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Tokushima Vortis
徳島ヴォルティス
Tokushima Vortis.png
Full name Tokushima Vortis
Nickname(s) Vortis
Founded 1955
Ground Naruto Athletic Stadium
Naruto, Tokushima
Ground Capacity 20,000
Chairman Kazuhiro Kishida
Manager Tatsuma Yoshida
League J2 League
2023 15th of 22

Tokushima Vortis (徳島ヴォルティス, Tokushima Vorutisu) is a Japanese professional football club located in Tokushima, capital of Tokushima Prefecture. The club currently playing in the J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football league.

Name origin

The name, "Vortis" was named in 1997 (see below), and it was explained as a coinage of Italian "Vortice" (meaning whirlpool, after the famous Naruto whirlpool in Naruto Strait). The name was chosen to exhibit the dynamics of a whirlpool in the hope of swallowing up the whole audience in excitement by its power, speed and unity.

History

Founded in 1955 as Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Soccer Club, VORTIS joined the J-League in 2005. They are still sponsored by Otsuka's best-known brand, Pocari Sweat sports drink.

They were first promoted to the old Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1989, but the company's reluctance to professionalize the team forced it to compete in the former JFL and current JFL. In the 1997 old JFL season, they first sported a Vortis Tokushima name, but the lack of fan interest at the time forced them to go back to the corporate identity. They finally adopted the Tokushima Vortis name for good after winning the new JFL championship in 2004 and being promoted.

The first season in J2 was naturally a difficult one for Vortis, but they surprised many sceptics with their determination and quality of play. The team rose as high as fourth place, at one point, before slipping down the table later in the season to finish ninth. In 2006, the team was forced to rebuild, as the players who took the team into the J.League began to hit the ceiling of their abilities and made way for younger replacements. As a result, despite the encouragement of a local rivalry with Ehime FC, Tokushima drifted down-table, and they followed it up with a last-place finish in 2007 and 2008.

In 2013, they earned fourth place in J2, matching the same placement they had two years before in the division and twenty years before in the old JFL Division 1; this time they won the playoff, defeating Kyoto Sanga F.C. in the final round at the National Stadium in Tokyo, thus becoming the first professional Shikoku football club to compete in the top division of their national league.

Until their promotion, they were the only former JSL member currently a member of the J.League which has never competed in the top tier of Japanese football. With promotion and the creation of the J3 League in 2014, the distinction was taken over by Blaublitz Akita.

In the 2019 season, they finished 4th again and were one win away from a return to J1 in the playoffs, but ultimately failed to beat Shonan Bellmare away in the final game. In 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, they did one better and were promoted as J2 champions.

Team name transition

  • Otsuka Pharmaceutical (1955-1996, 1998-2004)
  • Vortis Tokushima (1997)
  • Tokushima Vortis FC (2005–present)

Stadium

The team is Their home stadium is Naruto Otsuka Sports Park Pocari Sweat Stadium, in Naruto, Tokushima.

League & cup record

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League J.League
Cup
Emperor's
Cup
Season Div. Teams Pos. P W D L F A GD Pts Attendance/G
Otsuka Pharmaceuticals
2003 JFL 16 1st 30 23 3 4 65 21 44 72 781 Not eligible 3rd round
2004 16 1st 30 25 3 2 74 20 54 78 3,046 2nd round
Tokushima Vortis
2005 J2 12 9th 44 12 16 16 60 76 -16 52 4,366 Not eligible 4th round
2006 13 13th 48 8 11 29 43 92 -49 35 3,477 4th round
2007 13 13th 48 6 15 27 31 67 -36 33 3,289 4th round
2008 15 15th 42 7 8 27 40 72 -32 29 3,862 3rd round
2009 18 9th 51 19 15 17 67 52 15 72 4,073 2nd round
2010 19 8th 36 15 6 15 51 47 4 51 4,614 3rd round
2011 20 4th 38 19 8 11 51 38 13 65 5,207 2nd round
2012 22 15th 42 13 12 17 45 49 -4 51 3,991 3rd round
2013 22 4th 42 20 7 15 56 51 5 67 4,348 2nd round
2014 J1 18 18th 34 3 5 26 16 74 -58 14 8,884 Group stage 3rd round
2015 J2 22 14th 42 13 14 15 35 44 -9 53 5,019 Not eligible 4th round
2016 22 9th 42 16 9 17 46 42 4 57 4,565 3rd round
2017 22 7th 42 18 13 11 71 45 26 67 4,979 2nd round
2018 22 11th 42 16 8 18 48 42 6 56 4,997 3rd round
2019 22 4th 42 21 10 11 67 45 22 73 5,736 3rd round
2020 22 1st 42 25 9 8 67 33 34 84 3,100 Semi-finalist
2021 J1 20 17th 38 10 6 22 34 55 -21 36 5,664 Group stage 3rd round
2022 J2 22 8th 42 13 23 6 48 35 13 62 4,224 Group stage 3rd round
2023 22 15th 42 10 19 13 43 53 -10 49 5,976 Not eligible 3rd round
2024 20 TBA 38 1st round TBA
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 league home attendance
  • 2020 season attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
  • Source: J. League Data Site

Honours

Tokushima Vortis honours
Honour No. Years Notes
Shikoku Football League 4 1978, 1979, 1981, 1989 as Otsuka Pharmaceutical
Japan Football League 2 2003, 2004 as Otsuka Pharmaceutical
J2 League 1 2020

Players

Current squad

No. Position Player
1 Spain GK José Aurelio Suárez
2 Japan DF Taiki Tamukai
3 Japan DF Ryoga Ishio
4 Brazil DF Kaique Mafaldo (on loan from V-Varen Nagasaki)
5 Japan DF Kodai Mori
6 Japan MF Kohei Uchida
7 Brazil FW Tiago Alves
8 Japan FW Yoichiro Kakitani
9 Japan FW Noah Kenshin Browne
10 Japan MF Taro Sugimoto
11 Japan MF Koki Sugimori
13 Japan FW Taiyo Nishino
14 Japan MF Rio Hyeon
15 Japan FW Akito Tanahashi
16 Japan FW Daiki Watari
17 Japan FW Soya Takada (on loan from Omiya Ardija)
18 Brazil DF Elsinho
No. Position Player
20 Japan MF Shunto Kodama
21 Japan GK Hayate Tanaka
22 Japan DF Ko Yanagisawa
23 Japan MF Yu Takada
26 Japan DF Hayato Aoki
29 Japan GK Daiki Mitsui (on loan from Nagoya Grampus)
30 Japan FW Kiyoshiro Tsuboi
31 Japan GK Toru Hasegawa
33 Japan MF Keita Nakano
40 Japan GK Naoki Goto
42 Japan DF Kento Hashimoto
54 Japan MF Ryota Nagaki
81 Japan FW Yusei Onoe Type 2
82 Japan DF Ayato Takeda Type 2
83 Japan MF Muku Fukuta Type 2
84 Japan DF Teppei Masui Type 2
Japan GK Raiya Takechi Type 2

Out on loan

No. Position Player
Japan DF Naoto Arai (at Cerezo Osaka)
Brazil DF Cacá (at Brazil Corinthians)
Japan DF Towa Nishisaka (at ReinMeer Aomori)
Japan MF Akira Hamashita (at Ehime FC)
Japan MF Yushi Hasegawa (at SC Sagamihara)
Japan MF Rin Morita (at Nara Club)
Japan MF Hiroshi Omori (at Fukushima United)
No. Position Player
Japan MF Ryo Toyama (at Kagoshima United)
Japan MF Masaki Watai (at Portugal Boavista FC)
Japan MF Yudai Yamashita (at Reilac Shiga)
Japan FW Shiryu Fujiwara (at Tegevajaro Miyazaki)
Nigeria FW Oriola Sunday (at Vanraure Hachinohe)
Japan FW Wadi Ibrahim Suzuki (at CF Badalona)

Club staff

For the 2023 season.

Position Staff
Head coach Japan Tatsuma Yoshida
Assistant coach Japan Takeshi Komoto
Spain Sisinio
First-team coach Japan Masaya Yamaguchi
Japan Tsuyoshi Furukawa
Goalkeeper coach Japan Masahiko Nakagawa
Rehabilitation fitness coach Japan Atsushi Nagatani
Chief trainer Japan Shoji Suzuki
Trainer Japan Hisaaki Maehara
Japan Yuta Hoshino
Japan Kenta Saito
Interpreter Japan Tetsuya Ozawa
Japan Masahiro Fukasawa
Japan Masayuki Hatamoto Ferreira
Japan Hiroki Nunome
Manager Japan Yusuke Abe
Assistant manager Japan Yuya Ishii
Japan Daiki Sugawara

Managerial history

Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Kunio Yamade  Japan 1988 31 January 1993
Hajime Ishii  Japan 1 February 1993 31 January 1996
Edinho  Brazil 1 February 1996 31 December 1998
Shinji Tanaka  Japan 1 January 1999 28 September 2006
Yutaka Azuma  Japan 28 September 2006 31 January 2007
Masataka Imai  Japan 1 January 2007 31 January 2008
Naohiko Minobe  Japan 1 February 2008 31 January 2012
Shinji Kobayashi  Japan 1 February 2012 31 January 2016
Hiroaki Nagashima  Japan 25 November 2015 31 January 2017
Ricardo Rodríguez  Spain 1 February 2017 31 January 2021
Takeshi Komoto (Interim)  Japan 1 February 2021 16 April 2021
Dani Poyatos  Spain 1 February 2021
Actual start date
16 April 2021
31 January 2023
Beñat Labaien  Spain 1 February 2023 22 August 2023
Tatsuma Yoshida  Japan 23 August 2023 Current

Kit evolution

Home kits - 1st
2005-2006
2007-2008
2009-2010
2011-2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -
Away kits - 2nd
2005-2006
2007-2008
2009-2010
2011-2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 -
Other kits - 3rd
2017
Summer 3rd
2019
15th Anniversary
Summer Only
2021
Summer

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Tokushima Vortis para niños

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