, full name and also known as , is a Japanese 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

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

, capital of

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

. They currently play in the

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yas ...

, Japanese second tier of professional football.

History

Furukawa Electric SC (1946–1991)

The club began as the

company team A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. Association footb ...

, in 1946. As the company team, it won the

Japan Soccer League , or JSL, was the top flight association football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J.League. JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professional ...

twice, the

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

four times and the JSL League Cup three times. Furukawa also won the 1986–87 Asian Club Championship, the top club honor in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

; they were the first Japanese club to do so. The club was a founding member (''"Original Eight"'') of the

(JSL) in 1965. Since the league's inception, the club had always played in the top flight in Japan and was the only Japanese club to never be relegated from the JSL Division 1, a record they kept into the J1 years. They did finish the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

season in a relegation position (last of 10) but stayed up after beating

Honda FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. They play in the Japan Football League. History The club was founded as Honda Motor, Honda works team in 1971. They were promoted to the Japan Soccer League Division 2 i ...

1–0 on aggregate in a two-legged playoff. The last place was not automatically relegated until the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

season.

JEF United Ichihara (1992–2004)

In 1991, it merged with the JR East's company team to become and rebranded itself as JEF United Ichihara upon the J.League's founding in 1993. JEF United Ichihara was an original member (''"Original Ten"'') of the J.League in 1993. The club initially built itself around the former

Germany national football team The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deutsch ...

player

Pierre Littbarski Pierre Michael Littbarski (; born 16 April 1960) is a German professional football manager and former player of 1. FC Köln and the West Germany national team. Known for his dribbling abilities, he was mainly used as an attacking midfielder o ...

. From 1998 to 2000, the club struggled to stay in the J.League and it began a series of efforts to be a competitive team. Since the hiring of

Ivica Osim Ivan Osim (6 May 1941 – 1 May 2022), best known as Ivica Osim, was a Bosnian professional footballer and football manager. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all time and as one of the most influential foo ...

in 2003, JEF United has contended for the league title each year despite limited resources and struggling attendance.

JEF United Chiba (2005–)

On 1 February 2005, the club changed its name from ''JEF United Ichihara'' to the current name after

Chiba city is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It sits about east of the centre of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. The city became a government-designated city in 1992. In June 2019, its population was 979,768, with a population density of 3,605 people p ...

had joined

Ichihara, Chiba is a city, located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 274,117 in 128,316 households and a population density of 240 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is home, together with the city of ...

as its hometown in 2003. Of its club name, ''JEF'' is taken from the

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

and

Furukawa Electric is a Japanese electric and electronics equipment company. The company was founded by Furukawa Ichibei in 1884 in Yokohama when a copper-smelting facility and a wire manufacturing factory were established. Furukawa was a Japanese businessman wh ...

companies and ''United'' is meant to represent the unity of the club and its home city. Also, JEF United is the only team in J.League which corporate name survived the transition from the

JSL JSL may refer to: * JSL, Joint Station LAN, International Space Station * JSL S.A., a Brazilian logistic company * '' Japanese: The Spoken Language'', a Japanese textbook ** JSL romanization, the romanization system used in the text * Jamaican Sig ...

in 1992, as J.League mandated that "corporate teams are not allowed in the J.League", and that any corporate teams need to adapt a hometown. On 16 July 2006, Osim left the club to take over the coach of the Japan national team and was succeeded by

Amar Osim Amar Osim (born 18 July 1967) is a Bosnian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He is regarded as one of the most successful Bosnian football managers. Osim was a talented player during ...

, his son and assistant coach. On December 5, 2007, it was announced that Amar Osim had been sacked after the club's lowly 13th-place finish in the 2007 season. After 13 games in the 2008 season

Josip Kuže Josip Kuže (13 November 1952 – 16 June 2013) was a Croatian football manager and footballer. He was a player and later a manager of Dinamo Zagreb where he played for 10 years, making a total of 384 appearances and scoring 14 goals. Playing c ...

was sacked as team manager. On 8 May 2008 it was announced that the new manager was

Alex Miller Alex Miller (born 4 July 1949) is a Scottish football manager and former player. As a player, he had a 15-year career with Rangers, winning several trophies. As a manager, he won the 1991–92 Scottish League Cup with Hibernian. He subsequen ...

. Miller was First Team Coach at

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

alongside

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton. Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under-1 ...

prior to joining JEF United. The

is no longer the main sponsor of the club, a job these days taken over by

Fuji Electric , operating under the brand name FE, is a Japanese electrical equipment company, manufacturing pressure transmitters, flowmeters, gas analyzers, controllers, inverters, pumps, generators, ICs, motors, and power equipment. History Fuji Electric ...

. On November 8, 2009, JEF United Chiba was relegated to J2 after 44 seasons in the Japanese top division; since 2010, JEF United Chiba is playing in

J.League Division 2 The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Y ...

. JEF United Chiba was close to being promoted to J.League Division 1 during the 2012 season. The club was considered one of the favorites to be directly promoted to J1. However, after defeats to clubs considered lesser than them such as FC Gifu and

F.C. Machida Zelvia is a Japanese People, Japanese football (soccer), football club based in Machida, Tokyo, Machida, Tokyo. History Machida is known as "Brazil of Tokyo" due to the popularity of football in the city; it has, in fact, produced the second-largest n ...

, JEF played the playoffs, making their road to the final. They defeated

Yokohama FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the first tier of football in the country. The club was formed by fans of Yokoh ...

by 4–0, but lost the final match to

Oita Trinita is a Japanese football club currently playing in J2 League, having been relegated after the 2021 season after a three-year stint in J1 League. The club's home town is Ōita, Ōita, Ōita city, but the club draws support from Beppu, Ōita, Beppu, ...

by 1–0, at

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

. In the 2013 season they played in the promotion to J1 playoffs. They lost the semi-final match to Tokushima Vortis by 1–1(Chiba was 6th place and Tokushima was 3rd place in the league, regulation decides up high club can go final even draw.) In the 2014 season they played in the promotion playoffs to J1 again. The club did not have to play in the semi-final (Chiba was 4th place but the 3rd place club named Giravanz Kitakyushu had a J League original stadium problem so Kitakyushu could not go to the promotion play off). In the final against Montedio Yamagata, they lost by 0–1, at Ajinomoto Stadium. The club will play their 14th consecutive season at the J2 on 2023.

Symbols

Stadiums

It had played its home matches at

Ichihara Seaside Stadium is a football and athletics stadium located in Ichihara, Japan. Completed in 1987, the stadium consists of a large main stand and several smaller stands in a ring. Approximately 500 seats are covered; the cold Ichihara winds tend to create an unco ...

, but has since moved to the larger, football-specific and more conveniently located

Fukuda Denshi Arena , known commonly as Fuku-Ari (フクアリ), is a football stadium in Chiba, Japan. It was completed in 2005 and is home to the J. League club JEF United Ichihara Chiba following their move from the Ichihara Seaside Stadium. The stadium has ...

, which opened in Chiba during the 2005 season. The club had initially practiced at

Urayasu, Chiba 260px, old Urayasu is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 170,533 in 81,136 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Urayasu is best known as the home of the Tokyo ...

planning to base itself in

Narashino, Chiba is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 175,292 in 81,985 households and a population density of 8400 persons per km². The total area of the city is Geography Narashino is located in far northw ...

before opposition by those living around Akitsu

Stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

forced it to be based in Ichihara. Since 2000, training has been held at Footpark Anesaki in Ichihara in normally. Since 1 October 2009, they made new practice place UNITED PARK near the Fukuda Denshi Arena.

Mascot

JEF United Ichihara's

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

characters are

Akita Inu The is a historic dog breed of large size originating from the mountains of northern Japan. The two separate varieties of Akita are a pure Japanese strain, commonly called Akita-ken (''ken'' is the on'yomi for ''inu'' meaning dog in Japanese), and ...

brothers named Jeffy and Unity. The

squad number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to ...

of Jeffy is 2 and that of Unity is 9. They are also joined by a third mascot named Mina, or Mina-chan. Her backstory was that she one day came to

Soga Station is a junction railway station located in Chūō-ku, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is also freight depot for the Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) and the all-freight Keiyō ...

(the railway station nearest to

) and offered to work alongside Jeffy and Unity. Her squad number is 12.

Slogan

JEF United considers its philosophy to be encapsulated in its tagline "Win By All" since 2001.

Affiliated clubs

Furukawa Electric Chiba

This was JEF's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

during the JSL years. They were formed in 1967 and were first promoted to the JSL Second Division in 1975. They still exist, although they are no longer affiliated on paper, and play in the Kanto Regional League. In 2008 they renamed themselves ''S.A.I. Ichihara'' and in 2011 they adopted the name Vonds Ichihara. Now separate from Furukawa Electric control, they aim to form its power base in Ichihara as JEF is now based in Chiba city.

JEF Reserves

JEF's reserve team played until 2011 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 ...

, the third tier of Japanese football. But in 2011, the club announced the end of the B team because of financial problems.

JEF United Chiba Ladies

Rivalries

Marunouchi Gosanke

Historically, JEF United's fiercest rivals have been

Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadiu ...

and

Urawa Reds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

, both close neighbors. The three were co-founders (''"Original Eight"'') of the

(JSL) in 1965, and spent most seasons in the top tier through the JSL era. Because of their former parent companies' headquarters being all based in

Marunouchi Marunouchi () is a commercial district of Tokyo located in Chiyoda between Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace. The name, meaning "inside the circle", derives from its location within the palace's outer moat. It is also Tokyo's financial di ...

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 ...

, the three clubs were known as the ''Marunouchi

Gosanke The , also called simply , or even , were the most noble three branches of the Tokugawa clan of Japan: Owari, Kii, and Mito, all of which were descended from clan founder Tokugawa Ieyasu's three youngest sons, Yoshinao, Yorinobu, and Yorifusa ...

'' (丸の内御三家) and fixtures among them were known as the Marunouchi derbies.

Chiba derby

JEF United and Reysol first met in 1941 in ancient

Kanto Kantō (Japanese) Kanto is a simplified spelling of , a Japanese word, only omitting the diacritics. In Japan Kantō may refer to: *Kantō Plain *Kantō region *Kantō-kai, organized crime group *Kanto (Pokémon), a geographical region in the ' ...

regional football league. The two clubs both now based in

, and their rivalry is known as the Chiba derby. They annually contest a pre-season friendly match well known as the Chibagin Cup (i.e., ''

Chiba Bank () is the biggest bank in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Listed on the Nikkei 225, it has branches in Osaka, New York City, London, and Hong Kong. Assets — $106.1 billion (2015). History Chiba bank was established in March 1943. In June 1998, ...

Cup'') since 1995.

Record as J.League member

;Key

Honours

As Furukawa Electric SC (1946–1992), JEF United Ichihara (1992–2004), and JEF United Chiba (2005–present)

National

League

* JSL Division 1 **Champions (2):

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Cups

JSL Cup was the original league cup for clubs in the top levels of Japanese soccer before the creation of the J. League and its cup. The cup was first played in 1973, but did not become an annual tournament until 1976. The JSL/JFL Cup included clubs fro ...

J.League Cup The is a Japanese football (soccer) competition organized by J.League. It has been sponsored by Yamazaki Biscuits (YBC) of Yamazaki Baking (formerly Yamazaki Nabisco) since its inception in 1992. It is also known as the or (Levain is one of Y ...

**Winners (5):

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

**Winners (4):

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

(shared),

Japanese Super Cup The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J. League and the Japan Football Association (JFA). This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the r ...

**Winners (1):

*All Japan Works Football Championship **Winners (3): 1959, 1961, 1962 (shared) *All Japan Inter-City Football Championship **Winners (4): 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964

International

Asian Club Championship The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

**Winners (1):

League history

*Division 1 (

Div. 1): 1965–1992 *Division 1 ( J1): 1993–2009 *Division 2 ( J2): 2010–present

Players

Current squad

''As of 26 August 2023.''

Out on loan

International capped players

Coaching staff

Managerial history

Kit and colours

The club colours of JEF United Chiba are

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

and

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

Kit evolution

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control J.League clubs Japan Soccer League clubs Football clubs in Japan Association football clubs established in 1946 1946 establishments in Japan Emperor's Cup winners Japanese League Cup winners Sports clubs and teams in Chiba (city) AFC Champions League winning clubs