# 2023 Iwaki FC season

The 2023 season was the 11th season in the existence of Iwaki FC. It was the club's first season in the J2 League, the second tier of Japanese football after becoming champions of the J3 League in 2022. As well as the domestic league, they competed in the Emperor's Cup, in which they were knocked out in the second round. Iwaki finished the league season in 18th place, eight points clear of relegation.

## Squad
### Season squad

| Squad no. | Name | Position(s) | Date of birth (age at start of season) |
| Goalkeepers |||||
| 1 | Kengo Tanaka | GK | (1989-12-30)30 December 1989 (aged 33) |
| 21 | Toru Takagiwa | GK | (1995-04-15)15 April 1995 (aged 27) |
| 31 | Shuhei Shikano | GK | (1999-08-27)27 August 1999 (aged 23) |
| Defenders |||||
| 2 | Yusuke Ishida | CB / RB | (2002-11-11)11 November 2002 (aged 20) |
| 3 | Ryo Endo | CB | (1998-07-06)6 July 1998 (aged 24) |
| 4 | Rei Ieizumi | CB | (2000-01-20)20 January 2000 (aged 23) |
| 5 | Shuhei Hayami | CB | (2000-11-11)11 November 2000 (aged 22) |
| 16 | Takumi Kawamura | CB | (2000-09-13)13 September 2000 (aged 22) |
| 29 | Yuma Tsujioka | DF | (2001-12-09)9 December 2001 (aged 21) |
| 30 | Wataru Kuromiya | CB | (1998-12-21)21 December 1998 (aged 24) |
| 35 | Genki Egawa | CB | (2000-04-02)2 April 2000 (aged 22) |
| Midfielders |||||
| 6 | Eiji Miyamoto | DM | (1998-08-03)3 August 1998 (aged 24) |
| 7 | Reo Sugiyama | LM / CM | (2000-03-04)4 March 2000 (aged 22) |
| 8 | Riku Saga | RM / RB | (1998-05-27)27 May 1998 (aged 24) |
| 13 | Mizuki Kaburaki | MF | (2000-05-28)28 May 2000 (aged 22) |
| 14 | Daiki Yamaguchi | CM / AM | (1997-11-02)2 November 1997 (aged 25) |
| 15 | Naoki Kase | CM | (2000-06-07)7 June 2000 (aged 22) |
| 20 | Sota Nagai | LM | (1999-08-15)15 August 1999 (aged 23) |
| 22 | Yuma Kato | MF | (2001-12-15)15 December 2001 (aged 21) |
| 24 | Yuto Yamashita (c) | DM | (1996-05-24)24 May 1996 (aged 26) |
| 25 | Asahi Haga | RM / AM | (2000-07-30)30 July 2000 (aged 22) |
| 27 | Nélson Henrique | MF | (2002-06-07)7 June 2002 (aged 20) |
| 28 | Kiwara Miyazaki | RW / LW | (1998-02-17)17 February 1998 (aged 25) |
| 33 | Yoshihiro Shimoda | DM | (2004-05-04)4 May 2004 (aged 18) |
| Forwards |||||
| 9 | Yoshihito Kondo | FW | (2002-03-03)3 March 2002 (aged 20) |
| 10 | Kotaro Arima | FW / SS | (2000-09-03)3 September 2000 (aged 22) |
| 11 | Ryo Arita | FW | (1999-08-28)28 August 1999 (aged 23) |
| 17 | Kaina Tanimura | FW / LW | (1998-03-05)5 March 1998 (aged 24) |
| 18 | Shu Yoshizawa | FW | (1998-10-21)21 October 1998 (aged 24) |
| 19 | Hiroto Iwabuchi | FW | (1997-09-17)17 September 1997 (aged 25) |
| 26 | Iori Sakamoto | FW | (2004-11-22)22 November 2004 (aged 18) |
Last updated: 27 July 2023. Source: Iwaki FC website

## Transfers
### Arrivals

| Date | Position | Player | From | Type |
| 29 January 2022 | MF | Asahi Haga | Sakushin Gakuin University | Full |
| 16 November 2022 | MF | Mizuki Kaburaki | Takushoku University | Full |
| 16 November 2022 | DF | Takumi Kawamura | Osaka University of Physical Education | Full |
| 16 November 2022 | DF | Shuhei Hayami | Tokoha University | Full |
| 7 December 2022 | DF | Yusuke Ishida | Gainare Tottori | Full |
| 12 December 2022 | FW | Iori Sakamoto | Hōtoku Gakuen High School | Full |
| 13 December 2022 | MF | Yoshihiro Shimoda | Kashima Antlers | Loan |
| 23 December 2022 | MF | Naoki Kase | Ryutsu Keizai University | Full |
| 25 December 2022 | GK | Toru Takagiwa | Tokyo Verdy | Loan |
| 26 December 2022 | MF | Kiwara Miyazaki | Fagiano Okayama | Loan |
| 7 February 2023 | FW | Yoshihito Kondo | Nagoya Gakuin University | DSP |
| 7 February 2023 | MF | Yuma Kato | Takushoku University | DSP |
| 7 February 2023 | DF | Yuma Tsujioka | International Pacific University | DSP |
| 28 July 2023 | MF | Nélson Henrique | S.C. Praiense | Loan |

### Departures

| Date | Position | Player | To | Type |
| 19 November 2022 | MF | Ryoma Ito | | Released |
| 26 November 2022 | GK | Daiki Sakata | Avispa Fukuoka | Full |
| 26 November 2022 | MF | Masaru Hidaka | JEF United Chiba | Full |
| 8 December 2022 | DF | Kyowaan Hoshi | Yokohama FC | End of loan |
| 12 December 2022 | FW | Shota Suzuki | Kagoshima United | Full |
| 18 December 2022 | DF | Daigo Masuzaki | Cobaltore Onagawa | Full |
| 22 December 2022 | MF | Kentaro Matsumoto | Tokyo 23 FC | Full |
| 23 December 2022 | GK | Kanta Tanaka | Tochigi City FC | Full |
| 23 December 2022 | MF | Genya Sekino | Tochigi City FC | Full |
| 26 December 2022 | DF | Tetsuya Yonezawa | Okinawa SV | Full |
| 26 December 2022 | MF | Nagi Kawatani | Shimizu S-Pulse | End of loan |
| 26 December 2022 | DF | Ryo Odajima | Okinawa SV | Full |
| 28 December 2022 | FW | Daigo Furukawa | FC Osaka | Loan |
| 14 January 2023 | DF | Tomoki Yoshida | Kochi United SC | Loan |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| J2 League | 18 February 2023 (2023-02-18) | 12 November 2023 (2023-11-12) | Matchday 1 | 18th | 42 | 12 | 19 | 11 | 45 | 69 | −24 | 028.57 |
| Emperor's Cup | 7 June 2023 (2023-06-07) | 7 June 2023 (2023-06-07) | Second round | Second round | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 43 | 12 | 19 | 12 | 46 | 71 | −25 | 027.91 |
Source: Competitions

### J2 League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 16 | Vegalta Sendai | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 48 | 61 | −13 | 48 |
| 17 | Mito HollyHock | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 49 | 66 | −17 | 47 |
| 18 | Iwaki FC | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 45 | 69 | −24 | 47 |
| 19 | Tochigi SC | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 39 | 47 | −8 | 44 |
| 20 | Renofa Yamaguchi | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 37 | 67 | −30 | 44 |

#### Results by matchday

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | D | L | W | W | L | D | L | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | W | D | D | L | L | D | W | D | W | W | D | W | L | D | D | D | W | L | L | L | W | W | D | L | L | L | W |
| Position | 16 | 14 | 19 | 15 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 18 |

#### Matches

The full league fixtures were released on 20 January 2023.

### Emperor's Cup

As a J2 club, Iwaki entered the competition at the second round.

## Statistics
### Goalscorers

The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.
| Rnk | Pos | No. | Player | J2 | EC | Total |
| 1 | FW | 17 | Kaina Tanimura | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 1 | FW | 19 | Hiroto Iwabuchi | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | DF | 3 | Ryo Endo | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | MF | 14 | Daiki Yamaguchi | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | MF | 6 | Eiji Miyamoto | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | FW | 9 | Yoshihito Kondo | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | FW | 11 | Ryo Arita | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | MF | 24 | Yuto Yamashita | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | DF | 4 | Rei Ieizumi | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | FW | 18 | Shu Yoshizawa | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | MF | 20 | Sota Nagai | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | – | – | Own goal | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | MF | 8 | Riku Saga | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | FW | 10 | Kotaro Arima | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | MF | 33 | Yoshihiro Shimoda | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | DF | 35 | Genki Egawa | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 45 | 1 | 46 |
Last updated: end of the 2023 season. Source: jleague.co

### Clean sheets

The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal.
| Rnk | No. | Player | J2 | EC | Total |
| 1 | 31 | Shuhei Shikano | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 1 | 21 | Toru Takagiwa | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | 1 | Kengo Tanaka | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 9 | 0 | 9 |
Last updated: end of the 2023 season. Source: fbref.com