Kyoto Sanga (京都サンガ) is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. The club plays in the J1 League, the top tier of football in the country. Its name "Sanga" comes from the Sanskrit word sangha, a term meaning "group" or "club" and often used to denote the Buddhist priesthood, associating the club with Kyoto's many Buddhist temples.[3]
 | |||
| Full name | Kyoto Sanga Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Purple Sanga | ||
| Founded | 1922, as Kyoto Shiko Club (京都紫光クラブ) | ||
| Ground | Sanga Stadium by Kyocera Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan | ||
| Capacity | 21,600 | ||
| Owner | Kyoto Purple Sanga Co., Ltd. | ||
| Chairman | Masaaki Ito | ||
| Manager | Cho Kwi-jae | ||
| League | J1 League | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports |
| Founded | January 13, 1994 in Kyoto, Japan[1] |
Key people | Hiroshi Imai (Chairman) Kazuo Inamori (Honorary President)[1] |
| Products | Football club |
| Revenue |  ¥ 2140 million (2014)[1] |
| Owners | Kyocera (55.4%)[2] Nintendo (16.6%)[2] |
The club was formerly known as Kyoto Purple Sanga with "purple", the colour of the team uniforms, an imperial colour reflecting Kyoto's status as Japan's ancient imperial capital city. It was decided that, from 2007, the team will simply be known as "Kyoto Sanga". They are the oldest club competing in the J.League.
Kyoto Sanga have won 2 J2 League title and 1 Emperor's Cup.
History
The club was started as Kyoto Shiko Club, one of the few proper Japanese football clubs in the sense of being strictly dedicated to football and not being part of a company. Like Ventforet Kofu, it could not rise to a Japan Soccer League First Division dominated by company teams; in 1993, after the J.League was created, Kyoto Shiko Club, aided by funds from local new sponsors Kyocera and Nintendo, professionalized (though some players broke away and formed their own clubs, see below) and joined the former Japan Football League under the new name Kyoto Purple Sanga.
First joining the J.League in 1996, Kyoto Purple Sanga hold the dubious distinction of being the League's most relegated side, having been demoted on three separate occasions. Relegation to J2 League occurred at the end of the 2000, 2003 and 2006 seasons; more than any other team.[3] The 2003 relegation happened despite having many national team players such as Park Ji-sung and Daisuke Matsui on its roster and they eventually left for European clubs.
In December 2007, the club gained J1 League status for the fourth time in their history via the promotion/relegation playoff and therefore shorten its club name to Kyoto Sanga.[4] A 0–2 home defeat to Urawa Reds on 14 November 2010 confirmed Sanga's relegation back to J2, bringing an end to their three-season spell in the top flight.[5]
In 2021 season, Kyoto Sanga secure return to J1 League after a 11 years absence and finish in runner-up. In 2022 season, Kyoto Sanga stay in J1 League after draw 1–1 against Roasso Kumamoto in Promotion Relegation play-offs.
Affiliated clubs
- Amitie SC (Kansai Soccer League Division 1) – broke away from the original Kyoto Shiko Club upon professionalization; amateur club
- Kyoto Shiko Club (Kansai Soccer League Division 2) – broke away from Kyoto BAMB 1993 (now Kyoto Amitie) in 1998; amateur club
- Shiko Club women's (Kansai Women's Soccer League) – linked with today's Kyoto Shiko Club
Kit and colours
Colours
Kyoto Sanga is considered the main continuation of the Kyoto Shiko Club that competed in the Japan Soccer League Second Division. "Shiko" (紫光) means "brilliant purple" and is the colour that Shiko/Sanga have always worn.
Kit evolution
| Home Kit - 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          1997 - 1998 |      1999 |  2000 |      2001 - 2002 |      2003 - 2004 |
     2005 - 2006 |      2007 - 2008 |  2009 - 2010 |      2011 - 2012 |   2013 |
| 2014 |     2015 - 2016 |      2017 - 2018 |      2019 |      2020 |
     2021 |      2022 |      2023 |     2024 - | |
| Away Kit - 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
     1997 - 1998 |      1999 - 2000 |      2001 - 2002 |      2003 - 2004 |      2005 - 2006 |
     2007 - 2008 2nd |    2007 - 2008 3rd |   2009 |  2010 |      2011 - 2012 |
  2013 | 2014 |     2015 - 2016 |      2017 - 2018 |      2019 |
     2020 |      2021 |      2022 |      2023 |     2024 - |
| 3rd choice | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 - 2008 3rd |    2019 Club 25th Anniversary |      2022 September Home Limited | ||
Home stadium
Takebishi Stadium Kyoto
Kyoto Sanga played most of their home match at the Takebishi Stadium Kyoto since their interception. The stadium holds up to 20,588 capacity and was built in 1942. In 2019, Kyoto Sanga announced plans to move to Sanga Stadium by Kyocera, a new, football-specific stadium being built in Kameoka, in time for the 2020 season .
Sanga Stadium by Kyocera
On 11 January 2020, Kyoto Sanga moved to their new stadium, the Sanga Stadium by Kyocera which is the first professional football-specific stadium in Kyoto. The naming rights were purchased by ceramic company Kyocera having signed a 20-years deal worth ¥2 billion.
Current squad
- As of 19 April 2024[6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | FW |  JPN | Kazunari Ichimi |
| 23 | FW | JPN | Yuta Toyokawa |
| 24 | DF | JPN | Yuta Miyamoto (on loan from Urawa Reds) |
| 25 | MF | JPN | Teppei Yachida |
| 26 | GK | JPN | Gakuji Ota |
| 28 | DF | JPN | Toichi Suzuki |
| 30 | DF | JPN | Rikuto Iida |
| 31 | FW | JPN | Sora Hiraga |
| 36 | GK | JPN | Akira Fantini |
| 39 | MF | JPN | Taiki Hirato |
| 44 | MF | JPN | Kyo Sato |
| 45 | DF | JPN | Kotaro Kanda Type 2 |
| 46 | MF | JPN | Taiga Ishimoto Type 2 |
| 47 | FW | JPN | Yuma Nishioka Type 2 |
| 48 | MF | JPN | Ryuma Nakano DSP |
| 50 | DF | JPN | Yoshinori Suzuki |
| 94 | GK |  KOR | Gu Sung-yun |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | FW | JPN | Yudai Kimura (on loan to Tokyo Verdy) |
| — | FW | JPN | Fuki Yamada (on loan to Tokyo Verdy) |
Club officials
For the 2024 season.
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | Cho Kwi-jae |
| Assistant manager | Tetsu Nagasawa |
| First-team coach | Ryuji Ishikawa Koichi Sugiyama Naomichi Wakamiya Shuto Wakui |
| Goalkeeping coach | Yasuhiro Tominaga |
| Physical coach | Hirokazu Nishigata |
| Chief Trainer | Minoru Kimoto |
| Trainer | Yoshiaki Shirai Masaki Dozono Takuya Kawada |
| Interpreter | Taketo Okamoto Hiroki Kimura |
| Competent | Naoya Omae |
| Side Affairs | Ryusei Ishikura |
| Kit man | Noriyuki Matsuura |
Honours
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Kansai Soccer League | 4 | 1969, 1971, 1979, 1988 |
| All Japan Senior Football Championship | 1 | 1988 |
| J2 League | 2 | 2001, 2005 |
| Emperor's Cup | 1 | 2002 |
Managerial history
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | ||
| Bunji Kimura | Japan | 1 January 1983 | 30 June 1990 |
| George Yonashiro | Japan | 1 February 1994 | 31 January 1995 |
| Oscar |  Brazil | 1 February 1995 | 10 June 1996 |
| George Yonashiro | Japan | 11 June 1996 | 31 January 1997 |
| Pedro Rocha |  Uruguay | 1 January 1997 | 31 December 1997 |
| Hans Ooft |  Netherlands | 1 February 1998 | 1 June 1998 |
| Hidehiko Shimizu | Japan | 2 June 1998 | 30 June 1999 |
| Shū Kamo | Japan | 1 July 1999 | 31 May 2000 |
| Gert Engels |  Germany | 1 June 2000 | 31 May 2003 |
| Bunji Kimura | Japan | 1 June 2003 | 30 June 2003 |
| Pim Verbeek | Netherlands | 1 July 2003 | 31 December 2003 |
| Akihiro Nishimura | Japan | 1 February 2004 | 13 June 2004 |
| Kōichi Hashiratani | Japan | 14 June 2004 | 4 October 2006 |
| Naohiko Minobe | Japan | 5 October 2006 | 11 October 2007 |
| Hisashi Katō | Japan | 12 October 2007 | 27 July 2010 |
| Yutaka Akita | Japan | 27 July 2010 | 31 January 2011 |
| Takeshi Ōki | Japan | 1 February 2011 | 31 January 2014 |
| Valdeir Vieira | Brazil | 1 January 2014 | 18 June 2014 |
| Ryōichi Kawakatsu | Japan | 29 June 2014 | 31 January 2015 |
| Masahiro Wada | Japan | 1 February 2015 | 10 July 2015 |
| Kiyotaka Ishimaru | Japan | 11 July 2015 | 6 December 2016 |
| Takanori Nunobe | Japan | 1 January 2017 | 10 May 2018 |
| Boško Gjurovski |  North Macedonia | 11 May 2018 | 31 January 2019 |
| Ichizō Nakata | Japan | 1 February 2019 | 31 January 2020 |
| Noritada Saneyoshi | Japan | 1 February 2020 | 31 January 2021 |
| Cho Kwi-jae | South Korea | 1 February 2021 | Current |
Club captains
- Naohiko Minobe 1994
- Makoto Sugiyama 1995
- Satoru Mochizuki 1996
- Ruy Ramos 1997
- Yuji Okuma 1997
- Hajime Moriyasu 1998
- Hisashi Kurosaki 1999
- Kazuyoshi Miura 2000
- Naoto Otake 2001
- Hiroshi Noguchi 2002
- Kiyotaka Ishimaru 2003–2004
- Daisuke Nakaharai 2005–2006
- Daisuke Saito 2007
- Yuto Sato 2008–2009
- Atsushi Yanagisawa 2010
- Diego 2011
- Hiroki Nakayama 2012
- Jun Ando 2013
- Koji Yamase 2014
- Satoshi Yamaguchi 2015
- Takanori Sugeno 2016–2017
- Yuta Someya 2018
- Takumi Miyayoshi 2019
- Jun Ando 2020
- Temma Matsuda 2021–2022
- Sota Kawasaki 2023–
Record as J.League member
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | P | W (OTW / PKW) | D | L (OTL / PKL) | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyoto Purple Sanga | ||||||||||||||
| 1996 | J1 | 16 | 16th | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 22 | 54 | -32 | 24 | 9,404 | Group stage | Quarter-finals |
| 1997 | 17 | 14th | 32 | 9 (0 / 0) | - | 18 (3 / 2) | 40 | 70 | -30 | 27 | 7,881 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 1998 | 18 | 13th | 34 | 10 (4 / 1) | - | 16 (3 / 0) | 47 | 63 | -16 | 39 | 8,015 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 1999 | 16 | 12th | 30 | 9 (2) | 0 | 15 (4) | 38 | 58 | -20 | 31 | 8,859 | 2nd round | Round of 16 | |
| 2000 | 16 | 15th | 30 | 7 (1) | 2 | 15 (5) | 39 | 66 | -27 | 25 | 7,253 | Semi-finals | 3rd round | |
| 2001 | J2 | 12 | 1st | 44 | 23 (5) | 5 | 11 (0) | 79 | 48 | 31 | 84 | 3,808 | 1st round | Round of 16 |
| 2002 | J1 | 16 | 5th | 30 | 11 (6) | 1 | 12 | 44 | 42 | 2 | 46 | 10,352 | Group stage | Winner |
| 2003 | 16 | 16th | 30 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 28 | 60 | -32 | 23 | 10,850 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 2004 | J2 | 12 | 5th | 44 | 19 | 12 | 13 | 65 | 53 | 12 | 69 | 7,807 | Not eligible | 4th round |
| 2005 | 12 | 1st | 44 | 30 | 7 | 7 | 89 | 40 | 49 | 97 | 7,857 | 4th round | ||
| 2006 | J1 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 38 | 74 | -36 | 22 | 9,781 | Group stage | 4th round |
| Kyoto Sanga | ||||||||||||||
| 2007 | J2 | 13 | 3rd | 48 | 24 | 14 | 10 | 80 | 59 | 21 | 86 | 6,629 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2008 | J1 | 18 | 14th | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 37 | 46 | -9 | 41 | 13,687 | Group stage | Round of 16 |
| 2009 | 18 | 12th | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 35 | 47 | -12 | 41 | 11,126 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 2010 | 18 | 17th | 34 | 4 | 7 | 23 | 30 | 60 | -30 | 19 | 10,510 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 2011 | J2 | 20 | 7th | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 50 | 45 | 5 | 58 | 6,294 | Not eligible | Runners-up |
| 2012 | 22 | 3rd | 42 | 23 | 5 | 14 | 61 | 45 | 16 | 74 | 7,273 | 3rd round | ||
| 2013 | 22 | 3rd | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 68 | 46 | 22 | 70 | 7,891 | 3rd round | ||
| 2014 | 22 | 9th | 42 | 14 | 18 | 10 | 57 | 52 | 5 | 60 | 7,520 | 3rd round | ||
| 2015 | 22 | 17th | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 45 | 51 | -6 | 50 | 7,491 | 3rd round | ||
| 2016 | 22 | 5th | 42 | 18 | 15 | 9 | 50 | 37 | 13 | 69 | 6,524 | 2nd round | ||
| 2017 | 22 | 12th | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 55 | 47 | 8 | 57 | 6,748 | 2nd round | ||
| 2018 | 22 | 19th | 42 | 12 | 7 | 23 | 40 | 58 | -18 | 43 | 5,663 | 3rd round | ||
| 2019 | 22 | 8th | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 59 | 56 | 3 | 68 | 7,850 | 2nd round | ||
| 2020 † | 22 | 8th | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 47 | 45 | 2 | 59 | 2,924 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2021 † | 22 | 2nd | 42 | 24 | 12 | 6 | 59 | 31 | 28 | 84 | 5,207 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2022 | J1 | 18 | 16th | 34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 30 | 38 | -8 | 36 | 11,692 | Play-off stage | Semi-finals |
| 2023 | 18 | 13th | 34 | 12 | 4 | 18 | 40 | 45 | -5 | 40 | 12,141 | Group stage | 2nd round | |
| 2024 | 18 | TBA | 38 | 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
- OTW / PKW = Overtime wins / Penalty kicks wins 1997 & 1998 seasons - 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2002 Overtime wins only
- OTL / PKL = Overtime losses / Penalty kicks losses 1997 and 1998 seasons - 1999, 2000 & 2001 Overtime losses only
- 3 points for a win; 2 points for an overtime win (OTW), 1 point for a penalty kick win (PKW); 1 point for a drawn game.
- Attendance/G = Average home league attendance
- † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
- Source: J.League Data Site
League History
- Kansai Soccer League: 1966–1971 (as Kyoto Shiko Club)
- Division 2 (JSL Division 2): 1972–1978 (as Kyoto Shiko Club)
- Kansai Soccer League: 1979–1988 (as Kyoto Shiko Club)
- Division 2 (JSL Division 2): 1989–1991 (as Kyoto Shiko Club)
- Division 3 (Old JFL Division 2): 1992 (as Kyoto Shiko Club)
- Division 2 (Old JFL Division 1): 1993–1995 (as Kyoto Shiko Club 1993; Kyoto Purple Sanga afterwards)
- Division 1 (J1 League): 1996–2000 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga)
- Division 2 (J2 League): 2001 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga)
- Division 1 (J1 League): 2002–2003 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga)
- Division 2 (J2 League): 2004–2005 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga)
- Division 1 (J1 League): 2006 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga)
- Division 2 (J2 League): 2007
- Division 1 (J1 League): 2008–2010
- Division 2 (J2 League): 2011–2021
- Division 1 (J1 League): 2022–present
(As of 2023): 13 seasons in the top tier, 28 seasons in the second tier, 1 season in the third tier and 16 seasons in the Regional Leagues.