FC Machida Zelvia

FC Machida is known as the "Brazil of Tokyo" due to the popularity of football in the city; in fact, it has produced the second-largest number of J. League players through its football school. Originally formed in 1977, this school is well known for its development of young talents into professional players. In 1989, in order to retain talent, Machida founded its own top team, which at that time played in the Tokyo Prefectural League.

In 2003, they became a multi-sport club under the name Athletic Club Machida, and in 2005 were promoted to the Kanto League, having won the Tokyo Prefectural League (First Division). They came first in the Kanto league (Second Division) the following year and were promoted to First Division, where they stayed until promotion to the Japan Football League as champions of the Regional Promotion Playoff Series in 2008.

In 2009, they adopted the current nickname "Zelvia", a portmanteau of the Portuguese words zelkova (Machida city's official tree) and salvia (Machida city's official flower).

The same year, the club declared its intent to be promoted to J. League's 2nd division, and its status of semi-affiliate was officially approved by the J. League. However, its home stadium capacity and light specifications did not meet the J. League's requirements, average attendance did not reach 3,000, and the team's final position of 6th place did not allow for Zelvia's promotion to the J. League.

In 2010, Zelvia appointed Naoki Soma, a former star player who played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as its new head coach. The stadium's lighting was renewed, and the club added several J. League players to its roster. Zelvia also announced its partnership with Major League Soccer's D.C. United, which became the first historic partnership between a Japanese and American club.[2] The reborn team beat Tokyo Verdy, its arch-rival from the J. League, in the 2010 Emperor's Cup, but was knocked out by Albirex Niigata in the third round. Soma left at the end of the season and was replaced by Ranko Popović, former coach of Oita Trinita.

The stadium's capacity and conditions were still short of fulfilling J. League criteria, so the club completed another renovation between the end of the 2010 and the start of the 2011 seasons. Zelvia finished the 2011 season in third place after beating Kamatamare Sanuki in the final match of that season, thereby granting them promotion to J. League (Second Division),[3] but were relegated after a bottom-placed finish. They became one of the original J3 clubs after finishing in 4th place in the 2014 JFL season and returned to J2 as 2015 runners-up by beating Oita Trinita in the promotion/relegation play-off. In the first return to J2 in the 2016 season, Machida were able to finish in 7th position, only four points short of the play-offs spot.

In 2017, Zelvia fell off more than a half place down to 15th with fifty points, twelve points up of relegation zone. In the 2018 season, while Zelvia culminated a great campaign by finishing inside the promotion play-offs zone of 4th place, Zelvia were unable to participate in the phase because they did not have a J1 League-level license. The 2019 season also saw the club fell down far on the table as they finished in 18th position, three points up from relegation places occupied by Kagoshima United and FC Gifu.

In 2020, Zelvia finished in 19th. While they were able to conclude their 2021 campaign by finishing in 5th position, Zelvia were once again unable to enter the promotion play-offs because the club still did not have a J1 League club license yet at that time. In 2022 season, Zelvia once again fell far below their position of the previous campaign by finishing in the 15th position.

On 22 October 2023, after a seven-year run in J2 League, Machida eventually achieved promotion to the J1 League for the first time in the club history with manager Go Kuroda guiding Zelvia to the 2023 J2 League title with 87 points following their 3–0 away win against Roasso Kumamoto in matchweek 39.[4] The club also confirmed their status as champions of second division on 28 October 2023 after Kumamoto defeated Shimizu S-Pulse 3–1.[5]

Zelvia started off their debut 2024 J1 League season on 24 February 2024 against Gamba Osaka in a 1–1 draw with Junya Suzuki scoring their first top-tier league goal for the club. Zelvia went on to have a magnificent run in the first few matches leading at the top of the J1 League table with three wins, one draw and zero lost with 10 points.[6]

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