Iwate Grulla Morioka

"Grulla" is the Spanish word of "crane", which was used in the mon of Nanbu clan of former Morioka han and later became the local symbol of Morioka.

Initially known as Villanova Morioka (ヴィラノーバ盛岡, Viranōba Morioka), the team was organized by alumni of Morioka Commercial High School and Morioka Chuo High School in 2000.

In 2003, a nonprofit organization Association of Setting Up a J. League Team in Morioka (Jリーグチームを盛岡に作る会, J Rīgu chīmu wo Morioka ni tsukuru kai) was founded, and the team was reorganized and changed their name to Grulla Morioka (グルージャ盛岡) in February 2004 with the intention of achieving elevation to the J. League by 2008.

Under the new organization, former JEF United and Oita Trinita player Shinichi Muto was invited to coach and captain the team with the company of players from the defunct Villanova Morioka and from J2 league. They played their first match on May 9, 2004, and it could be seen as an introduction to the local press beforehand. They won the second division Tohoku Soccer League in 2004 and moved to the first division in 2005. In the same year, they won their first league championship, which was shared with TDK S.C. Toru Yoshida has been coaching the team since 2006.

From the 2019 season, the club has adopted the new name as "Iwate Grulla Morioka".[1]

As of 24 January 2021.[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 Kohei Doi 3 DF  JPN Kodai Fujii 4 DF  JPN Yusuke Muta 5 MF  JPN Keita Ishii 7 MF  BRA Lucas Morelatto 8 MF  JPN Kosei Wakimoto 11 FW  BRA Brenner 13 MF  JPN Yuki Shikama 14 MF  JPN Shota Yomesaka 15 MF  JPN Toi Kagami 16 DF  JPN Genki Hirakawa 17 DF  JPN Taisuke Nakamura 18 DF  JPN Tsuyoshi Miyaichi

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 GK  JPN Kenta Matsuyama 20 MF  JPN Megumu Nishida 21 GK  JPN Tomoyuki Suzuki 22 DF  JPN Shogo Sasaki 23 MF  JPN Ren Yamakawa 24 DF  JPN Yuta Sasaki 25 MF  JPN Kazuki Arinaga 26 DF  PHI Paul Bismarck Tabinass 27 MF  NGA Otabor Kenneth 28 MF  JPN Shunji Masuda 30 MF  JPN Takuma Takeda 46 DF  JPN Tatsuya Tabira 49 MF  JPN Masaomi Nakano

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 — MF  JPN Atsuki Shimizu (to Blancdieu Hirosaki FC)

• Grulla Morioka official site (in Japanese)
• GO！GO！GRULLA, a supporting TV program produced by Iwate Menkoi Television (in Japanese)
• グルージャまったり日記, fan site (in Japanese)