Albirex Niigata

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Albirex Niigata
logo
Full nameAlbirex Niigata
Nickname(s)Albi
Founded1955; 66 years ago (1955)
GroundDenka Big Swan Stadium,
Niigata
Capacity42,300
ChairmanDaisuke Korenaga
ManagerAlbert Puig Ortoneda
LeagueJ2 League
2020J2 League, 11th
WebsiteClub website
Away colours

Albirex Niigata (アルビレックス新潟, Arubirekkusu Nīgata) is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. Since 2018, the first division team has competed in the J2 League, the second tier of Japanese football.

History[]

See also: List of Albirex Niigata seasons

For many years it had been a local autonomous amateur club, Niigata 11, that could never hope to see the light of day in an old Japan Soccer League dominated almost entirely by company teams. The creation of the J. League spurred the club to rise, and in the 1990s it began climbing fast through the divisions.[1]

In 1998, Albirex Niigata joined the Japan Football League, and was merged into the J2 league after its creation in 1999. The team gradually became competitive and in 2001 and 2002 it came close to getting promoted to J1 and in 2003,[2] it became the champion of J2 and finally joined the top flight.

The team name is made from combining the star Albireo of the constellation Cygnus (the Swan) and the Latin word Rex meaning 'king'.[3] In 1997, due to copyright issues, the team name was changed from Albireo Niigata to the current Albirex Niigata.

In 2007, the uniform colour changed. Until 2006, the uniform was orange – blue – orange, but in 2007 the color became orange – orange – orange. This coordinate has not been adopted since 1996 when the team professionalized.

The success of Albirex Niigata had a big impact on the entire Japanese sporting world, including professional baseball. It showed people were more excited than expected for sports in local cities without the population of the metropolitan area in the past, and local citizens feelings influenced many other sports in the region.[4]

Team name transition[]

  • Niigata Eleven SC (Soccer Club) (1955)
  • Albireo Niigata FC (1995)
  • Albirex Niigata (1997)

Stadium[]

The Big Swan
Main article: Denka Big Swan Stadium

Joining the J. League in 1999, its home towns are Niigata and Seiro. Until 2003, it used Niigata Perfectural Sport Ground as the home ground but since 2004, the team began using Niigata Stadium Big Swan as well and now plays most of its games there. In 2003,[5] it set a record for highest attendance in the J. League with the cumulative total of around 660,000.[4] Its practice grounds are Albirex's training facilities in Seiro Albillage and the Ijimino Sports Park (五十公野運動公園, Ijimino Undō Kōen) in Shibata.

The club plays its home games in the Niigata Stadium "Big Swan", which is currently called Denka Big Swan Stadium through a sponsorship deal. The stadium was opened in 2001, and has a capacity of 42,300. Prior to this the club had played its matches in the Niigata City Athletic Stadium constructed in 1938 with a capacity of 18,000.

The stadium was the site of two first round matches and one Round of 16 match in the past 2002 FIFA World Cup. It was also the venue for the 2009 National Sports Festival.

Players[]

Current squad[]

Updated 14 July 2021.[6]

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 Ryosuke Kojima (On loan from Oita Trinita)
4 DF Japan JPN Shosei Okamoto
5 DF New Zealand NZL Michael Fitzgerald
6 MF Japan JPN Hiroki Akiyama
7 FW Japan JPN Kaito Taniguchi
8 MF Japan JPN Takahiro Ko
9 FW Japan JPN Koji Suzuki
10 MF Japan JPN Shion Homma
14 FW Japan JPN Tatsuya Tanaka
16 MF Uruguay URU Gonzalo González
17 MF Japan JPN Akito Fukuta
19 DF Japan JPN Yuji Hoshi
20 MF Japan JPN Yuzuru Shimada
21 GK Japan JPN Koto Abe
22 GK Japan JPN Takuya Seguchi (On loan from Tokushima Vortis)
23 FW Japan JPN Yota Komi
24 MF Japan JPN Romero Frank
No. Pos. Nation Player
25 MF Japan JPN Soya Fujiwara
26 DF Japan JPN Ryo Endo
27 MF Japan JPN Yuki Omoto
28 DF Japan JPN Fumiya Hayakawa
30 DF Japan JPN
31 DF Japan JPN Yuto Horigome (captain)
32 DF Japan JPN Takumi Hasegawa
33 MF Japan JPN Yoshiaki Takagi
35 DF Japan JPN Kazuhiko Chiba
37 MF Japan JPN Shunsuke Mito
39 FW Japan JPN Ken Yamura
40 FW Peru PER
41 GK Japan JPN Kazuki Fujita
47 FW Japan JPN Oya Mizuki
48 DF Japan JPN Shuya Takano
50 DF Japan JPN Daichi Tagami (On loan from Kashiwa Reysol)

Out on loan[]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF Japan JPN Taiki Watanabe (to Zweigen Kanazawa)

Technical staff[]

As of June 2020
Position Name
Manager Spain Albert Puig
Assistant Coach Spain Oscar Hernandez Romero
Physical Trainer Spain Eugenio Gavilan Castilla
Goalkeeping Coach Japan Ryuji Ishizue

Notable players[]

Main article: List of Albirex Niigata players

Managers[]

  • Netherlands 1994–1997[7]
  • Japan Yoshikazu Nagai 1998–2000[7]
  • Japan Yasuharu Sorimachi 2001–2005[7]
  • Japan Jun Suzuki 2006–2009[7][8][9][10]
  • Japan Hisashi Kurosaki 2010–2012[11][12][13][14]
  • Japan Nobuhiro Ueno 2012 (caretaker)[14][15]
  • Japan Masaaki Yanagishita 2012–2015[13][14][16]
  • Japan Tatsuma Yoshida 2016[17]
  • Japan Koichiro Katafuchi 2016 (caretaker), 2017, 2018–2019[17]
  • Japan Fumitake Miura 2017
  • Japan Wagner Lopes 2017
  • Japan Masakazu Suzuki 2018
  • Japan Kazuaki Yoshinaga 2019
  • Spain Albert Puig Ortoneda 2020–

Honours[]

  • J. League Division 2
    • Champions (1) : 2003[3]
  • Hokushinetsu Football League
    • Champions (3) : 1986, 1996, 1997
    • Runners-up (1) : 1992
  • Shakaijin Cup
    • Runners-up (1) : 1995

Affiliated clubs[]

Active departments of Albirex
Football pictogram.svg Football pictogram.svg Football pictogram.svg
Football
(Men's)		 Football
(Women's)		 Football
(Singapore)
Basketball pictogram.svg Basketball pictogram.svg Cheerleading pictogram.svg
Basketball
(Men's)		 Basketball
(Women's)
Alpine skiing pictogram.svg Athletics pictogram.svg Baseball pictogram.svg
Skiing Baseball
F1 pictogram.svg

Since 2004, Albirex Niigata has selected a number of players for its satellite team in the Singapore Premier League. Albirex also has a women's team and joined L2 league (an equivalent of J2) in 2004. Albirex Ladies won the L2 title in 2006,[18] and went on to join L1 in 2007.

The following clubs are affiliated with Albirex Niigata:

In addition to the J-1 Albirex Niigata football team, there is a Niigata Albirex basketball club in the B.League, as well as a ski, snowboard, baseball, and track and field team. Though the teams share the same name, management and finances are completely separate for each team.

References[]

  1. ^ Niigata-Nippo. 11 years-History of Albirex Niigata (2007), pp. 2–10.
  2. ^ "Albirex won the promotion slot" Niigata-Nippo: p. 1. 24 November 2003.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Club guide : Albirex Niigata" (in Japanese). J.League. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Venture spirits, Hiroshi Ikeda interview" (in Japanese). Biz STYLE. 27 December 2007. Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  5. ^ "History of Niigata stadium" (in Japanese). Albirex Niigata. and Niigata Urban Flowering and Greenery Foundation Group. Archived from the original on 12 September 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  6. ^ "トップチーム（選手） - アルビレックス新潟 公式サイト". アルビレックス新潟 公式サイト｜ALBIREX NIIGATA OFFICIAL WEBSITE (in Japanese). Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c d The 11-year History of Albirex Niigata (in Japanese). Albirex Niigata. 2007. ISBN 4861322219.
  8. ^ "League Table 2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1". J. League. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  9. ^ "League Table 2008 J.LEAGUE Division 1". J. League. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  10. ^ "League Table 2009 J.LEAGUE Division 1". J. League. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  11. ^ "League Table 2010 J.LEAGUE Division 1". J. League. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  12. ^ "League Table 2011 J.LEAGUE Division 1". J. League. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "League Table 2012 J.LEAGUE Division 1". J. League. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Yanagishita named Albirex manager". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  15. ^ "SCORESHEET 2012 J.LEAGUE Division 1 2nd Day 13th Sec". J. League. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  16. ^ "League Table 2013 J.LEAGUE Division 1". J. League. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b "2016 J.LEAGUE Division 1 Albirex Niigata". J. League. 11 January 2017. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  18. ^ "2006 Nadeshiko League" (PDF) (in Japanese). Nadeshiko League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  19. ^ "Albirex Niigata Barcelona website" (in Japanese). Retrieved 27 January 2014.

External links[]

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