# Avispa Fukuoka

Avispa Fukuoka (アビスパ福岡, Abisupa Fukuoka) is a Japanese professional football club based in Hakata, Fukuoka. They currently compete in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country.

## History
### Earlier years in Fujieda

The club were originally based in Fujieda, Shizuoka and was founded as Chūō Bōhan SC in 1982 by the workers of security company Chuo Bohan in Fujieda, Shizuoka. They were promoted to the Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1991. The club then participated in the newly founded former Japan Football League Division 2 in 1992 and were promoted to Division 1 in 1993. They changed their name to Fujieda Blux with intention to be a J.League member. However, with difficulties to have a stadium that met J.League requirements, and with local competition from Júbilo Iwata and Shimizu S-Pulse, the football fan base in Shizuoka prefecture was already considered saturated.

### Move to Fukuoka (1994)

As a result, in 1994, the club decided to move to Fukuoka where the community was eager to have a J.League club. They adopted new name Fukuoka Blux and became a J.League associate member, while the amateur club of Chūō Bōhan was active in Fujieda until 2006.

### 1995 (JFL)

The first season in Fukuoka saw them win the JFL championship with help from Argentine Hugo Maradona and they were promoted to J.League. After becoming the champions of 1995 Japan Football League as Fukuoka Blux the team was admitted to the J.League in 1996 season.

### 1996–1998 (J.League)

Fukuoka Blux eventually decided to change their name to Avispa Fukuoka, in order to avoid a potential trademark dispute with men's clothier Brooks Brothers. "Avispa" itself means "wasp" in Spanish. The club acquired experienced players such as former Japanese international Satoshi Tsunami and defender Hideaki Mori but they finished lowly 15th in the 1996 season.
They finished bottom of the league two consecutive seasons (1997 to 1998), but were able to narrowly avoid relegation. This was because J.League were building foundation of J.League 2 for 1999. Therefore, no clubs were relegated and there were relegation/promotion play-offs for the first time at the end of 1998 season, in which Avispa were involved. Around this time, forward Yoshiteru Yamashita and midfielder Chikara Fujimoto were chosen for the Japanese national team.

### 1999–2001 (J1)

In 1999, they again reinforced the squad by acquiring experienced players such as former internationals Nobuyuki Kojima and Yasutoshi Miura as well as Yugoslavian Nenad Maslovar. They won a fierce relegation battle and eventually stayed up. In 2000, Argentine David Bisconti and Romanian Pavel Badea were transferred to Fukuoka and they finished club record 6th in the second stage. In 2001, the club acquired former Korean international Noh Jung-Yoon and Yoshika Matsubara but they finished 15th and were relegated to J2.

### 2002–2005 (J2)

In 2002, they kept experienced players and released younger players such as Daisuke Nakaharai and Yoshiteru Yamashita but they finished 8th out of 10. In 2002, with new manager Hiroshi Matsuda, they decided to recruit and nurture young players who graduated from local high schools instead of acquiring experienced footballers from other clubs. They initially struggled but came back well and finished 4th. In 2004, they finished 3rd and qualified for the play-offs but Kashiwa Reysol dashed their promotion hope by beating them home and away (the scoreline was both 2–0). In 2005, they finished 2nd and gained an automatic promotion to J1. Avispa players Hokuto Nakamura and Tomokazu Nagira represented Japan for the 2005 World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.

### 2006 (J1)

They had been involved in a relegation battle from the beginning of the season. They finished 16th and were relegated to J2 after the promotion/relegation play-offs against Vissel Kobe, which they tied twice, 0–0 in Kobe, then 1–1 at their home game. Like many J2 teams this has led to financial issues. The Daily Yomiuri reported that in 2006 Avispa needed 535 million yen in loans from the local prefectural and municipal governments.

### 2007–2008 (J2)

With relegation came another new manager, the former German international Pierre Littbarski. "Litti" arrived from the Australian A-League, bringing with him several experienced players such as Mark Rudan, Joel Griffiths and Ufuk Talay, but he was unable to steer Avispa to any notable success. Having finished 7th in 2007, an inability to compete near the top of the league led to Littbarski's sacking in mid-2008. He was replaced by former Avispa player Yoshiyuki Shinoda.

### 2009 (J2)

The departure of Littbarski coincided with the departure of the club's Australian players, who were largely replaced with youngsters from a number of Kyushu-based universities. After a reasonable start, Avispa's form has tailed off sharply, with a recent five-game losing streak including 6–0 and 5–0 thrashings away at Ventforet Kofu and Mito HollyHock respectively. The club finished in the lower half of the J2 table with promotion hopes dashed for another year.

### 2010 (J2)

Yoshiyuki Shinoda bolstered his squad for the 2010 season by adding more players from local University teams, and picked up midfielders Kosuke Nakamachi and Genki Nagasato who had previously played together at Shonan Bellmare. The season started slowly with the team picking up only 1 point out of a possible 15 in March, but then saw a dramatic improvement in performance as they went on to win 17 of the next 25 games including a come from behind victory against promotion rivals JEF United. As JEF United went on to drop more points Avispa secured promotion back to J1 with 2 games of the season left to play.
Popular striker Tetsuya Okubo was released at the end of the season, along with 4 other players as the squad was prepared for J1.

### 2011 (J1)

The promotion to J1 saw some significant changes to the squad as Takuya Matsuura was brought in to replace Genki Nagasato who departed to Ventforet Kofu under a cloud, Shogo Kobara, Kim Min-je and Takumi Wada coming in to bolster defence, while Sho Naruoka and Kentaro Shigematsu arrived to try to score the goals to keep the club in the division.
Tipped by all pundits on the J-League After Game Show to finish the season in 18th position, the players struggled to gel and went for the first 13 games of the season without earning a point. Despite improving slightly towards the mid-season break manager Shinoda left the club to be replaced by head coach Tetsuya Asano.
While results continued to improve, culminating in a 6–0 away win to Montedio Yamagata, the club could not pull themselves out of the relegation zone and finished the season in 17th position to be relegated to J2. At the end of the season the manager was changed again with Koji Maeda being brought in to replace the departing Asano.

### 2012 (J2)

The team was looking to bounce straight back to J1 upon their return to the second tier but endured the worst season in the history of the club as they finished a lowly 18th in the table; only winning 9 games all season and conceding 68 goals (only Gainare Tottori would concede more in the season). The end of the season saw Koji Maeda part ways with the club as they looked to rebuild towards a better 2013.

### 2013 (J2)

The club returned to hiring a non-Japanese manager for the first time since Pierre Littbarski as Slovenian Marijan Pusnik arrived. His arrival saw a greater emphasis given towards the development of young players at the club as rookies Yuta Mishima and Takeshi Kanamori were given chances in the first team.
Results on the pitch immediately improved and the club were competing around the play-off positions until a slump in form mid-season coincided with the announcement that the club needed ¥50 million to remain solvent. The club finished in 14th position, but found the money to stay afloat, with Pusnik agreeing to remain as manager for another season.

### 2014 (J2)

Avispa finished in 16th place. Pušnik's contract was not renewed and he returned to Slovenia.

### 2015 (J2)

The club hired new coach Masami Ihara who twice handled Kashiwa Reysol in a caretaker capacity. They finished third and were promoted back to J1 in winning the promotion playoffs.

### 2016 (J1)

Avispa finished in 18th place and relegated to J2. League.

### 2017 (J2)

Avispa finished in fourth place. In the "J1 promotion play-off", Avispa won the semi-final game 1–0 against Tokyo Verdy. In the final game however, the team had a scoreless draw, 0-0, with Nagoya Grampus leaving them in third place, meaning Avispa could not be promoted to J1.

### 2021–present (J1)

A second-place finish in the 2020 J2 League saw Avispa returned to J1 League for the first time since 2016.
On 4 November 2023, Avispa won the J.League Cup by defeating two-time winners Urawa Red Diamonds 2–1 in the final match of 2023 edition. It was the first major trophy in the history of the club.
On 31 October 2024,it was announced that head coach Shigetoshi Hasebe who has led Avispa for five years, would be leaving the club at the end of the season.

## Current players

    As of 30 January 2025.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | JPN | Takumi Nagaishi |
| 2 | DF | JPN | Masato Yuzawa |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Tatsuki Nara (captain) |
| 4 | DF | JPN | Seiya Inoue |
| 5 | DF | JPN | Takumi Kamijima |
| 6 | MF | JPN | Masato Shigemi |
| 7 | MF | JPN | Takeshi Kanamori (vice-captain) |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Kazuya Konno |
| 9 | FW | IRN | Shahab Zahedi |
| 10 | FW | JPN | Hisashi Jogo |
| 11 | MF | JPN | Tomoya Miki |
| 13 | FW | SUI | Nassim Ben Khalifa |
| 14 | MF | JPN | Shintaro Nago |
| 15 | MF | JPN | Hiroki Akino |
| 16 | DF | JPN | Itsuki Oda |
| 17 | FW | BRA | Wellington |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | FW | JPN | Yuto Iwasaki |
| 19 | DF | KOR | Kim Moon-hyeon |
| 20 | DF | JPN | Tomoya Ando |
| 22 | FW | JPN | Kazuki Fujimoto |
| 24 | GK | JPN | Yuma Obata |
| 25 | MF | JPN | Yuji Kitajima |
| 29 | DF | JPN | Yota Maejima |
| 31 | GK | JPN | Masaaki Murakami |
| 32 | FW | JPN | Abdul Hanan Sani Brown |
| 37 | DF | JPN | Masaya Tashiro |
| 40 | DF | JPN | Jurato Ikeda |
| 47 | DF | JPN | Yu Hashimoto |
| 49 | FW | JPN | Ichika Maeda |
| 51 | GK | JPN | Kazuaki Suganuma |
| 77 | MF | JPN | Takaaki Shichi (on loan from Sanfrecce Hiroshima) |
| 88 | MF | JPN | Daiki Matsuoka |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | JPN | Kimiya Moriyama (at Ehime FC) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | JPN | Reiju Tsuruno (at Ehime FC) |

## Club officials

| Position | Staff |
| Manager | Kim Myung-hwi |
| Assistant manager | Takeshi Hanita |
| Coaches | Yuto Kuwahara Shinya Tsukahara |
| Goalkeeping coach | Hideki Tsukamoto |
| Conditioning coach | Sotaro Higuchi |
| Interpreter | Atsushi Kamiyama Gustavo De Marco |
| Chief trainer | Eiji Miyata |
| Athletic trainer | Naoki Yoshioka Naoki Nagai Toshiki Okuno |
| Kit manager | Ryuya Muto Takuna Nakano |
| Competent | Eishi Nakamura |

## Managerial history

| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | Tenure |
| Manager | Nationality | Start | Finish |
| Yoshio Kikugawa | Japan | 1 January 1982 | 31 December 1994 |
| Jorge Olguín | Argentina | 1 July 1993 | 31 December 1995 |
| Hidehiko Shimizu | Japan | 1 February 1996 | 31 January 1997 |
| Carlos Pachamé | Argentina | 1 January 1997 | 31 December 1997 |
| Takaji Mori | Japan | 1 February 1998 | 31 January 1999 |
| Yoshio Kikugawa | Japan | 1 January 1999 | 31 December 1999 |
| Nestor Omar Piccoli | Argentina | 1 January 2000 | 31 December 2001 |
| Masataka Imai | Japan | 1 February 2002 | 28 July 2002 |
| Tasuya Mochizuki | Japan | 29 July 2002 | 14 August 2002 |
| Shigekazu Nakamura | Japan | 15 August 2002 | 31 January 2003 |
| Hiroshi Matsuda | Japan | 1 February 2003 | 7 May 2006 |
| Ryōichi Kawakatsu | Japan | 8 May 2006 | 31 January 2007 |
| Hitoshi Okino | Japan | 11 December 2006 | 31 January 2007 |
| Pierre Littbarski | Germany | 1 February 2007 | 11 July 2008 |
| Yoshiyuki Shinoda | Japan | 15 July 2008 | 3 August 2011 |
| Tetsuya Asano | Japan | 3 August 2011 | 31 December 2011 |
| Kōji Maeda | Japan | 1 January 2012 | 28 October 2012 |
| Futoshi Ikeda | Japan | 29 October 2012 | 31 January 2013 |
| Marijan Pušnik | Slovenia | 1 January 2013 | 31 December 2014 |
| Masami Ihara | Japan | 1 February 2015 | 31 January 2019 |
| Fabio Pecchia | Italy | 1 February 2019 | 3 June 2019 |
| Kiyokazu Kudō | Japan | 4 June 2019 | 31 January 2020 |
| Shigetoshi Hasebe | Japan | 1 February 2020 | 31 January 2025 |
| Kim Myung-hwi | South Korea | 1 February 2025 | Current |

## Kit and colours

| Season(s) | Main Shirt Sponsor | Collarbone Sponsor | Collarbone Sponsor | Additional Sponsor(s) | Additional Sponsor(s) | Additional Sponsor(s) | Additional Sponsor(s) | Additional Sponsor(s) | Kit Manufacturer |
| 2018 | FJ. Fukuoka Estate | Hakata Green Hotel (Left) | - | Shin Nihon Seiyaku | PIETRO | Hakata Nakasu Fukuya | BIKEN TECHNO | Before the ban is lifted | YONEX |
| 2019 | FJ. Fukuoka Estate | Hakata Green Hotel (Left) | - | Shin Nihon Seiyaku | PIETRO | Hakata Nakasu Fukuya | BIKEN TECHNO | Before the ban is lifted | YONEX |
| 2020 | FJ. Fukuoka Estate | Hakata Green Hotel (Left) | - | Shin Nihon Seiyaku | Plantel EX | Hakata Nakasu Fukuya | PIETRO | | YONEX |
| 2021 | Shin Nihon Seiyaku | Hakata Green Hotel (Left) | Japan Park (Right) | DMM Hoken | Yupiesu | Hakata Nakasu Fukuya | PIETRO | -/ BYBIT | YONEX |
| 2022 | Shin Nihon Seiyaku | Hakata Green Hotel (Left) | DMM Hoken | BYBIT | Yupiesu | KIRIN Beverage | PIETRO | | YONEX |
| 2023 | Shin Nihon Seiyaku | Hakata Green Hotel (Left) | Agekke | DMM TV | Yupiesu | Hakata Nakasu Fukuya | PIETRO | | YONEX |
| 2024 | Shin Nihon Seiyaku | Hakata Green Hotel (Left) | Agekke | APAMAN | Yupiesu | Hakata Nakasu Fukuya | PIETRO | | YONEX |

### Kit evolution

Home 1st :
| 1996 - 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 2nd :
| 1996 - 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 - |
Alternate 3rd / Special :
| 2015 20th Anniversary | 2017 Bee Festival Memorial | 2018 Bee Festival Memorial | 2019 Hachimatsuri Memorial | 2020 25th Anniversary |
| 2021 Autumn Formation | 2022 SP |

## League & cup record

| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup |
| Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | P | W (OT/PK) | D | L (OT/PK) | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup |
| 1996 | J1 | 16 | 15th | 30 | 9 (–/–) | – | 19 (–/2) | 42 | 64 | –22 | 29 | 9,737 | Group stage | Round of 16 |
| 1997 | J1 | 17 | 17th | 32 | 6 (–/1) | – | 20 ((5/–) | 29 | 58 | –29 | 19 | 8,653 | Group stage | Round of 16 |
| 1998 | J1 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 6 (1/1) | – | 22 ((2/2) | 29 | 69 | –40 | 21 | 10,035 | Group stage | Round of 16 |
| 1999 | J1 | 16 | 14th | 30 | 7 (3/–) | 1 | 18 (1/–) | 41 | 59 | –18 | 28 | 11,467 | 2nd round | Round of 16 |
| 2000 | J1 | 16 | 12th | 30 | 9 (4/–) | 2 | 10 (5/–) | 41 | 48 | –7 | 37 | 13,612 | 2nd round | Round of 16 |
| 2001 | J1 | 16 | 15th | 30 | 7 (2/–) | 2 | 14 (5/–) | 35 | 56 | –21 | 27 | 13,822 | 2nd round | 3rd round |
| 2002 | J2 | 12 | 8th | 44 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 58 | 69 | –11 | 42 | 6,491 | Not eligible | Round of 16 |
| 2003 | J2 | 12 | 4th | 44 | 21 | 8 | 15 | 67 | 62 | 5 | 71 | 7,417 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2004 | J2 | 12 | 3rd | 44 | 23 | 7 | 14 | 56 | 41 | 15 | 76 | 8,743 | Not eligible | 4th round |
| 2005 | J2 | 12 | 2nd | 44 | 21 | 15 | 8 | 72 | 64 | 8 | 78 | 10,786 | Not eligible | 4th round |
| 2006 | J1 | 18 | 16th | 34 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 32 | 56 | –24 | 27 | 13,780 | Group stage | Round of 16 |
| 2007 | J2 | 13 | 7th | 48 | 22 | 7 | 19 | 77 | 61 | 16 | 73 | 9,529 | Not eligible | 4th round |
| 2008 | J2 | 15 | 8th | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 55 | 66 | –10 | 58 | 10,079 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2009 | J2 | 18 | 11th | 51 | 17 | 14 | 20 | 52 | 71 | –19 | 65 | 7,763 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2010 | J2 | 19 | 3rd | 36 | 21 | 9 | 6 | 63 | 34 | 29 | 69 | 8,821 | Not eligible | Quarter-finals |
| 2011 | J1 | 18 | 17th | 34 | 6 | 4 | 24 | 34 | 75 | –42 | 22 | 10,415 | Group stage | 3rd round |
| 2012 | J2 | 22 | 18th | 42 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 53 | 68 | –15 | 41 | 5,586 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2013 | J2 | 22 | 14th | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 47 | 54 | –7 | 56 | 5,727 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2014 | J2 | 22 | 16th | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 52 | 60 | –8 | 50 | 5,062 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2015 | J2 | 22 | 3rd | 42 | 24 | 10 | 8 | 63 | 37 | 26 | 82 | 8,736 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2016 | J1 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 4 | 7 | 23 | 26 | 66 | –40 | 19 | 12,857 | Quarter-finals | 2nd round |
| 2017 | J2 | 22 | 4th | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 54 | 36 | 18 | 74 | 9,550 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2018 | J2 | 22 | 7th | 42 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 58 | 42 | 16 | 70 | 8,873 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2019 | J2 | 22 | 16th | 42 | 12 | 8 | 22 | 39 | 62 | –23 | 44 | 6,983 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2020 † | J2 | 22 | 2nd | 42 | 25 | 9 | 8 | 51 | 29 | 22 | 84 | 3,289 | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2021 | J1 | 20 | 8th | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 42 | 37 | 5 | 54 | 5,403 | Group stage | 3rd round |
| 2022 | J1 | 18 | 14th | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 29 | 38 | –9 | 38 | 7,150 | Semi-finals | Quarter-finals |
| 2023 | J1 | 18 | 7th | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 37 | 43 | -6 | 51 | 8,689 | Winners | Semi-finals |
| 2024 | J1 | 20 | 12th | 38 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 33 | 38 | -5 | 50 | 9,698 | 3rd Round | 3rd round |
| 2025 | J1 | 20 | TBA | 38 | | | | | | | | | TBD | TBD |

### 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 due to COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
* Source: J.League Data Site

## Honours

Avispa Fukuoka Honours :
| Honour | No. | Years |
| All Japan Senior Football Championship | 2 | 1989, 1990 |
| Japan Football League Division 2 (third tier) | 1 | 1992 |
| Japan Football League (second tier) | 1 | 1995 |
| J.League Cup | 1 | 2023 |

## Affiliated clubs

* Sint-Truidense
* Port FC