Yokohama F. Marinos

Yokohama F. Marinos
横浜F・マリノス
logo
Full nameYokohama F·Marinos
Nickname(s)Marinos, Tricolor
Founded1972; 52 years ago (1972) as Nissan Motor
StadiumNissan Stadium
Capacity72,327
Owner
ChairmanAkihiro Nakayama
Head coachJohn Hutchinson (interim)
LeagueJ1 League
2023J1 League, 2nd of 18
Websitehttp://www.f-marinos.com/
Current season
Clubs owned by CFG
Listed in order of acquisition/foundation.
Bold indicates the club was founded by CFG.
* indicates the club was acquired by CFG.
§ indicates the club is co-owned.
2008Manchester City F.C.*
2009–2012
2013New York City FC§
2014Melbourne City FC*
Yokohama F. Marinos*§
2015–2016
2017Montevideo City Torque*
Girona FC*§
2018
2019Shenzhen Peng City F.C.*§
Mumbai City FC*§
2020Lommel S.K.*
ES Troyes AC*
2021
2022Palermo F.C.*§
2023Bahia*§

Yokohama F. Marinos (横浜F・マリノス, Yokohama Efu Marinosu), stylised as Yokohama F·Marinos, is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club competes in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country.[1][2][3]

Having won the J-League title five times and finishing second twice, they are one of the most successful J-League clubs. The team is based in Yokohama and was founded as the company team of Nissan Motor. The club was formed by the merger of Yokohama Marinos and Yokohama Flügels in 1999. The current name is intended to reflect both of the original names. Yokohama F. Marinos is the longest serving team in the top flight of Japanese football, having played at the top level since 1982, also making them, along with Kashima Antlers, one of only two teams to have competed in Japan's top flight of football every year since its inception.

History

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As Nissan Motor (1972–1991)

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The team traces its origins to 1972 as the Nissan Motor Football Club, based in Yokohama. Nissan Motor won promotion to Division 2 Football League in 1976. Under coach Shu Kamo, the team won Japan Soccer League in 1988 and 1989, as well as the JSL Cup in 1988, 1989 and 1990 and the Emperor's Cup in 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1991. The 1989 team won the "Triple Crown" - all three major tournaments in Japan - with famous players such as Takashi Mizunuma, Kazushi Kimura and Masami Ihara. At the end of the 1991–92 season, the team won the 1991–92 Asian Cup Winners' Cup.

As Yokohama Marinos (1992–1998)

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Nissan Motors obtained registration in the newly formed J.League to acquire professional club status and changed the club's name to Yokohama Marinos, a reference to Yokohama's status as a major port city.[4] In their first seasons as a professional team, Yokohama Marinos continued to win competitions: triumphant in the 1992 Emperor's Cup, a second consecutive 1992–93 Asian Cup Winners' Cup, and their first J.League title in 1995. Matches between Yokohama Marinos and Verdy Kawasaki were known as the National Derby.

As Yokohama F. Marinos (1999–present)

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In 1999, the club was renamed Yokohama F. Marinos after the technical and financial merger with Yokohama Flügels, which had declared bankruptcy. An F was added to the name to represent the Flügels half of the club. However, many Flügels fans have rejected the new team, feeling that their team was dissolved into the F. Marinos rather than merged with it. As a result, they refused to follow F. Marinos and instead created Yokohama FC, the new city rival of F. Marinos, with the help of public donations and an affiliation with IMG, a talent agency.

In 2000, Marinos were runner-up in the 2000 J1 League, where Shunsuke Nakamura was named the best player of the season.

On 27 October 2001, Marinos won the J.League Cup, defeating Júbilo Iwata in a 0–0 match where Marinos won the penalty shootout 3–1.

In the 2002 season, Marinos were league runners-up behind Júbilo Iwata.

Back-to-back league champions

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In 2003 and 2004, Marinos became back-to-back league champions for the second time, in the professional era, with the stars of the team being South Koreans Ahn Jung-hwan, Yoo sang-chul and Japanese players Daisuke Oku, Tatsuhiko Kubo and Yuji Nakazawa (who was the best player of the year in 2004). Their coach was the Japanese Takeshi Okada, who was named the 'Best Coach of the Year' in 2003 and 2004.

From 2005 to 2008, with notable players Hayuma Tanaka, Hideo Ōshima, Daisuke Sakata and Koji Yamase, Marinos didn't achieve any single honours. The highest they reached during this period was the 2008 Emperor's Cup semi-final where they were knockout by Gamba Osaka in extra time.

In 2010, club legend Shunsuke Nakamura returned to Yokohama F. Marinos after 8 years and stayed until the end of the 2017 J1 League season.

On August 4, 2011, a year after leaving the club, former Marinos player Naoki Matsuda collapsed during training with Matsumoto Yamaga due to cardiac arrest and died at the age of 34. As a result, his former number 3 has been retired.

And after two semi-final defeats in 2011 and 2012, Marinos won the 2013 Emperor's Cup on 1 January 2014, the first after 21 years and in 2013, they were runner-up in the J.League for the second time in their history.

Owned by City Football Group

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On 20 May 2014, it was announced that the City Football Group, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi United Group, had invested in a minority stake in Yokohama F. Marinos, creating a partnership with the football club and the automaker Nissan.

And after consecutive defeats, such as a loss in the 2017 Emperor's Cup Final and in the 2018 J.League Cup Final, the team managed to get a good shape thanks to the direction of the Australian coach Ange Postecoglou, which ended 15 years of drought by winning the 2019 J1 League title, with emphasis on the participation of Teruhito Nakagawa being the 'Best Player of the Season' and top scorer with 15 goals together with Brazilian Marcos Júnior.

In 2020, Marinos made it out of the 2020 AFC Champions League group stage for the first time since the AFC Champions League switched to the current format. The club were drawn in Group H alongside Chinese Shanghai SIPG, South Korean Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Australian Sydney FC. Marinos qualified to the knockout stages as group leaders with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 losses. However the club was bowed out from the tournament in the Round of 16 losing 3–2 to South Korean Suwon Samsung Bluewings.

In 2021, Marinos finished in second place 13 points behind league champions, Kawasaki Frontale where on 18 July 2021, Head coach Ange Postecoglou was signed by Scottish club, Celtic while Hideki Matsunaga will be the caretaker for the club until 18 July 2021, Marinos signed another Australian head coach, Kevin Muscat.

In 2022, Kevin Muscat steered the club to win their fifth J1 League title. The club also finished as group leaders in the 2022 AFC Champions League group stage being placed in Group H alongside South Korean Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Vietnamese Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Australian Sydney FC. Marinos qualified to the knockout stages with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 losses where they faced another Japanese side Vissel Kobe in the Round of 16, however, the club suffered a 3–2 defeat to Vissel Kobe thus crashing out from the competition.

In 2023, Marinos than finished as league runners up with 64 points behind Vissel Kobe who got 71 points. Kevin Muscat than guided the club in the 2023–24 AFC Champions League group stage being drawn in Group G with Chinese Shandong Taishan, South Korean Incheon United and Filipino Kaya–Iloilo. Marinos finished the group tied with 12 points along with Shandong Taishan and Incheon United but qualified to the round of 16 as group leaders.

On 6 December 2023, Kevin Muscat resigned as the head coach in which Harry Kewell were appointed as the new head coach of the club on 31 December 2023 becoming the third consecutive Australian manager in the club history. Harry Kewell than guided the club in the round of 16 fixture against Thai Bangkok United, winning the match 3–2 on aggregate with Anderson Lopes scoring an injury time penalty in the 120th minute of extra time during the second leg sending the team to the quarter-finals. Marinos then faced off against Shandong Taishan again in which Marinos won 3–1 on aggregate thus seeing them to the semi-finals against South Korean Ulsan Hyundai. Marinos suffered a 1–0 defeat away in which the club bounced back in the second leg at home winning the match 3–2 thus seeing both club tied with 3–3 on aggregate sending the match into extra time and than penalties shootout. Marinos went on to win the penalties shootout 5–4 where vice-captain Eduardo scored the winning penalty to send the team to their first-ever Champions League final against Emirati Al Ain. They would start losing 0-1 during the first leg at home, but then came back with two goals from Asahi Uenaka and Kota Watanabe to make it 2–1 at the end of the match, but, unfortunately, they'd lose 5–1 away in the second leg (6–3 on aggregate), thus ending as runners-up of the competition.

Rivalries

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Kanagawa Derby

Previously, Verdy Kawasaki and the extinct Yokohama Flügels were Kanagawa Derby rivals. With Verdy moving to Tokyo from Kawasaki, matches between the two clubs are no longer considered Kanagawa derbies.

Yokohama Derby

  • The classic among the most representative teams in the city of Yokohama, Yokohama F. Marinos, Yokohama FC and YSCC Yokohama. Between 1993 and 1998, the Yokohama derby corresponded only to the departure between the late Yokohama Flügels and Yokohama F. Marinos.

Kits and crests

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Yokohama F. Marinos utilizes a three colour system composed of blue, white and red.

In 2012, Yokohama F. Marinos have unveiled a special edition 20th Anniversary jersey

Slogan

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Ano Slogan
2009 Enjoy・Growing・Victory
2010 ACTIVE
2011 ACTIVE 2011
2012 All for Win
2013 All for Win -Realize
2014 All For Win -Fight it out!
2015 Integral Goal - All for Win
2016 Integral Goal - All for Win
2017 Integral Goal - All for Win
2018 Brave and Challenging
2019 URBAN ELEGANCE TRICOLORE
2020 Brave and Challenging BRAVE BLUE
2021 Brave and Challenging
2022 Brave and Challenging

Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

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Period Kit supplier Shirt sponsor Notes
1992–1996 Mizuno (J-League) and Adidas (Emperor's Cup) Nissan Kodak
1997–2007 Adidas ANA
2008–2011 Nike
2012– Adidas SANEI ARCHITECTURE
MUGEN ESTATE
NISSHIN OILLIO

Uniforms

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FP 1st
1992
1993 - 1994
1995 - 1996
1997 - 1998
1999 - 2000
2001
2002
2003
2004 - 2005
2006
2007
2008 - 2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
FP 2nd
1992
1993 - 1996
1997 - 1998
1999 - 2000
2001 - 2002
2003 - 2004
2005 - 2006
2007
2008 - 2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
FP Other
1993 3rd
2001 - 2002 3rd
2004
ACL 1st
2009
Yokohama Port 150th anniversary
2012
20 year anniversary
2013
PSM Memorial
2014
ACL 1st
2014
ACL 2nd
2014
commemoration of the 2014 Emperor's Cup victory
2015
Cup 1st
2015
CUP 2nd
2016
Cup 1st
2016
CUP 2nd
2016
Yokohama Port Opening Commemorative
2017
CUP 1st
2017
Cup 2nd
2017 SP
2018 SP
2019 SP
Yokohama
160th
Anniversary
2020 SP
2021 SP
2022 SP

Stadiums

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International Stadium Yokohama, one of the two home stadiums of the Yokohama F. Marinos
Mitsuzawa Stadium, one of the two home stadiums of the Yokohama F. Marinos

The team's home stadiums are Nissan Stadium, otherwise known as International Stadium Yokohama, and Mitsuzawa Stadium. The team trained at Marinos Town located in the area of Minato Mirai, but moved to Kozukue Field located next to the home ground in 2016.

Theme song

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The club's official theme song is "We Are F. Marinos" by Japanese duo Yuzu. The song was first released in 2005, with the song being used at games up to today, sometimes having mascot Marinos-kun dance to the song on a pedestal on the running track of Nissan Stadium.

Players and staff

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Current squad

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As of 12 September 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 Japan JPN William Popp
2 DF Japan JPN Katsuya Nagato
4 DF Japan JPN Shinnosuke Hatanaka
5 DF Brazil BRA Eduardo (vice-captain)
6 MF Japan JPN Kota Watanabe
7 FW Brazil BRA Élber
8 MF Japan JPN Takuya Kida (captain)
9 FW Japan JPN Takuma Nishimura
10 FW Brazil BRA Anderson Lopes
11 FW Brazil BRA Yan Matheus
13 DF Japan JPN Ryuta Koike (vice-captain)
14 FW Japan JPN Asahi Uenaka
15 DF Japan JPN Takumi Kamijima
16 DF Japan JPN Ren Kato
17 MF Japan JPN Kenta Inoue
18 MF Japan JPN Kota Mizunuma (vice-captain)
20 MF Japan JPN Jun Amano
21 GK Japan JPN Hiroki Iikura
23 FW Japan JPN Ryo Miyaichi
No. Pos. Nation Player
24 DF Japan JPN Hijiri Kato
26 DF Japan JPN Yuta Koike
27 DF Japan JPN Ken Matsubara (vice-captain)
28 MF Japan JPN Riku Yamane
31 GK Japan JPN Fuma Shirasaka
33 DF Japan JPN Kosei Suwama DSP
35 MF Japan JPN Keigo Sakakibara
37 FW Japan JPN Kento Shiogai DSP
38 FW Japan JPN Yuhi Murakami
39 DF Japan JPN Taiki Watanabe
41 GK Japan JPN Riku Terakado
42 MF Japan JPN Kohei Mochizuki Type 2
43 DF Japan JPN Reno Noguchi Type 2
45 MF Togo TOG Jean Claude
46 MF Japan JPN Hiroto Asada Type 2
47 DF Japan JPN Kazuya Yamamura
49 DF Japan JPN Justin Homma (on loan from Vissel Kobe)

The official club website lists the club mascot as player #0 and the supporters as player #12.

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
19 DF Japan JPN Yuki Saneto (at Vegalta Sendai)
25 MF Japan JPN Kaina Yoshio (at South Korea Jeju United)
44 DF Japan JPN Manato Yoshida (at Oita Trinita)
48 MF Japan JPN Keita Ueda (at SC Sagamihara)
GK Japan JPN Tomoki Tagawa (at Kataller Toyama)
DF Japan JPN Yusuke Nishida (at AC Nagano Parceiro)
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Japan JPN Eitaro Matsuda (at Albirex Niigata)
MF Japan JPN Shunsuke Hirai (at Reilac Shiga)
MF Japan JPN Takuto Kimura (at Ehime FC)
MF Japan JPN Takuto Minami (at Iwate Grulla Morioka)
FW Japan JPN Takumi Tsukui (at Azul Claro Numazu)

Retired number

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF Japan JPN Naoki Matsuda

Club official

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Position[8] Name
Head coach (interim) Malta John Hutchinson
Assistant coach Japan Ryo Adachi
Japan Hideo Oshima
Fitness coach Japan Tomoo Tsukoshi
Goalkeeper coach Japan Shigetatsu Matsunaga
Assistant goalkeeper coach Japan Tetsuya Enomoto
Conditioning coach Japan Yusuke Tanaka
Chief analyst Japan Satoru Okada
Analyst Japan Jun Yamaguchi
Performance data analyst Japan Yuki Masui

Managerial history

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Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Hidehiko Shimizu  Japan 1993 1994
Jorge Solari  Argentina 1995 1995
Hiroshi Hayano  Japan 1995 1996
Xabier Azkargorta  Spain 1997 August 1998
Antonio de la Cruz  Spain August 1998 1999
Osvaldo Ardiles  Argentina Jan 1, 2000 Dec 31, 2000
Yoshiaki Shimojo  Japan 2001 2001
Sebastião Lazaroni  Brazil 2001 2002
Yoshiaki Shimojo  Japan 2002 Dec 31, 2002
Takeshi Okada  Japan Jan 1, 2003 Aug 24, 2006
Takashi Mizunuma  Japan Aug 25, 2006 Dec 31, 2006
Hiroshi Hayano  Japan Jan 1, 2007 Dec 31, 2007
Takashi Kuwahara  Japan Jan 1, 2008 July 17, 2008
Kokichi Kimura  Japan July 18, 2008 Dec 31, 2009
Kazushi Kimura  Japan Feb 16, 2010 Dec 31, 2011
Yasuhiro Higuchi  Japan Dec 30, 2011 Dec 7, 2014
Erick Mombaerts  France Dec 16, 2014 Jan 1, 2018
Ange Postecoglou