Tokyo Verdy

Tokyo Verdy
東京ヴェルディ

Full name	Tokyo Verdy 1969 Football Club
Nickname(s)	Verdy
Founded	1969; 55 years ago (1969) as Yomiuri FC [1]
Ground	Ajinomoto Stadium Chōfu, Tokyo
Capacity	49,970
Owner	Tokyo Verdy Holdings
Chairman	Yasuo Shimada
Manager	Hiroshi Jofuku
League	J1 League
2024	J1 League, 6th of 20
Website	www.verdy.co.jp
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Tokyo Verdy (東京ヴェルディ, Tōkyō Berudi) is a Japanese professional football club based in Inagi, Tokyo. The club currently competes in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2023.

Founded as Yomiuri Football Club in 1969, Tokyo Verdy is one of the most decorated clubs in the J.League, with honours including 2 league titles, 5 Emperor's Cups, 6 JSL Cup/J.League Cups and an Asian Club Championship title, and the most successful team in Japanese football history with 25 titles. The club was an original member^[a] of the J.League in 1993.

In October 1968, following Japan's bronze medal triumph at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City and the interest in football that ensued,^[1] Japan Football Association president Yuzuru Nozu visited Yomiuri Giants chairman Matsutaro Shoriki to ask him if Yomiuri was willing to ride on the wave of the game by establishing their own football club. Shoriki died a year later, in 1969, but not before signing his name to the plans to establish Yomiuri Football Club.^[2] Backed by the Yomiuri Group and NTV, Yomiuri Football Club firstly launched at Tokyo Local League B (5th tier) in 1969. They began gaining promotions from the Tokyo Local League to the Kanto Football League (3rd tier) in 1971. In 1971, Yomiuri marked 3rd place and promoted Japan Soccer League Second Division.^[3]

They were promoted to First Division in 1978, starting a long career of success in the top flight. Their first major title was the Japan Soccer League Cup in 1979.

From its days as Yomiuri FC, the ownership had visions of a football equivalent of the baseball team Yomiuri Giants – a star-studded powerhouse with fans across Japan. As Japanese football began its transition from the JSL to the J.League in the early 1990s, it invested heavily in stars and featured Japan internationals Kazuyoshi Miura, Ruy Ramos and Tsuyoshi Kitazawa.^[1]

The last two JSL championships as Yomiuri FC in 1990–91 and 1991–92, and then winning the first two championships as Verdy Kawasaki in 1993 and 1994, effectively winning four straight Japanese league titles making a total of seven overall; the highest in the Japanese system. Verdy also won the 1996 Emperor's Cup and three consecutive J.League Cups from 1992 to 1994.^[4][5]

The JSL disbanded and reformed as the professional J.League in 1993. At this time the team professionalized and renamed itself Verdy Kawasaki, "Coined from the Portuguese "VERDE" meaning "green" probably named after their green jersey colour "Tokyo Greens/Tokyo Verdi", although the color was picked in homage to Brazilian club Palmeiras, a team admired by one of Yomiuri's first idols, São Paulo-born George Yonashiro.^[6] Although Yomiuri was dropped from the name as the club spun off from the company, the team remained under Yomiuri's ownership until 1997, when it was acquired by Nippon Television Network, the broadcast arm of the Yomiuri Group.^[7]

This early success did not last, however, and as the stars aged, the team's performance suffered. Verdy's 1st-place finish in the 2nd stage of the 1995 season would be its last stage victory and the 1996 Emperor's Cup would be its last major title of the decade. A downturn in the national economy and the cooling of the J.League fad meant all teams had to cut expenses. This meant Verdy could no longer buy expensive replacements for its aging stars.

The 1996 J.League season saw Verdy Kawasaki finish in 7th place overall, the lowest standing in the league's existence at that point, and would fall further in the 1997 season, finishing 16th and 12th, in the 1st stage and 2nd stage, respectively, and 15th overall out of 17 teams. Although Verdy looked to return to prominence in 1999, finishing 2nd in the 1st Stage, the resurgence was short-lived as it fell to 10th in the 2nd stage.

Meanwhile, the team's efforts to become "Japan's Team" alienated local fans in Kawasaki. The expensive salaries and struggling attendance caused the club's debts to mount. Struggling to compete with the newly professionalized crosstown rival Kawasaki Frontale and the nearby Yokohama Marinos and Yokohama Flügels, Verdy made the decision to leave Kawasaki.

In 2001, the club returned from Kawasaki to Chōfu, Tokyo and was renamed as Tokyo Verdy 1969 to reflect the new hometown and the club's origins as Yomiuri. Although Verdy made the move to increase its fan base and distance itself from its rivals, by this time Tokyo was already home to a J1 club in FC Tokyo. Despite a sharp increase in crowd numbers for Verdy, this was still well below those of FC Tokyo. Their new local rivals had been promoted to J1 in 2000 and had already captured a vast number of the supporters Verdy had been hoping to attract.

In its first year in Tokyo, Tokyo Verdy 1969 found itself trailing FC Tokyo in the standings as well, and finished last in the division at 16th in the first stage of the 2001 season. Only the play of midseason acquisition Edmundo and a win in the final match of the second stage saved the club from relegation to J2. Tokyo Verdy 1969 was back at the bottom of the table in the first stage of the 2002 season, but again finished the season strong, placing 4th in the second stage.

Two mid-table finishes followed in 2003 and 2004, before Tokyo Verdy 1969, under Osvaldo Ardiles, won the Emperor's Cup on 1 January 2005, its first major title in 9 years and the first in Tokyo. Winning the cup earned Verdy a spot in the 2006 AFC Champions League.^[8]

However, the 2005 season saw Tokyo Verdy 1969 fall to its worst finish of its history, finishing 17th out of 18. This was the first season after the scrapping of the two-stage season format, and Tokyo Verdy 1969 were relegated to J2, after 28 years of top flight football. The season was marked by three huge losses in July: 1–7 to Gamba Osaka on 2 July, 0–7 to Urawa Red Diamonds on 6 July and a 6–0 loss to Júbilo Iwata on 17 July. Tokyo Verdy then sacked Ardiles two days later.^[9] At the time of his sacking, Ardiles' team had conceded 23 goals in their last 5 matches and had a 9 match winless streak.^[9] However, the struggling Verdy upset European giant Real Madrid (who were in Asia on a preseason tour), 3–0 on 25 July.^[10]

For the 2006 season, the club appointed former Verdy Kawasaki legend, Ruy Ramos, as manager on 22 December 2005.^[11] Tokyo Verdy 1969 found itself in the odd position of competing in the AFC Champions League while playing in the second tier of the national league system. After Tokyo Verdy 1969 was relegated, the club released many of the veteran players, leaving a core of young players, most notably Takayuki Morimoto, who became the youngest player to score in the J.League at age 15 in 2004.^[12]

In the 2007 season, Tokyo Verdy 1969 managed to beat Thespa Kusatsu 5–0 on the first day. After a brief scuffle with Consadole Sapporo over the J2 title, Tokyo Verdy 1969 had to settle for runners-up position, enough to earn promotion back into the top flight for 2008. At this time the club renamed itself for the second time, dropping 1969 from its team name, but the management corporation name remained as Tokyo Verdy 1969.

Verdy would eventually be relegated once again after finishing in 17th place (second to last) in their 2008 J1 League return.

On 17 September 2009, NTV announced it would divest itself of shares in the club and transfer it to a new holding company, Tokyo Verdy Holdings, closing 40 years of Yomiuri/NTV direct financial support.^[13] The J.League approved the transfer, but made it a condition that Verdy find a new sponsor by 16 November or risk not being able to play J2 football for the 2010 season.^[14]

In October 2010, Tokyo Verdy signed a five-year sponsorship deal with sports retail store and apparel company Xebio.^[15] The sponsorship deal saw the Xebio logo placed on Tokyo Verdy's kit and included naming rights for two regular season home games.^[15] Xebio also produced the clubs football kit, although under their sports brand "Ennerre". After talks with Xebio, several companies decided to invest in the company and the new Xebio led administration was announced in November.

The club suffered a mere respite from heartbreak during the 2018 season, when they finished 6th, qualifying then for the promotion/relegation playoffs. They beat Omiya Ardija 1–0 in the 1st round, and repeated the script against Yokohama FC in the semi-final. They ended just one game short of a J1 League comeback, having lost in the final by 2–0 against Júbilo Iwata, which saw the promotion hopes fade away for another time. Ever since being relegated to the J2 at the end of 2008 season, the club were unable to return to the J1 and continue to compete in J2 League until 2023 season.

On 2 December 2023, Tokyo Verdy gained promotion to the J1 League for the 2024 season after a 1–1 draw against Shimizu S-Pulse in the promotion play-off final, with Itsuki Someno scoring the equalizer from the penalty spot in the 96th minute. As a result, Verdy, who was the top-ranked side entering the J2 League playoffs, returned to the national top tier for the first time since 2008.^[16][17]

Verdy plays its home games at the Ajinomoto Stadium, a stadium with the capacity of 49,970. It is shared with the club's main rivals FC Tokyo, although occasional home matches are played in other stadiums in Tokyo, such as the Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tokyo Verdy kits.

Tokyo Verdy's main colors are green.

The club's name was coined from the Portuguese, or Spanish, or Italian, or Esperanto "verde" meaning "green", probably named after their green jersey colour, so the meaning is "Tokyo Greens/Tokyo Verdi".^[6] In Italian, the form "verdi" indicates the plural form "the greens".

1st – Home
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 –

2nd – Away
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 –

3rd – Special
2012 3rd

As of 10 August 2024.^[18] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  BRA Matheus Vidotto (vice-captain) 2 DF  JPN Daiki Fukazawa 3 DF  JPN Hiroto Taniguchi (vice-captain) 4 DF  JPN Naoki Hayashi (on loan from Kashima Antlers) 6 DF  JPN Kazuya Miyahara 7 MF  JPN Koki Morita (captain) 8 MF  JPN Kosuke Saito 9 FW  JPN Itsuki Someno (on loan from Kashima Antlers) 10 MF  JPN Tomoya Miki 11 FW  JPN Hiroto Yamami (on loan from Gamba Osaka) 14 MF  POR Tiago Alves 15 DF  JPN Kaito Chida 17 MF  JPN Tetsuyuki Inami 18 MF  JPN Fuki Yamada (on loan from Kyoto Sanga) 20 FW  JPN Yudai Kimura (on loan from Kyoto Sanga) 21 GK  JPN Yuya Nagasawa 22 MF  JPN Hijiri Onaga

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 MF  JPN Yuto Tsunashima 25 DF  JPN Yuto Yamada 26 DF  JPN Yutaro Hakamata 27 FW  JPN Goki Yamada 28 MF  JPN Soma Meshino 30 FW  JPN Ryosuke Shirai 31 GK  JPN Hisaya Sato 32 MF  JPN Joi Yamamoto 33 MF  JPN Yuan Matsuhashi 34 MF  JPN Gakuto Kawamura Type 2 38 MF  JPN Issei Kumatoriya DSP 39 FW  JPN Shion Nakayama Type 2 40 MF  JPN Yuta Arai DSP 41 GK  JPN Keisuke Nakamura 47 MF  JPN Yuta Matsumura (on loan from Kashima Antlers) 48 DF  JPN Yosuke Uchida DSP

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 DF  JPN Kohei Yamakoshi (at JEF United Chiba until 31 January 2025) 16 DF  JPN Takumi Kawamura (at Blaublitz Akita until 31 January 2025) 19 FW  JPN Keito Kawamura (at Blaublitz Akita until 31 January 2025) 24 MF  JPN Sota Nagai (at Kagoshima United until 31 January 2025) 29 FW  JPN Manato Furukawa (at Kataller Toyama until 31 January 2025) — GK  JPN Masahiro Iida (at Vanraure Hachinohe until 31 January 2025)

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  JPN Maaya Sako (at Iwate Grulla Morioka until 31 January 2025) — DF  JPN Yu Miyamoto (at Verspah Oita until 31 January 2025) — MF  JPN Daiki Kusunoki (at Tegevajaro Miyazaki until 31 January 2025) — MF  JPN Mahiro Ano (at Tegevajaro Miyazaki until 31 January 2025) — MF  JPN Rikuto Hashimoto (at YSCC Yokohama until 31 January 2025) — FW  JPN Kosuke Sagawa (at Thespa Gunma until 31 January 2025)

Position	Staff
Manager	Hiroshi Jofuku
Assistant managers	Ichiro Wada Hitoshi Morishita Yuta Narawa
Goalkeeper coach	Atsushi Shirai
Conditioning coach	Yuya Noshiro
Analytical coach	Daiki Yamamoto
Interpreter	Genta Iwauchi
Doctor	Kenta Uemura
Trainer	Naoki Matsuda Shuji Ogawa Yusuke Kaneuchi Hiroyoshi Mutaguchi
Side manager	Hideki Sato
Equipment manager	Ryo Ito Jun Yamato
Training coach	Noh Alam Shah Isa Halim

Manager	Nationality	Tenure
		Start	Finish
Jujiro Narita	Japan	1 February 1970	30 June 1973
Frans van Balkom	Netherlands	1 February 1973	31 January 1976
Shoichi Nishimura	Japan	1 February 1976	31 January 1981
Ryoichi Aikawa	Japan	1 February 1981	30 June 1983
Susumu Chiba	Japan	1 July 1983	31 January 1984
Rudi Gutendorf	Germany	1 January 1984	30 June 1986
George Yonashiro	Japan	1 July 1986	30 June 1989
Carlos Alberto Silva	Brazil	1 July 1990	30 June 1991
José Macia "Pepe"	Brazil	1 January 1991	31 December 1992
Yasutarō Matsuki	Japan	1 February 1993	31 January 1995
Nelsinho Baptista	Brazil	1 February 1995	25 April 1996
Yasuyuki Kishino	Japan	26 April 1996	9 May 1996
Émerson Leão	Brazil	10 May 1996	31 January 1997
Hisashi Katō	Japan	1 February 1997	1 June 1997
Valdir Espinosa	Brazil	2 June 1997	30 October 1997
Ryōichi Kawakatsu	Japan	1 November 1997	31 January 1998
Nicanor	Brazil	1 February 1998	7 September 1998
Ryōichi Kawakatsu	Japan	8 September 1998	31 January 1999
Hideki Matsunaga	Japan	1 February 1999	31 January 2000
Chang Woe-ryong	South Korea	1 February 2000	1 January 2001
Yasutarō Matsuki	Japan	1 February 2001	16 July 2001
Yukitaka Omi	Japan	17 July 2001	9 April 2002
Lori Paulo Sandri	Brazil	1 January 2002	30 June 2003
Osvaldo Ardiles	Argentina	16 May 2003	18 July 2005
Nobuhiro Ishizaki	Japan	19 July 2005	31 July 2005
Vadão	Brazil	1 August 2005	14 December 2005
Ruy Ramos	Japan	1 February 2006	31 January 2008
Tetsuji Hashiratani	Japan	1 February 2008	31 January 2009
Takuya Takagi	Japan	1 February 2009	14 October 2009
Takeo Matsuda	Japan	14 October 2009	31 January 2010
Ryōichi Kawakatsu	Japan	1 February 2010	6 September 2012
Shinichiro Takahashi	Japan	6 September 2012	31 January 2013
Yasutoshi Miura	Japan	1 February 2013	15 September 2014
Kōichi Togashi	Japan	1 September 2014	31 December 2016
Miguel Ángel Lotina	Spain	1 February 2017	31 January 2019
Gary White	England	1 February 2019	17 July 2019
Hideki Nagai	Japan	17 July 2019	1 September 2021
Takafumi Hori	Japan	2 September 2021	13 June 2022
Hiroshi Jofuku	Japan	14 June 2022	current

Key

With seven tier one league titles, five Emperor's Cups and six League Cups, Tokyo Verdy is one of the most decorated football clubs in Japan, although most of its titles came during their stay at Tokyo in the semi-professional era as Yomiuri FC before the inception of the professional J.League.

Verdy is a polideportivo and also fields teams in women's football, volleyball, and triathlon. Tokyo Verdy's women's football team is the 12 time Nadeshiko League champions, 14 time Empress's Cup winners and 1 time AFC Women's Club Championship winners.

• Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza (Women's club team)
• Japan Soccer League (Defunct)
• J.League
• J1 League
• J2 League
• J3 League

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Tokyo Verdy 1969 – Classic Club Guide at FIFA.com
• The club players

Achievements
Preceded by Furukawa Electric	Champions of Asia 1987–88	Succeeded by Al-Sadd