was a defunct football (soccer) club based in
Kōchi
Kochi is a city in Kerala, India.
Kochi or Kōchi may also refer to:
People
* Kochi people, a predominantly Pashtun nomadic people of Afghanistan
* , a Japanese surname:
** Arata Kochi (born 1948 or 1949), Japanese physician and World Health Org ...
, the capital city of
Kōchi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 669,516 (1 April 2023) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and Tok ...
of Japan. They last played in the
Shikoku Adult League
is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's anc ...
. The club was known as Nangoku Kōchi F.C. (南国高知FC). In December 2013 the club name changed to Igosso Kochi. In January 2016, they came to an agreement with neighbouring club
Kochi U Torastar FC to form a club to represent Kōchi Prefecture in the
J.League
The , commonly a.k.a. shortened to the , and officially known as the for sponsorship with Meiji Yasuda Life, is the men's association football league in Japan. It is responsible for organizing Japan's major professional football tournaments, in ...
. In February 2016, the two clubs established as
Kōchi United SC
commonly known as Kōchi United SC (高知ユナイテッドSC, ''Kōchi Yunaiteddo Esushi'') is a football club based in Kōchi, the capital city of Kōchi Prefecture in Japan. They currently play in the J3 League for the 2025 season, the thir ...
.
History
The club was founded in the post-war era as Kōchi Agricultural School OB Club (高知農業高校OBクラブ), but in 1966 the name changed to Nangoku Soccer Club (南国サッカークラブ). Since the inception of the Shikoku Adult League in 1977, this club played as a representative of Kōchi Prefecture and became one of the powerhouse clubs in the league. In 1996 because of sponsorship by Himawari Milk the club changed its name to Himawari Milk Nangoku F.C. (ひまわり牛乳南国FC). The club's name changed again in 1999 to Nangoku Kōchi F.C. (南国高知FC). The club aimed to become a community-based football club in 2002.
With the introduction of
J. League Division 3 in 2014, the club intended to join but decided to postpone it at the deadline submission of
J.League Associate Membership in June 2013. In preparation they changed the name of the club to Igosso Kōchi (アイゴッソ高知) for the 2014 season onwards.
The name Igosso is a combination of two
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 ...
words; ''ai'' (愛) means love and ''igossou'' (いごっそう) from Tosa dialect means "a stubborn man with fortitude".
League record
* Note: The 1994 season saw one game cancelled due to the disqualification of Alex SC who fielded ineligible players.
Honours
*Shikoku Adult League
** Winners (6): 1980, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
References
External links
*(Japanese
Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nangoku Kochi F.C.
Defunct football clubs in Japan
Football clubs in Japan
Association football clubs established in 1999
1999 establishments in Japan
Association football clubs disestablished in 2015
2015 disestablishments in Japan
Sports clubs and teams in Kōchi Prefecture
Kochi United SC