Tokyo Verdy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Tokyo Verdy 1969

Full name	Tokyo Verdy 1969 Football Club
Nickname(s)	Verdy
Founded	1969; 56 years ago (1969) as Yomiuri FC
Ground	Ajinomoto Stadium Chōfu, Tokyo
Ground Capacity	49,970
Owner	Tokyo Verdy Holdings
Chairman	Yasuo Shimada
Manager	Hiroshi Jofuku
League	J2 League
2022	J2 League, 9th of 22
Home colours Away colours

Tokyo Verdy 1969 (東京ヴェルディ1969, Tōkyō Berudi) is a professional football club from Inagi, Tokyo, Japan. The team plays in the J1 League, which is Japan's top football league. They earned their spot in the J1 League by getting promoted from the J2 League in 2023.

Tokyo Verdy is one of the most successful clubs in Japanese football history. They have won many titles, including 2 league championships, 5 Emperor's Cups, and 6 J.League Cups. They even won the Asian Club Championship once. In total, they have won 25 major titles!

Club History

Tokyo Verdy started as Yomiuri Football Club in 1969. They were one of the first teams to join the J.League when it began in 1993.

Early Years and First Wins (1969–1983)

After Japan won a bronze medal in football at the 1968 Summer Olympics, more people became interested in the sport. The Japan Football Association asked the Yomiuri Group, a big company, to start a football club. So, Yomiuri Football Club was created in 1969.

The club started in a lower league (the 5th tier). They quickly moved up through the ranks. By 1971, they were in the Kanto Football League (3rd tier). They then joined the Japan Soccer League Second Division. In 1978, they were promoted to the First Division. Their first big win was the Japan Soccer League Cup in 1979.

The Golden Era (1983–1994)

Ruy Ramos, a famous player for Verdy Kawasaki.

The club wanted to be as famous as the Yomiuri Giants baseball team. They invested a lot in top players. Famous Japanese national team players like Kazuyoshi Miura, Ruy Ramos, and Tsuyoshi Kitazawa played for them.

They won the last two Japan Soccer League championships in 1990–91 and 1991–92. Then, when the J.League started in 1993, they changed their name to Verdy Kawasaki. They won the first two J.League championships in 1993 and 1994. This meant they won four Japanese league titles in a row! They also won the 1996 Emperor's Cup and three J.League Cups from 1992 to 1994.

The name "Verdy" comes from the Portuguese word "verde," which means "green." This was chosen because of their green jerseys. The color also honored the Brazilian club Palmeiras. Even though "Yomiuri" was dropped from the name, the Yomiuri Group still owned the team until 1997. Then, Nippon Television Network, part of the Yomiuri Group, took over.

Challenges and Moving Back to Tokyo (1995–2005)

After their amazing success, the team started to struggle. Their star players got older, and the team's performance dropped. Japan's economy also slowed down, so clubs had less money to spend on new players. Verdy couldn't afford expensive replacements.

In 1996, Verdy Kawasaki finished 7th, their lowest spot yet. In 1997, they fell even further to 15th place. They had a brief comeback in 1999, finishing 2nd in the first half of the season, but then dropped to 10th.

The club had tried to be "Japan's Team," but this made local fans in Kawasaki feel left out. With high player salaries and low attendance, the club got into debt. They decided to leave Kawasaki.

In 2001, the club moved back to Chōfu, Tokyo. They changed their name to Tokyo Verdy 1969 to show their new home and their original founding year. However, Tokyo already had a popular J1 club, FC Tokyo. Even though Verdy's crowd numbers increased, they were still much lower than FC Tokyo's.

In 2001, Tokyo Verdy 1969 finished last in the first half of the season. They avoided being sent down to J2 only because of a new player, Edmundo, and a win in the last match. They struggled again in 2002 but finished strong in the second half.

After two average seasons, Tokyo Verdy 1969 won the 2004 Emperor's Cup on January 1, 2005. This was their first major title in nine years and their first win in Tokyo! Winning the cup also earned them a spot in the 2006 AFC Champions League.

However, 2005 was their worst season ever. They finished 17th out of 18 teams and were sent down to the J2 League. This ended their 28 years in the top league. The season included some very big losses, like 1–7 to Gamba Osaka and 0–7 to Urawa Red Diamonds. Despite this, they surprisingly beat the famous European team Real Madrid 3–0 in a friendly match.

Brief Return to Top League (2007–2008)

For the 2006 season, Ruy Ramos, a former Verdy Kawasaki star, became the manager. Tokyo Verdy 1969 was in a strange situation: they were playing in the AFC Champions League but also in Japan's second-tier league. After being relegated, many older players left, and the team focused on young talent like Takayuki Morimoto.

In 2007, Tokyo Verdy 1969 finished second in the J2 League. This was enough to get promoted back to the J1 League for 2008. At this time, the club dropped "1969" from its team name, becoming simply Tokyo Verdy.

However, their return to J1 was short-lived. They finished 17th in 2008 and were relegated back to J2.

Back in the Second Tier (2009–2023)

In 2009, NTV, the TV company that owned the club, decided to sell its shares. The J.League said Verdy needed to find a new sponsor quickly. In 2010, Tokyo Verdy signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Xebio, a sports retail company.

The club stayed in the J2 League for many years. In 2018, they finished 6th and made it to the promotion playoffs. They won two playoff games, beating Omiya Ardija and Yokohama FC. They were just one game away from returning to J1 but lost the final 2–0 to Júbilo Iwata. Their dream of returning to the top league had to wait.

Return to the Top League (2024–Present)

On December 2, 2023, Tokyo Verdy finally earned promotion back to the J1 League for the 2024 season! They drew 1–1 against Shimizu S-Pulse in the promotion play-off final. Itsuki Someno scored the tying goal from a penalty kick in the very last moments of the game. This exciting win meant Verdy returned to Japan's top football league for the first time since 2008.

Home Stadium

Verdy plays its home games at the Ajinomoto Stadium. This stadium can hold 49,970 fans. They share the stadium with their local rivals, FC Tokyo. Sometimes, Verdy also plays home matches at other stadiums in Tokyo, like the Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka.

Team Colors and Logo

Tokyo Verdy's main color is green. The club's name, "Verdy," comes from the word for "green" in several languages like Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. This is because of their green jerseys. In Italian, "verdi" means "the greens."

Kit Suppliers and Shirt Sponsors

Kit Evolution

1st – Home
1993–1994	1995–1996	1997	1998	1999–2000
2001–2002	2003–2004	2005–2006	2007	2008
2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
2024	2025 –

2nd – Away
1992	1993–1994	1995–1996	1997	1998
1999–2000	2001–2002	2003–2004	2005–2006	2007
2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
2023	2024 –	2025 –

3rd – Special
1995 - 1996 CUP 1st	1995 - 1996 CUP 2nd	2012 3rd	2019 Anniversary	2020 3rd
2021 3rd	2021 Athleta Contract 10th Anniversary	2022 3rd	2023 3rd	2024 3rd

Current Players

As of June 9, 2025.

No. Position Player 1 GK Matheus Vidotto (vice-captain) 2 DF Daiki Fukazawa 3 DF Hiroto Taniguchi (vice-captain) 4 DF Naoki Hayashi 6 DF Kazuya Miyahara 7 MF Koki Morita (captain) 8 MF Kosuke Saito 9 FW Itsuki Someno 10 FW Yudai Kimura 11 FW Hiroto Yamami 14 MF Yuya Fukuda 15 DF Kaito Suzuki 16 MF Rei Hirakawa 17 MF Tetsuyuki Inami 19 MF Yuan Matsuhashi 20 MF Soma Meshino

No. Position Player 21 GK Yuya Nagasawa 22 MF Hijiri Onaga 23 MF Yuto Tsunashima 25 FW Issei Kumatoriya 26 DF Yosuke Uchida 27 FW Ryosuke Shirai 28 MF Joi Yamamoto 29 DF Maaya Sako 30 MF Gakuto Kawamura 31 GK Hiroki Mawatari 37 FW Shuhei Kawasaki (on loan from Portimonense) 39 MF Shion Nakayama Type 2 40 MF Yuta Arai 41 GK Keisuke Nakamura 42 MF Kento Imai Type 2

Players on Loan

These players are currently playing for other teams on a temporary basis.

No. Position Player GK Masahiro Iida (at Kamatamare Sanuki until January 31, 2026) DF Takumi Kawamura (at Gainare Tottori until January 31, 2026) DF Yutaro Hakamata (at Roasso Kumamoto until January 31, 2026)

No. Position Player MF Sota Nagai (at FC Ryukyu until January 31, 2026) FW Manato Furukawa (at Kataller Toyama until January 31, 2026)

Club Officials

These are the people who manage and coach the team.

Position	Staff
Manager	Hiroshi Jofuku
Assistant managers	Ichiro Wada Hitoshi Morishita Yuta Narawa
Goalkeeper coach	Atsushi Shirai
Conditioning coach	Yuya Noshiro
Analytical coach	Daiki Yamamoto
Interpreter	Genta Iwauchi
Doctor	Kenta Uemura
Trainer	Naoki Matsuda Shuji Ogawa Yusuke Kaneuchi Hiroyoshi Mutaguchi
Side manager	Hideki Sato
Equipment manager	Ryo Ito Jun Yamato
Training coach	Noh Alam Shah Isa Halim

Manager History

Here is a list of all the managers who have led Tokyo Verdy over the years.

Manager	Nationality	Time with Club
		Start	Finish
Jujiro Narita	Japan	February 1, 1970	June 30, 1973
Frans van Balkom	Netherlands	February 1, 1973	January 31, 1976
Shoichi Nishimura	Japan	February 1, 1976	January 31, 1981
Ryoichi Aikawa	Japan	February 1, 1981	June 30, 1983
Susumu Chiba	Japan	July 1, 1983	January 31, 1984
Rudi Gutendorf	Germany	January 1, 1984	June 30, 1986
George Yonashiro	Japan	July 1, 1986	June 30, 1989
Carlos Alberto Silva	Brazil	July 1, 1990	June 30, 1991
José Macia "Pepe"	Brazil	January 1, 1991	December 31, 1992
Yasutarō Matsuki	Japan	February 1, 1993	January 31, 1995
Nelsinho Baptista	Brazil	February 1, 1995	April 25, 1996
Yasuyuki Kishino	Japan	April 26, 1996	May 9, 1996
Émerson Leão	Brazil	May 10, 1996	January 31, 1997
Hisashi Katō	Japan	February 1, 1997	June 1, 1997
Valdir Espinosa	Brazil	June 2, 1997	October 30, 1997
Ryōichi Kawakatsu	Japan	November 1, 1997	January 31, 1998
Nicanor	Brazil	February 1, 1998	September 7, 1998
Ryōichi Kawakatsu	Japan	September 8, 1998	January 31, 1999
Hideki Matsunaga	Japan	February 1, 1999	January 31, 2000
Chang Woe-ryong	South Korea	February 1, 2000	January 1, 2001
Yasutarō Matsuki	Japan	February 1, 2001	July 16, 2001
Yukitaka Omi	Japan	July 17, 2001	April 9, 2002
Lori Paulo Sandri	Brazil	January 1, 2002	June 30, 2003
Osvaldo Ardiles	Argentina	May 16, 2003	July 18, 2005
Nobuhiro Ishizaki	Japan	July 19, 2005	July 31, 2005
Vadão	Brazil	August 1, 2005	December 14, 2005
Ruy Ramos	Japan	February 1, 2006	January 31, 2008
Tetsuji Hashiratani	Japan	February 1, 2008	January 31, 2009
Takuya Takagi	Japan	February 1, 2009	October 14, 2009
Takeo Matsuda	Japan	October 14, 2009	January 31, 2010
Ryōichi Kawakatsu	Japan	February 1, 2010	September 6, 2012
Shinichiro Takahashi	Japan	September 6, 2012	January 31, 2013
Yasutoshi Miura	Japan	February 1, 2013	September 15, 2014
Kōichi Togashi	Japan	September 1, 2014	December 31, 2016
Miguel Ángel Lotina	Spain	February 1, 2017	January 31, 2019
Gary White	England	February 1, 2019	July 17, 2019
Hideki Nagai	Japan	July 17, 2019	September 1, 2021
Takafumi Hori	Japan	September 2, 2021	June 13, 2022
Hiroshi Jofuku	Japan	June 14, 2022	current

League and Cup Records

This table shows how Tokyo Verdy has performed in different leagues and cups over the years.

Key

Club Achievements

Tokyo Verdy is one of Japan's most successful football clubs. They have won many titles, especially during their time as Yomiuri FC before the professional J.League started.

Other Sports Teams

Verdy is a larger sports club that also has teams in other sports. These include women's football, volleyball, and triathlon. The Tokyo Verdy women's football team is very successful. They have won the Nadeshiko League 12 times, the Empress's Cup 14 times, and the AFC Women's Club Championship once.

See Also

• Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza (Women's club team)
• Japan Soccer League (Old league)
• J.League
• J1 League
• J2 League
• J3 League