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
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
. "Sanga" comes from the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
word ''
sangha
Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...
'', a term meaning "group" or "club" and often used to denote the Buddhist priesthood, associating the club with Kyoto's many Buddhist temples.
The club was formerly known as Kyoto Purple Sanga with "purple", the colour of the team uniforms, an imperial colour reflecting Kyoto's status as Japan's ancient imperial capital city. It was decided that, from
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
, the team will simply been known as "Kyoto Sanga". They are the oldest club competing in the
J.League.
History
The club was started as ''Kyoto Shiko Club'', one of the few proper Japanese football clubs in the sense of being strictly dedicated to football and not being part of a company. Like
Ventforet Kofu
is a Japanese football club from Kōfu in Yamanashi Prefecture. The team currently competes in the J2 League and play their home games in JIT Recycle Ink Stadium, located in Kōfu.
The word "Ventforet" is a compound formed from two French roo ...
, it could not rise to a
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 ...
First Division dominated by company teams; in 1993, after the J.League was created, Kyoto Shiko Club, aided by funds from local new sponsors
Kyocera
is a Japanese multinational ceramics and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori and renamed in 1982. It manufactures industrial ceramics, solar power generating systems, telecommuni ...
and
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles.
Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
, professionalized (though some players broke away and formed their own clubs, see below) and joined the
former Japan Football League under the new name ''Kyoto Purple Sanga''.
First joining the J.League in 1996, Kyoto Sanga hold the dubious distinction of being the League's
most relegated side, having been demoted on three separate occasions. Relegation to J2 occurred at the end of the
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
,
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
and
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 ...
seasons; more than any other team.
The 2003 relegation happened despite having many national team players such as
Park Ji-sung
Park Ji-sung (; ; born 30 March 1981) is a South Korean former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in the South Korean capital Seoul, Park is the most successful Asian player in football history, having won 19 trophies in ...
and
Daisuke Matsui
is a Japanese professional footballer who plays for YSCC Yokohama. He played for Japan national team. His wife is Japanese actress Rosa Kato.
Club career
Early years
In 2000, Matsui graduated from and began his professional career with Kyo ...
on its roster and they eventually left for European clubs.
In December 2007 the club gained J1 status for the fourth time in their history via the
promotion/relegation playoff. A 0-2 home defeat to
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 ...
on 14 November 2010 confirmed Sanga's relegation back to J2, bringing an end to their three-season spell in the top flight.
Record as J.League member
;Key
Honours
League
*
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 ...
**
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
,
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 ...
*
Kansai Soccer League
is the Japanese fifth tier of league football, which is part of the Japanese Regional Leagues. It covers most of the Kansai region, as well as the prefectures of Hyōgo, Kyōto, Nara, Osaka, Shiga and Wakayama. Mie, usually considered part of ...
**
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
,
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
,
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
,
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
Cups
*
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 ...
**
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
*
All Japan Senior Football Championship
**1988
Current squad
Type 2
Type 2
Type 2
DSP
DSP may refer to:
Computing
* Digital signal processing, the mathematical manipulation of an information signal
* Digital signal processor, a microprocessor designed for digital signal processing
* Yamaha DSP-1, a proprietary digital signal ...
Type 2
Type 2
Reserve squad (U-18s)
Club captains
*
Naohiko Minobe
is a former Japanese Association football, football player and manager.
Playing career
Minobe was born in Moriyama, Shiga, Moriyama on July 12, 1965. After graduating from high school, he joined Gamba Osaka, Matsushita Electric (later ''Gamba O ...
1994
*
Makoto Sugiyama
is a former Japanese football player.
Club career
Sugiyama was born in Fujieda on May 17, 1960. After graduating from Tokyo University of Agriculture, he joined Japan Soccer League club Nissan Motors in 1983. He played as regular player from fi ...
1995
*
Satoru Mochizuki
is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team.
Club career
Mochizuki was born in Otsu on May 18, 1964. After graduating from Osaka University of Commerce, he joined Nippon Kokan (later ''NKK SC'') in 1987. The club w ...
1996
*
Ruy Ramos
is a former football player and manager, originally from Brazil, who spent his career in Japan and played for the Japan national team. Ramos is currently active as a television personality and ''tarento'', represented with Irving.
Club car ...
1997
*
Yuji Okuma 1997
*
Hajime Moriyasu
is a Japanese football manager and former player. He made more than 250 appearances in 14 years with Sanfrecce Hiroshima, including a year on loan to Kyoto Purple Sanga, before spending his final season as a professional with Vegalta Sendai. He a ...
1998
*
Hisashi Kurosaki
is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. He used his name "黒崎 比差支" from 1992 to 1999.
Club career
Kurosaki was born in Kanuma on May 8, 1968. After graduating from high school, he joined H ...
1999
*
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 ...
2000
*
Naoto Otake
is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. His younger brother Masato was also a footballer. He is currently manager of Kagoshima United.
Club career
Otake was educated at and played for Tokai Univer ...
2001
*
Hiroshi Noguchi
is a former Japanese football player.
Playing career
Noguchi was born in Sakai, Ibaraki on February 25, 1972. After graduating from Komazawa University, he joined Kyoto Purple Sanga
is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. ...
2002
*
Kiyotaka Ishimaru
is a former Japanese Association football, football player and manager. he currently manager J3 League club of Ehime FC
Playing career
Ishimaru was born in Katano, Osaka, Katano on October 30, 1973. After graduating from Hannan University, he ...
2003–2004
*
Daisuke Nakaharai
is a former Japanese football player.
Playing career
Nakaharai was born in Shizuoka Prefecture on May 22, 1977. After graduating from Shimizu Higashi High School, he joined newly was promoted to J1 League club, Avispa Fukuoka in 1996. He became ...
2005-2006
*
Daisuke Saito 2007
*
Yuto Sato 2008-2009
*
Atsushi Yanagisawa
is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for Japan national team.
He is best known for playing the majority of his career at Kashima Antlers, in addition to his spells with Italian sides Sampdoria and ...
2010
*
Diego
Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''.
Et ...
2011
*
Hiroki Nakayama
is a former Japanese 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 t ...
2012
*
Jun Ando 2013
*
Koji Yamase
is a Japanese football player who plays for Renofa Yamaguchi FC. His father Isao Yamase participated in the 1984 Winter Olympics as a biathlete. His brother Yukihiro Yamase is also footballer.
Club career
Yamase was born in Sapporo on 22 Sept ...
2014
*
Satoshi Yamaguchi 2015
*
Takanori Sugeno
is a Japanese football player who plays for Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo.
Playing career
Although considered short for a goalkeeper, standing at 178 cm, he makes up for his lack of height with superb agility and reflexes. In 2006, he was part of ...
2016–2017
*
Yuta Someya 2018
*
Takumi Miyayoshi 2019
*Jun Ando 2020
*
Temma Matsuda
is a Japanese football player. He plays for Kyoto Sanga FC.
Career
Temma Matsuda joined J2 League club Shonan Bellmare in 2017. After being promoted to J1 League for the 2018 season, he scored his first goal as an equalizer against Kawasaki Fr ...
2021–
Club officials
Managerial history
Kit evolution
Related clubs
*
Amitie S.C. (
Kansai Soccer League
is the Japanese fifth tier of league football, which is part of the Japanese Regional Leagues. It covers most of the Kansai region, as well as the prefectures of Hyōgo, Kyōto, Nara, Osaka, Shiga and Wakayama. Mie, usually considered part of ...
Division 1) – broke away from the original Kyoto Shiko Club upon professionalization; amateur club
*
Kyoto Shiko Club
is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. "Sanga" comes from the Sanskrit word ''sangha'', a term meaning "group" or "club" and often used to denote the Buddhist priesthood, associating the club with Kyoto's many Buddhist templ ...
(
Kansai Soccer League
is the Japanese fifth tier of league football, which is part of the Japanese Regional Leagues. It covers most of the Kansai region, as well as the prefectures of Hyōgo, Kyōto, Nara, Osaka, Shiga and Wakayama. Mie, usually considered part of ...
Division 2) – broke away from Kyoto BAMB 1993 (now Kyoto Amitie) in 1998; amateur club
*Shiko Club women's (Kansai Women's Soccer League) – linked with today's Kyoto Shiko Club
Kyoto Sanga is considered the main continuation of the Kyoto Shiko Club that competed in 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 ...
Second Division. "Shiko" (紫光) means "brilliant purple" and is the colour that Shiko/Sanga have always worn.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
J.League clubs
Japan Soccer League clubs
Football clubs in Japan
Association football clubs established in 1922
Emperor's Cup winners
Sport in Kyoto
1922 establishments in Japan
Japan Football League (1992–1998) clubs
Sports teams in Kyoto Prefecture