Tochigi SC
Tochigi Soccer Club (栃木サッカークラブ),[1] commonly referred to as Tochigi SC are a football club based in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. They will play in the J2 League. The team's colour is yellow.
 | |||
| Full name | Tochigi Soccer Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1953 | ||
| Stadium | Kanseki Stadium Tochigi | ||
| Capacity | 25,244 | ||
| Manager | Yu Tokisaki | ||
| League | J2 League | ||
| 2021 | J2 League, 14th of 22 | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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History
Teachers in Tochigi Prefecture founded the club in 1953. They were initially called self-explanatory Tochigi Teachers' Soccer Club (栃木教員サッカー部 Tochigi Kyōin Sakkā Bu). They started to welcome players with other professions in 1994 and renamed themselves as Tochigi Soccer Club. In 1999, Tochigi won the Kanto Regional League and were promoted to the Japan Football League after finishing runners-up in the Regional League play-off. In March 2005, they announced that they would set up a task force to give a serious consideration to turn professional and try to gain J.League status.
On January 2007 they achieved J.League Associate Membership status and in the 2008 season they secured qualification for promotion to professional status on November 16; on December 1 promotion was made official by J.League and Tochigi had competed in J2 since 2009. In 2015 Tochigi finished bottom and were relegated for the first time to J3, the third and lowest professional level in the league system. After two seasons, they returned to J2 as runners-up in 2017.
Record as J.League member
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | Attendance/G | Emperor's Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | J2 | 18 | 17th | 4,706 | 2nd round |
| 2010 | 19 | 10th | 4,157 | 3rd round | |
| 2011 | 20 | 10th | 4,939 | 3rd round | |
| 2012 | 22 | 11th | 3,850 | 2nd round | |
| 2013 | 22 | 9th | 4,922 | 3rd round | |
| 2014 | 22 | 12th | 5,294 | 2nd round | |
| 2015 | 22 | 22nd | 5,167 | 1st round | |
| 2016 | J3 | 16 | 2nd | 4,917 | Did not qualify |
| 2017 | 17 | 2nd | 5,147 | Did not qualify | |
| 2018 | J2 | 22 | 17th | 5,657 | 2nd round |
| 2019 | 22 | 20th | 5,148 | 3rd round | |
| 2020 † | 22 | 10th | 2,522 | Did not qualify | |
| 2021 † | 22 | 14th | 3,861 | 3rd round | |
| 2022 | 22 | TBA |
- Key
- Pos. = Position in league
- Attendance/G = Average league attendance
- † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
- Source: J. League Data Site
Coaching Staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Yu Tokisaki |
| Assistant head coach | Kazushige Watanuki |
| Assistant head coach | Junro Hamashima |
| Goalkeeper coach | Seiichi Saito |
| Physical coach | Shinobu Kikuchi |
| Chief trainer | Yuta Matsumoto |
| Trainer | Yujiro Sakae Atsuya Kaneko Takumi Murakami |
| Interpreter | Bruno Hideo Watanabe |
| competent | Shinsuke Hitomi |
| Side affairs | Tatsuya Sakakibara |
Current squad
As of 16 February 2022.[2] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | ||
| Kōichi Hashiratani | Japan | 1 January 2007 | 31 December 2008 |
| Hiroshi Matsuda | Japan | 1 February 2009 | 13 September 2013 |
| Ikuo Matsumoto | Japan | 13 September 2013 | 25 November 2013 |
| Yūji Sakakura | Japan | 1 February 2014 | 20 July 2015 |
| Yasuharu Kurata | Japan | 22 July 2015 | 31 December 2015 |
| Yūji Yokoyama | Japan | 1 January 2016 | 31 December 2018 |
| Kazuaki Tasaka | Japan | 1 February 2019 | 31 January 2022 |
| Yū Tokisaki | Japan | 1 February 2022 | Current |
Kit evolution
| FP 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          2008 |
     2009 |
     2010 |
    2011 |
    2012 |
     2013 |
    2014 |
     2015 |
   2016 |
   2017 |
     2018 |
   2019 |
   2020 |
     2021 - | |
| FP 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
     2008 |
     2009 |
     2010 |
     2011 |
     2012 |
     2013 |
    2014 |
     2015 |
   2016 |
     2017 |
     2018 |
   2019 |
   2020 |
     2021 - | |
References
- クラブ情報 [Club profile] (in Japanese). Tochigi SC. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
- "トップチーム｜栃木サッカークラブ公式サイト【栃木Sc】".