is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

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 ...

team based in

Numazu is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 189,486 in 91,986 households, and a population density of 1,014 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Numazu is at the nor ...

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

. They earned promotion to play at the nationwide third-tier

J3 League or simply J3 is the third division of . It was established in 2013 as the third-tier professional association football league in Japan. The third-tier nationwide league is a relatively recent development in Japanese football with a first attempt ...

starting in 2017.

History

Azul Claro Numazu was established in 1977 as Numazu Arsenal and slowly progressed through the tiers of Shizuoka prefectural leagues. In 2006 the club began the process of transformation into a professional organization with the ultimate goal of joining the J.League. The same year the club adopted its current name, Azul Claro (Meaning "light blue" in Portuguese and Spanish). In 2012 Azul Claro won promotion to Tōkai Adult Soccer League and quickly progressed through its ranks, spending only a season in each of its divisions. Though they have finished only fourth in 2013 Tōkai League, they were considered as serious contenders for admission to the newly created

. On September 17, 2013, the club has been granted the J. League Associate Membership and passed all stages of licensing and inspection by the league. However, they were only the 3rd choice club for the only Regional League spot in J3 so eventually, they had to give way to

Grulla Morioka is a Japanese association football club based in Morioka, Iwate. It played in the inaugural season of J3 League in 2014 after winning the Tohoku Soccer League, one of the Japanese Regional Leagues, in 2013. Iwate played in the J3 until 2021, wh ...

. The club has won the promotion anyway though—they were selected by 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 ...

board as one of the teams to play in the 2014 season. After a 3rd-place finish in the 2016 season, they've been welcomed to play professional football from 2017 and onward, as they'll be the 14th original club in the

League & cup record

;Key

Current squad

As of ''24 August 2022''. ^{Type 2}

Out on loan

Club officials

Managerial history

Kit evolution

Colour, sponsors and manufacturers

References

External links

Official Site
{{Japanese Club Football, group=clubs Football clubs in Japan J.League clubs Sports teams in Shizuoka Prefecture Japan Football League clubs Association football clubs established in 1977 1977 establishments in Japan Numazu, Shizuoka