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Iwate Grulla Morioka
いわてグルージャ盛岡
Full nameIwate Grulla Morioka
Nickname(s)Tsuru (The Cranes)
Founded2003; 21 years ago (2003)
Stadium Iwagin Stadium
Morioka, Iwate
Capacity4,938
Chairman Yutaka Akita
Manager Tetsuji Nakamikawa
League J3 League
2023J3 League, 10th of 20
Website Club website

Iwate Grulla Morioka (いわてグルージャ盛岡, Iwate Gurūja Morioka) is a Japanese association football club based in Morioka, capital of Iwate Prefecture. They currently play in J3 League, the Japanese third tier of professional football.

Name origin

"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.

History

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.

In 2013 they won the Regional Promotion Series and were promoted directly to the newly formed J3 League, skipping the Japan Football League which became the new fourth tier.

From the 2019 season, the club has adopted the new name as "Iwate Grulla Morioka". [1] In 2021 they earned promotion to the J2 League as J3 runners-up and will make their debut in the second tier in 2022.

On 28 October 2022, Iwate Grulla Morioka acquired the J1 License, meaning that from the 2022 season, they can now be promoted to the J1 League if the club finishes in J2's Top 2.

It played in the inaugural season of J3 League in 2014 after winning the Tohoku Soccer League, one of the Japanese Regional Leagues, in 2013. Iwate played in the J3 until 2021, when was promoted to the J2 for the 2022 season. After just a season in the second division, the club was relegated back to the J3 with a bottom-league finish of 34 points won in 42 matches.

Stadium

Iwate plays at (or have played) at three stadiums. Their main stadium is Iwagin Stadium, which has a capacity of 4,938.

The second stadium is the Kitakami Stadium, located in the city of Kitakami, Iwate, which has a capacity of 6,376.

They have played before at the Iwate Morioka Stadium.

League & cup record

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League J. League
Cup
Emperor's
Cup
Shakaijin
Cup
Season Division Tier Teams Pos. P W D L F A GD Pts Attendance\G
2003 Tohoku League
Div. 2 North
5 6 4th 10 5 3 2 16 12 4 18 Not eligible
2004 6 1st 10 9 1 0 54 9 45 28
2005 Tohoku League
Div. 1
4 7 1st 12 9 2 1 36 10 26 29 1st round
2006 8 2nd 14 11 0 3 32 18 14 30
2007 8 1st 14 13 0 1 65 14 51 39
2008 8 1st 14 12 2 0 63 8 55 38 2nd round
2009 8 1st 14 11 3 0 59 15 44 36 1st round
2010 8 1st 14 12 1 1 57 11 46 37 2nd round
2011 7 2nd 12 8 3 1 35 15 20 27 1st round 2nd round
2012 7 2nd 12 10 0 2 48 5 43 30 1st round
2013 10 1st 18 16 1 1 95 10 85 49 1st round Runner's up
2014 J3 3 12 5th 33 12 9 12 34 25 9 45 1,522 1st round Not eligible
2015 13 11th 36 11 8 17 36 47 −11 35 1,239 1st round
2016 16 13th 30 6 12 12 43 47 −4 30 1,182 3rd round
2017 17 15th 32 7 8 17 32 49 −17 29 1,337 2nd round
2018 17 13th 32 12 4 16 41 56 −15 40 1,216 1st round
2019 18 18th 34 7 5 22 36 63 −27 26 1,368 2nd round
2020 18 11th 34 11 9 14 36 47 -11 42 481 Did not qualify
2021 15 2nd 28 15 8 5 43 28 15 53 1,394 3rd round
2022 J2 2 22 22nd 42 9 7 26 35 80 -45 34 3,087 3rd round
2023 J3 3 20 TBA 38 15 9 14 48 49 -1 54 1,254 2nd round
2024 20 TBA 38
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
  • Attendance/G = Average home league attendance
  • 2020 season attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
  • Source: J.League Data Site

Honours

Iwate Grulla Morioka Honours
Honour No. Years
Tohoku League Div. 2 North 1 2004
Tohoku League Div. 1 6 2005 (Shared with TDK), 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013

Current squad

As of 1 February 2024. [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 Japan  JPN Takuo Okubo
3 DF Japan  JPN Ryo Saito
4 DF Japan  JPN Daisuke Fukagawa
5 DF Japan  JPN Maaya Sako (on loan from Tokyo Verdy)
6 DF Japan  JPN Shunki Takahashi
7 FW Japan  JPN Shumpei Fukahori
8 MF Japan  JPN Tsubasa Yuge
9 FW Japan  JPN Ken Tokura
10 MF Nigeria  NGA Kenneth Otabor
11 MF Japan  JPN Sota Kiri
13 MF Japan  JPN Daiki Kogure
14 MF Japan  JPN Koki Matsubara
15 MF Japan  JPN Toi Kagami
16 DF North Korea  PRK Ryu Se-gun
17 MF Japan  JPN Ryo Niizato
18 DF Japan  JPN Tsuyoshi Miyaichi
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW Japan  JPN Miyu Sato
20 MF Japan  JPN Shota Shimogami
21 GK Japan  JPN Agashi Inaba
22 DF Japan  JPN Daigo Nishi
23 FW Japan  JPN Koki Toyoda (on loan from Nagoya Grampus)
25 DF Japan  JPN Yuzuki Yamato (on loan from Ventforet Kofu)
27 DF Japan  JPN Kaio Yabunaka
29 MF Japan  JPN Koki Mizuno
30 MF Japan  JPN Shuto Adachi (on loan from Vissel Kobe)
31 GK South Korea  KOR Kim Sung-kon
32 FW Japan  JPN Mamoru Kamisasanuki
44 DF Japan  JPN Eiru Aratama
46 MF Japan  JPN Atsutaka Nakamura
51 DF Japan  JPN Kota Fukatsu
77 MF Japan  JPN Kanta Komatsu

Club staff

For the 2023 season.

Position Staff
Chairman Japan Yutaka Akita
Manager Japan Tetsuji Nakamikawa
First-Team Coach South Korea Kim Song-yong
Goalkeeper Coach Japan Izumi Niinuma
Physical Coach Japan Hirofumi Sakamoto
Technical Coach Japan Kazuki Fukayama
Team Doctor Japan Moritaka Maruyama
Japan Goro Tajima
Japan Ryunosuke Oikawa
Japan Shinya Oikawa
Japan Shuhei Kikuchi
Japan Yasutaka Oya
Japan Ko Tanifuji
Japan Hiroki Kaneko
Japan Shuntaro Wada
Athletic Trainer Japan Tomoaki Mikiya
Trainer Japan Nobuyuki Sasaki
Physiotherapist Japan Kotaro Watanabe
Interpreter Japan Sergio Iwasaki
Competent Japan Hiroki Abe
Side Affairs Japan Kazuki Oshima

Managerial history

Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Shinobu Yoshida   Japan 2003
Shinichi Muto   Japan 2004 2005
Toru Yoshida   Japan 2006 2010
Naoki Naruo   Japan 1 February 2012 31 January 2016
Akihiko Kamikawa   Japan 1 February 2016 31 December 2016
Toshimi Kikuchi   Japan 1 February 2017 31 January 2020
Yutaka Akita   Japan 1 February 2020 31 January 2023
Yoshika Matsubara   Japan 1 February 2023 19 September 2023
Tetsuji Nakamikawa   Japan 20 September 2023 Current

Kit evolution

Home Kits - 1st
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -
Away Kits - 2nd
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -
Sprcial Kits - 3rd
2021 3rd -

References

  1. ^ Iwate Grulla Morioka(in Japanese)
  2. ^ "PROFILE". grulla-morioka.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 February 2023.

External links