Shonan Bellmare(Tương nam ベルマーレ,Shōnan Berumāre)is a Japanese professionalfootballclub based inHiratsuka,in the west ofKanagawa Prefecture,part of theGreater Tokyo Area.The club plays in theJ1 League,which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium isHiratsuka Athletics Stadium.Shonanrefers to a coastal area alongSagami Baythat includes Hiratsuka.Bellmareis aportmanteauof the Italian wordsbelloandmare,meaning "beautiful sea".

Shonan Bellmare
Tương nam ベルマーレ
Full nameShonan Bellmare
Founded1968;57 years ago(1968)as Towa Real Estate SC
StadiumLemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka
Hiratsuka,Kanagawa
Capacity15,380[1]
ChairmanKiyoshi Makabe
ManagerSatoshi Yamaguchi
LeagueJ1 League
2024J1 League, 15th of 20
Websitewww.bellmare.co.jp
Current season

History

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Early years as corporate team (1968–1992)

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The club was founded in 1968 as "Towa Real Estate SC "inNasu, Tochigi.[2]They were promoted to theJapan Soccer League(JSL) Division 1 in 1972. They changed their name to "Fujita Kogyo SC "when Towa Estate Development gave up the ownership to their parent company Fujita Industries, which moved the club to Hiratsuka.

They won the JSL three times (including twodoubleswith theEmperor's Cup) between 1977 and 1981. They were nevertheless relegated to the JSL's Division 2 in 1990. Although they won the last JSL Division 2 season in 1991–92, the professionalization and formation of theJ.Leaguemeant they did not meet the new top flight league's criteria and the runners-up,Kashima Antlers(formerly Sumitomo), were promoted instead.

1993: JFL

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In 1993, they adopted new name "Shonan Bellmare".Their application to the J.League Associate membership was accepted. They played in theformer Japan Football LeagueDivision 1 and won the league championship. After Hiratsuka City Council committed to finance the refurbishment of the Hiratsuka Stadium to meet the J.League requirements, J.League accepted the club.

1994–1997: Golden era

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Hidetoshi Nakata,who won the Asian Cup Winners' Cup trophy in 1996

The club was forced to change their name to Bellmare Hiratsuka because J.League required the participants to designate only one city or town as their hometown and include its name in the club names at that time. The club initially struggled to cope with the J.League opponents and finished 11th out of 12 in the first stage of the 1994 season. However, they came back in the second stage and finished 2nd. With this momentum, the club won the 1994–1995 Emperor's Cup. This title qualified Bellmare for the 1996Asian Cup Winners' Cup,which they won by beating Iraq'sAl Talabain the final.Hidetoshi Nakatajoined the team in 1995 and they also successfully recruited Brazilian-bornWagner Lopesand influential Korean internationalHong Myung-bo.This is arguably the most successful period of the club.[3]

1998–1999: Difficult period

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Four Bellmare players were selected for the1998 FIFA World Cup.They were Nakata, Lopes, Hong (for South Korea) and a goalkeeperNobuyuki Kojima.However, as Nakata left for Italian clubPerugiajust after the World Cup, the club's fortune started to decline. The main sponsor Fujita decided to discontinue the financial support in 1999 due to their own financial difficulties.[4]It forced the club to release some highly paid players including Lopes, Hong and Kojima. They finished bottom of J1 in 1999 and were relegated to J2.

2000–2009: J2 League

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The club made a new start. The ownership was transferred to a community-owned organisation. They also changed their name to Shonan Bellmare as J.League allowed them to enlarge their designated hometowns to include several cities and towns surrounding Hiratsuka.[4]The club's performance on the pitch has not been strong and they have not been serious contenders for the promotion to J1 so far.

A J1 comeback in 2010, if they are able to achieve promotion, will be the first without Fujita as their sponsor. Although for a time they refused to consider their history as the championship-winning Fujita corporate team in their current history, this year they celebrated the club's 40-year anniversary in 2009 as deduced from the badge in their Web site.

On 5 December 2009, Shonan returned to J1 as third-place finishers in2009 seasons.

2010–present: Return to J1 League

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The club returned to the J1 in 2010, but injured one after another and J2 was relegated after leaving four games. In the end, he won 21 consecutive league games. It was the worst record of J1 at that time. After that, the team will be repeatedly demoted to J2 and promoted to J1.

In recent years, the team has been steadily improving. In 2014, the team made good progress in the J2, winning 14 consecutive games from the opening. The team was defeated by Ehime FC in the 15th round, but after that they lost 21 battles. J1 automatic promotion is confirmed. As a result, he won the J2 with 31 wins, 8 draws, 3 losses and 101 points in the 2014 season. In 2016, in the J1, Shonan Bellmare was the final result in 8th place, and it was the first time for J1 to remain in history. In addition, at theEAFF E-1 Football Championship2015 held in August,Wataru Endo,who was on the team at the time, participated as a representative of Japan. In 2018, won theJ.League Cup.[5]It was the first time for Shonan Bellmare to win three major titles since winning the 74th Emperor's Cup in the Bellmare Hiratsuka.

On the operational side, there was some report that the club fell into excess debt of more than 100 million yen in February 2012, and in the worst case the club itself could be dissolved (the actual amount of excess debt was 82.68 million yen). However, the debt insolvency was resolved by two capital increases.[6] In April 2018, SANEI ARCHITECTURE PLANNING, which was the largest shareholder of Shonan Bellmare, established "Merudia RIZAP Shonan Sports Partners" in collaboration with RIZAP GROUP. The new company acquired a 50% stake in Shonan Bellmare.[7]RIZAP GROUP intends to invest 1 billion yen in Bellmare over the next three years.[8]

Rivalries

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Historically the Shonan area was part of a pre-modern province,Sagami Province,whereas Yokohama and Kawasaki were part ofMusashi Province,hence Bellmare's intraprefectural rivalries withYokohama F. Marinos,Yokohama FCandKawasaki Frontaleare based on the hard-working port cities of South Musashi as opposed to the more laid-back attitude of Sagami.

Affiliated clubs

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The following clubs are currently affiliated with Shonan Bellmare:[9]


Current squad

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As of 7 January 2025.[12] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules;some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF JPN Taiga Hata(vice-captain)
4 DF JPN Koki Tachi(vice-captain)
5 DF JPN Junnosuke Suzuki
6 MF BRA Zé Ricardo(on loan fromKawasaki Frontale)
7 MF JPN Kosuke Onose
8 DF JPN Kazunari Ono
10 FW JPN Akito Suzuki(captain)
11 FW BRA Lukian
13 MF JPN Taiyo Hiraoka
14 MF JPN Akimi Barada
15 MF JPN Kohei Okuno
16 FW JPN Ryo Nemoto
17 MF JPN Soki Tamura
18 MF JPN Masaki Ikeda
19 MF JPN Sho Fukuda
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 FW JPN Sena Ishibashi
21 GK JPN Tatsunari Nagai
22 DF JPN Kazuki Oiwa
23 DF JPN Kanaru Matsumoto
24 DF JPN Kotaro Honda
27 FW BRA Luiz Phellype
29 FW JPN Keigo Watanabe
31 GK JPN Kota Sanada
32 DF JPN Sere Matsumura
33 DF JPN Naoya Takahashi
37 MF JPN Yuto Suzuki(vice-captain)
47 DF KOR Kim Min-tae(vice-captain)
50 MF JPN Tomoya Fujii
77 FW JPN Hisatsugu Ishii
99 GK JPN Naoto Kamifukumoto

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF JPN Arata Yoshida(atKataller Toyama)
DF JPN Hayato Fukushima(atEhime FC)
DF JPN Kodai Minoda(atVanraure Hachinohe)
No. Pos. Nation Player
DF JPN Toru Shibata(atFukushima United)
MF JPN Sosuke Shibata(atIwaki FC)

Club officials

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Role Name
Manager Satoshi Yamaguchi
Assistant manager Yoshihiro Natsuka
Masahiro Koga
Yoshihiro Yatsukawa
Coach assistant Taiga Soeda
Goalkeeper coach Takeaki Yuhara
Analyst Masayuki Hirakawa
Physical coach Kazutaka Takahashi
Conditioning coach Yuta Iguchi
Chief team doctor Eiichi Suzuki
Team doctor Hirofumi Katsutani
Makoto Takahashi
Medical group chief trainer Hisayoshi Kojima
Athletic trainer Nobuhide Kurihara
Takahiro Yoshikawa
Physiotherapist Shusuke Shimada
Shigeyuki Shimizu
Interpreter Kim Fan-ju
Tiago Higa
Competent Keita Mikami
Side affairs Hiroto Araki
Takahito Hiraga
Hiroto Tanaka

Honours

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AsTowa / Fujita(until 1992);Bellmare Hiratsuka(1993–1999) andShonan Bellmare(2000–present)

Shonan Bellmare honours
Competition No. Years
Kanto Soccer League 1 1971
All Japan Senior Football Championship 1 1971
JSL Cup 1 1973
Emperor's Cup 3 1977,1979,1994
Japan Soccer LeagueDivision 1 3 1977,1979,1981
Japanese Super Cup 2 1978,1982
Japan Soccer LeagueDivision 2 1 1991–92
Japan Football LeagueDivision 1 1 1993
Asian Cup Winners' Cup 1 1995
J2 League 2 2014,2017
BTV Cup 1 2016
J.League Cup 1 2018

Managerial history

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Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Yukio Shimomura Japan 1 February 1972 31 January 1979
Yoshinobu Ishii Japan 1 January 1975 31 December 1980
Tsutomu Nakamura Japan 1 February 1981 31 January 1985
Hidemitsu Hanaoka Japan 1 February 1985 30 June 1988
Yoshinobu Ishii Japan 1 January 1988 31 December 1990
Mitsuru Komaeda Japan 1 July 1990 27 November 1995
Shigeharu Ueki Japan 28 November 1995 31 January 1996
Toninho Moura Brazil 1 February 1996 19 September 1996
Shigeharu Ueki Japan 20 September 1996 31 January 1999
Eiji Ueda Japan 1 February 1999 30 June 1999
Mitsuru Komaeda Japan 1 July 1999 31 January 2000
Hisashi Katō Japan 1 February 2000 31 January 2001
Kōji Tanaka Japan 1 February 2001 30 November 2002
Ajam Boujarari Mohammed Morocco 1 February 2003 15 May 2003
Matsuichi Yamada Japan 16 May 2003 14 July 2004
Tatsuya Mochizuki Japan 15 July 2004 13 September 2004
Eiji Ueda Japan 15 September 2004 5 June 2006
Masaaki Kanno Japan 5 June 2006 31 January 2009
Yasuharu Sorimachi Japan 1 February 2009 31 January 2012
Cho Kwi-jae South Korea 1 February 2012 8 October 2019
Kenji Takahashi Japan 13 August 2019 9 October 2019
Bin Ukishima Japan 10 October 2019 31 August 2021
Satoshi Yamaguchi Japan 1 September 2021 Current

Record as J.League member

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Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League J.League Cup Emperor's
Cup
Asia
Season Div. Teams Pos. P W(OTW/PKW) D L(OTL/PKL) F A GD Pts Attendance/G
Bellmare Hiratsuka
1994 J1 12 5th 44 23 21 75 80 -5 17,836 1st round Winner
1995 14 11th 52 21 29(–/2) 94 102 -8 65 16,111 2nd round CWC Winner
1996 16 11th 30 12 18(–/0) 47 58 -11 36 10,483 Semi-final Quarter-finals CWC Quarter Final
1997 17 8th 32 14 12(–/1) 55 52 3 49 7,841 Group stage Quarter-finals Did not qualify Did not qualify
1998 18 11th 34 12(2/2) 17(1/0) 53 66 -13 42 10,158 Group stage Round of 16
1999 16 16th 30 4(0/-) 1 22(3/0) 30 72 -42 13 7,388 1st round 3rd round
Shonan Bellmare
2000 J2 11 8th 40 12(3/0) 1 17(7/–) 59 71 -12 43 4,968 1st round 3rd round Did not qualify Did not qualify
2001 12 8th 44 16(4/–) 4 18(2/0) 64 61 3 60 4,112 1st round 2nd round
2002 12 5th 44 16 16 12 46 46 3 64 4,551 Not eligible Round of 16
2003 12 10th 44 11 11 22 33 53 -20 44 4,731 Round of 16
2004 12 10th 44 7 15 22 39 64 -25 36 4,691 Round of 16
2005 12 7th 44 13 15 16 46 59 -13 54 5,746 3rd round
2006 13 11th 48 13 10 25 61 87 -26 49 5,365 4th round
2007 13 6th 48 23 8 17 72 55 17 77 4,677 4th round
2008 15 5th 42 19 8 15 68 48 20 65 5,994 3rd round
2009 18 3rd 51 29 11 11 84 52 32 98 7,273 2nd round
2010 J1 18 18th 34 3 7 24 31 82 -51 16 11,095 Group stage 3rd round
2011 J2 20 14th 38 12 10 16 46 48 -2 46 6,943 Not eligible Quarter-final
2012 22 2nd 42 20 15 7 66 43 23 75 6,852 3rd round
2013 J1 18 16th 34 6 7 21 34 62 -28 25 9,911 Group stage 3rd round
2014 J2 22 1st 42 31 8 3 86 25 61 101 8,478 Not eligible 3rd round
2015 J1 18 8th 34 13 9 12 40 44 -4 48 12,208 Group stage 3rd round
2016 18 17th 34 7 6 21 30 56 -26 27 11,530 Group stage Quarter-finals
2017 J2 22 1st 42 24 11 7 58 36 22 83 8,454 Not eligible 3rd round
2018 J1 18 13th 34 10 11 13 38 43 -5 41 12,120 Winner Round of 16
2019 18 16th 34 10 6 18 40 63 -23 36 12,848 Group stage 2nd round
2020 18 18th 34 6 9 19 29 48 -19 27 4,467 Group stage Did not qualify
2021 20 16th 38 7 16 15 36 41 -5 37 4,850 Play-off stage Round of 16
2022 18 12th 34 10 11 13 31 39 -8 41 9,228 Play-off stage 3rd round
2023 18 15th 34 8 10 16 40 56 -16 34 13,161 Group stage Quarter-finals
2024 20 15th 38 12 9 17 53 58 -5 45 11,315 2nd Round Round of 16
2025 20 TBD 38 TBD TBD
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 home league attendance
  • OTW / PKW= Overtime wins / Penalty kicks wins 1997 & 1998 seasons - 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2002 Overtime wins only
  • OTL / PKL= Overtime losses / Penalty kicks losses 1997 and 1998 seasons - 1999, 2000 & 2001 Overtime losses only
  • 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances were reduced byCOVID-19worldwide pandemic
  • Source:J.League Data Site

League history

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  • Kanto Football League:1970–71
  • Division 1 (Japan Soccer LeagueDiv. 1):1972–89 (1972–74 as Towa Real Estate Development; 1975–89 as Fujita Industries)
  • Division 2 (Japan Soccer League Div. 2):1990–91 (as Fujita Industries)
  • Division 2 (Japan Football League (former)Div. 1):1992–93 (as Fujita Industries)
  • Division 1 (J.League Div. 1):1994–99 (as Bellmare Hiratsuka)
  • Division 2 (J.League Div. 2):2000–09 (as Shonan Bellmare)
  • Division 1 (J.League Div. 1):2010
  • Division 2 (J.League Div. 2):2011–12
  • Division 1 (J.League Div. 1):2013
  • Division 2 (J.League Div. 2):2014
  • Division 1 (J1 League):2015–16
  • Division 2 (J2 League):2017
  • Division 1 (J1 League):2018–

Total (as of 2017):28 seasons in the top tier, 18 seasons in the second tier and 2 seasons in the Regional Leagues.

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Stadium Capacity".bellmare.co.jp/stadium.bellmare.co.jp.Archivedfrom the original on 8 October 2016.Retrieved3 March2021.
  2. ^Osumi, Yoshiyuki (1995).Yume no ishizue.Astro publishing. pp.239–267.ISBN4755508576.
  3. ^"11 niên ぶりのJ1 thăng cách を quả たした tương nam ベルマーレ tiền lệ のない đạo を thiết り khai く địa vực mật trứ の thiêu chiến に bách る"(in Japanese). Shonan Keizai Shimbun. Archived fromthe originalon 4 February 2016.Retrieved3 February2016.
  4. ^ab"Bellmare boss' passion giving back to community".Asahi Shimbun.Archived fromthe originalon 4 February 2016.Retrieved3 February2016.
  5. ^"トーナメント biểu: 2018JリーグYBCルヴァンカップ: Jリーグ.jp".Jリーグ.jp(in Japanese).Archivedfrom the original on 12 August 2020.Retrieved10 May2020.
  6. ^"【 ngự lễ 】 tương nam ベルマーレ trì chu hội へご tham gia いただいた giai dạng へ « tương nam ベルマーレ công thức サイト".Archivedfrom the original on 27 July 2021.Retrieved10 May2020.
  7. ^"Chu thức hội xã tương nam ベルマーレ mộ tập chu thức phát hành cập び chu thức hội xã メルディアRIZAP tương nam スポーツパートナーズへの cát đương quyết định のお tri らせ « tương nam ベルマーレ công thức サイト".Archivedfrom the original on 27 July 2021.Retrieved10 May2020.
  8. ^"RIZAPは tương nam ベルマーレの “Ưu thắng” にコミットできるのか ".ITmedia ビジネスオンライン(in Japanese).Archivedfrom the original on 1 March 2021.Retrieved10 May2020.
  9. ^"ベルマーレ・アジア・フットボール・アライアンス ( BAFA ) thiết lập のお tri らせ".bellmare.co.jp(in Japanese). Shonan Bellmare. 15 January 2022. Archived fromthe originalon 15 January 2022.Retrieved20 January2022.
  10. ^"หนองบัว พิชญ ประกาศเป็นพันธมิตรกับ โชนัน เบลมาเร ในเจลีก เซ็น MOU สัญญา 3 ปีเพื่อนพัฒนาสโมสร".twitter.com(in Thai). Yingrak Raksuwan. 20 January 2022.Archivedfrom the original on 20 January 2022.Retrieved20 January2022.
  11. ^"English Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (Wolves) Partnership Announced".bellmare.co.jp.Retrieved25 April2024.
  12. ^"2024トップチーム « tương nam ベルマーレ công thức サイト".www.bellmare.co.jp.Shonan Bellmare.Archivedfrom the original on 19 January 2024.Retrieved24 January2024.
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