is a 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 Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. From 2023, Albirex will be playing on 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 ...

, coming back to the first division after five seasons.

History

For many years it had been a local autonomous amateur club, ''Niigata 11'', that could never hope to see the light of day in an old

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 ...

dominated almost entirely by company teams. The creation of the J. League spurred the club to rise, and in the 1990s it began climbing fast through the divisions. In 1998, Albirex Niigata joined the

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 ...

, and was merged into the J2 league after its creation in 1999. The team gradually became competitive and in 2001 and 2002 it came close to getting promoted to J1 and in 2003, it became the champion of J2 and finally joined the top flight. The team name is made from combining the star ''

Albireo Albireo is a double star designated Beta Cygni (β Cygni, abbreviated Beta Cyg, β Cyg). The International Astronomical Union uses the name "Albireo" specifically for the brightest star in the system. Although designated ' beta', ...

'' of the constellation Cygnus (the Swan) and the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''Rex'' meaning 'king'. In 1997, due to copyright issues, the team name was changed from ''Albireo Niigata'' to the current ''Albirex Niigata''. In 2007, the uniform colour changed. Until 2006, the uniform was orange – blue – orange, but in 2007 the color became orange – orange – orange. This coordinate has not been adopted since 1996 when the team professionalized. The success of Albirex Niigata had a big impact on the entire Japanese sporting world, including professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. It showed people were more excited than expected for sports in local cities without the population of the metropolitan area in the past, and local citizens feelings influenced many other sports in the region.

Team name transition

*Niigata Eleven SC ''(Soccer Club)'' (1955) *Albireo Niigata FC (1995) *Albirex Niigata (1997)

Stadium

Joining the J. League in 1999, its home towns are Niigata and Seiro. Until 2003, it used Niigata Perfectural Sport Ground as the home ground but since 2004, the team began using Niigata Stadium Big Swan as well and now plays most of its games there. In 2003, it set a record for highest attendance in the J. League with the cumulative total of around 660,000. Its practice grounds are Albirex's training facilities in Seiro Albillage and the in Shibata. The club plays its home games in the Niigata Stadium "Big Swan", which is currently called Denka Big Swan Stadium through a sponsorship deal. The stadium was opened in 2001, and has a capacity of 42,300. Prior to this the club had played its matches in the

Niigata City Athletic Stadium is a sports venue in Niigata, Japan, and was the home of the Albirex Niigata football team until they moved to the Big Swan in 2001. The stadium is an athletics stadium which has hosted major Japanese athletic events, including the 1964 Nationa ...

constructed in 1938 with a capacity of 18,000. The stadium was the site of two first round matches and one Round of 16 match in the past

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 ...

. It was also the venue for the 2009 National Sports Festival.

Record as J.League member

;Key

Current squad

Out on loan

Notable players

Technical staff

Managerial history

Correct as of 23 October 2022

Honours

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 ...

Champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...

(2):

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 ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Hokushinetsu Football League is the Japanese fifth tier of league football, which is part of the Japanese Regional Leagues. It covers the regions of Hokuriku and Shin'etsu, the prefectures of Fukui, Ishikawa, Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a p ...

** Champions (3): 1986, 1996, 1997 ** Runners-up (1): 1992 * All Japan Senior Football Championship ** Runners-up (1): 1995

Kit evolution

Affiliated clubs

Since 2004, Albirex Niigata has selected a number of players for its satellite team in the

Singapore Premier League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which ...

. Albirex also has a women's team and joined L2 league (an equivalent of J2) in 2004. Albirex Ladies won the L2 title in 2006, and went on to join L1 in 2007. The following clubs are affiliated with Albirex Niigata: *

Albirex Niigata Ladies Albirex Niigata Ladies is a women's football club based in Niigata and affiliated with Albirex Niigata, founded in 2002. The team currently plays in the WE League, the highest division of women's football in Japan. Kits Kit suppliers and sh ...

(

Japan Women's Football League The , commonly known as the , is a semi-professional women's association football league in Japan. The Nadeshiko League consists of two divisions that correspond to the second and third levels of the Japanese women's football pyramid respective ...

) *

Japan Soccer College is a Japanese football academy from Kitakanbara, Niigata. Its main football team is currently playing in the Hokushinetsu Football League's 1st Division and has played in the Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Jap ...

(

) *

Albirex Niigata Singapore FC Albirex Niigata Singapore FC, abbreviated as Albirex Niigata (S), is a Singaporean football club that plays in the Singapore Premier League. The club is a satellite team of Albirex Niigata of Japan. History Albirex Niigata Singapore, a satellite ...

(

) In addition to the J-1 Albirex Niigata football team, there is a Niigata Albirex basketball club in the B.League, as well as a

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

, snowboard,

, and track and field team. Even though the teams share the same name, the management and finances are completely separate for each team.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control J.League clubs Football clubs in Japan Association football clubs established in 1955 Sports teams in Niigata Prefecture Multi-sport clubs in Japan 1955 establishments in Japan Japan Football League (1992–1998) clubs Articles which contain graphical timelines