Nara Club

Nara Club (奈良クラブ, Nara Kurabu) is a Japanese football (soccer) club based in the city of Nara, capital of Nara Prefecture. They currently play in J3 League, the third tier professional in the Japanese football league system.

Not to be confused with Nara United F.C..
Nara Club
奈良クラブ
Nickname(s)Nara
Founded1991 (1991)
StadiumRohto Field Nara, Nara[1]
Capacity30,600
Coordinates34°41′54″N 135°49′45″E
ChairmanMitsuru Hamada[2]
Manager Julián Marín Bazalo[3]
LeagueJ3 League
2023J3 League, 5th of 20
WebsiteClub website

History

The club was originally established in Nara in 1991 under the name Tonan Club (都南クラブ, Tonan Kurabu) and it became a member of the Football Association of Nara. The club went up to the top division in 1997.

It was renamed to its current name in 2008, and was promoted to the regional league in 2009. In 2014, they won the Regional League promotion series, earning promotion to the Japan Football League, where they played from 2015 to 2022.

On 5 November 2022, Nara was promoted to the J3 League for the first time in their history, after beating Veertien Mie in a narrow 1–0 win, with Sotaro Yamamoto scoring the winning goal in the 86th minute, to confirm their early access to the J3, a few rounds before the end of the season. The Nara-based club was promoted after eight consecutive seasons in the JFL. 15 days later at the same month, Nara secured their first JFL title, after drawing 1–1 with Sony Sendai at the last round of the competition. A ten-goal difference in Nara's favor them and FC Osaka was the determining factor that gave Nara the league title.

On 24 October 2023, Nara Club announcement officially granted J2 License after approval of Club Licensing Board.[4]

Stadium

Nara Club currently plays its home matches at the Rohto Field Nara. The stadium is confirmed to host every Nara Club home match at the 2023 J3 League, after its schedule was revealed on 20 January 2023.

League and cup record
Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League Emperor's Cup J.League Cup Shakaijin Cup
SeasonDivisionTierTeamsPos.PWDLFAGDPts
Tonan Club
1992 Nara Pref. League Edu.11*3rd********* Not eligible*
1993 Nara Pref. League Div. 5101st********
1994 Nara Pref. League Div. 481st********
1995 Nara Pref. League Div. 371st********
1996 Nara Pref. League Div. 261st********
1997 Nara Pref. League
(Div. 1)		56th********
1998 4th********
1999 63rd********
2000 2nd********
2001 1st********
2002 117th103341414012Did not qualifyDid not qualify
2003 5th106041714318
2004 1st108112581725
2005 [* 1] 3rd1061325111419
2006 [* 2] 1st1081131112025
2007 123rd1161422101222
Nara Club
2008 Nara Pref. League
(Div. 1)		 6 12 2nd118303993027Did not qualify Not eligible1st round
2009 Kansai Soccer League (Div. 2) 5 81st14932471829302nd roundDid not qualify
2010 Kansai Soccer League
(Div. 1)		 44th14662362412241st round
2011 1st141121421329351st round
2012 2nd14851281117292nd round
2013 5th143471122−11142nd round
2014 51st141031301119333rd roundQuarter-finals
2015 JFL4167th301371033285461st roundNot eligible
2016 10th30117124148-7371st round
2017 7th301010104151-10401st round
2018 8th301261233321422nd round
2019 14th30810122732-5341st round
2020 13th1553721210182nd round
2021 1710th32101393936343Did not qualify
2022 161st3016113482523591st round
2023 J33205th38151211453213571st round
2024 TBD382nd round2nd round
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
  • Source: http://naraclub.jp/club
  1. It was originally 12 teams participating. Tenri Univ. FC was disqualified, and the rest of 11 teams had to compete.[5]
  2. It was originally 12 teams participating. Ikoma SC was disqualified, and the rest of 11 teams had to compete.[6]

Honours
Nara Club Honours
Honour No. Years
Nara Prefecture League Division 5 1 1993
Nara Prefecture League Division 4 1 1994
Nara Prefecture League Division 3 1 1995
Nara Prefecture League Division 2 1 1996
Nara Prefecture League Division 1 3 2001, 2004, 2006
Kansai League Division 2 1 2009
Kansai League Division 1 2 2011, 2014
Japan Football League 1 2022

Players

Current squad

As of 19 April 2024.[7] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  JPN Shinji Okada
3 DF  JPN Yudai Sawada
4 DF  JPN Wataru Ise
5 DF  JPN Daisei Suzuki
6 DF  JPN Haruhi Terashima
7 MF  JPN Ryota Kuwajima
8 MF  JPN Hayato Horiuchi
9 FW  JPN Tatsuma Sakai
10 MF  JPN Sotaro Yamamoto
11 MF  JPN Megumu Nishida
13 DF  JPN Yuta Tsunami
14 MF  JPN Kensei Nakashima
15 FW  THA Patrik Gustavsson (on loan from BG Pathum United)
17 FW  JPN Manato Hyakuda
19 GK  THA Kiadtiphon Udom (on loan from BG Pathum United)
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF  JPN Yuto Kunitake
22 DF  JPN Kei Ikoma (on loan from Tiamo Hirakata)
23 DF  JPN Yuki Kotani (captain)
25 MF  JPN Riku Kamigaki
27 FW  JPN Tomoya Sekiguchi Type 2
28 MF  JPN Daichi Kawai Type 2
29 MF  JPN Katsutoshi Hayashi Type 2
31 MF  JPN Yuki Okada
39 MF  JPN Shota Yomesaka
40 DF  JPN Yuzuru Yoshimura
41 MF  JPN Rin Morita (on loan from Tokushima Vortis)
43 MF  JPN Ryosuke Tamura
49 DF  JPN Yota Shimokawa
51 GK  JPN Noa Sekinuma
96 GK  ESP Marc Vito

Club staff
PositionStaff
Manager Julián Marín
Assistant manager Oriol Fernandez Peix
Kenta Betsuki
Goalkeeper coach Masatoshi Hayashi
Interpreter Yosuke Fukuda
Analyst and side affairs Kazuki Fujiwara
Chief trainer Hiroshi Fujimoto
Chief tainer Kazushi Matsumura

Managerial history
As of November 2022
ManagerNationalityTenure
StartFinish
Koji Yamaguchi Japan19912009
Ken'ichiro Fujimoto Japan2010
Satoru Yoshida Japan1 January 201131 December 2011
Masashi Hachūda Japan1 February 20123 January 2013
Jiro Yabe Japan3 July 20127 October 2013
Jun Mizukoshi Japan8 October 201331 January 2014
Atsushi Nakamura Japan1 February 201431 January 2017
Norihiro Satsukawa Japan12 February 201731 January 2019
Koichi Sugiyama Japan12 February 201931 January 2020
Maiki Hayashi Japan1 February 202031 January 2021
Julián Marín Bazalo Spain1 February 2021present

Kit evolution
Home kit - 1st
2009 - 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024 -
Away kit - 2nd
2009 - 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024 -

References
  1. "Jリーグ準加盟審査結果について" (Press release) (in Japanese). Japan Professional Football League. 17 September 2013. Archived from the original on 20 September 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  2. 今後のクラブ運営体制について. Nara Club (in Japanese). 26 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  3. "フリアン氏 トップチーム監督就任のお知らせ" (Press release) (in Japanese). Nara Club. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  4. "2024年シーズン「Ｊ2クラブライセンス」交付のお知らせ". naraclub.jp. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  5. "１部リーグ勝敗表" (PDF). Nara Football Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  6. "平成18年度 奈良県社会人サッカーリーグ１部星取表" (PDF). Nara Football Federation. 23 November 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  7. "2024トップチーム". naraclub.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 15 April 2024.
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