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Giravanz Kitakyushu

From Wikipedia - Reading time: 11 min

Giravanz Kitakyushu
ギラヴァンツ北九州
Full nameGiravanz Kitakyushu
Nickname(s)Giravanz, Kita-Q
Founded1947; 78 years ago (1947)[1]
StadiumMikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu
Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture
Capacity15,300
ChairmanYukito Tamai
ManagerKohei Masumoto
LeagueJ3 League
2024J3 League, 7th of 20
Websitegiravanz.jp
Current season

Giravanz Kitakyushu (ギラヴァンツ北九州, Giravantsu Kitakyūshū) is a Japanese football club based in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. They currently play in J3 League, Japanese third tier of professional league football.

History

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Mitsubishi Chemical SC (1947–2000)

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The club was formed in 1947 as part of Mitsubishi Chemical's Kurosaki factory. The club was a founding member of Kyushu regional league since 1973. Most of its career was spent in the regional and prefectural leagues, as Kitakyushu was represented in the Japan Soccer League by Yahata Steel F.C. Yahata was a founding member of the JSL in 1965, and finished as runner-up in its first two seasons in that league. Yahata was renamed New Nippon Steel F.C. in 1970, when Yahata Steel merged with Fuji Steel to form (New) Nippon Steel. It ultimately was relegated to the Second Division in 1982, then relegated from the Second Division to Kyushu regional league after 1990–91 season, and closed in 1999.

New Wave Kitakyushu (2001–2009)

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In 2001, the club became a community-oriented club (New Wave) Kitakyushu F.C.

In 2007 New Wave took second place in the Regional League promotion series, and was promoted to the JFL for the 2008 season.

The club applied for J. League Associate Membership in January 2008, and the application was accepted at the J. League board meeting on February 19, 2008.

On 1 April 2009, the club made an announcement that they would be accepting suggestions for a new name. This was because the name "New Wave" may cause trademark or tradename disputes.[2] Therefore, the new name had to be something not yet registered as a trademark.

Giravanz Kitakyushu (2010–present)

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On 2 October 2009, they announced that the new club name for the 2010 season would be Giravanz Kitakyushu (ギラヴァンツ北九州, Giravantsu Kitakyūshū). According to the official news release, the name "Giravanz" is coined from two Italian words: "Girasole", which means "sunflower", and "Avanzare", which means "moving forward".[3] (The sunflower is one of Kitakyushu's symbol flowers.)

On 23 November 2009, after a 2–1 win away against Arte Takasaki, Kitakyushu secured a top four position in the JFL for the 2009 season. They played in J. League Division 2 from 2010-2016.[4][5][6]

In its inaugural year in the pro ranks, despite attaining a large number of draw matches, Kitakyushu set new records for fewest wins and points in the season standings. After coming in last in the 2018 J3 League season, they named Shinji Kobayashi as the new manager and Sports Director. In 2019, Kobayashi led a turnaround; the club became league champions and were promoted to the 2020 J2 League. They finished 5th in 2020. At the end of the 2021 season, they were relegated to the J3 League, becoming the first J.League club relegated to the J3 League a second time. They finished 13th in 2022, and finished last in 2023. The 2023 season was the first J3 season to have relegation to the JFL, but Kitakyushu avoided it because both Honda FC and Briobecca Urayasu, the respective champions and runners-up of the JFL that season, did not have the necessary license for promotion. In 2024, Kitakyushu finished seventh, missing qualification to the playoffs by two points. The 2025 J3 season was the last season played on a calendar year format.

Stadium

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Giravanz played in the Honjo Athletic Stadium from 2010 until 2016.

Giravanz moved to the Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu, for the 2017 season.

League and cup record

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Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League J. League Cup Emperor's
Cup
Season Div. Tier Teams Pos. P W (PKW) D L (PKL) F A GD Pts Attendance/G
New Wave Kitakyushu
2003 Kyushu
Soccer
League		 4 12 4th 22 12 (1) - 5 (4) 65 46 19 42 - Not eligible –
2004 10 6th 18 9 (0) - 8 (1) 41 39 2 28 - Did not qualify
2005 10 6th 18 10 (0) - 5 (3) 51 30 21 33 -
2006 9 3rd 16 11 (1) - 3 (1) 45 23 22 36 -
2007 11 1st 20 17 (1) - 1 (1) 53 7 46 54 -
2008 JFL 3 18 10th 34 13 10 11 49 48 1 49 1,149 3rd round
2009 18 4th 34 16 10 8 49 31 18 58 3,411 1st round
Giravanz Kitakyushu
2010 J2 2 19 19th 36 1 12 28 20 65 -45 15 4,189 Not eligible 3rd round
2011 20 8th 38 16 10 12 45 46 -1 58 4,051 3rd round
2012 22 9th 42 19 7 16 53 47 6 64 3,346 2nd round
2013 22 16th 42 13 10 19 50 60 -10 49 3,175 3rd round
2014 22 5th 42 18 11 13 50 50 0 65 3,622 Quarter finals
2015 22 7th 42 18 5 19 59 58 1 59 3,488 2nd round
2016 22 22nd 42 8 14 20 43 64 -21 38 3,224 2nd round
2017 J3 3 17 9th 32 13 7 12 44 37 7 46 5,939 2nd round
2018 17 17th 32 6 9 17 22 42 -20 27 4,501 Did not qualify
2019 18 1st 34 19 9 6 51 27 24 66 6,049 2nd round
2020 † J2 2 22 5th 42 19 8 15 59 51 8 65 3,352 Did not qualify
2021 † 22 21st 42 7 14 21 35 66 -31 35 2,974 2nd round
2022 J3 3 18 13th 34 11 7 16 41 45 -4 40 3,613 1st round
2023 20 20th 38 7 10 21 33 45 -12 31 3,857 2nd round
2024 20 7th 38 15 11 12 41 39 2 56 4,649 2nd round 2nd round
2025 20 TBD 38 2nd round TBD
Key
  • Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goal Difference; Pts = Points gained
  • Attendance/G = Average home league attendance.
  • † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.
  • Source: J. League Data Site.[7]

Honours

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Giravanz Kitakyushu Honours
Honour No. Years
Kyushu Soccer League 8 1973, 1981, 1982, 1983,
1984, 1987, 1989, 2007
Fukuoka Prefectural Football Championship
Emperor's Cup Fukuoka Prefectural Qualifiers 		5 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024
J3 League 1 2019

Players

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Current squad

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As of 10 July 2025.[8]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Japan JPN Go Ito
4 DF Japan JPN Koki Hasegawa
6 MF Japan JPN Kota Hoshi
7 MF Japan JPN Ryuki Hirahara
8 MF Japan JPN Yamato Machida
9 FW Japan JPN Shuntaro Kawabe
10 FW Japan JPN Ryo Nagai
11 MF Japan JPN Kohei Kiyama
13 DF Japan JPN Renta Higashi (on loan from FC Tokyo)
14 MF Japan JPN Haruki Izawa (captain)
17 MF Japan JPN Rimpei Okano
18 FW Japan JPN Sota Watanabe
19 FW Japan JPN Futo Yoshihara
20 MF Japan JPN Asahi Yada
21 MF Japan JPN Taku Ushinohama
22 DF Japan JPN Kaoru Yamawaki
24 FW Japan JPN Mahiro Yoshinaga (on loan from Júbilo Iwata)
25 FW Japan JPN Raiki Tsubogo
No. Pos. Nation Player
27 GK Japan JPN Yuya Tanaka
28 MF Japan JPN Kaito Konomi (on loan from Cerezo Osaka)
29 FW South Korea KOR Koh Seung-jin
31 GK Japan JPN Koki Otani
32 MF Japan JPN Fumiya Takayanagi (on loan from Omiya Ardija)
34 MF Japan JPN Shoma Takayoshi
37 FW Japan JPN Kosei Yoshida DSP
39 GK Japan JPN Rissei Taniguchi
41 GK Japan JPN Mitsuki Sugimoto (on loan from Júbilo Iwata)
42 DF Japan JPN Tsukasa Sera
44 DF Japan JPN Yuma Tsujioka (on loan from Iwaki FC)
49 FW Japan JPN Naoya Komazawa (on loan from Yokohama FC)
50 DF Japan JPN Koji Sugiyama
51 MF Japan JPN Yutaro Sakashita Type 2
66 MF Japan JPN Daigo Takahashi (on loan from Machida Zelvia)
76 DF Japan JPN Kiriya Sakamoto (on loan from Montedio Yamagata)
99 FW Japan JPN Ryosuke Kabayama (on loan from Sagan Tosu)

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF Japan JPN Shinnosuke Ito (at Fukuyama City)
5 DF Japan JPN Takeaki Hommura (at Tokyo 23 FC)
No. Pos. Nation Player
23 DF Japan JPN Kakeru Sakamoto (at FC Osaka)
25 FW Japan JPN Raiki Tsubogo (at Belugarosso Iwami)

Coaching staff

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Position Name
Manager Japan Kohei Masumoto
Assistant manager Japan Norichika Kanemura
First-team coach Japan Yusuke Sudo
Goalkeeper coach Japan Shuto Yoshikawa
Physical coach Japan Gakuya Tatsuta
Trainer Japan Tatsuya Murakoshi
Japan Shinichi Todake
Japan Yuji Nakamura
Side managers Japan Tetsuya Tsuda
Japan Riku Namihira

Managerial history

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Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Yoshinori Sembiki  Japan 1 February 2005 31 January 2007
George Yonashiro  Japan 1 February 2007 31 January 2011
Yasutoshi Miura  Japan 1 February 2011 31 January 2013
Kōichi Hashiratani  Japan 1 February 2013 31 January 2017
Takeo Harada  Japan 1 February 2017 31 January 2018
Hitoshi Morishita  Japan 1 February 2018 17 June 2018
Tetsuji Hashiratani  Japan 20 June 2018 31 January 2019
Shinji Kobayashi  Japan 1 February 2019 31 January 2022
Kenichi Amano  Japan 1 February 2022 31 January 2023
Kazuaki Tasaka  Japan 1 February 2023 5 September 2023
Shinji Kobayashi  Japan 6 September 2023 Current

Colour, sponsors and manufacturers

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Season(s) Main Shirt Sponsor Collarbone Sponsor Additional Sponsor(s) Kit Manufacturer
2020 TOTO - - Yaskawa - Nafco Zenrin Penalty
2021 Yaskawa WingArc1st TOTO Aso Group
2022 WingArc1st dejiren
2023

Kit evolution

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Home kit - 1st
2010 - 2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025 -
Away kit - 2nd
2010 - 2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025 -

References

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  1. ^ Club Profile
  2. ^ Official website (Japanese only)[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Announcement of the new team name and its emblem (新チーム名称・エンブレム発表) Archived 2009-10-07 at the Wayback Machine New Wave Kitakyushu official website news release : dated 2 October 2009
  4. ^ Official website (Japanese only) Archived 2009-12-03 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "J's GOAL | オフィシャルニュース | ニューウェーブ北九州がＪリーグ入会". Archived from the original on 2009-12-04. Retrieved 2009-11-30. J's Goal Website (Japanese only)
  6. ^ http://www.tvq.co.jp/news/news.php?did=5162 [dead link]
  7. ^ "J. League Data Site". J. League. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  8. ^ "Players & Staff選手・スタッフ". Giravanz Kitakyushu. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
[edit]
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giravanz_Kitakyushu
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