is a Japanese

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

currently playing in

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 ...

, having been relegated after the 2021 season after a three-year stint in

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 ...

. The club's home town is Ōita city, but the club draws support from

Beppu is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of March 31, 2017, the city had a population of 122,643

, Saiki, and the entire

Ōita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Ōita Prefecture has a population of 1,136,245 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,340 km2 (2,448 sq mi). Ōita Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, Kumam ...

. The club's name, ''Trinita'', is the Italian translation of the word ''

trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

(trinità)'', which was the club's original name before being changed in 1999, and ''Ōita'', the club's home town. The combined word expresses the will of the local citizens, companies, and government to support the team. Another connection to the Italian culture can be found in the city nickname Azzurro ("light blue" in English). The club's home ground is

Ōita Bank Dome is a retractable roof, multi-purpose stadium in the city of Ōita, Ōita, Ōita in Ōita Prefecture on Kyushu Island in Japan. The stadium will be called from 1 January 2023 as an abbreviated form, by naming rights. It was formerly called as , ...

, also known as the "Big Eye", which was one of the venues built for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. The club practices at the adjacent football and rugby field, and Ōita City Public Ground.

History

The club was formed as ''Ōita Trinity'' in 1994 and advanced through the Ōita Prefectural League and the Kyushu League before finishing as the runner-up of the 1996 National League, resulting in promotion to the JFL. In 1999, the club changed its name to ''Trinita'' due to copyright infringement concerns. The same year, the club joined

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 ...

, the second-highest flight in Japanese football (renamed to its current name of J2 League in 2015) and placed third. The club also placed third in 2000, and despite being in contention for promotion until the final game of the season in 2001, finished sixth. The following year, the club won J.League Division 2 and finally earned promotion to the top-flight Division 1. In 2008, the club won the

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 ...

, the first major title won by a

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

club since Yawata Steel SC shared the

1964 Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 1964 season. The cup was held between January 11 and January 17, 1965. Overview It was contested by 10 teams, and Yawata Steel and Furukawa Electric won the championship. Results Group A Group B Final * ...

. 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 ...

, the club suffered their worst-ever results in their seven-year history in the topflight, including 14 straight losses in league matches, which is the current worst record in the J.League since the

golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

system was eliminated. The club even fired cup-winning manager

Pericles Chamusca Pericles (; grc-gre, wikt:Περικλῆς, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greeks, Greek politician and general during the Fifth-century Athens, Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athens, Athenian politi ...

in mid-July. On October 25, the club's relegation was confirmed after being held to a 1–1 draw by ten-man Kyoto Sanga F.C., although the club would have faced relegation anyway as they had outstanding loans from the JFL's emergency fund and league rules prohibit clubs with such loans from participating in the top tier. During the 2012 J.League Division 2 season, Oita Trinita finished in sixth place, qualifying for the promotion playoffs in the first year of its introduction in Japan's second flight as the club had also paid back all its emergency loans that October. Despite being the lowest seed, Oita Trinita defeated Kyoto Sanga F.C. 4–0 in the semi-final and

JEF United Ichihara Chiba , full name and also known as , is a Japanese professional football club that plays in the J2 League. On 1 February 2005, the club changed its name from ''JEF United Ichihara'' to the current name after Chiba city had joined Ichihara, Chiba a ...

1–0 in the final, earning promotion to 2013 J.League Division 1, returning to the top tier after a 5-year absence This time, however, their top tier stay lasted only one season. In 2015 they were further relegated to

J3 League or simply J3 is the third division of . It was established in 2013 as the third-tier professional association football league in Japan. The third-tier nationwide league is a relatively recent development in Japanese football with a first attempt ...

after losing in the promotion playoffs to Machida Zelvia on December 6, becoming the first major trophy winner to be relegated to the third tier. The club immediately gained promotion back to J2 League by winning the J3 League title in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. In 2018, after finishing as runner's up in the J2 League in 2018, Oita Trinita gained promotion back to J1. After finishing 18th in 2021, Trinita would be relegated back to J2 League, but in the background of that, the club made a Cinderella run to the Emperor's Cup Final. Just 1 week after the confirmation to be relegated, they defeated defending Emperor's Cup champion

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, in Nakahara W ...

in stunning fashion in the semis; after the game was tied 1 all, Trinita won 4-5 on penalty kicks. They would lose however, to

Urawa Red Diamonds , 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 ...

in the finals, giving the Reds their 8th Emperor's Cup.

Record as J.League member

;Key

Honours

League

** Champions:

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 ...

** Champions:

Kyushu Soccer League is the Japanese fifth tier of league football, which is part of the Japanese Regional Leagues. It covers eight prefectures, which are (Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima and Okinawa is a Prefectures of Japan, pref ...

**Champions:

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Cups

** Winners:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Players

Current squad

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Out on loan

Club captains

* Cui Daewoo (1999) * Tomohiro Katanosaka (2000) * Tetsuro Uki (2002–2003) *

Sandro Sandro is an Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swiss, Georgian and Croatian given name, often a diminutive of Alessandro (disambiguation), Alessandro or Alexander. It is also a surname. Sandro may refer to: Given name or nickname Sports *Sandro (f ...

(2004) *

Takayuki Yoshida is a former Japanese football player and manager. He is currently the manager of Vissel Kobe. Club career After graduating from high school, he joined Yokohama Flügels with teammate Yasuhiro Hato in 1995. He played many matches as forward from ...

(2005) * Takashi Miki (2006–2007) *

Daiki Takamatsu is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Takamatsu was born in Ube on September 8, 1981. After graduating from high school, he joined J2 League side Oita Trinita in 2000. He played 6 games and sc ...

(2008–2010) *

Masashi Miyazawa is a former Japanese football player. Playing career Miyazawa was born in Kofu on April 24, 1978. After graduating from Chuo University, he joined J1 League club FC Tokyo in 2001. Although he debuted in first season, he could hardly play in the ...

(2011–2013) *

Kazumichi Takagi is a former Japanese football player. Playing career Takagi was born in Yasu on 21 November 1980. After dropped out from Kyoto Sangyo University, he joined J1 League club Shimizu S-Pulse in June 2000. However he could hardly play in the m ...

(2014) *

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

(2015) *

Satoru Yamagishi is a Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Yamagishi was born in Chiba on May 3, 1983. He joined JEF United Ichihara (later ''JEF United Chiba'') from youth team in 2002. He debuted as right midfielder in 200 ...

(2016–2017) * Akira Takeuchi (January – August 2018) * Kenji Baba (August – December 2018) * Yoshinori Suzuki (2019–2020) *

Shun Takagi 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 ...

(2021) *

Hokuto Shimoda is a Japanese footballer who plays for FC Machida Zelvia. Career Shimoda play a great part in Senshu University's success in football, as he was named MVP of Kanto University Football Association in 2013, just before joining Ventforet Kofu for ...

(2022–present)

Coaching staff

''The Coaching Staff for the 2022 J2 League season''

Managerial history

Kit evolution

References

External links

Official Website
{{J.League Cup champions J.League clubs Football clubs in Japan Association football clubs established in 1994 Japanese League Cup winners Sports teams in Ōita Prefecture 1994 establishments in Japan Japan Football League (1992–1998) clubs