Tochigi Soccer Club (栃木サッカークラブ, Tochigi Sakkākurabu),[2] commonly referred to as Tochigi SC (栃木SC, Tochigi Esushi) is a Japanese football club based in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. They set to play in the J3 League after relegation from J2 in 2024, Japan's third tier of professional football.

Tochigi SC
栃木SC
Full nameTochigi Soccer Club
Founded1953; 71 years ago (1953)
StadiumKanseki Stadium Tochigi
Capacity25,244
PresidentDaisuke Hashimoto [1]
ManagerShinji Kobayashi
LeagueJ3 League
2024J2 League, 18th of 20 (relegated)
Websitetochigisc.jp
Current season

History

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Teachers in Tochigi Prefecture founded the club in 1953. They were initially called 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.

In January 2007, they achieved J.League Associate Membership status and in the 2008 season they secured qualification for promotion to professional status on 16 November 2007. On 1 December 2007, promotion was made official by J.League and Tochigi had competed in J2 from 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.

On 27 October 2024, Tochigi officially relegated to J3 League for second time after defeat from Shimizu S-Pulse 0-1 at home and ending seven years stint in second tier with two games left.

League and cup record

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Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League J.League Cup Emperor's
Cup
Season Div. Tier Teams Pos. P W D L F A GD Pts Attendance/G
2007 JFL 3 18 8th 34 14 10 10 43 29 14 52 4,457 3rd round
2008 18 2nd 34 18 9 7 65 37 28 63 5,048 4th round
2009 J2 2 18 17th 51 8 13 30 38 77 -39 37 4,706 2nd round
2010 19 10th 36 14 8 14 46 42 4 50 4,157 3rd round
2011 20 10th 38 15 11 12 44 39 5 56 4,939 3rd round
2012 22 11th 42 17 9 16 50 49 4 60 3,850 2nd round
2013 22 9th 42 17 12 13 61 55 6 63 4,922 3rd round
2014 22 12th 42 15 10 17 52 58 -6 55 5,294 2nd round
2015 22 22nd 42 7 14 21 39 64 -25 35 5,167 1st round
2016 J3 3 16 2nd 30 17 8 5 38 20 18 59 4,917 Did not qualify
2017 17 2nd 32 16 12 4 44 24 20 60 5,147 Did not qualify
2018 J2 2 22 17th 42 13 11 18 38 48 -10 50 5,657 2nd round
2019 22 20th 42 8 16 18 33 53 -20 40 5,148 3rd round
2020 22 10th 42 15 13 14 41 39 2 58 2,522 Did not qualify
2021 22 14th 42 10 15 17 37 51 -14 45 3,861 3rd round
2022 22 17th 42 11 16 15 32 40 -8 49 4,429 Round of 16
2023 22 19th 42 10 14 18 39 47 -8 44 5,834 Round of 16
2024 20 18th 38 7 13 18 33 57 -24 34 6,238 1st round 2nd round
2025 J3 3 20 TBA 38
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 league home attendance
  • 2020 & 2021 seasons attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
  • Source: J.League Data Site
Tochigi SC honours
Honour No. Years
Tochigi Prefecture Division 1 10 1978, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998
Kanto 1 1999

Players

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Current squad

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As of 9 August 2024[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   JPN Shuhei Kawata
2 DF   JPN Wataru Hiramatsu
3 DF   JPN Hayato Kurosaki
4 MF   JPN Sho Sato
5 DF   JPN Naoki Otani
6 MF   JPN Sho Omori
7 MF   JPN Ryotaro Ishida
9 FW   NGA Origbaajo Ismaila
10 MF   JPN Toshiki Mori
13 DF   JPN Keisuke Saka
14 MF   JPN Kodai Dohi (on loan from Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
15 MF   JPN Koya Okuda
16 MF   JPN Rio Hyon (on loan from Tokushima Vortis)
17 MF   JPN Takumi Fujitani
18 MF   JPN Rensuke Kawana
19 FW   JPN Koki Oshima
20 DF   JPN Shintaro Ide
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 GK   KOR Kim Min-jun
22 MF   JPN Taichi Aoshima
23 MF   JPN Hayato Fukushima (on loan from Shonan Bellmare)
24 MF   JPN Kosuke Kambe
27 GK   JPN Kenta Tanno
29 FW   JPN Kisho Yano
30 DF   JPN Kenta Fukumori
32 FW   JPN Ko Miyazaki
33 DF   BRA Rafael Costa
38 FW   JPN Sora Kobori
40 DF   JPN Shuya Takashima
41 MF   JPN Park Yong-ji
42 FW   JPN Harumi Minamino
44 MF   JPN Rui Ageishi
45 FW   JPN Ota Yamamoto (on loan from Kashiwa Reysol)
47 MF   JPN Haruto Yoshino DSP

Out on loan

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK   JPN Yuya Aoshima (at JEF United Chiba)
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW   JPN Yuji Senuma (at SC Sagamihara)

Coaching staff

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Position Name
Manager   Shinji Kobayashi
Assistant Manager   Hiroaki Nagashima
First-team coach   Takumi Motohashi
Goalkeeper coach   Tomoaki Ogami
Analyst   Shogo Manabe
Physical coach   Hirofumi Sakamoto
Chief trainer   Yuta Matsumoto
Trainer   Takahiro Watanabe
  Atsuya Kaneko
Interpreter   Bruno Hideo Owada
Chief manager   Tatsuya Sakakibara
  Yusuke Kenjo
Chief doctor   Mitsugi Shimoda
Doctor   Hitoshi Akutsu
  Kei Ajisaka
  Taro Kuramochi
  Makoto Kuroda
  Atsuto Hoshikawa
  Yuichiro Yano
  Yusuke Eda
  Makoto Oe

Managerial history

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Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Kōichi Hashiratani   Japan January 1, 2007 December 31, 2008
Hiroshi Matsuda   Japan February 1, 2009 September 13, 2013
Ikuo Matsumoto   Japan September 13, 2013 November 25, 2013
Yūji Sakakura   Japan February 1, 2014 July 20, 2015
Yasuharu Kurata   Japan July 22, 2015 December 31, 2015
Yūji Yokoyama   Japan January 1, 2016 December 31, 2018
Kazuaki Tasaka   Japan February 1, 2019 January 31, 2022
Yū Tokisaki   Japan February 1, 2022 January 31, 2024
Makoto Tanaka   Japan February 1, 2024 May 14, 2024
Shinji Kobayashi   Japan May 15, 2024 current

Kit evolution

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The team's colour is yellow.

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References

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  1. ^ "Club president". www.jleague.jp. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  2. ^ クラブ情報 [Club profile] (in Japanese). Tochigi SC. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  3. ^ "トップチーム|栃木サッカークラブ公式サイト【栃木Sc】".
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