Yokohama FC facts for kids
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| Full name | Yokohama Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Fulie | ||
| Founded | 25 December 1998 | ||
| Ground | Mitsuzawa Stadium Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama |
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| Capacity | 15,046 | ||
| Chairman | Yuji Onodera | ||
| Manager | Shuhei Yomoda | ||
| League | J1 League | ||
| 2023 | J2 League, 2nd of 22 (promoted) | ||
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Yokohama Football Club (横浜FC, Yokohama Efushī) is a professional football team from Japan. They are based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture.
This club was started by fans of another team, Yokohama Flügels. Those fans were upset when their team merged with Yokohama Marinos in 1999. Yokohama FC became the first professional sports team in Japan owned by its supporters!
Yokohama FC will play in the J1 League from 2025. This is the top football league in Japan. They earned this spot after being promoted from the J2 League in 2024.
Since joining the J.League in 2001, Yokohama FC has spent a lot of time in the second division. They won the J2 League title in 2006 and moved up to the top league for the 2007 season. However, they were sent back down to J2 right away.
After 12 more years in the J2 League, they returned to the top league (now called J1 League) for the 2020 season. They finished 15th that year. But in 2021, they were relegated again after finishing last. The team was promoted back to J1 from 2025 after spending one year in the second tier in 2024.
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Club History
Yokohama FC was created on December 25, 1998. This happened after two J.League clubs in Yokohama, the Flügels and the Marinos, merged.
Fans of the Flügels felt their club was simply disappearing, not truly merging. They didn't want to support the Marinos, who used to be their rivals. So, these former Flügels supporters decided to start their own club. They raised money from the public and worked with a company called IMG.
They formed the Yokohama Fulie Sports Club. Like the famous FC Barcelona in Spain, the Fulie Sports Club then created Yokohama Football Club. This made them the first professional sports team in Japan owned and run by its own fans!
For their first season in 1999, Yokohama FC hired Pierre Littbarski, a famous former player from the German national team. They also brought in Yasuhiko Okudera as chairman. He was the first Japanese footballer to play professionally in Europe.
The club wanted to join the professional J.League right away. But the Japan Football Association only allowed them to join the amateur Japan Football League (JFL). This was the third level of Japanese football at the time. They also said the club couldn't be promoted to J.League Division 2 after their first season.
So, even though Yokohama FC won the JFL championship in 1999, they had to win it again in 2000 before they could finally move up to J.League Division 2.
In 2005, they had a tough season, finishing 11th out of 12 teams. But in 2006, they did much better. They even hired a player-manager, Takuya Takagi, and saw great success. On November 26, 2006, they finished first in the J2 League and were promoted to the J. League 1.
In 2007, just nine years after starting, Yokohama FC played in Japan's top football league for the first time. It was a difficult season, and they were relegated (sent back down) with five games still left to play. Even so, on the last day of the season, Yokohama FC beat Urawa Red Diamonds, who were trying to win the league title. This helped Kashima Antlers win the J.League Division 1 title instead.
In 2018, Yokohama FC almost got promoted automatically, missing out by a small goal difference. They reached the J2 promotion final but lost in the very last moments of the game to Tokyo Verdy. However, in 2019, Yokohama FC finished second in J2 and were automatically promoted to J1.
After finishing last in 2021, Yokohama FC was relegated back to J2 for the 2022 season. But they quickly bounced back to the J1 League the very next year! On November 25, 2023, Yokohama FC was relegated from J1 to J2 for 2024 after losing to Shonan Bellmare. But on November 11, 2024, Yokohama FC secured promotion back to J1 for 2025. They drew 0-0 against Renofa Yamaguchi in their final match, ending their one-year stay in the second tier.
Club Crest
Yokohama FC's club badge, or crest, shows a phoenix. This mythical bird is a symbol of rising from ashes. It represents how Yokohama FC was born from the end of the Yokohama Flügels team. The blue ribbon on the crest stands for the Blue Ribbon Movement. This was a movement started by fans in 1998 to try and save the Flugels team.
Team Kit and Colours
The team couldn't use the white and blue colours of the Flügels because they were too similar to the Marinos. So, Yokohama FC chose an all-cyan kit. This colour was inspired by NKK SC, an old company football club that closed in 1994. NKK SC also used to play some of its games at Mitsuzawa Stadium, which is Yokohama FC's home ground.
Kit evolution
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Current Players
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Players on Loan
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Yokohama FC Youth Team
The main U-18 (Under 18) team for Yokohama FC plays in the Prince Takamado U-18 Premier League. This is the top league for U-18 clubs in Japan. Only players officially registered for this competition are listed here.
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Club Officials
Here are the main staff members for Yokohama FC for the 2024 season.
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Shuhei Yomoda |
| Assistant manager | Takafumi Hori |
| First-team coach | Seiya Takeuchi Shunsuke Nakamura Shingi Ono |
| Goalkeeper coach | Yoichi Doi |
| Assistant goalkeeper coach | Taiki Murai |
| Physical coach | Takeshi Ikoma |
| Conditioning coach | Akihiro Tanaka |
| Analyst | Shohei Waki |
Manager History
This table shows the managers who have led Yokohama FC over the years.
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | ||
| Pierre Littbarski |  Germany |
1 February 1999 | 31 December 2000 |
| Yoshikazu Nagai |  Japan |
1 January 2001 | 10 September 2001 |
| Yūji Sakakura | Japan |
11 September 2001 | 15 September 2001 |
| Katsuyoshi Shintō | Japan |
16 September 2001 | 31 December 2002 |
| Pierre Littbarski | Germany |
1 February 2003 | 31 January 2005 |
| Yūsuke Adachi | Japan |
1 January 2005 | 6 March 2006 |
| Takuya Takagi | Japan |
7 March 2006 | 27 August 2007 |
| Júlio César Leal |  Brazil |
28 August 2007 | 31 December 2007 |
| Satoshi Tsunami | Japan |
1 February 2008 | 31 January 2009 |
| Yasuhiro Higuchi | Japan |
1 February 2009 | 31 January 2010 |
| Yasuyuki Kishino | Japan |
1 February 2010 | 18 March 2012 |
| Takahiro Taguchi | Japan |
18 March 2012 | 21 March 2012 |
| Motohiro Yamaguchi | Japan |
21 March 2012 | 31 January 2015 |
| Miloš Rus |  Slovenia |
1 January 2015 | 14 September 2015 |
| Hitoshi Nakata | Japan |
14 September 2015 | 1 December 2015 |
| Miloš Rus | Slovenia |
1 December 2015 | 15 June 2016 |
| Hitoshi Nakata | Japan |
16 June 2016 | 15 October 2017 |
| Tomonobu Hayakawa | Japan |
15 October 2017 | 17 October 2017 |
| Yasuhiko Okudera | Japan |
19 October 2017 | 23 October 2017 |
| Edson Tavares | Brazil |
24 October 2017 | 13 May 2019 |
| Takahiro Shimotaira | Japan |
14 May 2019 | 8 April 2021 |
| Tomonobu Hayakawa | Japan |
8 April 2021 | 31 January 2022 |
| Shūhei Yomoda | Japan |
1 February 2022 | present |
J.League Performance Record
This table shows how Yokohama FC has performed in the J.League over the years.
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | J.League Cup |
Emperor's Cup |
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| Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | P | W (OTW) | D | L (OTL) | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | ||
| 2001 | J2 | 12 | 9th | 44 | 12 (3) | 1 | 25 (3) | 58 | 81 | -23 | 43 | 3,007 | 2nd round | Round of 16 |
| 2002 | 12 | 12th | 44 | 8 | 11 | 25 | 43 | 81 | -38 | 35 | 3,477 | – | 3rd round | |
| 2003 | 12 | 11th | 44 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 49 | 88 | -39 | 42 | 3,743 | 3rd round | ||
| 2004 | 12 | 8th | 44 | 10 | 22 | 12 | 42 | 50 | -8 | 52 | 4,219 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2005 | 12 | 11th | 44 | 10 | 15 | 19 | 48 | 64 | -16 | 45 | 5,938 | 4th round | ||
| 2006 | 13 | 1st | 48 | 26 | 15 | 7 | 61 | 32 | -29 | 93 | 5,119 | 3rd round | ||
| 2007 | J1 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 4 | 4 | 26 | 19 | 66 | -47 | 16 | 14,039 | Group stage | Round of 16 |
| 2008 | J2 | 15 | 10th | 42 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 51 | 56 | -5 | 50 | 6,793 | – | Round of 16 |
| 2009 | 18 | 16th | 51 | 11 | 11 | 29 | 43 | 70 | -27 | 44 | 3,535 | 3rd round | ||
| 2010 | 19 | 6th | 36 | 16 | 6 | 14 | 54 | 47 | 7 | 54 | 5,791 | 3rd round | ||
| 2011 | 20 | 18th | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 40 | 54 | -14 | 41 | 5,770 | 2nd round | ||
| 2012 | 22 | 4th | 42 | 22 | 7 | 13 | 62 | 45 | 17 | 73 | 6,039 | 3rd round | ||
| 2013 | 22 | 11th | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 49 | 46 | 3 | 58 | 6,064 | 2nd round | ||
| 2014 | 22 | 11th | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 49 | 47 | 2 | 55 | 5,146 | 2nd round | ||
| 2015 | 22 | 15th | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 33 | 58 | -25 | 52 | 5,113 | 2nd round | ||
| 2016 | 22 | 8th | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 50 | 51 | -1 | 59 | 4,892 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2017 | 22 | 10th | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 60 | 49 | 11 | 63 | 5,967 | 2nd round | ||
| 2018 | 22 | 3rd | 42 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 63 | 44 | 19 | 76 | 6,141 | 3rd round | ||
| 2019 | 22 | 2nd | 42 | 23 | 10 | 9 | 66 | 40 | 26 | 79 | 7,061 | 3rd round | ||
| 2020 † | J1 | 18 | 15th | 34 | 9 | 6 | 19 | 38 | 60 | -22 | 33 | 3,559 | Group stage | Did not qualify |
| 2021 † | 20 | 20th | 38 | 6 | 9 | 23 | 32 | 77 | -45 | 27 | 4,511 | Group stage | 2nd round | |
| 2022 | J2 | 22 | 2nd | 42 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 66 | 49 | 17 | 80 | 5,088 | – | 3rd round |
| 2023 | J1 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 31 | 58 | -27 | 29 | 9.128 | Group stage | 3rd round |
| 2024 | J2 | 20 | 2nd | 38 | 22 | 10 | 6 | 60 | 27 | 33 | 76 | 6,963 | 3rd round | 3rd round |
| 2025 | J1 | 20 | ||||||||||||
- Key
- Attendance/G = Average home league attendance
- † 2020 & 2021 season's attendances were lower because of the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.
- Source: J. League Data Site
Club Honours
Here are the titles and awards Yokohama FC has won.
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Japan Football League | 2 | 1999, 2000 |
| J2 League | 1 | 2006 |
Team Mascot
Yokohama FC's mascot is named Fulie-maru. He is a bird-like alien character. He is meant to be a tribute to the mascot of the old Yokohama Flügels team, who was a flying squirrel named Tobimaru.
See also
In Spanish: Yokohama FC para niños
