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 Tosu,

Saga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of 809,248 (1 August 2020) and has a geographic area of 2,440 km2 (942 sq mi). Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasak ...

. The club plays in the

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 ...

, which is the top tier of football in the country.

Name origin

''Sagan'' is a coined word with a couple of meanings behind it. One of its

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...

s is in Japanese. This symbolises many small elements uniting to form one formidable object, for example as a metaphor for a team. Also, ''Sagan Tosu'' can be interpreted as in the area's dialect.

History

In February 1997, Sagan was established as a new club which virtually took over

Tosu Futures was a Japanese football club that played in the former Japan Football League between 1994 and 1996. History PJM Futures was founded in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka in 1987 as the team of PJM Japan, a company based on Paul J. Meyer's U.S. academy Succe ...

, which became insolvent in the previous month, and were admitted to participate

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 ...

from 1997 to 1998, as well as J. League Cup in 1997 as a preferential measure, although

J. League Associate Membership J.League 100 Year Plan club status, is a status given to Japanese non-league football clubs. The applicant must have an intention to become a professional club and to join the professional league, J.League, that governs the top three levels of the ...

status was not awarded to Sagan. In 1999 they were admitted to the new J. League Division 2 (J2) as one of the "Original Ten", which were the ten first members of the J2. They remained at the league until their promotion to J1 at the end of the 2011 season. Little by little, Sagan Tosu started to establish itself as one of the top clubs in the country with the new President &

Chief Operating Officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

Minoru Takehara, who is also part owner of the club. In their first season at the

J. League Division 1 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 Football Confederation, Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promot ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, confounding the prediction of many critics about their immediate relegation to J2, they have been maintaining their position between 5th and 11th places all the way through the season, except on Matchweek 2, in which they were ranked 13th. They were ranked third after the 33rd week, having a chance to qualify for the

2013 AFC Champions League The 2013 AFC Champions League was the 32nd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 11th under the current AFC Champions League title. The defending champions, Ulsan Hyu ...

if they hadn't lost to Yokohama F. Marinos in the last match of the season. However, they have lost to Yokohama by 0–1, wrapping up the season in 5th place, while

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 ...

defeated Nagoya Grampus and were ranked 3rd. They also became the first club in Asia to sign a partnership with

Warrior Sports Warrior Sports is an American sports equipment manufacturer based in Warren, Michigan. The company currently focuses on ice hockey and lacrosse, producing sticks, helmets, gloves, goalie masks, and protective gear for both sports. Warrior enter ...

, who sponsor many overseas clubs, including English side

Liverpool FC 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 ...

. In 2013, they made it to the semifinal of 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 ...

for the first time in the club's history, becoming the first club based in

Kyushu 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 surroun ...

to make it to the semifinal of the

since

Nippon Steel Yawata SC Nippon Steel Yahata Soccer Club (新日本製鐵八幡サッカー部 ''Shin-Nihon Seitetsu Yahata Sakkā-Bu'') was a Japanese football club based in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. History Yahata Steel S.C. was founded in 1950 as the works team ...

had done in the 1981 edition. In 2013, they invited

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

team

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

along with the former Italian international player

Alessandro Del Piero Alessandro Del Piero (; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a deep-lying forward, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. Since 2015, he has worked as a pundit fo ...

, for a Japan Tour for the first time. In 2014, the club had been in their most successful season in

, being ranked on the top of 2014 J. League Division 1 on the 1st, 2nd, 13th, and 18th matchweek. However, the club made an announcement on 8 August which announced the termination of contract with the head coach Yoon Jung-Hwan all of a sudden, despite the apparently good season. During the course of the year, they continued on its international expansion and started a partnership with Italian side

Juventus FC )''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback) , founded = as Sport-Club Juventus , ground = Juventus Stadium , capacity = 41,507 , owner = Agnelli ...

, for its Juventus Under-16 Japan Tour 2014. On July 10, 2018, the club reached an agreement with former World Cup, UCL and Europa League winner, Fernando Torres. The aging star would play 35 games for the side, netting 5 goals before finally hanging up his boots on his star-studded career.

League & cup record

;Key

Current squad

Out on loan

Sagan Tosu U-18

The U-18 team of Sagan Tosu currently plays in the Prince Takamado U-18 Premier League, the top-flight league for U-18 clubs in the country. Only the registered players for the competition will be displayed.

Retired number

*17 Sakata Michitaka – A former professor of

Saga University ; abbreviated as or , is a national university in Saga, Saga Prefecture, Japan. The university has five faculties with around 7,000 students. Its two campuses are in and . History The history of Saga University is complicated. The oldest Saga t ...

and the person which backed up in both the establishment of

and the team's revival as Sagan Tosu. He died due to kidney cancer on January 7, 2000. The number 17 indicates his day of death.

Club staff

For the 2023 season.

Managerial history

Kit evolution

References

External links

*
Official Site
{{Japanese Club Football, group=clubs Sports teams in Saga Prefecture J.League clubs Football clubs in Japan Association football clubs established in 1997 1997 establishments in Japan Japan Football League (1992–1998) clubs