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. "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 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 be known as "Kyoto Sanga". They are the oldest club competing in the

J.League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most successfu ...

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 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 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 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 on 14 November 2010 confirmed Sanga's relegation back to J2, bringing an end to their three-season spell in the top flight. In 2021 season, Kyoto Sanga secure return to J1 League after 11 years absence and finish in runner-up. In 2022 season, Kyoto Sanga stay in J1 League after draw 1-1 against Roasso Kumamoto in Promotion Relegation play-offs.

Record as J.League member

;Key

Honours

League

* J.League Division 2 **

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 **

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 The , officially called the All Japan Adults Football Tournament, is a football (soccer) cup competition in Japan. It is run by the Japan Football Association. As it only involves non-league teams (teams not affiliated to either J.League or the ...

**1988

League History

* Kansai Soccer League: 1966–1971 (as Kyoto Shiko Club) *Division 2 (

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 ...

Division 2): 1972–1978 (as Kyoto Shiko Club) *Kansai Soccer League: 1979–1988 (as Kyoto Shiko Club) *Division 2 (JSL Division 2): 1989–1991 (as Kyoto Shiko Club) *Division 3 ( Old JFL Division 2): 1992 (as Kyoto Shiko Club) *Division 2 (Old JFL Division 1): 1993–1995 (as Kyoto Shiko Club 1993; Kyoto Purple Sanga afterwards) *Division 1 (

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

): 1996–2000 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga) *Division 2 (

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 ...

): 2001 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga) *Division 1 (J1 League): 2002–2003 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga) *Division 2 (J2 League): 2004–2005 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga) *Division 1 (J1 League): 2006 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga) *Division 2 (J2 League): 2007 *Division 1 (J1 League): 2008–2010 *Division 2 (J2 League): 2011–2021 *Division 1 (J1 League): 2022–present (As of 2023): 13 seasons in the top tier, 28 seasons in the second tier, 1 season in the third tier and 16 seasons in the Regional Leagues.

Current squad

Out on loan

Club captains

* Naohiko Minobe 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 1996 * Ruy Ramos 1997 *

Yuji Okuma is a former Japanese football player and manager. His elder brother Kiyoshi is also a former footballer. Playing career Okuma was born in Saitama on January 19, 1969. After graduating from Chuo University, he joined Hitachi (later ''Kashiwa ...

1997 * Hajime Moriyasu 1998 * Hisashi Kurosaki 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 2002 * Kiyotaka Ishimaru 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 Yuto may refer to: *Yūto Yūto, Yuto or Yuuto is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yūto can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *勇人, "courage, person" *悠人, "calm, perso ...

2008-2009 * Atsushi Yanagisawa 2010 * Diego 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 is a retired Japanese footballer who last played for Kyoto Sanga FC 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 Bu ...

2013 * Koji Yamase 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 is a Japanese football player currently playing for Kyoto Sanga FC. National team career In October 2009, Miyayoshi was elected Japan U-17 national team for 2009 U-17 World Cup. He played 2 matches and scored 2 goals against Switzerland. C ...

2019 *Jun Ando 2020 * Temma Matsuda 2021–

Club officials

For the 2023 season.

Managerial history

Kit evolution

Related clubs

Amitie S.C. Ococias Kyoto AC ( ja, おこしやす京都AC) is a Japanese football club based in Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture. The club split off from the original ''Kyoto Shiko Club'' when it professionalized and became today's Kyoto Sanga FC. The club now f ...

( Kansai Soccer League Division 1) – broke away from the original Kyoto Shiko Club upon professionalization; amateur club * Kyoto Shiko Club ( Kansai Soccer League 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 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