is a professional

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...

club based in

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its '' kofun'', keyhole-shaped burial mounds dating from the fifth century. The ''kofun ...

and

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

. The team currently plays in the

WE League The , officially the , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top flight of women's association football in Japan, starting from the 2021–22 season. It is the first fully-professional women's football league in Japan. The current ...

, the top division of women's football in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

History

Cerezo Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Cerezo'' (Spanish for cherry blossom) is also the flower of the city of Osak ...

, which has been playing 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 ...

since 1995, established a women's class at its school in 2005 to strengthen women's football, and formed a women's team as Cerezo Osaka Ladies U-15 in 2010. The team later changed its name to Cerezo Osaka Ladies in 2012. The following year, the team entered the Japan Women's Soccer League, adopting the name of its hometown, Sakai, as well as Osaka, and changing its name to Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies. In 2021, Japan's first professional women's soccer league, the

, was established, but Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies avoided participating due to the fact that most of their players were students. However, with many promising players deciding to move on, they made preparations to join, and on September 14, 2022, they were approved to join the WE League for the 2023-24 season. On February 24, 2023, Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies announced that the team would change its name to Cerezo Osaka Yanmar Ladies after

Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasure boats, cons ...

acquired the naming rights.

Club staff

Squad

Current squad

Season-by-season record

Transition of team name

*Cerezo Osaka Ladies: (2010–2012) *Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies: (2013–2023) *Cerezo Osaka Yanmar Ladies: (1 April 2023 – 31 January 2025)

References

External links

Official website
{{WE League Women's football clubs in Japan 2005 establishments in Japan Cerezo Osaka Football clubs in Osaka WE League clubs Women in Osaka