There's Youtube clip of Kataller Toyama against FC Kariya, here.
スポンサーサイト
Like FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu in the Kansai League, Wiese Shiogama are now a community-based club that have their roots in the footballing activities of the Sagawa Kyubin company, which has branch offices represented by teams in leagues all over Japan. While FC Mi-o incorporated Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo prior to the 2006 season, Wiese can be traced back to a Sagawa Kyubin Sendai side that began competitive life in 1996 in the distinctly unglamorous surroundings of the Sendai Industrial League Division 4.
Quickly moving up to the Miyagi Prefectural League, the name was modified to a more inclusive-sounding Sagawa Kyubin Tohoku, who continued making rapid progress not only in league competition, but also via a series of shock wins in the All-Japan Shakaijin. NTT Kumamoto, Central Kobe and a then-powerful Hiroshima FC were all strong Regional League teams who fell foul of the improving outfit from Miyagi.
In 2002, Sagawa Tohoku themselves arrived at Regional level, in the Tohoku League Division 2 (South), whereupon they brushed aside the challenge of established teams such as Furukawa Battery and near neighbours Shichigahama SC to gain immediate promotion to Division 1. After such a breathtaking rise, the club were unable to sustain their development - but even so, Sagawa performed well in the top flight, causing a minor sensation by winning away at reigning champions TDK early in the year and going on to claim an impressive third place finish.
Prior to the start of the 2004 season, Sagawa Kyubin approved a change in status for the team. They adopted the name Wiese Shiogama and became the senior side of an existing Shiogama FC kids / youth club with the nominal aim of achieving a J-League spot, despite being based in a suburb of the home city of the extraordinarily well-supported Vegalta Sendai. The modification all seemed to be having a positive effect in the first few weeks of the season, as TDK were once again defeated, but although Wiese managed to end up in second position, it was TDK who accelerated out of sight to become worthy champions.
The wheels have rather come off the Wiese Shiogama bandwagon since that high point and 2006 even saw them dally with the lower reaches of the table. They were never in any genuine danger of relegation, but have clearly slipped behind both Grulla Morioka and FC Primeiro in the race to get out of the Tohoku League in the right direction. As such, Wiese’s ambition of J-League football seems as far away now as it has ever been.
2007: A vital season for a club in apparent decline. They need to be competitive with FC Primeiro, but in 2006 could only just match Morioka Zebra.
Quickly moving up to the Miyagi Prefectural League, the name was modified to a more inclusive-sounding Sagawa Kyubin Tohoku, who continued making rapid progress not only in league competition, but also via a series of shock wins in the All-Japan Shakaijin. NTT Kumamoto, Central Kobe and a then-powerful Hiroshima FC were all strong Regional League teams who fell foul of the improving outfit from Miyagi.
In 2002, Sagawa Tohoku themselves arrived at Regional level, in the Tohoku League Division 2 (South), whereupon they brushed aside the challenge of established teams such as Furukawa Battery and near neighbours Shichigahama SC to gain immediate promotion to Division 1. After such a breathtaking rise, the club were unable to sustain their development - but even so, Sagawa performed well in the top flight, causing a minor sensation by winning away at reigning champions TDK early in the year and going on to claim an impressive third place finish.
Prior to the start of the 2004 season, Sagawa Kyubin approved a change in status for the team. They adopted the name Wiese Shiogama and became the senior side of an existing Shiogama FC kids / youth club with the nominal aim of achieving a J-League spot, despite being based in a suburb of the home city of the extraordinarily well-supported Vegalta Sendai. The modification all seemed to be having a positive effect in the first few weeks of the season, as TDK were once again defeated, but although Wiese managed to end up in second position, it was TDK who accelerated out of sight to become worthy champions.
The wheels have rather come off the Wiese Shiogama bandwagon since that high point and 2006 even saw them dally with the lower reaches of the table. They were never in any genuine danger of relegation, but have clearly slipped behind both Grulla Morioka and FC Primeiro in the race to get out of the Tohoku League in the right direction. As such, Wiese’s ambition of J-League football seems as far away now as it has ever been.
2007: A vital season for a club in apparent decline. They need to be competitive with FC Primeiro, but in 2006 could only just match Morioka Zebra.
Based in the Nakata suburb of Taihaku-kun in Sendai itself, Sendai Nakata Club scraped and struggled through several seasons of Tohoku League membership from the late 80s through to the mid-90s without ever really managing to convince that they had what it takes to play Regional level football. In seven years, the club were never able to achieve anything better than a sixth-place finish but their number was finally up in 1995: Nakata ended up bottom of the table and were relegated, although in fairness were replaced by the equally as poor Tsuruoka TDK.
Whilst they did spend a subsequent season back in the Prefectural League, Nakata in 1997 became founder members of the Tohoku League Division 2 (South) and competing with teams like Matsushita Audio Fukushima and NEC Yonezawa seemed – on paper, at least - to have found their level. But in spite of having notched up a respectable third place, the club mysteriously withdrew from the Regional League for the following three years, only re-emerging in 2001.
For five seasons, Sendai Nakata were one of the better sides in Division 2 (South), going toe-to-toe with Furukawa Battery and Northern Peaks Koriyama as the trio all fought to gain promotion to the top flight. Having won the title in 2003 only to miss out to Ashikaga Engineering Works Store Kawabe FC in the Promotion Play-off, the club finally achieved their goal at the end of 2005.
A stunning four-game run in the middle of the season that saw them run in no fewer than 29 goals without reply had earlier set Nakata up to succeed ahead of their nearest rivals Furukawa. Division 2 (North) champions Tono Club were duly overcome 3-0 in the Play-off and the Miyagi prefecture side were promoted.
As the 2006 campaign progressed, it looked odds-on that Sendai Nakata would be heading straight back down again. Only one win in the first nine matches – and that against fellow strugglers Nippon Steel Kamaishi – had them rock bottom of the table with the season heading into its closing straight. All of a sudden, however, a 6-2 thrashing of Morioka Zebra handed them a lifeline and seven points gleaned from the final three fixtures of the year steered the club to safety and an impressive fifth spot.
2007: One of the minnows of Division 1, Nakata will in all likelihood struggle – but they can take heart from their performances at the end of 2006 and should stay up.
Whilst they did spend a subsequent season back in the Prefectural League, Nakata in 1997 became founder members of the Tohoku League Division 2 (South) and competing with teams like Matsushita Audio Fukushima and NEC Yonezawa seemed – on paper, at least - to have found their level. But in spite of having notched up a respectable third place, the club mysteriously withdrew from the Regional League for the following three years, only re-emerging in 2001.
For five seasons, Sendai Nakata were one of the better sides in Division 2 (South), going toe-to-toe with Furukawa Battery and Northern Peaks Koriyama as the trio all fought to gain promotion to the top flight. Having won the title in 2003 only to miss out to Ashikaga Engineering Works Store Kawabe FC in the Promotion Play-off, the club finally achieved their goal at the end of 2005.
A stunning four-game run in the middle of the season that saw them run in no fewer than 29 goals without reply had earlier set Nakata up to succeed ahead of their nearest rivals Furukawa. Division 2 (North) champions Tono Club were duly overcome 3-0 in the Play-off and the Miyagi prefecture side were promoted.
As the 2006 campaign progressed, it looked odds-on that Sendai Nakata would be heading straight back down again. Only one win in the first nine matches – and that against fellow strugglers Nippon Steel Kamaishi – had them rock bottom of the table with the season heading into its closing straight. All of a sudden, however, a 6-2 thrashing of Morioka Zebra handed them a lifeline and seven points gleaned from the final three fixtures of the year steered the club to safety and an impressive fifth spot.
2007: One of the minnows of Division 1, Nakata will in all likelihood struggle – but they can take heart from their performances at the end of 2006 and should stay up.
The Nippon Steel Corporation is another example of a company brought about by a corporate merger, in this case that of Yawata Steel and Fuji Steel in 1970. The latter had a history of supporting the playing of football by employees and by the time the merger took place, two different Fuji Steel teams had already participated in the All-Japan Shakaijin competition: Fuji Steel Muroran from Hokkaido and Fuji Steel Kamaishi, both of whom naturally changed their names in line with the new company.
When the Tohoku League commenced in 1977, the Nippon Steel Kamaishi club were well established as one of the best in the north outside of the Japan Soccer League (JSL) and academic institutions, with several further Shakaijin and Emperor’s Cup appearances under their belt. The best result achieved in this early period was when Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe were defeated 4-2 in the First Round of the Shakaijin.
It was therefore no surprise when Nippon Steel Kamaishi immediately became the team to beat when their Regional League commenced - in fact, beating the Steel Men was something that no other team managed to do during the first three full seasons of the new competition’s existence, as they notched up three straight title wins.
A 6-1 thrashing in the First Round of the 1977 Regional League Championship Winners’ Play-off competition by Toshiba Horikawa from Kanto appeared to set the tone for those times when Kamaishi did venture out of Tohoku, but in subsequent seasons the club achieved more respectable results – including on one occasion a fine win over company rivals Nippon Steel Muroran – without ever qualifying for the Final Stage.
In 1983, however, financial problems caused Nippon Steel Kamaishi to withdraw from the Tohoku League and they were not to make a re-appearance until the commencement fourteen years later of the Division 2 (North). After three good seasons in the second tier, the club gained promotion back to what had become Division 1 for the 2000 campaign, but the days of success were long gone and since that time Nippon Steel have struggled to hold on to their status.
Relegation was avoided by the narrowest possible margin in 2006, as TDK’s elevation to the JFL meant a change in the rules to ensure that an appropriate number of teams remained in the Tohoku League. The Steel Men - who had finished bottom of the table – therefore avoided automatic relegation and instead faced a Play-off against ambitious Division 2 side FC Akita Cambiare, which they scraped through by the narrowest of margins to remain in the top flight.
2007: One of these seasons, Nippon Steel Kamaishi have either to improve or go down to Division 2. There’s no obvious sign that they can do the former, so does relegation beckon this year?
When the Tohoku League commenced in 1977, the Nippon Steel Kamaishi club were well established as one of the best in the north outside of the Japan Soccer League (JSL) and academic institutions, with several further Shakaijin and Emperor’s Cup appearances under their belt. The best result achieved in this early period was when Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe were defeated 4-2 in the First Round of the Shakaijin.
It was therefore no surprise when Nippon Steel Kamaishi immediately became the team to beat when their Regional League commenced - in fact, beating the Steel Men was something that no other team managed to do during the first three full seasons of the new competition’s existence, as they notched up three straight title wins.
A 6-1 thrashing in the First Round of the 1977 Regional League Championship Winners’ Play-off competition by Toshiba Horikawa from Kanto appeared to set the tone for those times when Kamaishi did venture out of Tohoku, but in subsequent seasons the club achieved more respectable results – including on one occasion a fine win over company rivals Nippon Steel Muroran – without ever qualifying for the Final Stage.
In 1983, however, financial problems caused Nippon Steel Kamaishi to withdraw from the Tohoku League and they were not to make a re-appearance until the commencement fourteen years later of the Division 2 (North). After three good seasons in the second tier, the club gained promotion back to what had become Division 1 for the 2000 campaign, but the days of success were long gone and since that time Nippon Steel have struggled to hold on to their status.
Relegation was avoided by the narrowest possible margin in 2006, as TDK’s elevation to the JFL meant a change in the rules to ensure that an appropriate number of teams remained in the Tohoku League. The Steel Men - who had finished bottom of the table – therefore avoided automatic relegation and instead faced a Play-off against ambitious Division 2 side FC Akita Cambiare, which they scraped through by the narrowest of margins to remain in the top flight.
2007: One of these seasons, Nippon Steel Kamaishi have either to improve or go down to Division 2. There’s no obvious sign that they can do the former, so does relegation beckon this year?
It was on 1st April 2002 that the Tokin Corporation joined forces with the Nippon Electric Company (NEC) and as a by-product of another Japanese corporate merger, the NEC Tokin football team were born. At that time Tokin were well-established members of the Tohoku League Division 1, although in fact their competitive history can be traced back as far as 1955, when they began participating in the Sendai Industrial League.
Tokin first became known on a wider stage with their promotion to the Tohoku League in 1994. This was a period when virtually all the teams in the region were trailing in the wake of Sony Sendai, but after an initial struggle to acclimatise, the newcomers began making gradual season-on-season improvements.
When Sony were promoted to the JFL at the end of 1997, there were a good number of clubs ready and waiting to step into the void left by their departure. TDK, Matsushima Club and Morioka Zebra undoubtedly felt that they were in a position to become the top side in Tohoku, but to the surprise of most it was Tokin – ironically, another company team from Sendai – who pipped Zebra to take the 1998 title.
Appearing for the first time in the Regional League Championship Winners’ Play-off, Tokin were scarcely a match for First Round opponents Yokogawa Electric and Blaze Kumamoto, and were immediately knocked out. Back at Regional level the following year, however, they proved that their 1998 championship was no fluke by winning the Tohoku League again in dramatic style, the victory being confirmed with defeats of TDK and Zebra in the final two fixtures.
The 1999 Championship Winners’ Play-offs were a further small illustration of how much lower the standard was of football in Tohoku than in certain other areas of Japan. Tokin again ended up bottom of their First Round group, out of which Alo’s Hokuriku from the Hokushinetsu region went on to win a place in the JFL. Even so, having also taken part in the All-Japan Shakaijin for what was only the second occasion, 1999 goes down as the high point in the club’s history to date.
Following on from the 2002 merger, NEC Tokin have been a team of mid-table stability, only really struggling in 2005, when the whole focus of the Tohoku League was on the battle at the top between TDK and Grulla Morioka. 2006 saw the club get the better of FC Primeiro and Wiese Shiogama to emerge as one of the stronger members of the division.
2007: Will be one of the teams who feel that a good season may result in them being able to grab second position and a place in the Championship Winners’ Play-off competition.
Tokin first became known on a wider stage with their promotion to the Tohoku League in 1994. This was a period when virtually all the teams in the region were trailing in the wake of Sony Sendai, but after an initial struggle to acclimatise, the newcomers began making gradual season-on-season improvements.
When Sony were promoted to the JFL at the end of 1997, there were a good number of clubs ready and waiting to step into the void left by their departure. TDK, Matsushima Club and Morioka Zebra undoubtedly felt that they were in a position to become the top side in Tohoku, but to the surprise of most it was Tokin – ironically, another company team from Sendai – who pipped Zebra to take the 1998 title.
Appearing for the first time in the Regional League Championship Winners’ Play-off, Tokin were scarcely a match for First Round opponents Yokogawa Electric and Blaze Kumamoto, and were immediately knocked out. Back at Regional level the following year, however, they proved that their 1998 championship was no fluke by winning the Tohoku League again in dramatic style, the victory being confirmed with defeats of TDK and Zebra in the final two fixtures.
The 1999 Championship Winners’ Play-offs were a further small illustration of how much lower the standard was of football in Tohoku than in certain other areas of Japan. Tokin again ended up bottom of their First Round group, out of which Alo’s Hokuriku from the Hokushinetsu region went on to win a place in the JFL. Even so, having also taken part in the All-Japan Shakaijin for what was only the second occasion, 1999 goes down as the high point in the club’s history to date.
Following on from the 2002 merger, NEC Tokin have been a team of mid-table stability, only really struggling in 2005, when the whole focus of the Tohoku League was on the battle at the top between TDK and Grulla Morioka. 2006 saw the club get the better of FC Primeiro and Wiese Shiogama to emerge as one of the stronger members of the division.
2007: Will be one of the teams who feel that a good season may result in them being able to grab second position and a place in the Championship Winners’ Play-off competition.
