Suzuka Unlimited FC

commonly known as Atletico Suzuka, formerly is a Japanese professional football club based in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture. They play in the Japan Football League, the fourth tier of the Japanese football league system.

History

The club was originally established in Nabari, Mie in 1980 under the name Mie Club, and it became a member of Mie Football Association to join the Mie prefectural league in 1982. The club went up to the top division in 1991 and remained there until 2005, when local organisers kicked off the idea of developing a larger and more ambitious football team.

The region to the southwest of Nagoya has been traditionally very populous but still undeveloped from a football perspective despite a number of successes by local high school football. In mid- 2005, a group of local businessmen, football fans and coaches from Mie Prefecture, who were eager to put together a team to represent the area, approached Bunji Kimura, an ex-football manager of Kyoto Sanga F.C. and Yokohama Flügels. Kimura was convinced to accept the position of the president and technical director of a club that was then going by the name of "W.S.C. Nabari Admiral". Kimura plunged in and began a very ambitious project to transform the team from a bunch of amateur kickers in a tiny town to a much more competitive and tightly run organisation representing the aspirations of the entire prefecture.

At Kimura's insistence, the team in February 2006 took the name "MIE FC Rampole", taking its name from the famous Japanese mystery novel writer Rampo Edogawa, who was born in Mie Prefecture. The part "ole" of the name is supposedly a Spanish word "Olé" used to cheer and applaud (cf. Consadole Sapporo). Following the name change the club launched its official website on February 22. Kimura quickly began drawing upon his network of J.League contacts to bring in more experienced coaches and organisers, and by the end of his first season in charge the club advanced to the second division of the Tōkai Regional League.

Whereas its progress on the pitch has stalled temporarily, with third-place finishes in both 2007 and 2008, the club has been focusing most of its attention on the organisational goals. An independent corporation was established in 2006, fulfilling one of the requirements of J. League Associate Membership, and in 2008 the team merged with nearby Suzuka Club, thereby absorbing a youth program that can help to meet another key requirement. Following the merger, the team announced on 1 September 2008, that it changed its name to "F.C. Suzuka Rampole" and moved its home playing ground from Ueno Athletic Park Stadium to Suzuka Sports Garden from 2009 season. The club carried out the move since first, Suzuka is the city world-famous for the F1 circuit located outside town, and second, its population base and location, squarely in the middle of Mie Prefecture's main population centres is considered to be ideal.

On 28 January 2016, the team announced an immediate change of the team's name to Suzuka Unlimited FC (鈴鹿アンリミテッドFC).

With the appointment of coach Milagros "Mila" Martínez from the 2019 season, the club was the first and to date only in any of Japan's national level divisions to have a female leading the club.

On 1 February 2020, the club announced that it would change its name to Suzuka Point Getters (鈴鹿ポイントゲッターズ). Their logo and attire were updated to reflect Suzuka's status as home of the Suzuka Circuit.

On 5 July 2021, Suzuka announced Martínez's departure by mutual consent after her contract lapsed and published her gratitude to Point Getter fans throughout her tenure. Ten days later, former J3 League coach Yasutoshi Miura was hired to succeed her and also be Suzuka's general manager.

On 28 July 2023, two days prior to the J3 license application deadline, a meeting of the J.League Board of Directors was held. As a result, one of the decisions made was that the league decided to revoke Suzuka's "J.League 100 Year Plan club status", which was a prerequisite for J3 promotion in the next season. This punishment was treated by local media as "unprecedently severe", as no club had ever received such a punishment (Nara Club was initially stripped off the status on 2020, but their ban was eventually lifted within five months). It was mainly motivated by Suzuka's match-fixing scandal by former executives during the last rounds of the 2022 Japan Football League, but most specially in the last match, played against Sony Sendai FC. In this match, Suzuka decided to voluntarily lose the match as Sendai, who was higher-ranked, would be able to overtake Suzuka's local rivals Veertien Mie, denying them promotion for the J3 League, and not enabling Veertien to become the first team of the prefecture to be promoted from the JFL. The whole match-fixing situation was by the J.League treated as "an act that goes against the purpose of the J.League". However, it was not the only problem surrounding the club at the time, as the club had many management problems on different areas, including inappropriate payments and the management structure itself. The J.League then, exorted the club to improve the club's entire management structure before having its promotion-enabling license again.

On 31 October 2023, Suzuka announced that Kyodo Rubber Co., Ltd. became the club's new owner after purchasing a 100% stake. Hiroshi Saito, a former Japanese football player, and the representative director and president of the company, was appointed as the club's new chairman.

The club changed its name to Atletico Suzuka Club (アトレチコ鈴鹿クラブ), announced at a press conference on 10 January 2024. The emblem and logo were also updated, with the black and white-checkered flag being kept in the redesign alongside their official team colours (blue and green).

Changes in club name

* Mie Club: 1980
* MIE FC Rampole: 2006–2015
* Suzuka Unlimited FC: 2016–2019
* Suzuka Point Getters: 2020–2023
* Atletico Suzuka Club: 2024–present

League and cup record

;Key

Honours

Current squad

''As of 7 February 2025.''

Coaching staff

Managerial history

References

External links

*
Japan Regional Leagues: Tōkai League

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuka Rampole
Football clubs in Japan
Association football clubs established in 1980
1980 establishments in Japan
Sports clubs and teams in Mie Prefecture
Japan Football League clubs
Sport in Suzuka, Mie