Cerezo Osaka

Cerezo Osaka
セレッソ大阪
Full name	Cerezo Osaka
Nickname(s)	Sakura (cherry blossoms)
Founded	1957; 64 years ago (as Yanmar Diesel SC)
Ground	Yanmar Stadium Nagai; Yodoko Sakura Stadium
Capacity	47,853 (Yanmar); 18,007 (Yodoko)
Owner	Yanmar
Chairman	Hiroaki Morishima
Manager
League	J1 League
2020	J1 League, 4th of 18
Website	Club website
Home colours	Away colours

Cerezo Osaka (セレッソ大阪, Seresso Ōsaka) is a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name Cerezo (Spanish for cherry tree) is also the flower of the city of Osaka.^[1] The official hometowns for the club are Osaka and Sakai.

History

Old crest

The club, originally called Yanmar Diesel, started in 1957 as the company team of Yanmar and was an original founder ("Original Eight"^[a]) of the now-disbanded Japan Soccer League (JSL) in 1965. With four Japanese league titles to its credit, it was a mainstay of the JSL Division 1 until 1990 when it was first relegated, and joined the former Japan Football League (JFL) in 1992.

In 1993, the club incorporated as Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. and adopted the name Cerezo after a public contest.^[2] In 1994, they won the JFL championship and was promoted to the J1 League in 1995. This also coincided with a run to the finals of the Emperor's Cup, which they lost to Bellmare Hiratsuka.

Cerezo has relegated from J1 to J2 three times, but are currently playing in the J1 league. The club had an impressive third-place finish in the 2017 season.

On 4 November 2017 they won the J.League YBC Levain Cup, the first major title for Cerezo Osaka. The final match was against Kawasaki Frontale.

On 1 January 2018, Cerezo Osaka won the Emperor's Cup, securing their second major title. The final match was against Yokohama F. Marinos.

On 10 February 2018, they won the Xerox Super Cup, playing against Kawasaki Frontale.

In May 2018, the club changed its incorporated name from Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. to Cerezo Osaka Co., Ltd.

Grounds

The hometowns for the club are Osaka and Sakai. The club plays at Yodoko Sakura Stadium, with some bigger games played at Yanmar Stadium Nagai.^[3]

The club practices at Minami Tsumori Sakura Sports Park, Maishima Sports Island, and Amagasaki Yanmar Diesel Ground.

Mascots

The main club's mascot is a wolf, named Lobby. The other club's mascot is Madame Lobina, Lobby's mother.^[4] On February 22, 2020, host and TV personality Roland was appointed Cerezo's "Official CereMan".^[5]

Rivalries

Cerezo's biggest rival is fellow Osaka club Gamba Osaka. The matches played against Gamba are referred to as the Osaka derby.

Kits and colours

Cerezo's club colour is pink, like the cherry blossom flowers that the name is based on. Combination colours have been navy blue and black. This year, the uniform colour is pink (home) and white (away) for the field players, black (home) and pink (away) or green for the goal keepers.

During the Yanmar Diesel days in the late 1970s to mid-1980s, the uniform was all-red reminiscent of Deportivo Toluca.

Colours, sponsors and manufacturers

Season(s)	Main Shirt Sponsor	Collarbone Sponsor		Additional Sponsor(s)					Kit Manufacturer
2018	Yanmar	-	-	Nippon Ham	Singha	Kincho	Nakabayashi	-	Puma
2019						Sharp		-
2020								- / Danish
2021		Yodogawa Steel Works						-

Kit evolution

showHome
1994 - 1996	1997 - 1998	1999 - 2003	2004 - 2005	2006 - 2007
2008 - 2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
2019	2020	2021

showAway
1994 - 1996	1997 - 1998	1999 - 2002	2003 - 2004	2005
2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
2021

showOthers
2010 88 Memorial	2011 Eight Summer	2013 Yanmar Premium Cup	2014 20th Anniversary	2015 Kincho Stadium 5th Anniversary
2016 Summer	2017 Summer	2018 ACL	2018 Limited	2019 25th Anniversary

Record as J.League member

Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Promoted	Relegated

League													J.League Cup	Emperor's Cup	ACL
Season	Div.	Teams	Pos.	P	W (OTW / PKW)	D	L (OTL/PKL)	F	A	GD	Pts	Attendance/G	J.League Cup	Emperor's Cup	ACL
1995	J1	14	8th	52	25 (0 / 0)	-	11 (0 / 2)	43	44	-1	41	12,097	–	2^nd round	–
1996		16	13th	30	10	-	20	38	56	-18	30	8,229	Group stage	4^th round
1997		17	11th	32	13 (1 / 2)	-	10 (5 / 1)	53	56	-3	43	9,153	Group stage	4^th round	–
1998		18	9th	34	14 (1 / 0)	-	17 (1 / 1)	56	79	-23	44	9,864	Group stage	3^rd round	–
1999		16	6th	30	15 (4 / 0)	-	10 (1 / 0)	64	45	19	53	10,216	2^nd round	4^th round	–
2000		16	5th	30	14 (3 / 0)	-	11 (2 / 0)	54	49	5	48	13,548	2^nd round	Quarter-final	–
2001		16	16th	30	5 (3 / 0)	2	18 (0 / 0)	41	70	-29	21	11,857	1^st round	Final	–
2002	J2	12	2nd	44	25	12	7	93	53	40	87	7,952	–	4^th round	–
2003	J1	16	9th	30	12	4	14	55	56	-1	40	13,854	Group stage	Final	–
2004		16	15th	30	6	8	16	42	64	-22	26	14,323	Group stage	4^th round	–
2005		18	5th	34	16	11	7	48	40	8	59	17,648	Quarter-final	Semi-final	–
2006		18	17th	34	6	9	19	44	70	-26	27	13,026	Quarter-final	4^th round	–
2007	J2	13	5th	48	24	8	16	72	55	17	80	6,627	–	4^th round	–
2008		15	4th	42	21	6	15	81	60	21	69	10,554	–	4^th round	–
2009		18	2nd	51	31	11	9	100	53	47	104	9,912	–	2^nd round	–
2010	J1	18	3rd	34	17	10	7	51	31	20	61	15,026	Group stage	4^th round	–
2011		18	12th	34	11	10	13	67	53	14	43	14,145	Quarter-final	Semi-final	Quarter-final
2012		18	14th	34	11	9	14	47	53	-6	42	16,815	Quarter-final	Quarter-final	–
2013		18	4th	34	16	11	7	53	32	21	59	18,819	Quarter-final	4^th round	–
2014		18	17th	34	7	10	17	36	48	-12	31	21,627	Quarter-final	Quarter-final	Round of 16
2015	J2	22	4th	42	18	13	11	57	40	17	67	12,232	–	1^st round	–
2016	J2	22	4th	42	23	9	10	62	46	16	78	12,509	–	3^rd round	–
2017	J1	18	3rd	34	19	6	9	64	43	22	63	20,970	Winner	Winner	–
2018		18	7th	34	13	11	10	39	38	1	50	18,542	Quarter-final	4^th round	Group stage
2019		18	5th	34	18	5	11	39	29	14	59	21,518	Play-offs	4^th round	–
2020 †		18	4th	34	18	6	10	46	37	9	60	7,014	Quarter-final	Did not qualify	–
2021		20		38

Key

Pos. = Position in league; GP = Games Played; W = Games won; D = Games Drawn; L = Games Lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals Difference; Pts = Points gained
Attendance/G = Average league home attendance
† 2020 season attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
Source: J.League Data Site

League history

Japan Soccer League Division 1: 1965–1990 (as Yanmar Diesel)
Japan Soccer League Division 2: 1991 (as Yanmar Diesel)
Japan Football League Division 1: 1992–94 (as Yanmar Diesel until 1993; Cerezo Osaka since 1994)
J1 League: 1995–2001
J2 League: 2002
J1 League: 2003–2006
J2 League: 2007–2009
J1 League: 2010–2014
J2 League: 2015–2016
J1 League: 2017–present

Players

Current squad

As of 5 September 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	VIE	Đặng Văn Lâm
2	DF	JPN	Riku Matsuda
3	DF	JPN	Ryosuke Shindo
4	MF	JPN	Riki Harakawa
5	MF	JPN	Naoyuki Fujita
6	DF	BRA	Tiago Pagnussat
9	FW	AUS	Adam Taggart
10	MF	JPN	Hiroshi Kiyotake
13	FW	JPN	Toshiyuki Takagi
14	DF	JPN	Yusuke Maruhashi
15	DF	JPN	Ayumu Seko
16	DF	JPN	Naoto Arai
17	MF	JPN	Tatsuhiro Sakamoto
18	MF	JPN	Jun Nishikawa
19	MF	JPN	Hirotaka Tameda
20	FW	JPN	Yoshito Ōkubo


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	GK	KOR	Kim Jin-hyeon
22	FW	JPN	Riki Matsuda
23	FW	JPN	Takashi Inui
24	DF	JPN	Koji Toriumi
25	MF	JPN	Hiroaki Okuno
26	DF	JPN	Yuta Koike
28	FW	JPN	Motohiko Nakajima
29	FW	JPN	Mutsuki Kato
30	MF	JPN	Hinata Kida
32	FW	JPN	Yuta Toyokawa
33	DF	JPN	Ryuya Nishio
34	FW	JPN	Hiroto Yamada
37	MF	JPN	Haruki Arai (on loan from FC Tiamo Hirakata)
48	GK	JPN
49	GK	JPN
50	GK	JPN	Kenya Matsui

Out on loan

As of 5 September 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
—	GK	JPN	Takumi Nagaishi (on loan to Avispa Fukuoka)
—	GK	JPN	Shu Mogi (on loan to Machida Zelvia)
—	DF	JPN	Reiya Morishita (on loan to Machida Zelvia)
—	DF	JPN	Honoya Shoji (on loan to Zweigen Kanazawa)
—	DF	JPN	Tatsuya Tabira (on loan to Iwate Grulla Morioka)
—	DF	JPN	Kakeru Funaki (on loan to SC Sagamihara)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	JPN	Daichi Akiyama (on loan to Gainare Tottori)
—	MF	JPN	Nagi Matsumoto (on loan to Tochigi SC)
—	MF	JPN	Takaya Yoshinare (on loan to Kamatamare Sanuki)
—	MF	JPN	Towa Yamane (on loan to Mito HollyHock)
—	FW	JPN	Shota Fujio (on loan to Mito HollyHock)
—	FW	JPN	Ryuji Sawakami (on loan to SC Sagamihara)

Honours

Yanmar Diesel

Japan Soccer League

Winners (4): 1971, 1974, 1975, 1980

JSL Cup

Winners (3): 1973 (shared), 1983, 1984

Emperor's Cup

Winners (3): 1968, 1970, 1974

Cerezo Osaka

Japan Football League

Winners (1): 1994 (as the company team)

J.League Cup

Winners (1): 2017

Emperor's Cup

Winners (1): 2017

Runners-up (3): 1994, 2001, 2003

Japanese Super Cup

Winners (1): 2018

Suruga Bank Championship

Runners-up (1): 2018

Continental record

As of 24 June 2021

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2011	AFC Champions League	Group G	Arema	2–1	4–0	2nd
			Shandong Taishan	4–0	0–2
			Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1–0	0–1
		Round of 16	Gamba Osaka	1–0
		Quarter-finals	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	4–3	1–6	5–9
2014	AFC Champions League	Group F	Pohang Steelers	0–2	1–1	2nd
			Shandong Taishan	1–3	2–1
			Buriram United	4–0	2–2
		Round of 16	Guangzhou	1–5	1–0	2–5
2018	AFC Champions League	Group G	Jeju United	2–1	1–0	3rd
			Guangzhou	0–0	1–3
			Buriram United	2–2	0–2
2021	AFC Champions League	Play-off round	Melbourne City	Cancelled
		Group J	Guangzhou	5–0^[b]	2–0^[b]	1st
			Kitchee	2–1^[b]	0–0^[b]
			Port	1–1^[b]	3–0^[b]
		Round of 16	Pohang Steelers

^ The Original Eight of the Japan Soccer League (JSL) in 1965 were Mitsubishi, Furukawa, Hitachi, Yanmar, Toyo Industries, Yahata Steel, Toyota Industries and Nagoya Mutual Bank.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Played at a neutral venue.

Managers

^[7]

Manager	Nationality	Tenure
Paulo Emilio	Brazil	1 January 1994 – 31 December 1995
Hiroshi Sowa	Japan	1 January 1996 – 31 December 1996
Levir Culpi	Brazil	1 February 1997 – 31 December 1997
Yasutaro Matsuki	Japan	1 January 1998 – 31 December 1999
René Desaeyere	Belgium	1 February 1999 – 31 January 2000
Hiroshi Soejima	Japan	1 February 2000 – 19 August 2001
João Carlos	Brazil	20 August 2001 – 4 November 2001
Akihiro Nishimura	Japan	5 November 2001 – 6 October 2003
Yuji Tsukada	Japan	7 October 2003 – 1 January 2004
Petar Nadoveza	Croatia	2 January 2004 – 1 February 2004
Fuad Muzurović	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1 February 2004 – 22 March 2004
Albert Pobor	Croatia	23 March 2004 – 28 June 2004
Shinji Kobayashi	Japan	1 July 2004 – 17 April 2006
Yuji Tsukada	Japan	18 April 2006 – 31 December 2006
Satoshi Tsunami	Japan	1 January 2007 – 7 May 2007
Levir Culpi	Brazil	8 May 2007 – 31 December 2011
Sérgio Soares	Brazil	1 January 2012 – 26 August 2012
Levir Culpi	Brazil	27 August 2012 – 11 December 2013
Ranko Popović	Serbia	1 January 2014 – 9 June 2014
Marco Pezzaiuoli	Germany	16 June 2014 – 8 September 2014
Yuji Okuma	Japan	8 September 2014 – 16 December 2014
Paulo Autuori	Brazil	1 January 2015 – 17 November 2015
Kiyoshi Okuma	Japan	17 November 2015 – 31 January 2017
Yoon Jong-hwan	South Korea	1 February 2017 – 31 December 2018
Miguel Ángel Lotina	Spain	1 February 2019 – 31 January 2021
Levir Culpi	Brazil	1 February 2021 – 26 August 2021
	Japan	26 August 2021 — present

In popular culture

In the popular Captain Tsubasa manga, a character named Teppei Kisugi becomes a professional football player and joins Cerezo Osaka.^{[citation needed]}

Former players

Notes

References

^ Club Guide Profile, Link to official club's profile site.
^ "Cerezo Osaka Profile". Cerezo Osaka official website. Archived from the original on 12 March 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
^ Stadium Information, Link to stadiums.
^ セレッソ大阪とは (in Japanese). Cerezo Osaka. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
^ "ローランド、セレッソ大阪「公認セレ男」に就任！！".
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "トップチーム選手" (in Japanese). Cerezo Osaka. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
^ "Club history". セレッソ大阪沿革. Retrieved 10 January 2018.

External links

Cerezo Osaka official website
End of Thai Fan. (in Thai)
Cerezo Osaka official website (in Japanese)

[2] The Original Eight of the Japan Soccer League (JSL) in 1965 were Mitsubishi, Furukawa, Hitachi, Yanmar, Toyo Industries, Yahata Steel, Toyota Industries and Nagoya Mutual Bank.

[fn1-8] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Played at a neutral venue.

[Club_Profile-1] Club Guide Profile, Link to official club's profile site.

[3] "Cerezo Osaka Profile". Cerezo Osaka official website. Archived from the original on 12 March 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2008.

[stadium_information-4] Stadium Information, Link to stadiums.

[5] セレッソ大阪とは (in Japanese). Cerezo Osaka. Retrieved April 17, 2018.

[6] "ローランド、セレッソ大阪「公認セレ男」に就任！！".

[Teams-7] Jump up to: ^a ^b "トップチーム選手" (in Japanese). Cerezo Osaka. Retrieved 5 September 2021.

[9] "Club history". セレッソ大阪沿革. Retrieved 10 January 2018.

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