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

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

, part of the

Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefecture, Gunma, Ibaraki Prefecture, ...

. The club was formed by fans of Yokohama Flügels as a protest against Flügels' merger with Yokohama Marinos in 1999, becoming the first supporter-owned professional sports team in Japan. They are set to play in the

J1 League 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 ...

from 2025, the top tier of football in the country, after promotion from

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 ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. Since gaining J.League membership in 2001, Yokohama spent considerable time in the second tier of the Japanese football league system. The club gained promotion to J.League Division 1 for the 2007 season after winning the Division 2 title. However, YFC were immediately relegated in the following season. After 12 years in the

, they returned to Japan's top tier, now called

, for the 2020 season. The team finished 15th in its first season back in the top flight. But history would repeat itself in 2021, as they were relegated to J2 after finishing the season as J1's last-place team. The team was promoted again to J1 from 2025 after one year stint second tier in 2024.

History

Yokohama was formed on 25 December 1998 following the merger of Yokohama's two J.League clubs, the Flügels and the Marinos. Flügels supporters felt that their club had essentially been dissolved rather than merged with, so rejected the suggestion that they should start supporting Marinos – who had been their crosstown rivals. Instead, with money raised through donations from the general public and an affiliation with talent management company IMG, the former Flügels supporters founded the Yokohama Fulie Sports Club. Following the ''socio'' model used by

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

, the Fulie Sports Club created Yokohama Football Club, the first professional sports team in Japan owned and operated by its supporters. For its first season in 1999, Yokohama hired former Germany national team and

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

star

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 ...

to be the manager and Yasuhiko Okudera, the first Japanese footballer to play professionally in Europe, to be the chairman. The club attempted to gain entry directly into the professional J.League, but the

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the Sport governing body, governing body responsible for the administration of Association football, football, futsal, beach soccer and Esports, efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the Japan national ...

only permitted entry to the amateur

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 ...

(JFL), at the time the third level of the Japanese football league system, and ruled that the club would not be eligible for promotion into J.League Division 2 at the end of its first season. So, despite finishing as JFL champion in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, Yokohama finished as JFL champion again in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

before being promoted to J.League Division 2. Although they had a dire season in 2005, ending 11th out of 12, they were in the top half of table throughout the 2006 season. Yokohama had lost all of their pre-season matches, including against college teams; they later hired player-manager Takuya Takagi, under whom they saw success. On 26 November 2006, they finished in the top spot of the

and were promoted to the J. League 1. Yokohama's financial situation remained poor, with no ownership of their stadium or training ground, and few staff members. One of their players, Kazuyoshi Miura, last played for the team at the age of 53, and a former player, Atsuhiro Miura (one of their main players before his 2010 retirement) was 36 when he last played for the club. These players once played for the Japan national team. In 2007, just the ninth year of its existence, Yokohama played its first season in the top flight of Japanese football. After a poor season, the team were relegated with five games of the season still remaining. Despite their early relegation, Yokohama defeated title contenders

Urawa Red Diamonds 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 association football, football club in the city of Saitama (city), Saitama, part of t ...

on the last day of the season, allowing

Kashima Antlers The are a professional association football, football club based in Kashima, Ibaraki, Japan. They currently play in the J1 League, the top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The club has financial backing from Mercari, a Japanese ...

to secure the J.League Division 1 title. In 2018, Yokohama narrowly missed out on automatic promotion by goal difference. The team made it to the J2 promotion final, losing to

Tokyo Verdy is a Japanese professional football club based in Inagi, Tokyo. The club currently competes in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2023. History Founded as Yomiuri Football Club in 1969, Tokyo Verdy is one of the mo ...

on an stoppage time winner. In 2019, Yokohama finished second in J2 and gained automatic promotion to J1. After finishing in last place in 2021, Yokohama would be relegated back to J2 for the 2022 season, but they bounced back immediately to J1 League the next year. On 25 November 2023, Yokohama FC were relegated from J1 to J2 from 2024 after the club lost to

Shonan Bellmare is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa 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 Hiratsuk ...

. On 11 November 2024, Yokohama FC secure promotion again to J1 from 2025 after draw against Renofa Yamaguchi 0-0 in final matchweek and ended one year stint in second tier.

Crest

Yokohama's crest features a phoenix, symbolizing the rise of Yokohama from the ashes of the Yokohama Flügels. The blue ribbon on the top represents the Blue Ribbon Movement, a movement that began at the end of the 1998 J.League season to keep the Flugels alive.

Kit and colours

As they could not adopt directly Flügels' white and blue strip given its similarity to that of Marinos, Yokohama decided to adopt an all-

cyan Cyan () is the color between blue and green on the visible spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength between 500 and 520 nm, between the wavelengths of green and blue. In the subtractive color system, or CMYK c ...

kit, after NKK SC, a former company club which had closed in 1994. NKK SC was based in Kawasaki and played most matches at Todoroki Athletics Stadium, but used Mitsuzawa Stadium on days when the other Kawasaki clubs at the time ( Verdy Kawasaki,

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

and Fujitsu) used it.

Kit evolution

Current squad

Out on loan

Club officials

For the 2024 season.

Managerial history

{, class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" , Manager !! rowspan="2" , Nationality !! colspan="2" , Tenure , - !Start !!Finish , - ,

, , , , 1 February 1999 , , 31 December 2000 , - , Yoshikazu Nagai , , , , 1 January 2001 , , 10 September 2001 , - , Yūji Sakakura , , , , 11 September 2001 , , 15 September 2001 , - , Yūsuke Adachi , , {{JPN , , 1 January 2005 , , 6 March 2006 , - , Takuya Takagi , , {{JPN , , 7 March 2006 , , 27 August 2007 , - , Júlio César Leal , , {{BRA , , 28 August 2007 , , 31 December 2007 , - , Satoshi Tsunami , , {{JPN , , 1 February 2008 , , 31 January 2009 , - , Yasuhiro Higuchi , , {{JPN , , 1 February 2009 , , 31 January 2010 , - , Yasuyuki Kishino , , {{JPN , , 1 February 2010 , , 18 March 2012 , - , Takahiro Taguchi , , {{JPN , , 18 March 2012 , , 21 March 2012 , - , Motohiro Yamaguchi , , {{JPN , , 21 March 2012 , , 31 January 2015 , - , Miloš Rus , , {{SVN , , 1 January 2015 , , 14 September 2015 , - , Hitoshi Nakata , , {{JPN , , 14 September 2015 , , 1 December 2015 , - , Miloš Rus , , {{SVN , , 1 December 2015 , , 15 June 2016 , - , Hitoshi Nakata , , {{JPN , , 16 June 2016 , , 15 October 2017 , - , Tomonobu Hayakawa , , {{JPN , , 15 October 2017 , , 17 October 2017 , - , Yasuhiko Okudera , , {{JPN , , 19 October 2017 , , 23 October 2017 , - , Edson Tavares , , {{BRA , , 24 October 2017 , , 13 May 2019 , - , Takahiro Shimotaira , , {{JPN , , 14 May 2019 , , 8 April 2021 , - , Tomonobu Hayakawa , , {{JPN , , 8 April 2021 , , 31 January 2022 , - , Shūhei Yomoda , , {{JPN , , 1 February 2022 , , present , -

Record as J.League member

{, class="wikitable" , bgcolor=gold, Champions , bgcolor=silver, Runners-up , bgcolor=ff6600, Third place , bgcolor=palegreen, Promoted , bgcolor=pink,

Relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" !colspan="13", League !!rowspan="2", J.League
Cup !!rowspan="2", Emperor's
Cup , - !Season !!Div. !!Teams !!Pos. !!P !!W (OTW) !!D !!L (OTL) !!F !!A !!GD !!Pts!!Attendance/G , - ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, rowspan="6", J2 , , 12 , , 9th , , 44 , , 12 (3) , , 1 , , 25 (3) , , 58 , , 81 , , -23 , , 43 , , 3,007 , , 2nd round , , Round of 16 , - ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, 12 , , 12th , , 44 , , 8 , , 11 , , 25 , , 43 , , 81 , , -38 , , 35 , , 3,477 , , rowspan="5", – , , 3rd round , - ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, 12 , , 11th , , 44 , , 10 , , 12 , , 22 , , 49 , , 88 , , -39 , , 42 , , 3,743 , , 3rd round , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, 12 , , 8th , , 44 , , 10 , , 22 , , 12 , , 42 , , 50 , , -8, , 52 , , 4,219 , , Round of 16 , - ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, 12 , , 11th , , 44 , , 10 , , 15 , , 19 , , 48 , , 64 , , -16 , , 45 , , 5,938 , , 4th round , - ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, 13 , , bgcolor="gold", 1st , , 48 , , 26 , , 15 , , 7 , , 61 , , 32 , , -29 , , 93 , , 5,119 , , 3rd round , - ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, J1 , , 18 , , bgcolor="pink", 18th , , 34 , , 4 , , 4 , , 26 , , 19 , , 66 , , -47 , , 16 , , 14,039 , ,

Group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, , Round of 16 , - ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, rowspan="12", J2 , , 15 , , 10th , , 42 , , 11 , , 17 , , 14 , , 51 , , 56 , , -5 , , 50 , , 6,793 , , rowspan="12", – , , Round of 16 , - ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, 18 , , 16th , , 51 , , 11 , , 11 , , 29 , , 43 , , 70 , , -27 , , 44 , , 3,535 , , 3rd round , - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, 19 , , 6th , , 36 , , 16 , , 6 , , 14 , , 54 , , 47 , , 7 , , 54 , , 5,791 , , 3rd round , - ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, 20 , , 18th , , 38 , , 11 , , 8 , , 19 , , 40 , , 54 , , -14 , , 41 , , 5,770 , , 2nd round , - ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, 22 , , 4th , , 42 , , 22 , , 7 , , 13 , , 62 , , 45 , , 17 , , 73 , , 6,039 , , 3rd round , - ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, 22 , , 11th , , 42 , , 15 , , 13 , , 14 , , 49 , , 46 , , 3 , , 58 , , 6,064 , , 2nd round , - ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, 22 , , 11th , , 42 , , 14 , , 13 , , 15 , , 49 , , 47 , , 2 , , 55 , , 5,146 , , 2nd round , - ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, 22 , , 15th , , 42 , , 13 , , 13 , , 16 , , 33 , , 58 , , -25 , , 52 , , 5,113 , , 2nd round , - ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, 22 , , 8th , , 42 , , 16 , , 11 , , 15 , , 50 , , 51 , , -1 , , 59 , , 4,892 , , Round of 16 , - ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, 22 , , 10th , , 42 , , 17 , , 12 , , 13 , , 60 , , 49 , , 11 , , 63 , , 5,967 , , 2nd round , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, 22 , , bgcolor="ff6600", 3rd , , 42 , , 21 , , 13 , , 8 , , 63 , , 44 , , 19 , , 76 , , 6,141 , , 3rd round , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, 22 , , bgcolor="silver" , 2nd , , 42 , , 23 , , 10 , , 9 , , 66 , , 40 , , 26 , , 79 , , 7,061 , , 3rd round , - ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

† , rowspan="2", J1 , , 18 , , 15th , , 34 , , 9 , , 6 , , 19 , , 38 , , 60 , , -22 , , 33 , , 3,559 , ,

, , Did not qualify , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

† , 20 , , bgcolor="pink", 20th , , 38 , , 6 , , 9 , , 23 , , 32 , , 77 , , -45 , , 27 , , 4,511 , ,

, , 2nd round , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, J2 , , 22 , , bgcolor="silver" , 2nd , , 42 , , 23 , , 11 , , 8 , , 66 , , 49 , , 17 , , 80 , , 5,088 , , – , , 3rd round , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, J1 , , 18 , , bgcolor="pink", 18th , , 34 , , 7 , , 8 , , 19 , , 31 , , 58 , , -27 , , 29 , , 9.128 , ,

, , 3rd round , - ,

, J2 , , 20 , , bgcolor="silver" , 2nd, , 38 , , 22 , , 10 , , 6 , , 60, , 27 , , 33 , , 76 , , 6,963 , , 3rd round , , 3rd round , - ,

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, J1 , , 20 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ;Key {{smalldiv, 1= *Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points gained *Attendance/G = Average home league attendance * † 2020 & 2021 season's attendances reduced by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

worldwide pandemic. *Source
J. League Data Site

Honours

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" , +Yokohama FC honours !scope=col, Honour !!scope=col, No. !!scope=col, Years , - !scope=row,

, align="center", 2 ,

, - !scope=row,

, align="center", 1 ,

, -

Mascot

The Yokohama mascot is named Fulie-maru, an alien-bird like figure. He is, supposedly, a tribute to Yokohama Flugels' mascot, Tobimaru, a flying squirrel.{{Citation , title=A brief history of J.League mascots {{! Mascot madness in Japanese football , date=30 January 2022 , url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iiQfid1XCw , language=en , access-date=2022-04-07

References

{{Reflist

External links

{{commons category * {{Official website, http://www.yokohamafc.com/ {{in lang, ja {{Yokohama FC {{J.League {{Japanese Club Football, group=clubs J.League clubs Football clubs in Japan Association football clubs established in 1998 Sports clubs and teams in Yokohama Football in Yokohama Fan-owned football clubs 1998 establishments in Japan Japan Football League clubs Multi-sport clubs in Japan