is a Japanese professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

. The club plays in the

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 under the organization of J.League. The league is known as the for sponsorship reasons. The third-tier nation ...

, Japanese third tier of professional football. The team's home stadium is Okinawa Athletic Park Stadium, in

Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...

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 ...

. The team derive their name from

Ryukyu The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

, the historic name for Okinawa Prefecture. The club once had

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

teams.

History

The club was founded in 2003. Most of the players who initially joined the club were those who had left Okinawa Kariyushi FC after a rift with their management, which were beholden to the Kariyushi hotel chain. Their first 2003 season saw them win the championship in Okinawa Prefectural Division 3 North. They were allowed to skip to Division 1 the next season, where they again succeeded in finishing top of the table. In the 2005 season, they belonged to the Kyūshū Regional League (Kyu League). After finishing 2nd and winning the Regional League play-off, they were promoted to the JFL and became the first ever Okinawan football side who played in a national league. In December 2007, the club appointed former Japan national coach

Philippe Troussier Philippe Omar Troussier,October's ten – Religious conversions
...

as their general manager. Jean-Paul Rabier was appointed as their manager in January 2008. They applied for J. League Associate Membership in January 2008, but their application was declined at the J. League board meeting held on February 19, 2008. In December 2008, the resignation of Rabier was announced. Former coach Hiroyuki Shinzato was promoted to be the new manager in January 2009. In 2014, FC Ryukyu could finally join the

. In January 2015, FC Ryukyu announced a partnership with Seoul United from the Korean Challengers League. According to the agreement the teams will play a friendly match every year. The first match was scheduled for 1 March 2015. FC Ryukyu have made steady progress in recent years, finishing in 8th place in J3 in 2016, and improving on that the following year, finishing 6th. In the 2018 season they secured promotion to J2 with 3 games left after a 1–1 draw at Nagano Parceiro, and in the following game beat

Thespakusatsu Gunma , formerly is a professional Association football, football (soccer) club based in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture in Japan. The club currently play in the J3 League, the third tier of Japanese professional football. History The club was founded in ...

to claim the J3 title with two games to spare. They started their first season in J2 in 2019, in style with 4 straight wins to top the league, but faded as the season progressed eventually finishing in 14th place. In 2022, after spending four years in the

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yasud ...

, the club was relegated back to the

after scoring their lowest points total in the second-tier. The club finished in 21st place with 37 points, only 3 points off the last placed team. On 26 October 2023, the club announced that they will use FC Ryukyu Okinawa for branding purpose starting 2024 season, although the club's current name will remain used in any competition. The change initially also included the update of club's emblem. However, the plan eventually revised and Ryukyu decided to keep the current emblem for 2024 season, albeit with modified colorway. For the 2025 season, FC Ryukyu Okinawa announced a new logo.

Home stadium

The home stadium is the Okinawa Athletic Park Stadium, based in Okinawa City. Until 2014, the Okinawa City Athletic Stadium in Okinawa City was used as the main home stadium, and multiple stadiums were used.

League & cup record

;Key

Honours

Current squad

Club officials

Club officials for 2025 season

Managerial history

Team colour and crest

The men team's name is FC Ryukyu Okinawa. Their team colour is ''bengara'', a shade of red

pigment A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly solubility, insoluble and reactivity (chemistry), chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored sub ...

. It is called

red ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the col ...

in English and can be generally described as claret. ''Bengara'' derives from a Dutch word ' bengala' which in turn derives from

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, a historic region located in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. This name was given because the pigment was traditionally imported from Bengal to Japan. Okinawa has a close association with the bengara colour which is prominently applied to

Shuri Castle is a Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyuan ''gusuku'' castle in Shuri, Okinawa, Shuri, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Between 1429 and 1879, it was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom, before becoming largely neglected. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was ...

, one of the most symbolic historical buildings in the area. In 2008 they adopted a sky-blue trim for their home uniform, as their bengara pigment pattern was considered too similar to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(the claret and sky-blue pattern was around long before Troussier and the French staff arrived, so a coincidence in colours is feasible). Their crest features a pair of Shisas, imaginary talismanic creatures in the area, and the crown of the kings of the former

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom was a kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands from 1429 to 1879. It was ruled as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of Ming dynasty, imperial Ming China by the King of Ryukyu, Ryukyuan monarchy, who unified Okinawa Island t ...

Kit evolution

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:FC Ryukyu

Sports clubs and teams in Okinawa Prefecture 2003 establishments in Japan Japan Football League clubs J.League clubs