FC Ryukyu

The club was founded in 2003. Most of the players who initially joined the club were those who had left Okinawa Kariyushi FC after a rift with their management, which were beholden to the Kariyushi hotel chain. Their first 2003 season saw them win the championship in Okinawa Prefectural Division 3 North. They were allowed to skip to Division 1 the next season, where they again succeeded in finishing top of the table.

In the 2005 season, they belonged to the Kyūshū Regional League (Kyu League). After finishing 2nd and winning the Regional League play-off, they were promoted to the JFL and became the first ever Okinawan football side who played in a national league.

In December 2007, the club appointed former Japan national coach Philippe Troussier as their general manager. Jean-Paul Rabier was appointed as their manager in January 2008.

They applied for J. League Associate Membership in January 2008, but their application was declined at the J. League board meeting held on February 19, 2008.

In December 2008, the resignation of Rabier was announced. Former coach Hiroyuki Shinzato was promoted to be the new manager in January 2009.

In 2014, FC Ryukyu could finally join the J3 League.

In January 2015, FC Ryukyu announced a partnership with Seoul United from the Korean Challengers League. According to the agreement the teams will play a friendly match every year. The first match was scheduled for 1 March 2015.

FC Ryukyu have made steady progress in recent years, finishing in 8th place in J3 in 2016, and improving on that the following year, finishing 6th.

In the 2018 season they secured promotion to J2 with 3 games left after a 1–1 draw at Nagano Parceiro, and in the following game beat Thespakusatsu Gunma to claim the J3 title with two games to spare.

They started their first season in J2 in 2019, in style with 4 straight wins to top the league, but faded as the season progressed eventually finishing in 14th place.

In 2022, after spending four years in the J2 League, the club was relegated back to the J3 League after scoring their lowest points total in the second-tier. The club finished in 21st place with 37 points, only 3 points off the last placed team.

On 26 October 2023, the club announced that they will use FC Ryukyu Okinawa for branding purpose starting 2024 season, although the club's current name will remain used in any competition. The change also follows by the update of club's emblem, which will be used in the same year as well.[1]

The home stadium is the Tapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium (Okinawa Prefectural Sports Park Athletic Stadium), based in Okinawa City.

Until 2014, the Okinawa City Athletic Stadium in Okinawa City was used as the main home stadium, and multiple stadiums were used.

Key

• Japanese Regional Promotion Series:
  • Champions: 2005
• J3 League:
  • Champions: 2018

As of 6 September 2023.[2][3] 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  CRC Danny Carvajal 2 MF  JPN Takayuki Fukumura 3 DF  JPN Yuri Mori 4 DF  JPN Yusuke Muta 5 MF  JPN Kazuto Takezawa 6 MF  JPN Kosei Okazawa (on loan from Cerezo Osaka) 7 FW  JPN Haruto Shirai 8 MF  JPN Koki Kiyotake 9 FW  JPN Ryunosuke Noda 10 MF  JPN Yu Tomidokoro 11 MF  JPN Katsuya Nakano 13 MF  JPN Sho Iwamoto 14 FW  JPN Takuya Hitomi 15 DF  JPN Ryota Araki 16 FW  JPN Takuma Abe 17 GK  JPN Keisuke Tsumita 18 MF  JPN Sho Hiramatsu (on loan from Shonan Bellmare)

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 DF  JPN Takayuki Takayasu 21 GK  KOR Jeon Ji-wan (on loan from Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors) 22 DF  JPN Makito Uehara 23 DF  JPN Shusei Yamauchi 26 GK  JPN Junto Taguchi 28 MF  JPN Jitsuki Tsuha 29 DF  KOR Cho Eun-su 33 FW  JPN Shiryu Fujiwara (on loan from Tokushima Vortis) 34 FW  BRA Kelvin 35 FW  GHA Sadam Sulley 37 DF  JPN Shogo Terasaka (on loan from Vissel Kobe) 41 DF  JPN Keiji Kagiyama 44 FW  JPN Mu Kanazaki 45 MF  JPN Yushin Koki Type 2 46 MF  JPN Yura Nakamura Type 2 47 FW  JPN Koya Ishimine Type 2 99 DF  JPN Takahiro Yanagi

For the 2023 season.[4]

Position	Name
Head coach	Kim Jong-song
Assistant coach	Norichika Kanemura Hiroyuki Shirai
First-team coach	Duda Dos Santos
Goalkeeping coach	Hiroaki Hidaka
Physical coach	Tatsuaki Shimoji
Analytical coach	Yamato Saino
Chief trainer	Keita Miyazawa
Trainer	Ryuki Take Hayato Yamakawa
Manager	Takumi Kato Keita Higa
Sports director	Minoru Takehara
Assistant sport director	Tetsuhiro Kina
Medical director	Kenji Murakami
Chief doctor	Kotaro Ishizuka
Medical supervisor	Tomoyuki Oshiro
Doctor	Fuminari Uehara Hiroki Yabiku Naori Akamine

Their team colour is bengara, a shade of red pigment. It is called red ochre in English and can be generally described as claret. Bengara derives from a Dutch word bengala which in turn derives from Bengal, a region in India and Bangladesh. This name was given because the pigment was traditionally imported from Bengal to Japan. Okinawa has a close association with the bengara colour which is prominently applied to Shuri Castle, one of the most symbolic historical buildings in the area.

In 2008 they adopted a sky-blue trim for their home uniform, as their bengara pigment pattern was considered too and similar to Aston Villa from England (the claret and sky-blue pattern was around long before Troussier and the French staff arrived, so a coincidence in colours is feasible).

Their crest features a pair of Shisas, imaginary talismanic creatures in the area, and the crown of the kings of the former Ryukyu Kingdom.

• Official website (in Japanese)