is a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese semi-professional

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 ...

club based in

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. They currently play in the

Japan Football League The also known as simply the JFL is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League associate membership am ...

, Japanese 4th-tier of football league, since 2021.

History

The club was founded by the current chairman Kazutomo Maruyama as a leisure club under the name Criacao in 2005 to create an opportunity to play football even after completing his studies at

Rikkyō University , also known as Saint Paul's University, is a private university, in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan. Rikkyo is known as one of the six leading universities in the field of sports in Tokyo (東京六大学 "Big Six" — Rikkyo University, University of ...

. After Maruyama's professional return to Tokyo, he first registered for the Japan Football Association in 2009.

Club name

Criacao is from the Portuguese ''criação'' and means translated as much as "creation", "creation", "production". In doing so, the club alludes to the club's philosophy, which states it aims to achieve "continuous generation of enthusiasm in the world through football".

Road to the JFL

From 2010 to 2018, the club only played in the Tokyo Leagues, not going further than it until the club saw promotion on 2018, after finishing as runners-up in Tokyo's 1st division. After nine seasons the club finally got to debut at regional level, in the 2nd division of the

Kantō Soccer League , abbreviated as KSL, is a Japanese football league covering the Kantō region, the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, Tokyo and Yamanashi. Its area is thus coextensive with the National Capital Region A capital ...

. Immediately after being promoted to it, the club earned the division's title after winning 43 out of 51 possible points, and then, were promoted to the 1st division. Debuting on it in 2020, the club only earned a 5th-place finish. In 2021, Criacao Shinjuku secured promotion for the

(JFL), the 4th tier of Japanese football, via the

Japanese Regional Football Champions League The Japanese Regional Champions League ( ja, 全国地域サッカーチャンピオンズリーグ, ''Zenkoku Chiiki Sakkā Championzu Rīgu''), known before 2016 as Japan Regional Football League Competition, is a nationwide play-off tournament m ...

, which is JFL's promotion/relegation series.

JFL (2022–)

In 2022, Criacao Shinjuku finished in the 15th place of the competition, out of the 16 participating teams for the season. The club, however, was not relegated back to the Kantō League, as JFL's top 2 teams were promoted to the J3. Under the league system, Criacao would only be relegated as the 15th-placed team if no team earned promotion to the J3 during the season, which was not the case. The club also currently holds the

attendance record, made on 9 October 2022. A crowd of 16,218 people watched the match between

Suzuka Point Getters is a Japanese professional football club based in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture. They play in the Japan Football League. History The club was originally established in Nabari, Mie in 1980 under the name Mie Club, and it became a member of Mie Foo ...

and Criacao Shinjuku at the

Japan National Stadium The Japan National Stadium, officially named and formerly known as or , is a multi-purpose stadium used mostly for association football in Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The facility served as the main stadium for the opening and c ...

, in Shinjuku, being the record heavily influenced by the presence of Japan former international

Kazuyoshi Miura , often known simply as Kazu (nicknamed "King Kazu"), is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Japan Football League club Suzuka Point Getters on loan from Yokohama FC. He played for the Japan national team from 1990 t ...

. The match ended in a 1–0 loss for Criacao. The 2023 season is Criacao Shinjuku second consecutive season in JFL.

League & cup record

;Key

Honours

Current squad

Club staff

''As of the 2023 season''

Managerial history

References

External links

Official website

Criacao Corporation
{{Japanese Club Football, group=clubs 2005 establishments in Japan Association football clubs established in 2005 Football clubs in Japan Football clubs in Tokyo Japan Football League clubs Shinjuku Works association football clubs in Japan