, commonly known as Okinawa SV (沖縄SV, ''Okinawa Esufau'') is a Japanese football club based in the cities of Tomigusuku and

Uruma is a city located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The modern city of Uruma was established on April 1, 2005, when the cities of Gushikawa and Ishikawa were merged with the towns of Katsuren and Yonashiro (both from Nakagami District). As of ...

, which are located 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 ...

. Okinawa play 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 ...

, Japanese 4th tier of league football.

History

After leaving SC Sagamihara and retiring from professional football, former Japan national team international

Naohiro Takahara is a Japanese Association football, football manager and former Football player, footballer. He also played for Japan national football team, Japan's national football team. Currently, he is working as president for Okinawa SV. Club career Tak ...

decided to setup a new club 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 main part of the club's identity comes from two overseas clubs, in which Takahara played in during his career. The name of the club was inspired by Germany's

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

, which influenced Takahara to found the club as ''Okinawa Sport-Verein'' (a German term meaning "sports club"). The kit's colours and its design are inspired by Argentinian

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

, who have used blue and yellow colours in their kits since 1907. Takahara set himself as president, manager-player and captain, helping the Kyushu-based club to start from the bottom of Japanese football. In their first year, on 2016, Okinawa SV played in the third division of the Okinawa Prefectural League in a successful debut season, going undefeated while also scoring 123 goals, and only conceding a single one. The Okinawa Football Association opted to give the club a free pass to join the 1st Division of the Prefectural League. In their second season, Okinawa SV achieved another promotion, now to the Kyushu Soccer League. On 27 November 2022, Okinawa SV was promoted to JFL for the first time in their history. They were assured of promotion after defeating

FC Kariya are a Japanese football club based in Kariya, Aichi. They're aiming to gain professional status. Since the 2022 season, after being relegated from the Japan Football League, they are currently playing in the Tōkai Adult Soccer League, whic ...

by 4–0 in their last match in the Regional Champions League final round. Okinawa SV just needed 6 seasons to jump from the 3rd division of Okinawa Prefectural League to the national stage, in Japan's 4th division. On 2 December 2023, Okinawa SV managed to stay in JFL after defeating

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 ...

by a score of 2–1 in 2023 JFL promotion relegation play-off due to finishing in 15th and last place.

Stadium

After playing at Okinawa Kincho Football Center in 2022, Okinawa SV played all home matches at

Tapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium , or for short Okinawa Athletic Park Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Okinawa, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is currently used mostly for football matches. It serves as a home ground of J.League club, FC Ryukyu and Japan Football League cl ...

in JFL for 2023 season after announcement of the full schedule on 10 February 2023.

League and cup record

*(x,y) in column D denotes number of win and lost in shootout. ;Key

Emperor's Cup record

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Honours

Current squad

Coaching staff

Kit evolution

References

External links

Official Site

Official Facebook PageOfficial Twitter Account
{{Japanese Club Football, group=clubs Football clubs in Japan Sports clubs and teams in Okinawa Prefecture Association football clubs established in 2015 2015 establishments in Japan Japan Football League clubs