Furukawa Electric SC
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, full name and also known as , 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 Chiba, capital of
Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...
. They currently play 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 ...
, Japanese second tier of professional football.


History


Furukawa Electric SC (1946–1991)

The club began as the company team, in 1946. As the company team, it won the
Japan Soccer League ; 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 Cup, JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professi ...
twice, the
Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or Japan FA Cup, and rebranded as The JFA Emperor's Cup from 2024 onwards, is a Japanese annual football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formatio ...
four times and the JSL League Cup three times. Furukawa also won the 1986–87 Asian Club Championship, the top club honour in
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
; they were the first Japanese club to do so. The club was a founding member (''"Original Eight"'') of the
Japan Soccer League ; 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 Cup, JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professi ...
(JSL) in 1965. Since the league's inception, the club had always played in the top flight in Japan and was the only Japanese club to never be relegated from the JSL Division 1, a record they kept into the J1 years. They did finish the
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
season in a relegation position (last of 10) but stayed up after beating
Honda FC commonly known as is a Japanese professional football club based in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. They currently play in the Japan Football League, the country's 4th tier of semi-professional league football. History The club was founded as Honda M ...
1–0 on aggregate in a two-legged playoff. The last place was not automatically relegated until the
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
season.


JEF United Ichihara (1992–2004)

In 1991, it merged with the JR East's company team to become and rebranded itself as JEF United Ichihara upon the J.League's founding in 1993. JEF United Ichihara was an original member (''"Original Ten"'') of the J.League in 1993. The club initially built itself around the former
Germany national football team The Germany national football team () represents Germany in men's international Association football, football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deutscher Fußball-Bund''), founded ...
player
Pierre Littbarski Pierre Michael Littbarski (; born 16 April 1960) is a German professional football manager and former player of 1. FC Köln and the West Germany national team. Known for his dribbling abilities, he was mainly used as an attacking midfielder ...
. From 1998 to 2000, the club struggled to stay in the J.League and it began a series of efforts to be a competitive team. Since the hiring of
Ivica Osim Ivan Osim (6 May 1941 – 1 May 2022), best known as Ivica Osim, was a Bosnian professional Football player, footballer and Manager (association football), football manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all ...
in 2003, JEF United has contended for the league title each year despite limited resources and struggling attendance.


JEF United Chiba (2005–)

On 1 February 2005, the club changed its name from ''JEF United Ichihara'' to the current name after
Chiba city is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It sits about east of the centre of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. The city became a government-designated city in 1992. In March 2025, its population was 983,045, with a population density of 3,617 people ...
had joined
Ichihara, Chiba is a Cities of Japan, city, located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 274,117 in 128,316 households and a population density of 240 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city is home, together w ...
as its hometown in 2003. Of its club name, ''JEF'' is taken from the
JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...
and
Furukawa Electric is a Japanese electric and electronics equipment company. History The company traces its origins to Furukawa Ichibei who founded Nikko Copper Works, a copper-smelting facility at Yokohama in 1884, which became part of Furukuwa Kogyo. A new c ...
companies and ''United'' is meant to represent the unity of the club and its home city. Also, JEF United is the only team in J.League which corporate name survived the transition from the JSL in 1992, as J.League mandated that "corporate teams are not allowed in the J.League", and that any corporate teams need to adapt a hometown and name themselves after it, rather than their owner companies. On 16 July 2006, Osim left the club to take over the coach of the Japan national team and was succeeded by Amar Osim, his son and assistant coach. On December 5, 2007, it was announced that Amar Osim had been sacked after the club's lowly 13th-place finish in the 2007 season. After 13 games in the 2008 season Josip Kuže was sacked as team manager. On 8 May 2008 it was announced that the new manager was
Alex Miller Alex Miller (born 4 July 1949) is a Scottish football manager and former player. As a player, he had a 15-year career with Rangers, winning several trophies. As a manager, he won the 1991–92 Scottish League Cup with Hibernian. He subsequen ...
. Miller was First Team Coach at
Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...
alongside
Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He was most recently the manager of La Liga club RC Celta de Vigo, Celta Vigo. Beníte ...
prior to joining JEF United. The
Furukawa Electric is a Japanese electric and electronics equipment company. History The company traces its origins to Furukawa Ichibei who founded Nikko Copper Works, a copper-smelting facility at Yokohama in 1884, which became part of Furukuwa Kogyo. A new c ...
is no longer the main sponsor of the club, a job these days taken over by
Fuji Electric , operating under the brand name FE, is a Japanese electrical equipment company, manufacturing pressure transmitters, flowmeters, gas analyzers, controllers, inverters, pumps, generators, ICs, motors, and power equipment. History Fuji Electric ...
. On November 8, 2009, JEF United Chiba was relegated to J2 after 44 seasons in the Japanese top division; since 2010, JEF United Chiba is playing in J.League Division 2. JEF United Chiba was close to being promoted to
J.League Division 1 The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...
during the 2012 season. The club was considered one of the favorites to be directly promoted to J1. However, after defeats to clubs considered lesser than them such as
FC Gifu Football Club Gifu (フットボールクラブ岐阜, ''Futtobōrukurabu Gifu''), abbreviated as is a Japanese football club based in Gifu, capital of Gifu Prefecture, Japan. They play in the J3 League, the third tier of Japanese professional ...
and F.C. Machida Zelvia, JEF played the playoffs, making their road to the final. They defeated
Yokohama FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club was formed by fans of Yokohama Flügels as a protest against Flügels' merger with Yokohama Marinos in 1999, becoming th ...
by 4–0, but lost the final match to
Oita Trinita is a Japanese football club located in Ōita, Capital of Ōita Prefecture. They currently play in J2 League, Japanese second tier of professional football. Name origin The club's name, ''Trinita'', is the Italian translation of the word ' ...
by 1–0, at
Tokyo National Stadium The Japan National Stadium, officially the , alternatively , and a.k.a. formerly is a multi-purpose stadium used mostly for association football in Kasumigaokamachi, Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The facility served as the main stadi ...
. In the 2013 season they played in the promotion to J1 playoffs. They lost the semi-final match to Tokushima Vortis by 1–1(Chiba was 6th place and Tokushima was 3rd place in the league, regulation decides up high club can go final even draw.) In the 2014 season they played in the promotion playoffs to J1 again. The club did not have to play in the semi-final (Chiba was 4th place but the 3rd place club named Giravanz Kitakyushu had a J League original stadium problem so Kitakyushu could not go to the promotion play off). In the final against Montedio Yamagata, they lost by 0–1, at Ajinomoto Stadium. The club will play their 14th consecutive season at the J2 on 2023.


Symbols


Stadiums

It had played its home matches at
Ichihara Seaside Stadium is a football and athletics stadium located in Ichihara, Japan. Completed in 1987, the stadium consists of a large main stand and several smaller stands in a ring. Approximately 500 seats are covered; the cold Ichihara winds tend to create an u ...
, but has since moved to the larger, football-specific and more conveniently located
Fukuda Denshi Arena , the Fuku-Ari (フクアリ), is a football stadium in Chiba, Japan. It was completed in 2005 and is home to the J. League club JEF United Ichihara Chiba following their move from the Ichihara Seaside Stadium. The stadium has a capacity ...
, which opened in Chiba during the 2005 season. The club had initially practiced at
Urayasu, Chiba 260px, Old Urayasu is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 170,533 in 81,136 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Urayasu is best known as the home of Tokyo Di ...
planning to base itself in
Narashino, Chiba is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 175,292 in 81,985 households and a population density of 8400 persons per km2. The total area of the city is Geography Narashino is located in far northw ...
before opposition by those living around Akitsu
Stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...
forced it to be based in Ichihara. Since 2000, training has been held at Footpark Anesaki in Ichihara in normally. Since 1 October 2009, they made new practice place UNITED PARK near the Fukuda Denshi Arena.


Mascot

JEF United Ichihara's
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...
characters are Akita Inu brothers named Jeffy and Unity. The
squad number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to id ...
of Jeffy is 2 and that of Unity is 9. They are also joined by a third mascot named Mina, or Mina-chan. Her backstory was that she one day came to
Soga Station is a junction railway station located in Chūō-ku, Chiba, Chūō-ku, Chiba, Chiba, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is also a freight depot for the Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freigh ...
(the railway station nearest to
Fukuda Denshi Arena , the Fuku-Ari (フクアリ), is a football stadium in Chiba, Japan. It was completed in 2005 and is home to the J. League club JEF United Ichihara Chiba following their move from the Ichihara Seaside Stadium. The stadium has a capacity ...
) and offered to work alongside Jeffy and Unity. Her squad number is 12.


Slogan

JEF United considers its philosophy to be encapsulated in its tagline "Win By All" since 2001.


Affiliated clubs


Furukawa Electric Chiba

This was JEF's
reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...
during the JSL years. They were formed in 1967 and were first promoted to the JSL Second Division in 1975. They still exist, although they are no longer affiliated on paper, and play in the Kanto Regional League. In 2008 they renamed themselves ''S.A.I. Ichihara'' and in 2011 they adopted the name
Vonds Ichihara Vonds Ichihara (''VONDS市原'') is a Japanese football club based in Ichihara, Chiba. The club plays in the first division of the Kantō Soccer League, which is part of the Japanese Regional Leagues. History Founded in 1967, the club was ...
. Now separate from Furukawa Electric control, they aim to form its power base in Ichihara as JEF is now based in Chiba city.


JEF Reserves

JEF's reserve team played until 2011 in the
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 100 Year Plan club sta ...
, the third tier of Japanese football. But in 2011, the club announced the end of the B team because of financial problems.


JEF United Chiba Ladies


Rivalries


Marunouchi Gosanke

Historically, JEF United's fiercest rivals have been
Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo ...
and
Urawa Reds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan, who p ...
, both close neighbors. The three were co-founders (''"Original Eight"'') of the
Japan Soccer League ; 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 Cup, JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professi ...
(JSL) in 1965, and spent most seasons in the top tier through the JSL era. Because of their former parent companies' headquarters being all based in
Marunouchi Marunouchi () is an area in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, located between Tokyo Station and the Kokyo, Imperial Palace. The name, meaning "inside the circle", derives from its location within the palace's outer moat. Marunouchi is the core ...
,
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, the three clubs were known as the ''Marunouchi
Gosanke The , also called simply , or even , were the most noble three branches of the Tokugawa clan of Japan: Owari, Kii, and Mito, all of which were descended from clan founder Tokugawa Ieyasu's three youngest sons, Yoshinao, Yorinobu, and Yorifusa ...
'' () and fixtures among them were known as the Marunouchi derbies.


Chiba derby

JEF United and Reysol first met in 1941 in ancient
Kanto Japanese Kanto is a simplified spelling of , a Japanese word, only omitting the diacritics. In Japan Kantō may refer to: *Kantō Plain *Kantō region *Kantō-kai, organized crime group *Kanto (Pokémon), a geographical region in the ''Pokémon ...
regional football league. The two clubs both now based in
Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...
, and their rivalry is known as the Chiba derby. They annually contest a pre-season friendly match well known as the
Chibagin Cup is a Japanese regional bank and is the biggest bank in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Listed on the Nikkei 225, it also has branches in Osaka, New York City, London, and Hong Kong. In 2015, its assets were $106.1 billion. History Chiba Bank was ...
(i.e., '' Chiba Bank Cup'') since 1995.


Record as J.League member

;Key


Honours

As Furukawa Electric SC (1946–1992), JEF United Ichihara (1992–2004), and JEF United Chiba (2005–present)


League history

*Division 1 ( JSL Div. 1): 1965–1992 *Division 1 ( J1): 1993–2009 *Division 2 ( J2): 2010–present


Players


Current squad

''As of 12 June 2025.''


Out on loan


International capped players


Coaching staff

Club officials for 2025.


Managerial history


Kit and colours

The club colours of JEF United Chiba are
yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...
,
green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
and
red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
.


Kit evolution


Notes


References


External links

* {{Authority control J.League clubs Japan Soccer League clubs Football clubs in Japan Association football clubs established in 1946 1946 establishments in Japan Emperor's Cup winners Japanese League Cup winners Sports clubs and teams in Chiba (city) AFC Champions League Elite winning clubs