Urawa Red Diamonds

Urawa Red Diamonds (浦和レッドダイヤモンズ, Urawa Reddo Daiyamonzu), colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), are a Japanese professional football club based in Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Its name comes from the former city of Urawa, which is now a part of Saitama City.

Urawa Reds
Full nameUrawa Red Diamonds
Nickname(s)Reds (レッズ, Rezzu) / Red Devils (赤い悪魔, Akai Akuma)
Founded1950 (1950)
GroundSaitama Stadium 2002
Midori-ku, Saitama
Capacity63,700
OwnerMitsubishi Heavy Industries
ChairmanKeizo Fuchita
ManagerRicardo Rodríguez
LeagueJ1 League
2020J1 League, 10th of 18
WebsiteClub website
Old crest

The name Red Diamonds alludes to the club's pre-professional era parent company Mitsubishi. The corporation's logo consists of three red diamonds, one of which remains within the current club badge.

History

Shin-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries established a football club in 1950[1] in Kobe and moved the club to Tokyo in 1958. In 1965 it formed the Japan Soccer League (JSL) along with today's JEF United Chiba, Kashiwa Reysol, Cerezo Osaka, Sanfrecce Hiroshima and three other clubs who have since been relegated to regional leagues ("Original Eight"[lower-alpha 1]).

Mitsubishi first won the JSL championship in 1969, as a break in Mazda/Sanfrecce's dominance (and also with the fact that Toyo were in Bangkok, Thailand, competing in the Asian Club Cup); their runs up the first division were sporadic but steady until the 1980s when they fell into the Second Division. In 1990 they were promoted as JSL Division 2 champions, and thus were ready when the J-League implementation began in earnest. Urawa Red Diamonds was an original member ("Original Ten"[lower-alpha 2]) of the J.League in 1993.

Mitsubishi were the first Japanese club to complete a domestic treble, when in 1978 they won the title, the Emperor's Cup and the Japan Soccer League Cup.

The club has enjoyed mixed fortunes since the J-League advent. The club finished bottom of the league for the first two seasons of the J-League with an average crowd of under 15,000. In 1999 they suffered relegation to the second tier of Japanese football yet again. The club has since improved in form in recent years, starting with a 2003 victory in the Nabisco Cup.

In 2006 Urawa clinched their first professional league title by defeating runners-up Gamba Osaka 3–2 on December 2 before 63,000 supporters. This came after two close calls in the previous two years. In 2005, they finished 2nd, one point behind champions Gamba Osaka. In 2004, they finished 3rd in the first stage and won the second stage. Having qualified for the two-match J.League Championship decider, they lost on penalty kicks to Yokohama F. Marinos.

Urawa were back to back Emperor's Cup winners in 2005 and 2006. Winning the title for the first time since establishment as a professional club, they defeated Shimizu S-Pulse 2–1 on January 1, 2006, and retained the title in 2007 with a 1–0 win over Gamba Osaka. This win also completed a league-cup double. In the 2007 tournament they were defeated at the first hurdle by J2 outfit Ehime FC.

In 2007, despite a seemingly unassailable lead of seven points with four games remaining, Urawa picked up only two points from their final four games. This run included losing at home to Kashima Antlers; the club who would leapfrog Urawa on the final day of the season to claim their fifth J.League title. Following their capitulation in the fourth round of the Emperor's Cup to J2 outfit Ehime FC, Urawa had to be content with their 2007 Asian Champions League title. Urawa recorded their first international title after overcoming Iranian club Sepahan F.C. 3–1 on aggregate. The victory made them the first Japanese side to win the title since the competition was reorganised from the Asian Champions Cup in 2003. In the Club World Cup of the same year, Urawa became the first AFC club to finish in third place, beating Tunisian Étoile Sportive du Sahel side on penalty kicks in the third / fourth place play off.

In 2008, Urawa attempted to win their second consecutive Asian Champions League title and progressed to the semi finals where they were defeated by fellow J-League rivals, and eventual Champions League winners, Gamba Osaka 3–1 on aggregate.

On March 8, 2014, a banner which read "JAPANESE ONLY" was hung at one of the entrances to the stands.[2] As punishment for this racist behavior, the March 23 match was played in an empty stadium.[3]

International affiliation

The club is also notable in that former Feyenoord midfielder Shinji Ono began his professional career playing for Urawa. Ono returned for the 2006 season for a second stint with the club. Urawa is affiliated with German club FC Bayern Munich, whose nickname is also "The Reds".[4] Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the chairman of the FC Bayern Munich, announced that "We have been looking for clubs which have potential ability, management stability and cordial confidence. We could fulfill the desire to affiliate with this great club, Urawa Reds."[5] Some other foreign clubs, such as Arsenal F.C., Club Atlético Independiente, Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, VfB Stuttgart, Manchester United F.C., Feyenoord, Hamburger SV and Perth Glory FC, visited Japan and played friendly games at the Saitama Stadium.

In August 2004, Urawa appeared in a pre-season four-club friendly tournament, the Vodafone Cup, at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United. The Japanese club, missing key players, lost their first game 5–2 against the Argentinian side Boca Juniors. The second fixture against the hosts, Manchester United, was called off due to a massive electric storm. Some 800 Urawa fans had travelled to the game and were later compensated.

The club's supporters also have an unofficial relationship with Shanghai Shenhua. The clubs' supporters will support each other in continental competition. For example, Shenhua fans will support Urawa when Urawa plays in Shanghai against Shanghai SIPG.[6]

Stadium

International friendly match against Manchester United, July 30, 2005, Saitama Stadium

Since the establishment of J.League in 1992, the club had used tracked Urawa Komaba Stadium as its home stadium. Due to the increasing popularity of the matches, Saitama City, owner of the stadium, expanded the seat capacity some times. The club used Ōmiya Park Soccer Stadium until the works were complete. In spite of the poor performance of the club, the stadium was filled with faithful supporters, drawing an average audience of twenty thousand people.

In October 2001, Saitama Prefecture built new football-specific Saitama Stadium in Saitama city. This stadium was used as a venue for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. After the World Cup the club gradually increased home games in Saitama Stadium and in 2003 the stadium was formally designated as the home stadium. In 2008, only two games were held at Komaba Stadium.

Facilities

Urawa Reds uses Ohara City Field for training. In addition to this facility, the club opened Redsland in 2005, which has three grass fields, one artificial turf field, one baseball field, futsal courts and tennis courts.[7] Redsland is opened to the public and club members can use the facilities at relatively cheap fees.

Rivalries

Saitama derby

Urawa Red Diamonds has a local derby with Omiya Ardija, from Ōmiya-ku, Saitama city. They first met in the 1987 Emperor's Cup, with Mitsubishi defeating NTT Kanto by 5 to 0 at Nishigaoka National Stadium. The derby first took place in the JSL Second Division in the 1989–90 season, and it wouldn't take place until the 2000 season when Urawa was relegated to the second tier again. In 2003 the formerly separate Omiya and Urawa cities merged to become Saitama city, and since 2005 the derby became a top flight fixture after Omiya was promoted.

Marunouchi Gosanke

During the JSL years and into the 1990s, Urawa's main top flight rivals were JEF United Chiba and Kashiwa Reysol, both now based in Chiba Prefecture. Because of their former parent companies' headquarters being all based in Marunouchi, Tokyo, the three clubs were known as the Marunouchi Gosanke (丸の内御三家, "Marunouchi Big Three") and fixtures among them were known as the Marunouchi derbies, although the term is falling out of use as they are now based in different prefectures and rarely play home games in Tokyo stadiums.

Others

Rivals further afield include Kashima Antlers, FC Tokyo, Yokohama Marinos, Kawasaki Frontale, and, even farther away, Gamba Osaka. Old JSL championship rivalries with Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Cerezo Osaka and Shonan Bellmare have ebbed down as those clubs had nadirs in the second tier.

Women's and Amateur Teams

The club also has women's and amateur teams.

Kit and colours

Colours

The main colour of Urawa Red Diamonds is red.

Kit evolution

Record as J.League member

Season Div. Tms. Pos. Avg. Attd. Emperor's Cup J.League Cup Super Cup AFC CL Others
1992 Semi-final Group Stage
1993 J1 10 10 11,459 2nd round Group Stage
1994 J1 12 12 18,475 3rd round Quarter-final
1995 J1 14 4 19,560 Quarter-final
1996 J1 16 6 24,329 Semi-final Group Stage
1997 J1 17 10 20,504 4th round Quarter-final
1998 J1 18 6 22,706 Quarter-final Group Stage
1999 J1 16 15 21,206 4h Round Quarter-final
2000 J2 11 2 16,923 4h Round 1st round
2001 J1 16 10 26,720 Semi-final Quarter-final
2002 J1 16 11 26,296 3rd round Runners-up
2003 J1 16 6 28,855 3rd round Winner
2004 J1 16 2 36,660 Semi-final Runners-up
2005 J1 18 2 39,357 Winner Semi-final
2006 J1 18 1 45,573 Winner Quarter-final Winner
2007 J1 18 2 46,667 4th round Quarter-final Runners-up Winner A3 3rd Place
FIFA 3rd Place
2008 J1 18 7 47,609 5th round Group Stage Semi-final
2009 J1 18 6 44,210 2nd round Quarter-final
2010 J1 18 10 39,941 Quarter-final Group Stage
2011 J1 18 15 33,910 Quarter-final Runners-up
2012 J1 18 3 36,634 4th round Group Stage
2013 J1 18 6 37,100 3rd round Runners-up Group Stage
2014 J1 18 2 35,516 3rd round Quarter-final
2015 J1 18 3 38,745 Runners-up Quarter-final Runners-up Group Stage
2016 J1 18 2 36,935 4th round Winner Round of 16
2017 J1 18 7 33,542 4th round Quarter-final Runners-up Winner Suruga Winner
FIFA 5th Place
2018 J1 18 5 34,798 Winner Play-off stage
2019 J1 18 14 34,184 4th round Quarterfinal Runners-up Runners-up
2020 J1 18 10 7,869* Group Stage
Key
  • Tms. = Number of clubs
  • Pos. = Position in league
  • Attendance/G = Average league attendance

Honours

Domestic competitions

Mitsubishi (Amateur era)

  • Japan Soccer League Division 1
    • Champions (4): 1969, 1973, 1978, 1982
    • Runners-up (6): 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977
  • Japan Soccer League Division 2
    • Champions (1): 1989–90
  • Emperor's Cup
    • Winners (4): 1971, 1973, 1978, 1980
    • Runners-up (3): 1967, 1968, 1979
  • JSL Cup
    • Winners (2): 1978, 1981
  • Super Cup
    • Winners (3): 1979, 1980, 1983
    • Runners-up (1): 1981

Urawa Red Diamonds (Professional era)

Continental

International

Individual Awards

See Individual Award Winners (Urawa Red Diamonds)

Players

Current squad

As of 18 September 2020.[9] 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 Shusaku Nishikawa
4 DF  JPN Daisuke Suzuki
5 DF  JPN Tomoaki Makino (Vice-captain)
6 DF  JPN Ryosuke Yamanaka
7 MF  JPN Kazuki Nagasawa
8 MF  BRA Ewerton (on loan from Porto)
10 MF  JPN Yōsuke Kashiwagi (Captain)
11 FW  CUW Quenten Martinus
13 MF  JPN Ryotaro Ito
14 FW  JPN Kenyu Sugimoto
16 MF  JPN Takuya Aoki
20 DF  AUS Thomas Deng
22 MF  JPN Yuki Abe
24 MF  JPN Koya Yuruki
No. Pos. Nation Player
25 GK  JPN Haruki Fukushima
26 DF  JPN Takuya Ogiwara
27 DF  JPN Daiki Hashioka
28 DF  JPN Katsuya Iwatake
29 MF  JPN Kai Shibato
30 FW  JPN Shinzo Koroki (Vice-captain)
31 DF  JPN Takuya Iwanami
32 GK  JPN Ryo Ishii
36 GK  JPN Zion Suzuki
37 MF  JPN Hidetoshi Takeda
39 MF  JPN Kosuke Taketomi
41 MF  JPN Takahiro Sekine
45 FW  BRA Leonardo

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 Haruki Izawa (at Kagoshima United FC)
DF  BRA Maurício Antônio (at Portimonense)
FW  BRA Fabrício (at Portimonense)
No. Pos. Nation Player

World Cup players

The following players have represented their country at the World Cup whilst playing for Urawa Red Diamonds:

World Cup 1998

World Cup 2006

World Cup 2010

World Cup 2014

World Cup 2018

Club captains

  • Koichi Shitani 1992-1993
  • Fukuda Masahiro 1994-1997
  • Takashi Tsuchida 1998-1999
  • Shinji Ono 2000-2001
  • Masami Ihara 2001-2002
  • Uchidate Hideki 2003
  • Nobuhisa Yamada 2004-2008
  • Keita Suzuki 2009-2011
  • Yuki Abe 2012-2017
  • Yosuke Kashiwagi 2018-2019
  • Nishikawa Shusaku 2020

Former players

International capped players

JFA.
AFC/ CAF/ OFC.
UEFA.
CONMEBOL.

Managers

ManagerNat.Tenure
Hiroshi Ninomiya Japan1967–75
Takaji Mori Japan1993
Kenzo Yokoyama Japan1994
Holger Osieck GermanyJan 1, 1995 – Dec 31, 1996
Horst Köppel GermanyFeb 1, 1997 – Dec 31, 1997
Hiromi Hara Japan1998–99
Aad de Mos NetherlandsJuly 1, 1999 – Dec 3, 1999
Yasushi Yoshida Japan1999
Kazuo Saito Japan2000
Kenzo Yokoyama Japan2000
Tita BrazilJan 1, 2001 – June 30, 2001
Pita BrazilJuly 1, 2001 – Dec 31, 2001
Hans Ooft Netherlands2002 – Dec 31, 2003
Guido Buchwald GermanyJan 1, 2004 – Dec 31, 2006
Holger Osieck GermanyJan 1, 2007 – March 16, 2008
Gert Engels GermanyMarch 16, 2008 – Nov 27, 2008
Volker Finke GermanyJan 1, 2009 – Dec 31, 2010
Željko Petrović MontenegroJan 1, 2011 – Oct 20, 2011
Takafumi Hori (caretaker) JapanOct 20, 2011 – Dec 31, 2011
Mihailo Petrović SerbiaJan 1, 2012– July 30, 2017
Takafumi Hori JapanJuly 31, 2017 – April 1, 2018
Tsuyoshi Otsuki JapanApril 2, 2018 – April 24, 2018
Oswaldo de Oliveira BrazilApril 25, 2018 – May 28, 2019
Tsuyoshi Otsuki JapanMay 29, 2019 – December 22, 2020
Ricardo Rodríguez SpainDecember 22, 2020 –

League history

Excepting two seasons in which they were in the second tier, Mitsubishi/Urawa has always competed in the top flight, thereby being the club with the most top flight seasons total.

  • Mitsubishi (Amateur era)
    • Division 1 (JSL and JSL Div.1): 1965–66, 1988–89
    • Division 2 (JSL Div.2): 1989–90
    • Division 1 (JSL Div.1): 1990–91, 1991–92
  • Urawa Red Diamonds (Professional era)
  • Top scorer: Masahiro Fukuda with 152 goals

Notes

References

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Champions of Asia
2007
Succeeded by
Gamba Osaka
Preceded by
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Champions of Asia
2017
Succeeded by
Kashima Antlers
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