was a Japanese

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 ...

club based in

Takasaki is a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 372,369 in 167,345 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Takasaki is famous as the hometown of th ...

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 Fuku ...

, formerly of 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 a ...

. Their team colours were black and red. ''Arte'' means art in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

History

The club was founded as Makkī F.C. Kantō in 1996. Educational Corporation Horikoshi Gakuen took over the club in 2000. The reorganised club was briefly called Gunma F.C. Fortona but rebranded as Gunma F.C. Horikoshi due to a trademark issue. The club won all the games in the 2000 Gunma Prefecture League Division 2. They won the 2001 Division 1 championship again without dropping any point. They won the Kanto Regional League Division 1 in 2003 and gained a JFL status in 2004 after winning the play-off. In 2005, they dropped "Gunma" from their name. It is widely believed that this was a move to appeal more to people in Takasaki area rather than whole Gunma after

Thespa Kusatsu is a professional football (soccer) club based in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture in Japan. The club plays in the J2 League, the second division of professional football in Japan. History The club was founded in 1995 in Kusatsu, one of the most we ...

became the first J. League side in the prefecture. In January 2006, they adopted new name Arte Takasaki. The 2007 season has taken a new tumble for them, already guaranteed a last place finish, and will need to rely on at least one team's promotion to J2 to avoid relegation. Losing to

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku p ...

on the last day of the season 2–0, they were theoretically guaranteed a reprieve that was made official once Gifu and

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

were approved for promotion to J2. In 2008, they fared not much better, finishing with only Mitsubishi Mizushima below them, and again they were reprieved when Tochigi, Toyama and

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

were promoted. Following a fairly safe 2009, the team again stood at the tip of relegation after finishing 17th in 2010, but kept their place in the division by defeating company team

Sanyo , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded by ...

Sumoto S.C., the 3rd place team from the Regional Promotion Series tournament, in a promotion/relegation series. After many financial problems, the club was excluded from

in January 2012.

Stadiums

They played their home games mainly in Takasaki Hamakawa Athletic Stadium but also use Shikishima Athletic Stadium and Shikishima Soccer and Rugby Stadium 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 . I ...

. The club tried to persuade the local governments concerned to build a

soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi- ...

on the former Takasaki Horserace Track site. However, it is not clear how the site will be utilised in the future because many different parties such as the prefecture, the city and private entities have their titles to the site and it seems to take time to solve the issue.

Results in JFL

Retired number

To commemorate Kosuke Kato who died of a heart attack during a practice session in February 2005, his number 30 is retired.

References

External links

*(Japanese
Official Website
{{Japanese Club Football, group=clubs Association football clubs established in 1996 Sports teams in Gunma Prefecture 1996 establishments in Japan Defunct football clubs in Japan Association football clubs disestablished in 2012 Japan Football League clubs