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Mito HollyHock
水戸ホーリーホック
Mito HollyHock logo.svg
Full name Football Club Mito HollyHock Ibaraki
Nickname(s) HollyHock, FC Mito, Mitochan
Founded 1994; 31 years ago (1994)
Stadium K's denki Stadium Mito
Mito, Ibaraki
Stadium
capacity
12,000
Chairman Kunio Numata
Manager Naoki Mori
League J2 League
2022 J2 League, 13rd of 22

Mito HollyHock (水戸ホーリーホック, Mito Hōrīhokku) is a professional football (soccer) club from Japan. They are based in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. The team currently plays in the J2 League, which is the second-highest level of professional football in Japan.

What's in a Name?

The team's nickname, "HollyHock," comes from the special family symbol of the Tokugawa clan. This powerful family used to rule from Mito during the old Edo period in Japan. It's like their special badge!

Club History

The club started in 1990 as Prima Aseno FC. It was formed by workers from a food company called Prima Ham in Tsuchiura. Later, they changed their name to Prima Ham FC Tsuchiura.

In 1996, they did very well and moved up to the Japan Football League. Before the 1997 season, Prima Ham stopped supporting the club financially. So, they joined with another team called FC Mito, which started in 1994. Together, they became Mito HollyHock.

Mito HollyHock wanted to join the J. League Division 2 in 1999. At first, they were not allowed because of money problems and not enough fans coming to their games. But, they worked hard! In 1999, they finished 3rd in the Japan Football League. More and more fans started coming to their stadium. Because of this improvement, the club was invited to join the J. League in 2000.

Besides football, Mito HollyHock also has teams in e-sports (video games!) and Ice Hockey. They play in the Ibaraki Prefectural League for ice hockey.

League and Cup Journey

Mito HollyHock has been playing in the J2 League since 2000. This is Japan's second-highest football division. They have played many seasons, always trying their best to climb higher.

Here's a quick look at their journey:

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League J. League
Cup
Emperor's
Cup
Season Div. Teams Pos. P W (OTW / PKW) D L (OTL / PKL) F A GD Pts Attendance/G
1997 Old JFL 16 16th 30 3 (1) - 26 24 69 -45 10 Not eligible 2nd round
1998 16 14th 30 7 (1) - 22 37 69 -32 23 3rd round
1999 New JFL 9 3rd 24 13 (3) 0 8 (0) 48 32 16 45 891 3rd round
2000 J2 10 9th 40 9 (6) 4 19 (2) 37 61 -24 43 2,021 1st round 3rd round
2001 12 11th 44 5 (3) 4 26 (6) 41 93 -52 25 1,559 1st round 3rd round
2002 12 10th 44 11 7 26 45 73 -28 40 2,739 Not eligible 3rd round
2003 12 7th 44 15 11 18 37 41 -4 56 3,085 3rd round
2004 12 9th 44 6 19 19 33 60 -27 37 3,773 4th round
2005 12 10th 44 13 13 18 41 57 -16 52 3,334 4th round
2006 13 10th 48 14 9 25 48 69 -21 51 3,017 3rd round
2007 13 12th 48 8 10 30 32 70 -38 34 2,415 4th round
2008 15 11th 42 13 8 21 52 70 -18 47 3,044 4th round
2009 18 8th 51 21 10 20 70 79 -9 73 2,673 2nd round
2010 19 16th 36 8 14 14 29 45 -16 38 3,608 3rd round
2011 20 17th 38 11 9 18 40 49 -9 42 3,349 4th round
2012 22 13th 42 15 11 16 47 49 -2 56 3,973 3rd round
2013 22 15th 42 14 13 15 50 58 -8 55 4,630 3rd round
2014 22 15th 42 12 14 16 46 46 0 50 4,734 3rd round
2015 22 19th 42 10 16 16 40 47 -7 46 4,816 4th round
2016 22 13th 42 10 18 14 45 49 -4 48 5,365 2nd round
2017 22 14th 42 14 12 16 45 48 -3 54 4,931 2nd round
2018 22 10th 42 16 9 17 48 46 2 57 4,938 3rd round
2019 22 7th 42 19 13 10 56 37 19 70 6,087 3rd round
2020 22 9th 42 16 10 16 68 62 6 58 2,018 Did not qualify
2021 22 10th 42 16 11 15 59 50 9 59 2,696 2nd round
2022 22 13th 42 14 12 16 47 46 -1 54 3,140 2nd round
2023 22 17th 42 11 14 17 49 66 -17 47 3,726 3rd round
2024 20 15th 38 11 11 16 39 51 -12 44 4,406 1st round 3rd round
2025 20 TBA 38 2nd round 1st round
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

Team Achievements

Mito HollyHock has won several titles over the years. These wins show their strength and skill in different leagues and cups.

Mito HollyHock honours
Honour No. Years Notes
Ibaraki Prefecture Division 1 2 1992, 1993 as Prima Ham Football Club
Ibaraki Prefecture Division 4 H Block 1 1994 as FC Mito
Ibaraki Prefecture Division 3 H Block 1 1995 as FC Mito
Kantō Soccer League 1 1995 as Prima Ham Football Club
Shakaijin Cup 1 1995 as Prima Ham Football Club

Current Players

As of 16 July 2025.

No. Position Player
2 Japan DF Sho Omori
3 Japan DF Koshi Osaki
4 Japan DF Takeshi Ushizawa
5 Japan DF Tetsuya Chinen (on loan from Vegalta Sendai)
6 Japan DF Takahiro Iida
7 Japan FW Arata Watanabe
8 Japan MF Shunsuke Saito
9 Japan FW Mizuki Ando
10 Japan DF Ryosuke Maeda
14 Japan MF Fumiya Sugiura
15 Japan MF Yuto Nagao
16 Japan MF Koki Tsukagawa (on loan from FC Tokyo)
17 Japan MF Kosei Ashibe (on loan from Machida Zelvia)
18 Japan DF Yuhi Ono
19 Japan DF Koichi Murata
20 Japan FW Kaito Umeda
21 Japan GK Shuhei Matsubara
No. Position Player
22 Japan FW Seiichiro Kubo
24 Japan MF Kiichi Yamazaki
25 Japan FW Keisuke Tada
27 Japan DF Sora Okita
28 Japan MF Kota Saga DSP
34 Japan GK Konosuke Nishikawa
36 Japan DF Kenta Itakura
39 Japan MF Hayata Yamamoto
40 Japan MF Shunta Morimura
44 Japan FW Koya Okuda
45 Japan FW Shimon Teranuma
51 Japan GK Ryusei Haruna
71 Japan DF Malick Fofana
77 Japan GK Uwabright Hayakawa
97 Japan DF Travis Takahashi
99 Japan MF Chihiro Kato

Players on Loan

No. Position Player
11 Japan FW Yuki Kusano (at Renofa Yamaguchi)
31 Japan GK Kenta Matsuyama (at Urawa Red Diamonds)
32 Japan MF Asuma Ikari (at Hannover 96 II)
35 Japan DF Ryoya Iizumi (at Blaublitz Akita)
41 Japan MF Ryusei Nose (at FC Osaka)
No. Position Player
49 Japan FW Yusei Uchida (at Kochi United)
82 Japan MF Kotatsu Kawakami (at Matsumoto Yamaga)
Japan DF Kazuma Nagai (at Blaublitz Akita)
Japan MF Yota Tanabe (at Kochi United)
Japan FW Soki Tokuno (at Tiamo Hirakata)

Team Leaders

These are the people who help run the team and coach the players.

Position Name
Manager Japan Naoki Mori
Assistant manager Japan Yoshitaka Yasuda
Japan Daisuke Kimori
Analyst & First-team coach Japan Ryosuke Sato
Development coach Japan Naoki Mori
Goalkeeper coach Japan Takahiro Kono
Analyst Japan Tsukasa Takahashi
Physical coach Japan Yuki Nakamura
Chief trainer Japan Tatsuya Doi
Trainer Japan Takahiro Yamada
Physiotherapist Japan Toru Yaguchi
Equipment manager Japan Shunki Iwata
Japan Yoshifumi Yoshida
Competent Japan Hiromitsu Nonaka

Who Has Managed the Team?

Here's a list of the managers who have led Mito HollyHock over the years.

Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Gert Engels  Germany 1 July 1990 30 January 1993
Yuji Nakano  Japan 1 January 1992 31 December 1997
Toshiya Miura  Japan 1 February 1998 31 January 1999
Branko Babić  Serbia 1 January 2000 31 December 2000
Hiroshi Kobayashi  Japan 1 February 2001 16. July 2001
Masaaki Kanno  Japan 17 July 2001 31 January 2003
Hideki Maeda  Japan 1 January 2003 31 December 2007
Takashi Kiyama  Japan 1 February 2008 31 January 2011
Tetsuji Hashiratani  Japan 1 February 2011 7 June 2015
Takayuki Nishigaya  Japan 27 June 2015 31 January 2018
Shigetoshi Hasebe  Japan 1 February 2018 31 January 2020
Tadahiro Akiba  Japan 1 February 2020 31 January 2023
Yoshimi Hamasaki  Japan 1 February 2023 4 May 2024
Naoki Mori  Japan 9 May 2024 current

Team Uniforms Over Time

Here you can see how Mito HollyHock's home and away jerseys have changed through the years!

Home Jersey
2000 - 2002
2003 - 2004
2005
2006 - 2007
2008 - 2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021 -
2022
2023
2024
2025 -
Away Jersey
2000 - 2002
2003 - 2005
2006 - 2007
2008 - 2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025 -

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Mito HollyHock para niños

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Mito HollyHock Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.