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 Hiratsuka, in the west of

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

, part of the

Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the ...

. 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. Their home stadium is Hiratsuka Athletics Stadium. '' Shonan'' refers to a coastal area along Sagami Bay that includes Hiratsuka. ''Bellmare'' is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words

History

Early years as corporate team

The club was founded in 1968 as Towa Real Estate SC in

Nasu, Tochigi 270px, Panorama of Yumoto area of Nasu is a town located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 24,851 in 10,400 households, and a population density of 67 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geog ...

. They were promoted to 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 ...

(JSL) Division 1 in 1972. They changed their name to Fujita Kogyo S.C. when Towa Estate Development gave up the ownership to their parent company Fujita Industries, which moved the club to Hiratsuka. They won the JSL three times (including two

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

s with 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 ...

) between 1977 and 1981. They were nevertheless relegated to the JSL's Division 2 in 1990. Although they won the last JSL Division 2 season in 1991–92, the professionalization and formation of 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 ...

meant they did not meet the new top flight league's criteria and the runners-up,

Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...

(formerly Sumitomo), were promoted instead.

1993: JFL

In 1993, they adopted new name Shonan Bellmare. Their application to the J.League Associate membership was accepted. They played in the former Japan Football League Division 1 and won the league championship. After Hiratsuka City Council committed to finance the refurbishment of the Hiratsuka Stadium to meet the J.League requirements, J.League accepted the club.

1994–1997: Golden era

The club was forced to change their name to Bellmare Hiratsuka because J.League required the participants to designate only one city or town as their hometown and include its name in the club names at that time. The club initially struggled to cope with the J.League opponents and finished 11th out of 12 in the first stage of the 1994 season. However, they came back in the second stage and finished 2nd. With this momentum, the club won the 1994–1995 Emperor's Cup. This title qualified Bellmare for the 1996 Asian Cup Winners' Cup, which they won by beating Iraq's

Al Talaba Al-Talaba Sports Club ( ar, نادي الطلبة الرياضي, lit=''Students Sports Club'') is an Iraqi sports club based in Al-Rusafa, Baghdad. Its football team competes in the Iraqi Premier League, the top flight of Iraqi football. Fou ...

in the final.

Hidetoshi Nakata is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest Asian players of all time. Nakata began his professional career in 1995 and won the Asian Football Confederation Player ...

joined the team in 1995 and they also successfully recruited Brazilian-born

Wagner Lopes is a football manager and former player who played as a forward. Born in Brazil, Lopes is a naturalised Japanese citizen and represented their national team on 20 occasions. After retiring he took up coaching, mainly working in both his home ...

and influential Korean international Hong Myung-bo. This is arguably the most successful period of the club.

1998–1999: Difficult period

Four Bellmare players were selected for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

. They were Nakata, Lopes, Hong and a goalkeeper

Nobuyuki Kojima is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for the Japan national team. He played for several clubs, including Bellmare Hiratsuka, Avispa Fukuoka and Thespa Kusatsu. He played for the Japan national team ...

. However, as Nakata left for Italian club

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

just after the World Cup, the club's fortune started to decline. The main sponsor Fujita decided to discontinue the financial support in 1999 due to their own financial difficulties. It forced the club to release some highly paid players including Lopes, Hong and Kojima. They finished bottom of J1 in 1999 and were relegated to J2.

2000–2009: J2

The club made a new start. The ownership was transferred to a community-owned organisation. They also changed their name to Shonan Bellmare as J.League allowed them to enlarge their designated hometowns to include several cities and towns surrounding Hiratsuka. The club's performance on the pitch has not been strong and they have not been serious contenders for the promotion to J1 so far. A J1 comeback in 2010, if they are able to achieve promotion, will be the first without Fujita as their sponsor. Although for a time they refused to consider their history as the championship-winning Fujita corporate team in their current history, this year they celebrated the club's 40-year anniversary in 2009 as deduced from the badge in their Web site. On 5 December 2009, Shonan returned to J1 as third-place finishers in 2009 seasons.

2010–present: Return to J1

The club returned to the J1 in 2010, but injured one after another and J2 was relegated after leaving four games. In the end, he won 21 consecutive league games. It was the worst record of J1 at that time. After that, the team will be repeatedly demoted to J2 and promoted to J1. In recent years, the team has been steadily emphasizing. In 2014, the team made good progress in the J2, winning 14 consecutive games from the opening. The team was defeated by Ehime FC in the 15th round, but after that they lost 21 battles. J1 automatic promotion is confirmed. As a result, he won the J2 with 31 wins, 8 draws, 3 losses and 101 points in the 2014 season. In 2016, in the J1, Shonan Bellmare was the final result in 8th place, and it was the first time for J1 to remain in history. In addition, at the

EAFF E-1 Football Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the East ...

2015 held in August,

Wataru Endo is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for and captains Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. He represents the Japan national team, playing mainly as a winger(striker). Club career Endo began his professional caree ...

, who was on the team at the time, participated as a representative of Japan. In 2018, won the J.League Cup. It was the first time for Shonan Bellmare to win three major titles since winning the 74th Emperor's Cup in the Bellmare Hiratsuka. On the operational side, there was some report that the club fell into excess debt of more than 100 million yen in February 2012, and in the worst case the club itself could be dissolved (the actual amount of excess debt was 82.68 million yen). However, the debt insolvency was resolved by two capital increases. In April 2018, SANEI ARCHITECTURE PLANNING, which was the largest shareholder of Shonan Bellmare, established "Merudia RIZAP Shonan Sports Partners" in collaboration with RIZAP GROUP. The new company acquired a 50% stake in Shonan Bellmare. RIZAP GROUP intends to invest 1 billion yen in Bellmare over the next three years.

Colour, sponsors and manufacturers

Kit evolution

Rivalries

Historically the Shonan area was part of a pre-modern province, Sagami Province, whereas Yokohama and Kawasaki were part of

Musashi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami, S ...

, hence Bellmare's intraprefectural rivalries with Yokohama F. Marinos, Yokohama FC and Kawasaki Frontale are based on the hard-working port cities of South Musashi as opposed to the more laid-back attitude of Sagami.

Record as J.League member

;Key

Honours

League

;As Towa / Fujita (until 1992); Bellmare Hiratsuka (1993–1999); Shonan Bellmare (2000–present) *

Division 1 (first tier): ** Champions:

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 ...

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 ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

*Japan Soccer League Division 2/ (old) Japan Football League Division 1/

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 Yas ...

(second tier): ** Champions: 1991–92,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Cup

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

* JSL Cup/ J.League Cup: 1973,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

* Japanese Super Cup:

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

: 1971

Continental

* Asian Cup Winners' Cup:

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 ...

Invitational

BTV Cup The BTV Cup or Bình Dương Television Cup is an international friendly cup held annually at Gò Đậu Stadium, home stadium of Vietnamese football club Becamex Bình Dương. Participating teams are mostly football clubs but there were some nati ...

: 2016

League history

*Kanto Football League: 1970–71 *Division 1 (

Div. 1): 1972–89 (1972–74 as Towa Real Estate Development; 1975–89 as Fujita Industries) *Division 2 (Japan Soccer League Div. 2): 1990–91 (as Fujita Industries) *Division 2 (

Japan Football League (former) 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 ...

Div. 1): 1992–93 (as Fujita Industries) *Division 1 (J.League Div. 1): 1994–99 (as Bellmare Hiratsuka) *Division 2 (J.League Div. 2): 2000–09 (as Shonan Bellmare) *Division 1 (J.League Div. 1): 2010 *Division 2 (J.League Div. 2): 2011–12 *Division 1 (J.League Div. 1): 2013 *Division 2 (J.League Div. 2): 2014 *Division 1 (J1 League): 2015–16 *Division 2 (J2 League): 2017 *Division 1 (J1 League): 2018– Total (as of 2017): 28 seasons in the top tier, 18 seasons in the second tier and 2 seasons in the Regional Leagues.

Players

Current squad

^{Type 2}

Out on loan

Management & support staff

''For the 2023 season.''

Managerial history

Affiliated clubs

''The following clubs ars currently affiliated with Shonan Bellmare: *

Boeung Ket FC Boeung Ket Football Club ( km, ក្លឹបបាល់ទាត់បឹងកេត, ) is a Cambodian professional football club based in Phnom Penh. It currently plays in the Cambodian Premier League, the top tier of football in the cou ...

(2022–present) * Wuhan Three Towns FC (2022–present) * Sudeva Delhi FC (2022–present) * FC Chanthabouly (2022–present) * Kelantan United FC (2022–present) * Davao Aguilas FC (2022–present) * Nongbua Pitchaya FC (2022–present)

References

External links

Shonan Bellmare Official Web Site

Shonan Bellmare Official Web Site
{{J.League Cup champions J.League clubs Football clubs in Japan Japan Soccer League clubs Association football clubs established in 1968 Multi-sport clubs in Japan Sports teams in Kanagawa Prefecture Emperor's Cup winners Japanese League Cup winners 1968 establishments in Japan Japan Football League (1992–1998) clubs Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Asian Cup Winners Cup winning clubs