Kochi United SC

On February 1, 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 2016–2019, winning it three times in a row from 2017–19. In 2019 they finished 2nd in the Japanese Regional Football League Competition, earning promotion to the Japan Football League from the 2020 season. In November 2021 they applied for J.League 100 Year Plan club status with the aim of becoming a fully professional club in the future. In February 2022 their application was approved.[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.

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.

Updated to 17 March 2023.[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 1 GK  AUS Tando Velaphi 2 DF  JPN Tomoki Yoshida 3 DF  JPN Eiichi Nakata 4 DF  JPN Daichi Kobayashi 5 DF  JPN Naiki Imai 6 MF  JPN Kosei Tajiri 7 MF  JPN Kakeru Higuchi (on loan from Roasso Kumamoto) 8 FW  JPN Yuta Nishimura 9 FW  JPN Koki Taguchi 10 MF  JPN Tsubasa Yokotake 11 FW  JPN Fuyuto Kanai 13 DF  JPN Yu Miyamoto (on loan from Tokyo Verdy) 14 MF  JPN Junya Kurihara 15 FW  JPN Masaki Shintani 16 DF  JPN Naoya Imamura

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 DF  JPN Shunki Hashimoto 18 MF  JPN Taiga Sasaki 19 MF  JPN Asahi Kanehara 20 MF  JPN Yui Takano 21 GK  JPN Ryusei Ito 22 DF  JPN Ryosei Imai 23 DF  JPN Reo Fukuda 24 MF  JPN Tsubasa Misao 25 FW  JPN Retsushi Harada 26 FW  JPN Kokoro Kobayashi 27 DF  JPN Ryuya Fukushima (on loan from Urawa Red Diamonds) 28 FW  JPN Toshiki Toya 30 GK  JPN Seiya Inoue 31 GK  JPN Itsuki Ueda (on loan from Zweigen Kanazawa)

Key

Updated to November 2022

Updated to November 2022

• Shikoku Soccer League: Champions (3)

2017, 2018, 2019

• Kochi Prefectural Football Championship: Winners (8)

2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

• Japanese Regional Football League Competition: Runners Up (1)

2019

• 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: 7243 v Kawasaki Frontare (EC 4th Round 2023). (Technically a home game for Kawasaki but played in Kochi).

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