is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. He has played for

Albirex Niigata Singapore FC Albirex Niigata Singapore FC, abbreviated as Albirex Niigata (S), is a Singaporean football club that plays in the Singapore Premier League. The club is a satellite team of Albirex Niigata of Japan. History Albirex Niigata Singapore, a satellite ...

Woodlands Wellington Woodlands Wellington Football Club is an inactive professional association football, football club which played in the S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. They are based in Woodlands, Singapore, Woodlands at the 4,300 seater Woo ...

and

Hougang United FC Hougang United Football Club is a Singaporean professional football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League. History Hougang United Football Club was founded as Marine Castle United Football Club, which was formed by Newcastle Unit ...

in the

S.League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which re ...

, primarily as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He can also operate effectively as a

deep-lying playmaker A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Shimono is known for his distribution of the ball and technical ability. In recognition of his talent, he was named in the starting lineup of

The New Paper ''The New Paper'' is a Singaporean newspaper in tabloid form. It was originally published as a "noon paper", but since 2016 has been published daily as a freesheet in the morning from 7 a.m. onwards. History First launched on 26 July 1988, ...

's 2012 S.League team of the year.

Club career

A school team player for his alma maters Tsukimino Secondary School and Yamato Minami High School, Shimono's ability was recognized when he was one of several young players drafted into

Albirex Niigata (S) Albirex Niigata Singapore FC, abbreviated as Albirex Niigata (S), is a Singaporean football club that plays in the Singapore Premier League. The club is a satellite team of Albirex Niigata of Japan. History Albirex Niigata Singapore, a satellite ...

's squad during the 2009 S.League, along with Kenji Adachihara, Ryuta Hayashi and

Takasuke Goto is a Japanese former footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rul ...

, while he was playing for the Japan Soccer College in the

Hokushin'etsu Football League is the Japanese fifth tier of league football, which is part of the Japanese Regional Leagues are a group of parallel association football leagues in Japan that are organized on the regional basis. They form the fifth tier of the Japanese ...

. This was made possible due to Japan Soccer College's official affiliation with

's parent club,

Albirex Niigata 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. From 2023, Albirex will be playing on the J1 League, coming back to the fir ...

, and its players are often selected to turn out for the satellite

squad in the

. Shimono made his debut in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

for the White Swans under then- Albirex coach,

Naoki Naruo is a former Japanese Association football, football player and manager. Playing career Naruo was born in Iwaizumi, Iwate on October 5, 1974. After graduating from Iwate University, he joined Japan Football League (1992–98), Japan Football Lea ...

, in a match against

Geylang United Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, which plays in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973 with the purpose of building a s ...

on 17 February 2009 which the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

won with a 3–1 scoreline. To date, Shimono has played a total of 110 matches in the

for

, and an additional 20 matches in domestic cup competitions like the

Singapore Cup The Singapore Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Singaporean football. Established in 1998, it is the foremost football cup competition in the country. It is open to clubs in the Singapore Premier League. Since ...

and

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. On 7 December 2012, it was announced that Shimono had completed his transfer from

. He made his debut for

on 21 February 2013 in a 2–2 draw against Warriors F.C. and scored his first goal for

incidentally in the reverse fixture against the

Warriors A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

on 25 May 2013.

Club Career Statistics

Atsushi Shimono's Profile
:All numbers encased in brackets signify substitute appearances.

Honours

Club

Singapore League Cup The Singapore League Cup was an annual soccer competition in Singapore. It was launched in 2007, and was open to teams who play in the S.League. The 2007 competition was sponsored by SingTel, and officially titled the SingTel League Cup. Eight of ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

: Champions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimono, Atsushi 1988 births Living people Association football people from Kanagawa Prefecture Japanese footballers Japanese expatriate footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Singapore Expatriate footballers in Singapore Japanese expatriate sportspeople in the Philippines Expatriate footballers in the Philippines Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Myanmar Expatriate men's footballers in Myanmar Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Taiwan Expatriate footballers in Taiwan Singapore Premier League players Philippines Football League players Myanmar National League players Taiwan Football Premier League players Japan Soccer College players Albirex Niigata Singapore FC players Woodlands Wellington FC players JPV Marikina F.C. players Zwekapin United F.C. players Hang Yuan FC players Men's association football midfielders