JEF United Chiba

JEF United Chiba
ジェフユナイテッド千葉
Full name	JEF United Ichihara Chiba
Nickname(s)	JEF, Inu (The Dogs)
Founded	1946; 78 years ago; as Furukawa Electric SC
Ground	Fukuda Denshi Arena; Chiba
Capacity	19,781
Owner	East Japan Railway Company (50%); Furukawa Electric (50%)
Chairman	Akira Shimada
Manager	Yoshiyuki Kobayashi
League	J2 League
2023	J2 League, 6th of 22
Website	http://jefunited.co.jp/
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

JEF United Chiba (ジェフユナイテッド千葉, Jefu Yunaiteddo Chiba), full name JEF United Ichihara Chiba (ジェフユナイテッド市原・千葉, Jefu Yunaiteddo Ichihara Chiba) and also known as JEF Chiba (ジェフ千葉, Jefu Chiba), is a Japanese professional football club based in Chiba, capital of Chiba Prefecture. They currently play in the J2 League, Japanese second tier of professional football.

History

Furukawa Electric SC (1946–1991)

The club began as the company team, Furukawa Electric Soccer Club (古河電気工業サッカー部) in 1946. As the company team, it won the Japan Soccer League twice, the Emperor's Cup four times and the JSL League Cup three times. Furukawa also won the 1986–87 Asian Club Championship, the top club honor in Asia; they were the first Japanese club to do so.

The club was a founding member ("Original Eight"^[a]) of the Japan Soccer League (JSL) in 1965. Since the league's inception, the club had always played in the top flight in Japan and was the only Japanese club to never be relegated from the JSL Division 1, a record they kept into the J1 years. They did finish the 1978 season in a relegation position (last of 10) but stayed up after beating Honda FC 1–0 on aggregate in a two-legged playoff. The last place was not automatically relegated until the 1980 season.

JEF United Ichihara (1992–2004)

In 1991, it merged with the JR East's company team to become East Japan JR Furukawa Football Club (東日本ジェイアール古河サッカークラブ) and rebranded itself as JEF United Ichihara upon the J.League's founding in 1993. JEF United Ichihara was an original member ("Original Ten"^[b]) of the J.League in 1993. The club initially built itself around the former Germany national football team player Pierre Littbarski.

From 1998 to 2000, the club struggled to stay in the J.League and it began a series of efforts to be a competitive team. Since the hiring of Ivica Osim in 2003, JEF United has contended for the league title each year despite limited resources and struggling attendance.

JEF United Chiba (2005–)

On 1 February 2005, the club changed its name from JEF United Ichihara to the current name after Chiba city had joined Ichihara, Chiba as its hometown in 2003. Of its club name, JEF is taken from the JR East and Furukawa Electric companies and United is meant to represent the unity of the club and its home city. Also, JEF United is the only team in J.League which corporate name survived the transition from the JSL in 1992, as J.League mandated that "corporate teams are not allowed in the J.League", and that any corporate teams need to adapt a hometown and name themselves after it, rather than their owner companies.

On 16 July 2006, Osim left the club to take over the coach of the Japan national team and was succeeded by Amar Osim, his son and assistant coach.^[1] On December 5, 2007, it was announced that Amar Osim had been sacked after the club's lowly 13th-place finish in the 2007 season.^[2]

After 13 games in the 2008 season Josip Kuže was sacked as team manager. On 8 May 2008 it was announced that the new manager was Alex Miller. Miller was First Team Coach at Liverpool F.C. alongside Rafael Benítez prior to joining JEF United.

The Furukawa Electric is no longer the main sponsor of the club, a job these days taken over by Fuji Electric.

On November 8, 2009, JEF United Chiba was relegated to J2 after 44 seasons in the Japanese top division; since 2010, JEF United Chiba is playing in J.League Division 2.

JEF United Chiba was close to being promoted to J.League Division 1 during the 2012 season. The club was considered one of the favorites to be directly promoted to J1. However, after defeats to clubs considered lesser than them such as FC Gifu and F.C. Machida Zelvia, JEF played the playoffs, making their road to the final. They defeated Yokohama FC by 4–0, but lost the final match to Oita Trinita by 1–0, at Tokyo National Stadium.

In the 2013 season they played in the promotion to J1 playoffs. They lost the semi-final match to Tokushima Vortis by 1–1(Chiba was 6th place and Tokushima was 3rd place in the league, regulation decides up high club can go final even draw.)

In the 2014 season they played in the promotion playoffs to J1 again. The club did not have to play in the semi-final (Chiba was 4th place but the 3rd place club named Giravanz Kitakyushu had a J League original stadium problem so Kitakyushu could not go to the promotion play off). In the final against Montedio Yamagata, they lost by 0–1, at Ajinomoto Stadium.

The club will play their 14th consecutive season at the J2 on 2023.

Symbols

Stadiums

It had played its home matches at Ichihara Seaside Stadium, but has since moved to the larger, football-specific and more conveniently located Fukuda Denshi Arena, which opened in Chiba during the 2005 season. The club had initially practiced at Urayasu, Chiba planning to base itself in Narashino, Chiba before opposition by those living around Akitsu Stadium forced it to be based in Ichihara. Since 2000, training has been held at Footpark Anesaki in Ichihara in normally. Since 1 October 2009, they made new practice place UNITED PARK near the Fukuda Denshi Arena.

Mascot

Akitas and Mina

JEF United Ichihara's mascot characters are Akita Inu brothers named Jeffy and Unity. The squad number of Jeffy is 2 and that of Unity is 9. They are also joined by a third mascot named Mina, or Mina-chan. Her backstory was that she one day came to Soga Station (the railway station nearest to Fukuda Denshi Arena) and offered to work alongside Jeffy and Unity.^[3] Her squad number is 12.

Slogan

JEF United considers its philosophy to be encapsulated in its tagline "Win By All" ^[4] since 2001.

Affiliated clubs

Furukawa Electric Chiba

This was JEF's reserve team during the JSL years. They were formed in 1967 and were first promoted to the JSL Second Division in 1975. They still exist, although they are no longer affiliated on paper, and play in the Kanto Regional League. In 2008 they renamed themselves S.A.I. Ichihara and in 2011 they adopted the name Vonds Ichihara. Now separate from Furukawa Electric control, they aim to form its power base in Ichihara as JEF is now based in Chiba city.

JEF Reserves

JEF's reserve team played until 2011 in the Japan Football League, the third tier of Japanese football. But in 2011, the club announced the end of the B team because of financial problems.

JEF United Chiba Ladies

Rivalries

Marunouchi Gosanke

Historically, JEF United's fiercest rivals have been Kashiwa Reysol and Urawa Reds, both close neighbors. The three were co-founders ("Original Eight") of the Japan Soccer League (JSL) in 1965, and spent most seasons in the top tier through the JSL era. 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) and fixtures among them were known as the Marunouchi derbies.

Chiba derby

JEF United and Reysol first met in 1941 in ancient Kanto regional football league. The two clubs both now based in Chiba Prefecture, and their rivalry is known as the Chiba derby. They annually contest a pre-season friendly match well known as the Chibagin Cup (i.e., Chiba Bank Cup) since 1995.

Record as J.League member

Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Promoted	Relegated

Season	Division	Teams	Position	P	W (PKW / OTW)	D	L (PKL / OTL)	F	A	GD	Pts	Attendance/G	J.League Cup	Emperor's Cup
JEF United Ichihara
1992	–	–	–									–	Group stage	Quarter final
1993	J1	10	8th	36	14	-	22	51	67	-16	-	20,273	Group stage	Quarter final
1994		12	9th	44	19	-	25	69	85	-16	-	22,262	2nd round	2nd round
1995		14	5th	52	28 (0 / -)	-	20 (4 / -)	97	91	6	88	15,418	–	1st round
1996		16	9th	30	13 (0 / -)	-	16 (1 / -)	45	47	-2	40	12,008	Group stage	3rd round
1997		17	13th	32	6 (0 / 5)	-	17 (1 / 3)	43	66	-23	28	5,693	Quarter-final	4th round
1998		18	16th	34	8 (1 / 0)	-	20 (1 / 4)	49	75	-26	25	5,365	Final	3rd round
1999		16	13th	30	6 (0 / 4)	2	14 (0 / 4)	41	56	-15	28	5,774	2nd round	3rd round
2000		16	14th	30	8 (0 / 1)	2	14 (0 / 5)	37	49	-12	28	6,338	2nd round	Quarter final
2001		16	3rd	30	14 (0 / 3)	2	9 (0 / 2)	60	54	6	50	7,818	Quarter-final	Quarter final
2002		16	7th	30	12 (- / 1)	3	14	38	42	-4	41	7,897	Quarter-final	Semi-final
2003		16	3rd	30	15	8	7	57	38	19	53	9,709	Group stage	Quarter final
2004		16	4th	30	13	11	6	55	45	10	50	10,012	Group stage	4th round
JEF United Chiba
2005	J1	18	4th	34	16	11	7	56	42	14	59	9,535	Winner	5th round
2006		18	11th	34	13	5	16	57	58	-1	44	13,393	Winner	4th round
2007		18	13th	34	12	6	16	51	56	-5	42	14,149	Group stage	4th round
2008		18	15th	34	10	8	16	36	53	17	38	14,084	Quarter final	4th round
2009		18	18th	34	5	12	17	32	56	-24	27	14,730	Group stage	4th round
2010	J2	19	4th	36	18	7	11	58	37	21	61	11,689	Not eligible	4th round
2011		20	6th	38	16	10	12	46	39	7	58	9,680		Quarter final
2012		22	5th	42	21	9	12	61	33	28	72	9,281		Quarter final
2013		22	5th	42	18	12	12	68	49	19	66	10,004		3rd round
2014		22	3rd	42	18	14	10	55	44	11	68	9,333		Semi-final
2015		22	9th	42	15	12	15	50	45	5	57	10,725		3rd round
2016		22	11th	42	13	14	15	52	53	-1	53	10,292		3rd round
2017		22	6th	42	20	8	14	70	58	12	68	9,983		3rd round
2018		22	14th	42	16	7	19	72	72	0	55	9,858		3rd round
2019		22	17th	42	10	13	19	46	64	-18	43	9,701		2nd round
2020 †		22	14th	42	15	8	19	47	51	-4	53	2,778		Did not qualify
2021 †		22	8th	42	17	15	10	48	36	12	66	4,068		3rd round
2022		22	10th	42	17	10	15	44	42	2	61	5,775		2nd round
2023		22	6th	42	19	10	13	61	53	8	67	8,523		2nd round
2024		20	TBD	38									First round	TBC

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
OTW / PKW = Overtime wins / Penalty kicks wins 1997 & 1998 seasons - 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2002 Overtime wins only
OTL / PKL = Overtime losses / Penalty kicks losses 1997 and 1998 seasons - 1999, 2000 & 2001 Overtime losses only
Attendance/G = Average home league attendance
† 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
Source: J.League Data Site

Honours

As Furukawa Electric SC (1946–1992), JEF United Ichihara (1992–2004), and JEF United Chiba (2005–present)

National

League

JSL Division 1
- Champions (2): 1976, 1985

Cups

JSL Cup / J.League Cup
- Winners (5): 1977, 1982, 1986, 2005, 2006
Emperor's Cup
- Winners (4): 1960, 1961, 1964 (shared), 1976
Japanese Super Cup
- Winners (1): 1977
All Japan Works Football Championship
- Winners (3): 1959, 1961, 1962 (shared)
All Japan Inter-City Football Championship
- Winners (4): 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964

International

Asian Club Championship
- Winners (1): 1986

League history

Division 1 (JSL Div. 1): 1965–1992
Division 1 (J1): 1993–2009
Division 2 (J2): 2010–present

Players

Current squad

As of 24 July 2024.^[5] 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	Kazuki Fujita (on loan from Albirex Niigata)
2	MF	JPN	Issei Takahashi
3	DF	JPN	Kohei Yamakoshi (on loan from Tokyo Verdy)
4	MF	JPN	Taishi Taguchi (vice-captain)
5	MF	JPN	Yusuke Kobayashi
7	FW	JPN	Kazuki Tanaka
8	MF	JPN	Koya Kazama
9	FW	JPN	Hiroto Goya
10	FW	JPN	Hiiro Komori
11	DF	JPN	Koki Yonekura
13	DF	JPN	Daisuke Suzuki (captain)
14	MF	JPN	Naoki Tsubaki
16	MF	JPN	Akiyuki Yokoyama
17	MF	JPN	Masamichi Hayashi
18	MF	JPN	Naohiro Sugiyama (on loan from Gamba Osaka)
19	DF	JPN	Shuto Okaniwa (on loan from FC Tokyo)
20	FW	JPN	Toshiyuki Takagi
21	GK	JPN	Toru Takagiwa


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
22	DF	JPN	Shogo Sasaki
23	GK	JPN	Ryota Suzuki
24	DF	JPN	Shuntaro Yaguchi
27	MF	JPN	Takuro Iwai ^DSP
29	FW	JPN	Taichi Sakuma
31	GK	JPN	Yuya Aoshima (on loan from Tochigi SC)
33	MF	BRA	Dudu Pacheco
36	DF	JPN	Riku Matsuda
37	MF	JPN	Yuma Igari ^DSP
39	FW	JPN	Ryuta Shimmyo
40	DF	BRA	Mendes
44	MF	JPN	Manato Shinada (on loan from FC Tokyo)
48	DF	JPN	Soshiro Tanida
52	DF	JPN	Ryota Kuboniwa
55	DF	JPN	Daiki Ogawa (on loan from Júbilo Iwata)
67	MF	JPN	Masaru Hidaka
77	FW	BRA	Dudu

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
—	FW	JPN	Raito Saito (at ReinMeer Aomori)

International capped players

JFA

AFC/ CAF/ OFC

UEFA

CONMEBOL

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Manager	Yoshiyuki Kobayashi
First-team coach	Masataka Sakamoto Masashi Owada Shunta Nagai
Goalkeeper coach	Motoki Kawahara
Physical coach	Ryota Mizuguchi
Analyst	Shunsuke Nakano
Interpreter	Fabricio
Chief trainer	Yusuke Nakao
Athletic trainer	Yuya Okamoto Toshifumi Goto
Physiotherapist	Naoki Akiyoshi
Competent	Yuma Fukushima
Side affairs	Yusuke Hata
Kit man	Kosuke Tomitani

Managerial history

Manager	Nationality	Tenure
Yoshikazu Nagai	Japan	1992–1993
Eijun Kiyokumo	Japan	1994–1995
Yasuhiko Okudera	Japan	1996
Jan Versleijen	Netherlands	1997–1998
Gert Engels	Germany	1999
Nicolae Zamfir	Romania	1999–2000
Sugao Kambe (interim)	Japan	2000
Zdenko Verdenik	Slovenia	2000–2001
Sugao Kambe (interim)	Japan	2001
Jozef Vengloš	Slovakia	2002
Ivica Osim	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2003–2006
Amar Osim	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2006–2007
Josip Kuže	Croatia	2008
Shigeo Sawairi (interim)	Japan	2008
Alex Miller	Scotland	2008–2009
Atsuhiko Ejiri	Japan	2009–2010
Dwight Lodeweges	Netherlands	2011
Sugao Kambe	Japan	2011
Takashi Kiyama	Japan	2012
Jun Suzuki	Japan	2013–2014
Kazuo Saito (interim)	Japan	2014
Takashi Sekizuka	Japan	2014–2016
Shigetoshi Hasebe (interim)	Japan	2016
Juan Esnáider	Argentina	2017–2019
Atsuhiko Ejiri	Japan	2019
Yoon Jong-hwan	South Korea	2020–2022
Yoshiyuki Kobayashi	Japan	2023–

Kit and colours

The club colours of JEF United Chiba are yellow, green and red.

Kit evolution

Home
1993 - 1996	1997 - 1998	1999 - 2000	2001	2002
2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
2023	2024 -

Away
1993 - 1995	1996	1997 - 1998	1999 - 2000	2001 - 2002
2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
2023	2024 -

Other Kits - 3rd
2012 3rd	2015 10th Anniversary of Fukuda Denshi Arena	2016 25th Anniversary	2018 15th Anniversary of Hometown Expansion	2019 Factory Night View Ver.
2022 Osimzhev Legend	2022 OSIM Japan Legend