Kochi United SC

Kōchi United SC
高知ユナイテッドSC

Full name	Kōchi United Sports Club
Founded	2016; 8 years ago (2016)
Ground	Kochi Haruno Sports Ground (Kōchi Haruno Athletic Stadium) Haruno, Kōchi
Capacity	25,000
Chairman	Shigekazu Takemasa
Manager	Takafumi Yoshimoto
League	Japan Football League
2023	7th of 15
Website	http://kochi-usc.jp/
Home colours Away colours

Kōchi United Sports Club, (高知ユナイテッドスポーツクラブ, Kōchi Yunaiteddo Supōtsukurabu) commonly known as Kōchi United SC (高知ユナイテッドSC, Kōchi Yunaiteddo Esushi) is a football club based in Kōchi, the capital city of Kōchi Prefecture in Japan. They play in the Japan Football League, Japan's fourth tier semi-professional football league.

On 1 February 2016, two established Shikoku League clubs; Igosso Kōchi FC (アイゴッソ高知FC) and Kōchi U Torastar FC (高知UトラスターFC) merged to form one club, whose aim was to be the first team from Kōchi Prefecture to play in the J. League. After officially changing the management company's name to Kōchi United Sports Club Ltd., Kochi United SC took Igosso Kōchi FC's place in the Shikoku League. For the many players at Kōchi U Torastar FC unable to join Kochi United SC, and wanting to continue playing as amateurs in the Shikoku League, Kochi Sports Club Ltd. and Kochi University established KUFC Nangoku on March 1, 2016, and this new club took Kōchi U Torastar FC's place in the Shikoku League.

The club badge depicts the ceremonial Keshō-mawashi (化粧廻し) of a Tosa Fighting Dog on the outside, with the dark red colors of Igosso Kochi FC and the green of Kōchi U Torastar inside it and an image of a leaping bonito or skipjack tuna drawn in the center (a popular fish in Kochi prefecture). The club's home shirt also reflects the colors of the amalgamated teams from which Kochi United SC was formed.

They played in the Shikoku Soccer League, one of the Japanese Regional Leagues from 2016 to 2019, winning it three times in a row from 2017 to 2019.

In 2019, they finished 2nd in the Japanese Regional Football League Competition, earning promotion to the Japan Football League for the first time in history from 2020 season.

On 24 September 2024, Kochi United announced they have been officially granted a J3 License after approval from the J. League Board of Directors.^[1]

• Postwar–1966: Kōchi Agricultural High School O.B. Club (高知農業高校OBクラブ).
• 1966–1996: Nangoku Soccer Club (Shikoku League Champions:1980).
• 1996–1999: Himawari Milk Nangoku F.C. (ひまわり牛乳南国FC).
• 1999–2014: Nangoku Kōchi F.C. (Shikoku League Champions: 2001, 2002. 2003, 2004, 2005).
• 2014–2016: Igosso Kōchi.

• 1998–2000: Transistor (トランジェスター).
• 2000–2006: Torastar (トラスター).
• 2006–2008: Beiling Torastar (北陵トラスター).
• 2008–2013: Nankoku Torastar (南国トラスターFC).
• 2013–2016: Kōchi U Torastar FC (Shikoku League Champions: 2014)

In their inaugural 2016 season, they finished runners-up in the Shikoku League (W12-D1-L1) to FC Imabari (FC今治) . They also qualified for the All Japan Senior Football Championship (全国社会人サッカー選手権大会 Zenkoku Shakaijin Sakkā Senshuken Taikai), but lost 4–3 in the first round to eventual winners Mitsubishi Mizushima FC (三菱水島 FC). In addition, they represented Kōchi in the Emperor's Cup (天皇杯 Tennōhai) breaking Kochi University's 13-year streak, but lost 2–1 in the first round proper to V-Varen Nagasaki (V・ファーレン長崎) of the J2 League having taken a shock lead with a Kota Sugawara penalty. Takuya Kobayashi was the top goalscorer with 17 goals in all competitions.

In the 2017 season, they won the Shikoku League with a W12-D2-L0 record, thus qualifying for the Japanese Regional Football League Competition (全国地域サッカーチャンピオンズリーグ Zenkoku Chiiki Sakkā Championzu Līgu). They were drawn in Group B for the tournament alongside Amitie SC Kyoto (now Ococias Kyoto AC おこしやす京都AC), FC TIAMO Hirakata (FCティアモ枚方) of the Kansai Soccer League, and Mitsubishi Mizushima FC of the Chūgoku Soccer League. They lost 1–0 against Kansai Champions Amitie SC Kyoto in their first match but won their second game 2–1 against FC TIAMO Hirakata. In their final match, they thrashed Mitsubishi Mizushima (6 times Chugoku League champions) 5–2, but it wasn't enough to win the group or qualify for the final stage as best runners-up. Still, it was a fine overall performance in their first appearance in the tournament. In the Emperor's Cup they represented Kochi again, but went out in the first round proper for the second consecutive season, losing 2–1 to Verspah Oita (ヴェルスパ大分) of the Japan Football League, after leading with a Tsubasa Yokotake goal. In the All Japan Senior Football Championship first round, they led at halftime but ended up losing 3–1 to Vonds Ichihara (VONDS市原). The top scorer for the season was Kota Sugawara with 23 goals in all competitions.

In the 2018 season, they retained their Shikoku League title despite one loss to FC Tokushima and won the Kochi Prefectural Football Championship again with a 3–0 win against KUFC Nangoku in the final. In the first round proper of the Emperor's Cup, they defeated Mitsubishi Mizushima FC 2–0 at home, then faced Albirex Niigata (アルビレックス新潟) of the J2 League away in the second round. After a 0–0 draw at Denka Big Swan Stadium, one of the venues for the 2002 World Cup, they lost 5–3 on penalties in front of 2241 fans. In the All Japan Senior Football Championship, they lost 3–0 away in the first round to Suzuka Unlimited FC (鈴鹿アンリミテッドFC). Finally, in the season-ending Japanese Regional Football League Competition they disappointingly lost all three matches in the group stages against Blancdieu Hirosaki FC: 3–2, Hokkaido Tokachi Sky Earth: 3-0 and FC Kariya: 2-1 respectively. The joint top scorers in all competitions were Kazuki Nakabayashi and Ryo Taguchi with 16 goals.

The 2019 season was a breakthrough season for Kochi United. They won the Shikoku League for the third straight season with a 100% record and retained the Kochi Prefectural Football Championship, though they needed an extra-time winner to beat KUFC Nangoku in the final. In the first round proper they defeated MD Nagasaki (MD長崎) at home 1–0 in front of over 400 fans but lost 2–1 away after extra time to V-Varen Nagasaki of J2 in the second round. They failed to qualify for the first round proper of the All Japan Senior Football Championship after losing in the regional playoffs to FC Tokushima. However, in the Japanese Regional Football League Competition, their luck changed. With home advantage in the group stages, they beat Blancdieu Hirosaki FC 2–1 in their opening group game. In their second match, they thrashed SRC Hiroshima 7–0 and although they lost the final group game 2–0 to Ococias Kyoto AC, they still qualified for the final round. Things didn't look good when they lost the first game of the final stage 3–0 to Iwaki FC, but they responded well in the second match with a 3–1 victory over Fukui United FC. That meant they went into a winner-takes-all final match against Ococias Kyoto who they had lost to earlier on in the competition. This time, they emerged victorious with a stunning 3–1 win to get their revenge and finish second in the competition, thus earning promotion to the Japan Football League; the first time a team from Kochi had achieved that feat.

1. v Tokyo Musashino City FC H: D 1-1 (Shimodo). (First ever match in JFL)
2. v Nara Club A: D 1-1 (Nagao)
3. v Matsue City FC A: L 2-1 (Shimodo)
4. v FC Maruyasu Okazaki H: L 0–2
5. v Iwaki FC A: L 4-3 (Hirata, Nagao, Izumi)
6. v Honda Lock SC H: L 0–1.
7. v Suzuka Point Getters H: D 2-2 (Akahoshi, Fujisaki)
8. v Sony Sendai FC A: L 3-1 (Tsuboi)
9. v Verspah Oita H: L 0–1
10. v Honda F.C. A: W 0-1 (Akahoshi). (First JFL win)
11. v Tegevajaro Miyazaki H: L 0–2
12. v MIO Biwako Shiga H: W 3-0 (Yokotake (pen), Akahoshi, Taguchi). (First home JFL win)
13. v FC Osaka A: W 0-2 (Akahoshi 2). (First back-to-back JFL wins)
14. v ReinMeer Aomori H: D 1-1 (Akahoshi)
15. v Veertien Mie A: W 0-1 (Fujisaki)

1. Kochi Prefectural Football Championship Final v Kochi University: W 2-0 (Maeda 2). Fifth consecutive title
2. Second Round: v Takamatsu University: W 2-1 (Akahoshi, Izumi)
3. Third Round: v F.C Tokushima: W 2-0 (Taguchi, Nagao)
4. Round of 16: v Tsukuba University: L 3-2 AET (Akahoshi 2)

1. v Verspah Oita (A) W 0-1 (Nishimura Yuta)
2. v ReinMeer Aomori (H) W 2-1 (Nagao, Izumi)
3. v FC Osaka (A) L 2-1 (Akahoshi)
4. v Sony Sendai FC (H) L 1-2 (Tanaka Shoma)
5. v Suzuka Point Getters (A) L 2-1 (Shimodo)
6. v Iwaki FC (A) L 3-2 (Nishimura Koji 2)
7. v FC TIAMO Hirakata (H) W 1-0 (Shimodo)
8. v FC Maruyasu Okazaki (A) W 1-2 (Nishimura Yuta, Akahoshi)
9. v Veertien Mie (H) W 3-1 (Fujii, Nagao, Nishimura Yuta) (First 3 straight wins in JFL)
10. v MIO Biwako Shiga (A) L 1–0
11. v Honda Lock SC (H) W 1-0 (Nishimura Yuta)
12. v Nara Club (H) L 0–2
13. v Honda FC (A) L 5–0
14. v FC Kariya (H) L 1-4 (Lucas)
15. v Matsue City FC (A) L 4–0
16. v Tokyo Musashino City FC (H) W 1-0 (Nishimura Yuta)
17. v ReinMeer Aomori (A) D 2-2 (Nagao, Hosoyama)
18. v Verspah Oita (H) L 1-2 (Akahoshi)
19. v Iwaki FC (H) D 0-0
20. v FC TIAMO Hirakata (A) L 2-1 (Tanaka Shoma)
21. v FC Maruyasu Okazaki (H) D 1-1 (Lucas)
22. v Veertien Mie (A) W 0-3 (Nishimura Yuta 2, Nakamasu). (Biggest away win in JFL. First double)
23. v MIO Biwako Shiga (H) D 0-0
24. v Honda Lock SC (A) L 3-2 (Akahoshi, Lucas)
25. v FC Kariya (A) L 2-1 (Shimodo)
26. v Honda FC (H) D 0-0
27. v Sony Sendai FC (A) W 0-1 (OG)
28. v FC Osaka (H) L 0–1
29. v Tokyo Musashino City FC (A) L 2–0
30. v Matsue City FC (H) L 0–1
31. v Nara Club (A) D 0-0. (Secured JFL safety)
32. v Suzuka Point Getters (H) L 1-5 (Akahoshi)

1. Kochi Prefectural Football Championship Final v Kochi University (H): W 2-1 (Nishimura Yuta 2). Sixth consecutive title
2. First Round v Kamatamare Sanuki (H): W 1-0 (Fujii). First ever win over J-League opposition
3. Second Round v Tokushima Vortis (A): L 1-2 (Shimodo). First goal scored against J1 opposition

1. v Tokyo Musashino United FC (H) D 1-1 (Koji Nishimura)
2. v Honda Lock SC (A) W 0-1 (Yuta Nishimura)
3. v Sony Sendai FC (H) D 0-0
4. v FC TIAMO Hirakata (A) D 1-1 (Higuchi)
5. v Honda FC (H) L 0–2
6. v Verspah Oita (A) W 0-1 (Koji Nishimura)
7. v Veertien Mie (H) D 1-1 (Akahoshi)
8. v Nara Club (H) L 0–1
9. v FC Osaka (A) L 3-2 (Daisuke Okada, Akahoshi)
10. v FC Kagura Shimane (H) W 1-0 (Akahoshi). (First win v Shimane)
11. v Suzuka Point Getters (A) L 1–0
12. v MIO Biwako Shiga (H) D 1-1 (Akahoshi)
13. v ReinMeer Aomori (A) D 0-0
14. v FC Maruyasu Okazaki (H) L 3-5 (Koji Nishimura, Akahoshi 2)
15. v Criacao Shinjuku (A) W 0-1 (Fujisaki)
16. v Tokyo Musashino United FC (A) W 1-3 (Akahoshi, Yokotake, Higuchi)
17. v Honda Lock SC (H) W 3-0 (Yamada, Koji Nishimura, Akahoshi)
18. v Nara Club (A) L 2–0
19. v FC Osaka (H) L 1-2 (Yuta Nishimura)
20. v FC Kagura Shimane (A) W 1-2 (Inazumi 2)
21. v Suzuka Point Getters (H) W 2-0 (Inazumi, Tajiri). (First win v Suzuka)
22. v Honda FC (A) L 2–0
23. v FC TIAMO Hirakata (H) W 2-1 (Koji Nishimura, Aiba)
24. v Sony Sendai FC (A) D 1-1 (Akahoshi)
25. v Criacao Shinjuku (H) L 0–1
26. v FC Maruyasu Okazaki (A) L 3–0
27. v Veertien Mie (A) L 3-1 (Yuta Nishimura). (First loss v Mie)
28. v Verspah Oita (H) L 2-3 (Higuchi, Akahoshi)
29. v MIO Biwako Shiga (A) L 1–0
30. v ReinMeer Aomori (H) L 0–2

1. Kochi Prefectural Football Championship Final: v KUFC Nangoku: W 2-0 (Koji Nishimura 2). Seventh consecutive title
2. First Round: v Brew KASHIMA (A) W 0-2 (Yamada, Yuta Nishimura)
3. Second Round: v Kyoto Sanga FC (A) L 1-3 AET (Akahoshi)

In the 2023 season, Kochi United surprisingly defeated both Gamba Osaka and Yokohama FC of J1 to progress to the last 16 of the 2023 Emperor's Cup, however they were narrowly beaten 1–0 by Kawasaki Frontale in the 4th round.

1. v ReinMeer Aomori (H) L 0-1
2. v Okinawa SV (H) W 1-0 (Nakata)
3. v Reilac Shiga FC (A) L 1-0
4. v Sony Sendai FC (H) W 2-0 (Imai Naiki, Sasaki)
5. v Briobecca Urayasu (A) W 1-3 (Hashimoto, Kobayashi Daichi, Sasaki)
6. v Minebea Mitsumi FC (H) D 0-0
7. v FC Maruyasu Okazaki (A) D 2-2 (Imai Naiki, Nishimura)
8. v FC Tiamo Hirakata (H) D 0-0
9. v Veertien Mie (A) L 3-2 (Kobayashi Kokoro, Taguchi)
10. v Tokyo Musashino United FC (H) L 0-1
11. v Suzuka Point Getters (A) L 1-0
12. v Verspah Oita (H) W 2-0 (Taguchi, Kobayashi Daichi)
13. v Honda FC (A) L 1-0
14. v Criacao Shinjuku (H) W 1-0 (Kobayashi Kokoro)
15. v ReinMeer Aomori (A) L 1-0
16. v FC Maruyasu Okazaki (H) W 2-1 (Yokotake, Imai Naiki)
17. v FC Tiamo Hirakata (A) L 2-1 (Kobayashi Kokoro)
18. v Veertien Mie (H) W 1-0 (Kobayashi Kokoro)
19. v Tokyo Musashino United FC (A) W 0-2 (Higuchi, Toya)
20. v Sony Sendai FC (A) D 3-3 (Shintani, Kobayashi Kokoro, Higuchi)
21. v Reilac Shiga FC (H) D 1-1 (Kobayashi Kokoro)
22. v Okinawa SV (A) L 1-0
23. v Criacao Shinjuku (A) W 0-1 (Higuchi)
24. v Honda FC (H) D 0-0
25. v Minebea Mitsumi FC (A) L 2-1 (Toya)
26. v Briobecca Urayasu (H) W 2-1 (Kurihara, Kanai)
27. v Suzuka Point Getters (H) D 2-2 (Kobayashi Kokoro, OG)
28. v Verspah Oita (A) D 0-0

1. First round: v Belugarosso Iwami (A) W 1–2 (Sasaki, Toya)
2. Second round: v Gamba Osaka (A) W 1–2 (Kobayashi Kokoro, Miura [OG]) (First win against J1 opposition)
3. Third Round: v Yokohama FC (H) W 1–0 (Takano)
4. Round of 16: v Kawasaki Frontale (A) L 1–0

1. v Veertien Mie (H) W 3-0
2. v ReinMeer Aomori (H) W 1-0
3. v Yokogawa Musashino FC (H) W 3-0
4. v Tochigi City FC (A) W 2-3
5. v Atletico Suzuka Club (H) W 2-0
6. v Sony Sendai FC (A) W 0-2
7. v Honda FC (A) W 2-1
8. v Verspah Oita (A) L 1-0
9. v Reilac Shiga FC (H) L 0-1
10. v FC Tiamo Hirakata (A) W 0-1
11. v Minebea Mitsumi FC (H) W 3-2
12. v FC Maruyasu Okazaki (H) W 1-0
13. v Criacao Shinjuku (A) W 1-4
14. v Briobecca Urayasu (H) W 1-0
15. v Okinawa SV (A) D 0-0
16. v Veertien Mie (A) W 0-1
17. v ReinMeer Aomori (A) W 0-1
18. v Verspah Oita (H) L 0-1
19. v Reilac Shiga FC (A) D 1-1
20. v FC Tiamo Hirakata (H) D 1-1
21. v Minebea Mitsumi FC (A) W 0-1
22. v Atletico Suzuka Club (A) L 2-0
23. v Tochigi City FC (H) L 0-2
24. v Yokogawa Musashino FC (A)
25. v Okinawa SV (H)
26. v Briobecca Urayasu (A)
27. v Honda FC (A)
28. v Sony Sendai FC (H)
29. v FC Maruyasu Okazaki (A)
30. v Criacao Shinjuku (H)

1. First round: v Belugarosso Iwami (H) W 1–0 (Toya)
2. Second round: v Sagan Tosu (A) L 2–1 (Kobayashi)

As of 7 May 2024.^[2]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  JPN Tomoi Yoshida 3 DF  JPN Eiichi Nakata 4 DF  JPN Daichi Kobayashi 5 DF  JPN Yota Tanabe (on loan from Mito HollyHock) 6 MF  JPN Kosei Tajiri 7 MF  JPN Kakeru Higuchi 8 MF  JPN Yui Takano 9 FW  JPN Masaki Shintani 10 MF  JPN Taiga Sasaki 11 FW  JPN Kokoro Kobayashi 13 MF  JPN Asahi Kanehara 14 FW  JPN Retsushi Harada

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 MF  JPN Koshiro Uda (on loan from Yokohama FC) 16 MF  JPN Shosei Kozuki 17 DF  JPN Shunki Hashimoto 18 FW  JPN Toshiki Toya 19 DF  JPN Seigo Kato 21 GK  JPN Satoshi Osugi 22 MF  JPN Tsubasa Yokotake 26 MF  JPN Takeru Kodama 28 DF  JPN Aoi Iwase 30 GK  JPN Seiya Inoue 31 GK  KOR Park Jong-seok 50 DF  JPN Leo Fukuda

Position	Staff
Manager	Takafumi Yoshimoto
Assistant manager	Masahiro Tateda
Goalkeeper coach	Takahiro Nakamoto
Trainer	Ikki Motegi
Physical trainer	Midori Horri
Competent	Yusuke Hata
General manager	Akihiro Nishimura

Key

Manager	Nationality	Tenure		League Managerial Record
		Start	Finish	P	W	D	L	W%
Akihiro Nishimura	Japan	1 February 2016	31 December 2016
Takefumi Otani	Japan	1 February 2017	31 January 2020	27	20	0	7	074.07
Akihiro Nishimura	Japan	1 February 2020	31 January 2022	46	13	10	23	028.26
Takafumi Yoshimoto	Japan	1 February 2022	current

Updated to November 2023

Updated to July 2024

• Record home victory: 11-0 v Rossorise KFC (Emperor's Cup Regional Round, 2017) & v Koyo Sealing Techno (Shikoku Soccer League, 2019).
• Record away victory: 0-14 v Koyo Sealing Techno (Shikoku Soccer League 2019).
• Record away defeat: 5-0 v Honda FC (JFL 2021).
• Record home defeat: 1-5 v Suzuka Point Getters (JFL 2021).
• Longest winning streak (all comps): 13 games (2017–18 and 2019 season).
• Longest losing streak (all comps): 7 games (JFL 2022/23).
• Most goals by one player in a game: 4 (Takuya Kobayashi: SSL 2016, Kazuki Nakabayashi: AJSFC 2017, Paulo Sousa: SSL 2018, Ryo Taguchi: SSL 2019, Hiroki Maehara: SSL 2019).
• Most career goals for Kochi United SC: 57 (Hiroki Maehara).
• Most hat-tricks for Kochi United SC: 5 (Kota Sugawara, Ryo Taguchi, Hiroki Maehara).
• Record home attendance: 11085 v Verspah Oita (JFL 2024).

• Official Website (in Japanese)
• Official Facebook Page (in Japanese)