, formerly is a professional

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

Maebashi is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 335,352 in 151,171 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It wa ...

Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima ...

in Japan. The club currently plays in the

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 ...

, Japanese second tier of professional football.

History

The club was founded in 1995 in Kusatsu, one of the most well-known spa resorts in Japan, as Liaison Kusatsu Football Club. The players were students of the specialized training college Higashi Nihon Soccer Academy. When the school closed in 1999 due to financial difficulties, the players decided to stay in Kusatsu and keep the club alive. In 2002, the club was incorporated as K.K. Kusatsu Onsen Football Club with a future promotion to the J. League in mind and adopted the new team name , meaning "The Spa, Kusatsu". Because of J. League restrictions on stadiums, they play at Shoda Shoyu Stadium Gunma (Shikishima Athletics Stadium) in nearby

, the prefectural capital since the club was promoted to

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 Ya ...

in the 2005 season. From 1 February 2013, the club adopted the new name "Thespakusatsu Gunma", to give the impression of the club as a representative of the entire

, while still leaving the name "Kusatsu" in it, as well as the logo of the club as it is. After 12 years spent in the J2 League, Thespakusatsu Gunma was relegated to the J3 League for the first time in their history, having finished as the last-placed team in the

2017 J2 League The 2017 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (2017 明治安田生命J2リーグ) season was the 46th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 19th season since the establishment of J2 League. Clubs The participating clubs are listed in the ...

. Gunma returned to the J2 League ahead of the 2020 season, being promoted back to J2 after two years spent in J3. On 29 June 2023, Thespakusatsu Gunma new name would be Thespa Gunma. On 5 October 2023, Thespakusatsu Gunma announcement officially change name and logo to Thespa Gunma from 2024 season due to leaving the name "kusatsu" since 2005 as Thespa Kusatsu.

Record as J. League member

;Key

Honours

Current squad

Out on loan

Coaching staff

Managerial history

Kit evolution

References

External links

* {{Japanese Club Football, group=clubs J.League clubs Football clubs in Japan Association football clubs established in 1995 Sports clubs and teams in Gunma Prefecture 1995 establishments in Japan Japan Football League clubs