Verspah Oita
ヴェルスパ大分
Full nameVerspah Oita
Founded2003 (2003)
GroundOita Sports Park
Capacity16,000
ChairmanSanu Toru
ManagerTakashi Yamahashi[1]
LeagueJapan Football League
20236th of 15
WebsiteClub website

Verspah Oita (ヴェルスパ大分, Verusupa Ōita) is a Japanese football club based in the city of Ōita, capital of Ōita Prefecture. They currently play in the Japan Football League, the fourth tier of Japanese league football.[2] The 2023 season is their 12th consecutive season in the JFL.

History

The club was formed in 2003 as Hoyo FC. In 2005 they changed their name to Hoyo Atletico Elan, the name in which they competed for many years in the Kyushu Football League. The club is backed by the Hoyo Group, a digital camera and auto parts manufacturer based in nearby Kunisaki. In 2010 they changed their name to Hoyo Atletico Elan Oita. In 2011, they changed their name to Hoyo AC Elan Oita, won the Kyushu Soccer League and earned third place in the Regional League promotion series, which gave them qualification to compete in the JFL from 2012. Ahead of a league jump, they changed their name to Hoyo Oita on 2012.

In December 2013, the club tried to get closer ties to the community and therefore made another name change, this time to Verspah Oita (ヴェルスパ大分, Verusupa Ōita), for the 2014 season onwards, which the club have kept untouched ever since.[3]

In 2020, Verspah won their first Japan Football League title. The title campaign was fairly unusual, as issues regarding COVID-19 prevented the league to be held normally. The clubs were only able to play the first half of the planned matches, 15 out of 30. The league decided to abandon the season and give the title to the 1st-placed team at that time, which was Verspah Oita. As the club did not have a J3 license at the time, the club was unable to receive promotion to professional league football, despite being a J.League 100 Year Plan club status holders.

In 2021, with the league operating normally with all matches being played, Verspah ended the league season in the 3rd place, but, the same issue was brought up. The club still was not a J3 license holder, and then, could not get promoted to the J3. Their J3 license was issued and granted only in the following 2022 season, which the club finished in 8th place, eight points off the promotion zone.

Team name

The current team's name, "Verspah", was coined by combining the Portuguese word "vermelho", which means "red", and the English word "spa", which represents hot springs (after famously-known Beppu Onsen), and the initial letter "H" of the former team name Hoyo Oita.

Home Towns

The main home towns are Beppu and Yufu. On 28 June 2022, at a J.League Board of Directors meeting,[4] they approved the addition of the Ōita city.

Historical Logos

used until 2012used 2012–2013
Hoyo AC Elan Oita crest, used until 2012
Hoyo Oita crest, used in 2012 and 2013

League & cup record

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
LeagueEmperor's
Cup
SeasonDivisionTierPos.PW (PK)DL (PK)FAGDPtsAtt/G
Hoyo Atletico Elan
2007 Oita Prefectural League
(Div. 1)		52nd108115354825–
2008 3rd1071244113322–
2009 1st98103953425–
Hoyo Atletico Elan Oita
2010 Kyushu Soccer
League		41st1613 (2)–1 (0)48840441st round
Hoyo AC Elan Oita
2011 Kyushu Soccer
League		41st1815 (2)–0 (1)551144491st round
Hoyo Oita
2012 JFL 315th3298154057-17354792nd round
2013 15th3495203245-13323332nd round
Verspah Oita
2014 JFL47th2689930282333332nd round
2015 10th30107134047-7374882nd round
2016 13th30613113042-1231488–
2017 14th30512132746-19274072nd round
2018 9th30116132938-9395821st round
2019 7th3010101042366405031st round
2020 † 1st151023271611323064th round
2021 † 3rd32195846242262386Round of 16
2022 8th30127114044-4431,5902nd round
2023 6th28101082829-1408343rd round
2024 TBD30TBC
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
  • Att/G = Average home league attendance
  • † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic

Honours

  • Oita Prefecture League 3rd Division
    • Winners (1): 2005
  • Oita Prefecture League 2nd Division
    • Winners (1): 2006
  • Oita Prefecture League 2nd Division
    • Winners (1): 2009
  • Kyushu League
    • Winners (2): 2010, 2011
  • Japan Football League

Current squad

As of 23 August 2023.[5] 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 Japan JPN Takashi Himeno
2 DF Japan JPN Yuta Nakamura
3 DF Japan JPN Konosuke Fukumiya
4 DF Japan JPN Daigo Nishimura (vice-captain)
5 MF Japan JPN Tatsumi Hineno
6 DF Japan JPN Hikaru Ishigami
7 MF Japan JPN Takumi Nakano
8 MF Japan JPN Hirohito Shinohara (captain)
9 MF Japan JPN Kazuho Yamasaki
10 MF Japan JPN Kento Yabuuchi
11 MF Japan JPN Kodai Nagashima
13 FW Japan JPN Koya Handa
14 DF Japan JPN Hayato Nishinoue
15 MF Japan JPN Yusuke Kaneko
16 MF Japan JPN Genki Tateiwa
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF Japan JPN Takumi Fujimoto
18 FW Japan JPN Makoto Nakamura
19 FW Japan JPN Shinma Sakai
20 GK Japan JPN Shun Sato
21 MF Japan JPN Kanta Kokura
22 MF Japan JPN Kosei Uryu
23 FW Japan JPN Shunnosuke Matsuki
25 DF Japan JPN Takuma Otake (on loan from Kashiwa Reysol)
28 MF Japan JPN Itsuki Ajima
29 DF Japan JPN Shun Taketa
30 DF Japan JPN Tsutomu Murata
31 GK Japan JPN Tatsunori Matsumoto
40 FW Japan JPN Takuto Nakai (on loan from Fujieda MYFC)
50 DF Japan JPN Koji Sugiyama (vice-captain)

Club Staff

Position Staff
ManagerJapan Takashi Yamahashi
Assistant ManagerJapan Toyoki Hasegawa
Japan Hiroshi Tanaka
Goalkeeper CoachJapan Yuya Kumagai
Physical CoachJapan Shota Maki
TrainerJapan Takuya Kawasaki
Chief / Kit manJapan Ryota Sakamoto

Managerial history

ManagerNationalityTenure
StartFinish
Haruo Yuki Japan1 January 1, 201231 December 2015
Tōru Sano Japan1 February 201631 January 2018
Shigemitsu Sudō Japan1 February 201831 January 2021
Takashi Yamahashi Japan1 February 2021Current

References

  1. ↑ "New Manager for 2021". verspah.jp. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  2. ↑ "Japan - Verspah Oita - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news - Soccerway". www.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  3. ↑ "ニュース一覧 | HOYO大分". hoyo-oita.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-12.
  4. ↑ "Addition of Oita City as Hometown". verspah.jp. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  5. ↑ "選手紹介". verspah.jp. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
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