Saburō Kawabuchi

Saburo Kawabuchi
川淵 三郎

Kawabuchi in 1964
Personal information
Full name	Saburo Kawabuchi
Date of birth	(1936-12-03) December 3, 1936 (age 84)
Place of birth	Takaishi, Osaka, Japan
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1952–1954
1957–1960	Waseda University
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1961–1970	Furukawa Electric	68	(10)
Total		68	(10)
National team
1958–1965	Japan	26	(8)
Teams managed
1973–1975	Furukawa Electric
1980–1981	Japan
show Honours Furukawa Electric Runner-up Japan Soccer League 1967 Winner Emperor's Cup 1961 Winner Emperor's Cup 1964 Runner-up Emperor's Cup 1962
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Saburo Kawabuchi (川淵 三郎, Kawabuchi Saburō, born December 3, 1936) is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for and managed the Japan national team. He is the founder and honorary chairman of the J.League. Between 2002 and 2008 he served as president of the Japan Football Association.

Early life[]

Kawabuchi was born in Takaishi on December 3, 1936.^[1] At first, when he was in Takaishi elementary school and Takaishi Junior high school, he played baseball. He was on to Mikunigaoka High School, Osaka and became a member of football team at the high school. He graduated from Mikunigaoka High School, Osaka in 1955. He went on to Waseda University School of commerce in 1957. He played for Waseda University football team. He earned Bachelor of arts degree in commerce from Waseda University.

Club career[]

After graduating from Waseda University, Kawabuchi played for Furukawa Electric, in the early days of the Japan Soccer League. In the initial league season, he was the first player to score a hat-trick, against Nagoya Mutual Bank.^[2] He retired in 1970. He played 68 games and scored 10 goals in the league.

National team career[]

On December 25, 1958, when Kawabuchi was a Waseda University student, he debuted and scored 2 goals for Japan national team against Hong Kong. In 1962, he played at 1962 Asian Games. In 1964, he was selected Japan for 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.^[1] At 1964 Summer Olympics, he scored a goal in first match against Argentina. He also played at 1962 Asian Games. He played 26 games and scored 8 goals for Japan until 1965.^[3]

Coaching career[]

After retirement, Kawabuchi became a coach for Furukawa Electric in 1970. In 1973, he became a manager and managed until 1975. Just before 1982 World Cup qualification in December 1980, he was named manager for Japan national team to replace Masashi Watanabe, who suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Kawabuchi managed Japan at 1982 World Cup qualification and managed until March 1981.

In 1991, he named inaugural chairman of the J.League is first professional league in Japan. In 1991, he also became a first chairman of J.League. In 2002, he resigned chairman of J.League and became 10th president of Japan Football Association as Shunichiro Okano successor. Kawabuchi served until 2008. He also served as president of Japan Basketball Association from May 2015 to June 2016.

In 2006, he received FIFA Order of Merit. In 2008, he was also selected Japan Football Hall of Fame.

Later years[]

Kawabuchi serves as a councilor on the organizing committee for the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. He had been requested by former Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori to succeed him as committee chairperson in February 2021, but Kawabuchi later said that he would not accept the request.^[4]

Club statistics[]

National team statistics[]

^[3]

Awards[]

• Japan Soccer League Silver Ball (Assist Leader): 1966

Books[]

• J's career – With Japan football, Nihon Keizai Shimbun Shuppan, 2009

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saburō Kawabuchi.

• Saburō Kawabuchi – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Saburō Kawabuchi at National-Football-Teams.com
• Japan National Football Team Database
• Japan Football Hall of Fame at Japan Football Association