Fukushima United FC have a partnership with J2 club Shonan Bellmare. This has resulted in many Shonan players coming to Fukushima for the inaugural J3 season.
#15 Takuya Morioka who played 20 games last season has finished the 1-year loan but has signed on as full member of the Fukushima squad for the 2015 season.
Source: http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201411261505
#18 Yuki Igari (7 games) and #16 Ryosuke Kawano (4 games) also finish their loan Spells. Igari will return to Shonan and take up a non-playing position within the club. Kawano has signed with Verspah Oita in the JFL.
Source: http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201411261519 http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201412261618 http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201501051700
#24 Akira Ando (31 games, 2 goals) and #19 Shota Tamura (7 games) have extended their loans with Fukushima for another year. Great to have them on board for 2015!
Source: http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201411261525
There will also be several new players joining the squad from Shonan Bellmare. Welcome to 19 year old defender Shota Fukuoka, and 18 year old midfielder Naoki Maeda.
Source: http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201412241008 http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201412241012
#20 Takuya Sugiyama announced his retirement from football.
Source: http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201412291700
#14 Yoshihiro Masuko has signed with J3 rivals Grulla Morioka.
Source: http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201501061502
#11 Junya Kuno has signed with Honda FC in the JFL.
Source: http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201501061100
#26 Takuya Komine (5 games) has announced his retirement and will take up a non-playing role with the club.
Source: http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201501080929
And now on to some exciting signings for the coming season. 30 year old defender, Fukushima born, Hiroto Mogi will join Fukushima FC after playing for over 10 years in J1 and J2 at Vissel Kobe and Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
Source: http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201501091500
24 year old forward Yutaro Shin will join Fukushima from JFL club Azul Claro Numazu.
Source: http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201501091202
25 year old forward Junki Yokino joins Fukushima after a year in Thailand Division 1 with Khon kaen FC. He has also experience playing with Consadole Sapporo for 6 years.
Source: http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201501101100
33 year old defender Kenta Togawa joins Fukushima from fellow J3 team Gainare Tottori.
Source: http://fufc.jp/news_cat/201501100820
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
2015 J3 Opening Rounds
2015 Meji Yasuda Life J-League Division 3
The opening rounds of the 2015 J3 are listed below. Kick-off times and TV broadcast details will announced on January 22nd.
Round 1
Sunday March 15thFukushima United FC v Fujieda MYFC (TOHO Stadium)
FC Machida Zelvia v AC Nagano Parceiro (Machida Stadium)
SC Sagamihara v J-League U-22s (Sagamihara Gion Stadium)
Kataller Toyama v Blaublitz Akita (Toyama Stadium)
Renofa Yamaguchi FC v Gainare Tottori (Ishin Memorial Park Stadium)
FC Ryukyu v YSCC Yokohama (Okinawa Athletic Park Stadium)
Round 2
Saturday March 21stYSCC Yokohama v FC Machida Zelvia (NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium)
Renofa Yamaguchi FC v J-League U-22s (Ishin Memorial Park Stadium)
Sunday March 22nd
Fukushima United FC v Grulla Morioka (TOHO Stadium)
AC Nagano Parceiro v SC Sagamihara (Minami Nagano Sports Park Stadium)
Fujieda MYFC v FC Ryukyu (Fujieda Soccer Stadium)
Gainare Tottori v Kataller Toyama (The Tottori Bank Bird Stadium)
Round 3
Sunday March 29thGrulla Morioka v Kataller Toyama (Morioka Minami Park Stadium)
Round 4
Sunday April 5thBlaublitz Akita v YSCC Yokohama (Akigin Stadium)
Home Grounds
The league has released a list of stadiums used in the opening rounds along with their English names. Although, please note that there will be venue changes for some games during the season.
Grulla Morioka Morioka Minami Park Stadium
Blaublitz Akita Akigin Stadium
Fukushima United FC TOHO Stadium
FC Machida Zelvia Machida Stadium
YSCC Yokohama NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium
SC Sagamihara Sagamihara Gion Stadium
AC Nagano Parceiro Minami Nagano Sports Park Stadium
Kataller Toyama Toyama Stadium
Fujieda MYFC Fujieda Soccer Stadium
Gainare Tottori The Tottori Bank Bird Stadium
Renofa Yamaguchi FC Ishin Memorial Park Stadium
FC Ryukyu Okinawa Athletic Park Stadium
Saturday, 29 November 2014
J3 November Review
Kanazawa Inaugural J3 Champions! Nagano Advance to J2 Playoff.
Machida and Tottori fall short of promotion
This was the inaugural season of the Meiji Yasuda J3 League. Round 1 was back on March 9th, Round 33 finished up on November 23rd. All the clubs were striving toward their own goals during the final 4 rounds in November.
Zweigen Kanazawa took the coveted inaugural championship. They have been sitting at the top of the table since Round 25 in September and finished November with 4 consecutive wins. Their last defeat was back in Round 20 in August and they have 12 wins and 1 draw from their final 13 games in an unstoppable run at the top of the table. The win in Round 32 gave them the title and the J-League board of directors have already given them the go ahead to promote to J2 next season.
They had the best defensive record conceding only 20 goals, and the equal 3rd best attack with 56 goals, a good balance of attack and defence. The team's leading goal scorer was midfielder Shohei Kiyohara with 9 goals, and forward Shoma Mizunaga managed 8 goals even though he only joined the club midway through the season. Defender Kosuke Ota and midfielder Kazuhiro Sato both managed 7 goals a piece, which highlighted the quality of this side, so many players able to consistently score goals.
Finishing in 2nd place was AC Nagano Parceiro. They moved into second place after Round 27, and chased Kanazawa hard during November with 3 wins and a draw, but were unable to close the gap. They managed to lock in 2nd place and will face the 21st placed J2 team, Kamatamare Sanuki, in a play off for J2. Their leading goal scorer is Yuji Unozawa with 16 goals. He played for Kashiwa Reysol back in 2004 when J1/J2 promotion play-off games were first introduced, and scored a goal in the second leg. Now 10 years later it will be interesting to see what effect he will have on the first J2/J3 promotion play-off.
3rd placed FC Machida Zelvia and 4th placed Gainare Tottori will have to wait to next season to have another shot at promotion to J2. Machida with inaugural J3 Golden Boot winner Koji Suzuki who scored 19 goals, they were leading the table mid-season, but fell back to 2nd after a string of poor results between Rounds 22 and 25, they only took 3 points from 1 win and 3 loses. Another lose in Round 27 saw them drop to 3rd, and even 4 wins during November was not enough for them to move up the ladder. Tottori managed the 11 draws this season, the 2nd most in the league, and by the middle of the season an insurmountable gap had opened up between the top teams. A lose to Kanazawa early in November erased any small chance of them finishing in the top 2, and they failed to lift for the end of the season and finished with 1 win, 1 lose, and 2 draws in November.
Morioka played like they were challenging for the title
Grulla Morioka finished in 5th place. Grulla Morioka were the only team that came into J3 from a lower regional league, and many people expected them to struggle this season, but thanks to 12 goals from Ryota Doi, 4th on the goal scorers list, they were able to be potential challengers to the title. They finished on a down note with 1 win, 2 loses, and a draw in November, but they'll be able to use the self belief they've established this season to build towards next season. 6th placed SC Sagamihara strengthened their squad early in the season with former Japan representative Naohiro Takahara, but he was unable to make as big an impact as expected after being forced into retirement through injury. However, they managed to finish the season strongly with 3 wins and 1 lose in November to give them confidence for next season.
7th placed Fukushima United FC under the tutelage of manager Keisuke Kurihara in 2014 worked their way up the table in October, but 1 win and 3 loses in November was a sour note. Although they will be happy with their final game of the season after they downed Ryukyu in exciting circumstances. 8th placed Blaublitz Akita had 1 win, 1 draw, and 2 loses in November. They had a really difficult time earlier in the season with 6 consecutive loses between Rounds 14 and 19. Manager George Yanoshiro asked the team to work on maintaining ball possession, and managed to dominate Tottori with 3 wins from 3 in head-to-head this season.
9th placed FC Ryukyu lost their final 3 games to finish with 1 win from their 4 games in November. They were unable to continue their early form into the second half of the season after they were only team to win their opening 2 games of the season. They had the handicap of long distance travel to all their away games, but they'll be more comfortable with the hectic travel schedule next season. The J-League U-22s finished in 10th. They had 1 win, 1 draw, and 2 loses in November, and finished the season with 9 wins, but 18 loses was the 2nd worst record in the league. There were many games where the team fell to pieces early in the game and were unable to recover. It's difficult to judge the team since their playing roster changed from game to game, but the team provided some valuable experience for many young players who will be able to return to their clubs and force their way into the starting line up. The players shouldn't forget that playing in J3 is an opportunity to hone their skills and get some good competitive experience.
Fujieda MYFC in 11th and YSCC Yokohama in 12th both had difficult seasons. Fujieda lost to Yokohama in Round 32 and finished November with 1 draw, 3 loses, and no wins. However one positive asset for the team is forward Tsugutoshi Oishi who finished 2nd on the goal scorers list with 17 goals. Yokohama had 1 win and 3 loses in November, and only managed 4 wins all season to finish bottom. Their Round 32 win over Fujieda was the only time they managed to win with a clean sheet to give themselves a performance to build on for next season.
Next season Kataller Toyama will be demoting from J2, and Renofa Yamaguchi FC will be promoting from the JFL to add some changes for the 2nd season of the J3. Each team dealt with their own ups and downs, how will they line up next season? Let's hope that the J3 will build on this season to create an even more exciting season in 2015.
Source: http://www.j3league.jp/special/m-report/201411.html
Sunday, 23 November 2014
Round 33 vs Ryukyu: Match Review
Fukushima 2 (58' Ohara, 90+2' Tokisaki)
Ryukyu 1 (90+1' Urashima)
Venue: Toho Minna no Stadium
Attendance: 1,929
Both teams were very conservative and sluggish in a quiet first half, but the match sprang to life in the second half. After some sustained pressure from Fukushima they won a corner in the 58th minute and defender Takahiro Ohara scored to put them in to the lead.
Ryukyu quickly made some attacking substitutions and pushed forward for an equaliser. In the 91st minute Ryukyu defender Daichi Okumiya put a cross in to a crowded penalty area which was bundled over the line by Takahiro Urashima to even the scores.
However, it wasn't the final piece of drama for the match as Fukushima refused to give up. Only 1 minute later, 74th minute substitute Rui Tokisaki received a pass in the penalty area to steal a late winner. This game was Tokisaki's final game before retirement, and he managed to score a goal in the dying seconds to give Fukushima the win.
Ryukyu 1 (90+1' Urashima)
Venue: Toho Minna no Stadium
Attendance: 1,929
Both teams were very conservative and sluggish in a quiet first half, but the match sprang to life in the second half. After some sustained pressure from Fukushima they won a corner in the 58th minute and defender Takahiro Ohara scored to put them in to the lead.
Ryukyu quickly made some attacking substitutions and pushed forward for an equaliser. In the 91st minute Ryukyu defender Daichi Okumiya put a cross in to a crowded penalty area which was bundled over the line by Takahiro Urashima to even the scores.
However, it wasn't the final piece of drama for the match as Fukushima refused to give up. Only 1 minute later, 74th minute substitute Rui Tokisaki received a pass in the penalty area to steal a late winner. This game was Tokisaki's final game before retirement, and he managed to score a goal in the dying seconds to give Fukushima the win.
Friday, 21 November 2014
Round 33 vs Ryukyu: Match Preview
Both teams will be finishing the season with an eye on next season. Fukushima are in front in the head-to-head results between these clubs this season with 1 win and 1 draw. Both teams are coming off a string of loses, so they'll both be trying to finish the season on a positive note.
Fukushima haven't gained any points in their last 3 games and will be worried by their lack of ability to put the ball in the back of the net. They have really struggled offensively this season, but through a stubborn and determined defence have been able to cause problems for the teams higher up the ladder. In order to stop the run of loses before the end of the season, the attacking players will be strenuously trying to match the effort put in by the defence.
Ryukyu put in a magnificent performance against league leaders Kanazawa in the previous round, but came away from the match without a point. A resolute performance from their offence and the goalkeeper at the heart of their defensive line, an excellent performance even though they ultimately lost the match. Up against an offensively shaky Fukushima, Ryukyu will be feeling confident if they can get on the score sheet early. They will want to play an offensive game with the whole team pushing forward toward the goal. However, they will be feeling a bit uneasy at the back with the absence of defender Daiki Asada who has played 31 games this season and will miss the game after accumulating too many yellow cards. Depending on results either team has the potential to sink further down the table, but the winning team will hold on to 7th place.
Source: http://match.j3league.jp/match/2014/112303_1.html
Fukushima haven't gained any points in their last 3 games and will be worried by their lack of ability to put the ball in the back of the net. They have really struggled offensively this season, but through a stubborn and determined defence have been able to cause problems for the teams higher up the ladder. In order to stop the run of loses before the end of the season, the attacking players will be strenuously trying to match the effort put in by the defence.
Ryukyu put in a magnificent performance against league leaders Kanazawa in the previous round, but came away from the match without a point. A resolute performance from their offence and the goalkeeper at the heart of their defensive line, an excellent performance even though they ultimately lost the match. Up against an offensively shaky Fukushima, Ryukyu will be feeling confident if they can get on the score sheet early. They will want to play an offensive game with the whole team pushing forward toward the goal. However, they will be feeling a bit uneasy at the back with the absence of defender Daiki Asada who has played 31 games this season and will miss the game after accumulating too many yellow cards. Depending on results either team has the potential to sink further down the table, but the winning team will hold on to 7th place.
Source: http://match.j3league.jp/match/2014/112303_1.html
Sunday, 16 November 2014
Round 32 vs Machida: Match Review
Machida 2 (13' Suzuki, 86' Hoshino)
Fukushima 0
Venue: Machida Athletic Stadium
Attendance: 4472
Machida came out attacking from the kick off. A cross from the left found Koji Suzuki in the penalty area with a golden opportunity but he was unable to put it away. They keep up the pressure, and a cross from defender Bae Dae-Won in the 13th minute found Suzuki's head to put them into the lead early in the game, 1-0.
The pace of the game began to slow until the 57th minute when Fukushima forward Yasutaka Kobayashi almost brought Fukushima back into the game with a close range effort. Then in the 61st minute Machida goalkeeper Tomohito Shugyo was injured which gave reserve keeper Kyohei Shimazaki his first appearance of the season in a testing situation.
Then in the 73rd minute Fukushima defender Kento Sugino received a second yellow card to leave Fukushima with 10 men. In the 86th minute Machida defender Hoshino scored a decisive goal for Machida to put Fukushima further behind, 2-0.
Source: http://match.j3league.jp/match/2014/111601_3.html
Fukushima 0
Venue: Machida Athletic Stadium
Attendance: 4472
Machida came out attacking from the kick off. A cross from the left found Koji Suzuki in the penalty area with a golden opportunity but he was unable to put it away. They keep up the pressure, and a cross from defender Bae Dae-Won in the 13th minute found Suzuki's head to put them into the lead early in the game, 1-0.
The pace of the game began to slow until the 57th minute when Fukushima forward Yasutaka Kobayashi almost brought Fukushima back into the game with a close range effort. Then in the 61st minute Machida goalkeeper Tomohito Shugyo was injured which gave reserve keeper Kyohei Shimazaki his first appearance of the season in a testing situation.
Then in the 73rd minute Fukushima defender Kento Sugino received a second yellow card to leave Fukushima with 10 men. In the 86th minute Machida defender Hoshino scored a decisive goal for Machida to put Fukushima further behind, 2-0.
Source: http://match.j3league.jp/match/2014/111601_3.html
Saturday, 15 November 2014
Round 32 vs Machida: Match Preview
Machida took all three points last previous round with a dominant 4-1 win over Ryukyu. The J3 title also slipped out of their reach when league leaders Kanazawa downed the J-League U-22 team, but they managed to remain 1 point behind 2nd place Nagano. Thre are only 2 games remaining in their fierce battle for promotion. This game against Fukushima is the final home game of the season at Machida City Athletics Centre. Machida beat Fukushima the last time the teams met, but they'll still want to be careful against the team that gave them their first loss of the season, especially if they want to remain in the hunt for promotion. Last week's match against Ryukyu was controlled by ace forward Koji Suzuki, and some well timed substitutions made some worthwhile contributions with some great team play. Can they use this game to provide some much needed momentum into their final game?
They'll be facing a Fukushima team that will have trouble finding motivation. After 3 consecutive defeats Fukushima may pull back to a more defensive formation and hope to breakdown their opposition by maintaining possession. The decisions of the managers may have a bit impact on the result.
Source: http://match.j3league.jp/match/2014/111601_1.html
They'll be facing a Fukushima team that will have trouble finding motivation. After 3 consecutive defeats Fukushima may pull back to a more defensive formation and hope to breakdown their opposition by maintaining possession. The decisions of the managers may have a bit impact on the result.
Source: http://match.j3league.jp/match/2014/111601_1.html
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