is a Japanese professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Montedio Yamagata.

Playing career

Watanabe was born in Hinode, Tokyo on October 10, 1973. After graduating from

Komazawa University , abbreviated as 駒大 ''Komadai'', is one of the oldest universities in Japan. Its history starts in 1592, when a seminary was established to be a center of learning for the young monks of the Sōtō sect, one of the two main Zen Buddhist trad ...

, he joined Japan Football League (JFL) club Consadole Sapporo in 1996. However he could not play many matches. In 1997, he moved to JFL club Ventforet Kofu. He became a regular player as center back from first season and the club was promoted to new league

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 Yas ...

from 1999. Although he played as regular player, the club finished at bottom place for 2 years in a row (

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

). In 2001, he moved to J2 club Vegalta Sendai. He played many matches as regular center back with Ricardo and the club won the 2nd place and was promoted to

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

from 2002. However the club gained Norio Omura and Watanabe could hardly play in the match behind Omura in 2002. Although he played many matches instead Omura in late 2003, the club was relegated to J2 from 2004. He could hardly play in the match in 2004 and retired end of 2004 season.

Coaching career

Vegalta Sendai

After retirement, Watanabe started coaching career at Vegalta Sendai in 2005. In 2008, he became a top team coach. In April 2014, the club results were bad and manager Graham Arnold was sacked when the club was at the 17th place of 18 clubs. Watanabe became a new manager as Arnold successor. Vegalta finished at the 14 the place in 2014 season and remained in J1. Vegalta won the runners-up in

2018 Emperor's Cup The was the 2018 edition of the annual Japanese national football cup tournament, which began on 26 May 2018 and ended with the final on 9 December 2018 at the Saitama Stadium 2002. The final was held earlier than the usual date of 1 January due ...

Renofa Yamaguchi

In 2021, he signed with

club Renofa Yamaguchi FC.

Montedio Yamagata

In 2022, he signed a contract with J2 League club Montedio Yamagata as a coach. In April 2023, following the dismissal of

Peter Cklamovski Peter Cklamovski (born 16 October 1978) is an Australian football manager who currently serves as the manager of J2 League team Montedio Yamagata is Japanese professional association football club based in Tendo, Yamagata. The club plays in ...

, Watanabe was appointed as manager of the club.

Club statistics

Managerial statistics

Update; ''December 31, 2019''J.League Data Site
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Honours

Vegalta Sendai *

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

** Runners-up:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Individual * Monthly Best coach:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

(June)

References

External links

* * * 1973 births Living people Komazawa University alumni Association football people from Tokyo Japanese men's footballers J1 League players J2 League players Japan Football League (1992–1998) players Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo players Ventforet Kofu players Vegalta Sendai players Japanese football managers J1 League managers J2 League managers Vegalta Sendai managers Renofa Yamaguchi FC managers Montedio Yamagata managers Men's association football defenders {{Japan-footy-defender-1970s-stub