Riku Namihira

Team Managers Over Time

This table shows the different managers who have led the Giravanz Kitakyushu team.

Manager Nationality Tenure
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 31 January 2023
Kazuaki Tasaka  Japan 1 February 2023 5 September 2023
Shinji Kobayashi  Japan 6 September 2023 Current

Team Colors, Sponsors, and Kit Makers

This section shows the main sponsors and the companies that make the team's uniforms.

Season(s) Main Shirt Sponsor Collarbone Sponsor Additional Sponsor(s) Kit Manufacturer
2020 TOTO - - Yaskawa - Nafco Zenrin Penalty
2021 Yaskawa WingArc1st TOTO Aso Group
2022 WingArc1st dejiren
2023

Kit Evolution

These tables show how the team's home and away uniforms have changed over the years.

Home kit - 1st
2010 - 2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025 -
Away kit - 2nd
2010 - 2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025 -

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Giravanz Kitakyushu para niños

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