FC Ryukyu

The club was founded in 2003. Most of the players who initially joined the club were those who had left Okinawa Kariyushi FC after a rift with their management, which were beholden to the Kariyushi hotel chain. Their first 2003 season saw them win the championship in Okinawa Prefectural Division 3 North. They were allowed to skip to Division 1 the next season, where they again succeeded in finishing top of the table.

In the 2005 season, they belonged to the Kyūshū Regional League (Kyu League). After finishing 2nd and winning the Regional League play-off, they were promoted to the JFL and became the first ever Okinawan football side who played in a national league.

In December 2007, the club appointed former Japan national coach Philippe Troussier as their general manager. Jean-Paul Rabier was appointed as their manager in January 2008.

They applied for J. League Associate Membership in January 2008, but their application was declined at the J. League board meeting held on February 19, 2008.

In December 2008, the resignation of Rabier was announced. Former coach Hiroyuki Shinzato was promoted to be the new manager in January 2009.

In 2014, FC Ryukyu could finally join the J3 League.

In January 2015, FC Ryukyu announced a partnership with Seoul United from the Korean Challengers League. According to the agreement the teams will play a friendly match every year. The first match was scheduled for 1 March 2015.

FC Ryukyu have made steady progress in recent years, finishing in 8th place in J3 in 2016, and improving on that the following year, finishing 6th.

In the 2018 season they secured promotion to J2 with 3 games left after a 1–1 draw at Nagano Parceiro, and in the following game beat Thespakusatsu Gunma to claim the J3 title with two games to spare.

They started their first season in J2 in style with 4 straight wins to top the league, but faded as the season progressed eventually finishing in 14th place.

Their team colour is bengara, a shade of red pigment. It is called red ochre in English and can be generally described as claret. Bengara derives from a Dutch word bengala which in turn derives from Bengal, a region in India and Bangladesh. This name was given because the pigment was traditionally imported from Bengal to Japan. Okinawa has a close association with the bengara colour which is prominently applied to Shuri Castle, one of the most symbolic historical buildings in the area.

In 2008 they adopted a sky-blue trim for their home uniform, as their bengara pigment pattern was considered too and similar to Aston Villa from England (the claret and sky-blue pattern was around long before Troussier and the French staff arrived, so a coincidence in colours is feasible).

Their crest features a pair of Shisas, imaginary talismanic creatures in the area, and the crown of the kings of the former Ryukyu Kingdom.

Key

• Tms. = Number of teams
• Pos. = Position in league
• Attendance/G = Average home league attendance

• Japanese Regional Promotion Series:
  • Champions: 2005
• J3 League:
  • Champions: 2018

As of 28 June 2020.[1] 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  CRC Danny Carvajal 2 DF  JPN Yuya Torikai 3 DF  JPN Ryoji Fukui 4 DF  JPN Ryohei Okazaki 5 DF  BRA Felipe Tavares 6 MF  JPN Koki Kazama 8 MF  JPN Koya Kazama 9 DF  PRK Ri Yong-jik 10 MF  JPN Yu Tomidokoro 11 MF  JPN Keita Tanaka 13 MF  JPN Shuto Kawai 14 DF  JPN Keigo Numata 15 DF  JPN Tetsuya Chinen

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 FW  JPN Takuma Abe 17 GK  JPN Keisuke Tsumita 18 MF  JPN Kazuki Yamaguchi 19 FW  JPN Takuya Hitomi 20 MF  JPN Kazumasa Uesato 21 FW  JPN Shinya Uehara 23 MF  JPN Ren Ikeda 24 DF  JPN Daisei Suzuki 25 MF  KOR Lee Ji-seong 26 GK  JPN Junto Taguchi 27 MF  JPN Shunsuke Motegi 28 MF  JPN Yoshio Koizumi 31 GK  JPN Kosuke Inose

• Official website (in Japanese)