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 ...

club based in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

. The club currently 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 ...

, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Cerezo'' (Spanish for

cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

) is also the flower of the city of Osaka.Club Guide Profile
/ref> The official hometowns of the club are Osaka and Sakai. They form a local rivalry with Suita-based Gamba Osaka.

History

The club, originally called Yanmar Diesel, started in 1957 as the

company team A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. Association footb ...

of Yanmar and was an original founder ("Original Eight") of the now-disbanded

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) in 1965. With four Japanese league titles to its credit, it was a mainstay of the JSL Division 1 until

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

when it was first relegated, and joined the former Japan Football League (JFL) in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

. In 1993, the club incorporated as Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. and adopted the name Cerezo after a public contest. In 1994, they won the JFL championship and was promoted to the

in 1995. This also coincided with a run to the finals of 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 ...

, which they lost to Bellmare Hiratsuka. Cerezo has relegated from J1 to J2 three times, but are currently playing in the J1 league. The club had an impressive third-place finish in the 2017 season. On 4 November 2017 they won the J.League YBC Levain Cup, the first major title for Cerezo Osaka. The final match was against Kawasaki Frontale. On 1 January 2018, Cerezo Osaka won the

, securing their second major title. The final match was against Yokohama F. Marinos. On 10 February 2018, they won the Xerox Super Cup, playing against Kawasaki Frontale. In May 2018, the club changed its incorporated name from Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. to Cerezo Osaka Co., Ltd.

Stadiums

The hometowns of the club are

and Sakai. The club plays at the

Yodoko Sakura Stadium , named for J. League football games, Japan Rugby League One rugby football games, and X-League American football games from 2021, is a football and rugby union stadium located in Nagai Park, Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, Japan. The 25,000 seat s ...

, with some bigger matches played at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai.Stadium Information
Link to stadiums. The club practices at Minami Tsumori Sakura Sports Park, Maishima Sports Island and

Amagasaki 270px, Amagasaki Castle 270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center 270px, Amagasaki Station is an industrial city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 455,555 in 223812 households, and a population ...

Yanmar Diesel Ground.

Mascots

The club's mascots are a wolf named Lobby (from Spanish ''lobo'', meaning wolf) and Madame Lobina, Lobby's mother. On February 22, 2020, host and TV personality

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

was appointed Cerezo's "Official CereMan".

Rivalries

Cerezo's biggest rival is fellow Osaka club Gamba Osaka. The matches played between Cerezo and Gamba are referred to as the Osaka derby.

Kits and colours

Cerezo's club colour is

pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

, like the cherry blossoms that the club's name is based on. Combination colours have been navy blue and black. This year, the uniform colour is pink (home) and white (away) for the outfield players and black (home), pink (away) and green for the goalkeepers. During the Yanmar Diesel days in the late 1970s to mid-1980s, the uniform was all-red reminiscent of

Deportivo Toluca Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Club Deportivo Toluca, is a Mexican football club, playing in the Primera División de México, the top-flight of Mexican football. Toluca's stadium, Estadio Nemesio Díez Riega is ...

Colours, sponsors and kit makers

Kit evolution

League and cup record

;Key

League history

Division 1: 1965–1990 (as Yanmar Diesel) *

Division 2: 1991 (as Yanmar Diesel) *

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 ...

Division 1: 1992–94 (as Yanmar Diesel until 1993; Cerezo Osaka since 1994) *

: 1995–2001 * J2 League: 2002 *

: 2003–2006 * J2 League: 2007–2009 *

: 2010–2014 * J2 League: 2015–2016 *

: 2017–present

Current squad

^{Type 2} ^{Type 2} ^{Type 2} ^{Type 2}

Out on loan

Reserve squad (U-18s)

Honours

As both Yanmar Diesel (1957–1993) and Cerezo Osaka (1993–present)

League

::Winners (4):

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

::Winners (1): 1994 (as the company team)

Cups

* JSL Cup/ J.League Cup ::Winners (4): 1973 (shared), 1983, 1984, 2017 *

::Winners (4):

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...

, 1970,

, 2017 * Japanese Super Cup ::Winners (1):

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 ...

Queen's Cup The Queen's Cup was an annual football cup competition in Thailand, run by the Football Association of Thailand. The competition was named after Queen Sirikit. It was first contested in 1970, with Bangkok Bank and Royal Thai Air Force "Ro ...

::Winners (1): 1976

Continental record

Club officials

Manager history

In popular culture

In the popular

Captain Tsubasa is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yōichi Takahashi. The series mainly revolves around the sport of association football focusing on Tsubasa Oozora and his relationship with his friends, rivalries with ...

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

, a character named Teppei Kisugi becomes a professional football player and joins Cerezo Osaka.

Former players

Notes

References

External links

Cerezo Osaka official website
* End of Thai Fan.
Cerezo Osaka official website
{{commons category, Cerezo Osaka J.League clubs Japan Soccer League clubs Football clubs in Osaka Association football clubs established in 1957 Emperor's Cup winners Japanese League Cup winners 1957 establishments in Japan Japan Football League (1992–1998) clubs