Tochigi SC

Tochigi SC
栃木SC
Full name	Tochigi Soccer Club
Founded	1953; 71 years ago
Stadium	Kanseki Stadium Tochigi
Capacity	25,244
Manager	Shinji Kobayashi
League	J2 League
2023	J2 League, 19th of 22
Website	Club website
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

Tochigi Soccer Club (栃木サッカークラブ, Tochigi Sakkākurabu),^[1] commonly referred to as Tochigi SC (栃木SC, Tochigi Esushi) is a Japanese football club based in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. They currently play in the J2 League, Japan's second tier of professional football.

History

Teachers in Tochigi Prefecture founded the club in 1953. They were initially called Tochigi Teachers' Soccer Club (栃木教員サッカー部 Tochigi Kyōin Sakkā Bu). They started to welcome players with other professions in 1994 and renamed themselves as Tochigi Soccer Club. In 1999, Tochigi won the Kanto Regional League and were promoted to the Japan Football League after finishing runners-up in the Regional League play-off. In March 2005, they announced that they would set up a task force to give a serious consideration to turn professional and try to gain J.League status.

In January 2007 they achieved J.League Associate Membership status and in the 2008 season they secured qualification for promotion to professional status on November 16; on December 1 promotion was made official by J.League and Tochigi had competed in J2 from 2009. In 2015 Tochigi finished bottom and were relegated for the first time to J3, the third and lowest professional level in the league system. After two seasons, they returned to J2 as runners-up in 2017.

League and cup record

Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Promoted	Relegated

League													J.League Cup	Emperor's Cup
Season	Div.	Teams	Pos.	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Attendance/G	J.League Cup	Emperor's Cup
2007	JFL	18	8th	34	14	10	10	43	29	14	52	4,457		3rd round
2008	JFL	18	2nd	34	18	9	7	65	37	28	63	5,048		4th round
2009	J2	18	17th	51	8	13	30	38	77	-39	37	4,706		2nd round
2010		19	10th	36	14	8	14	46	42	4	50	4,157		3rd round
2011		20	10th	38	15	11	12	44	39	5	56	4,939		3rd round
2012		22	11th	42	17	9	16	50	49	4	60	3,850		2nd round
2013		22	9th	42	17	12	13	61	55	6	63	4,922		3rd round
2014		22	12th	42	15	10	17	52	58	-6	55	5,294		2nd round
2015		22	22nd	42	7	14	21	39	64	-25	35	5,167		1st round
2016	J3	16	2nd	30	17	8	5	38	20	18	59	4,917		Did not qualify
2017	J3	17	2nd	32	16	12	4	44	24	20	60	5,147		Did not qualify
2018	J2	22	17th	42	13	11	18	38	48	-10	50	5,657		2nd round
2019		22	20th	42	8	16	18	33	53	-20	40	5,148		3rd round
2020 †		22	10th	42	15	13	14	41	39	2	58	2,522		Did not qualify
2021 †		22	14th	42	10	15	17	37	51	-14	45	3,861		3rd round
2022		22	17th	42	11	16	15	32	40	-8	49	4,429		Round of 16
2023		22	19th	42	10	14	18	39	47	-8	44	5,834		Round of 16
2024		20	TBA	38									1st round	2nd round

Key

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 league home attendance
† 2020 & 2021 seasons attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
Source: J.League Data Site

Tochigi SC honours
Honour	No.	Years
Tochigi Prefecture Division 1	10	1978, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998
Kanto	1	1999

Players

Current squad

As of 9 August 2024^[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	JPN	Shuhei Kawata
2	DF	JPN	Wataru Hiramatsu
3	DF	JPN	Hayato Kurosaki
4	MF	JPN	Sho Sato
5	DF	JPN	Naoki Otani
6	MF	JPN	Sho Omori
7	MF	JPN	Ryotaro Ishida
9	FW	NGA	Origbaajo Ismaila
10	MF	JPN	Toshiki Mori
13	DF	JPN	Keisuke Saka
14	MF	JPN	Kodai Dohi (on loan from Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
15	MF	JPN	Koya Okuda
16	MF	JPN	Rio Hyon (on loan from Tokushima Vortis)
17	MF	JPN	Takumi Fujitani
18	MF	JPN	Rensuke Kawana
19	FW	JPN	Koki Oshima
20	DF	JPN	Shintaro Ide


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	GK	KOR	Kim Min-jun
22	MF	JPN	Taichi Aoshima
23	MF	JPN	Hayato Fukushima (on loan from Shonan Bellmare)
24	MF	JPN	Kosuke Kambe
27	GK	JPN	Kenta Tanno
29	FW	JPN	Kisho Yano
30	DF	JPN	Kenta Fukumori
32	FW	JPN	Ko Miyazaki
33	DF	BRA	Rafael Costa
38	FW	JPN	Sora Kobori
40	DF	JPN	Shuya Takashima
41	MF	JPN	Park Yong-ji
42	FW	JPN	Harumi Minamino
44	MF	JPN	Rui Ageishi
45	FW	JPN	Ota Yamamoto (on loan from Kashiwa Reysol)
47	MF	JPN	Haruto Yoshino ^DSP

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	JPN	Yuya Aoshima (at JEF United Chiba)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	FW	JPN	Yuji Senuma (at SC Sagamihara)

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Manager	Shinji Kobayashi
Assistant Manager	Hiroaki Nagashima
First-team coach	Takumi Motohashi
Goalkeeper coach	Tomoaki Ogami
Analyst	Shogo Manabe
Physical coach	Hirofumi Sakamoto
Chief trainer	Yuta Matsumoto
Trainer	Takahiro Watanabe Atsuya Kaneko
Interpreter	Bruno Hideo Owada
Chief manager	Tatsuya Sakakibara Yusuke Kenjo
Chief doctor	Mitsugi Shimoda
Doctor	Hitoshi Akutsu Kei Ajisaka Taro Kuramochi Makoto Kuroda Atsuto Hoshikawa Yuichiro Yano Yusuke Eda Makoto Oe

Managerial history

Manager	Nationality	Tenure
Manager	Nationality	Start	Finish
Kōichi Hashiratani	Japan	January 1, 2007	December 31, 2008
Hiroshi Matsuda	Japan	February 1, 2009	September 13, 2013
Ikuo Matsumoto	Japan	September 13, 2013	November 25, 2013
Yūji Sakakura	Japan	February 1, 2014	July 20, 2015
Yasuharu Kurata	Japan	July 22, 2015	December 31, 2015
Yūji Yokoyama	Japan	January 1, 2016	December 31, 2018
Kazuaki Tasaka	Japan	February 1, 2019	January 31, 2022
Yū Tokisaki	Japan	February 1, 2022	January 31, 2024
Makoto Tanaka	Japan	February 1, 2024	May 14, 2024
Shinji Kobayashi	Japan	May 15, 2024	current