# Gainare Tottori

Gainare Tottori (ガイナーレ鳥取, Gaināre Tottori) are a Japanese football club, based in Tottori, capital of Tottori Prefecture. They play in the J3 League, the Japanese third tier of professional football league. Their team colour is green.

## Name origin

Their team name Gainare derives from the Tottori dialect word gaina meaning "great" and Italian sperare meaning "to hope".
Their team mascot was a Japanese horror anime character Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro created by Shigeru Mizuki, a native of Sakaiminato, Tottori.

## History

The club was founded in 1983 as Tottori Teachers' Soccer Club (鳥取教員団サッカー部　Tottori Kyōin Dan Sakkā Bu). They opened their gate to players with other professions in 1989, renaming themselves S.C. Tottori. They adopted their current name in 2007.
They were promoted to the Japan Football League after finishing runners-up in the 2001 Regional League play-off. Nonprofit organisation Yamatsumi Sports Club operate the club.
After defeating Arte Takasaki 1–0 on October 3, 2010, in their home stadium, at last they could secure JFL top four after failed attempts on two previous seasons. The confirmation from J. League about their promotion to J2 came on November 29. They won the JFL title on October 24, 2010, with five games remaining.
On the 2013 J2–J3 promotion/relegation playoff, Gainare Tottori lost by 2–1 to Kamatamare Sanuki on aggregate score, and ended up relegated to the newly launched J3 League (from now on the 3rd tier of professional league football) ahead of the 2014 season. The club spent three seasons at the J2 League, and has not returned since their relegation. They are also one of the four teams to have competed in J3 League every year since its inception.

## Stadiums

They play their home games mainly at Axis Bird Stadium in Tottori City. Tottori Soccer Stadium is the only stadium in San'in region that meets the J. League requirements.
In recent years, they also play some games at Fuse Athletic Park Stadium in Tottori City, Matsue Athletics Stadium in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture and Hamayama Athletic Park Stadium in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture.

## League and cup records

| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | J. League Cup | Emperor's Cup |
| Season | Div. | Tier | Teams | Pos. | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | J. League Cup | Emperor's Cup |
| SC Tottori ||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 11th | 34 | 7 | 15 | 12 | 61 | 62 | -1 | 36 | 1,146 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| Gainare Tottori ||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 14th | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 42 | 51 | -9 | 39 | 1,755 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2008 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 5th | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 57 | 37 | 20 | 57 | 3,215 | Not eligible | 1st round |
| 2009 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 5th | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 65 | 37 | 28 | 56 | 3,419 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2010 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 1st | 34 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 64 | 31 | 33 | 77 | 3,489 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2011 | J2 | 2 | 20 | 19th | 38 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 36 | 60 | -24 | 31 | 3,692 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2012 | J2 | 2 | 22 | 20th | 42 | 11 | 5 | 26 | 33 | 78 | -45 | 38 | 3,133 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2013 | J2 | 2 | 22 | 22nd | 42 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 38 | 74 | -36 | 31 | 4,097 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2014 | J3 | 3 | 12 | 4th | 33 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 34 | 25 | 9 | 53 | 3,069 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2015 | J3 | 3 | 13 | 6th | 36 | 14 | 8 | 14 | 47 | 41 | 6 | 50 | 1,932 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2016 | J3 | 3 | 16 | 15th | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 30 | 47 | -17 | 30 | 1,898 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2017 | J3 | 3 | 17 | 17th | 32 | 4 | 9 | 19 | 31 | 63 | -32 | 21 | 1,559 | Not eligible | 1st round |
| 2018 | J3 | 3 | 17 | 3rd | 32 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 61 | 47 | 14 | 53 | 2,657 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2019 | J3 | 3 | 18 | 7th | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 49 | 59 | -10 | 50 | 2,228 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2020 † | J3 | 3 | 18 | 5th | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 47 | 37 | 10 | 57 | 703 | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2021 † | J3 | 3 | 15 | 12th | 28 | 9 | 2 | 17 | 36 | 53 | -17 | 29 | 1,186 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2022 | J3 | 3 | 18 | 12th | 34 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 55 | 56 | -1 | 41 | 1,745 | Not eligible | 1st round |
| 2023 | J3 | 3 | 20 | 6th | 38 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 57 | 52 | 5 | 56 | 2,131 | Not eligible | 1st round |
| 2024 | J3 | 3 | 20 | 14th | 38 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 48 | 64 | -16 | 47 | 2,434 | 2nd round | 1st round |
| 2025 | J3 | 3 | 20 | TBD | 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 league home attendance
* † 2020 season attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
* Source: J.League Data Site

## Honours

Gainare Tottori Honours :
| Honour | No. | Years |
| Japan Football League | 1 | 2010 |
| Chugoku Soccer League | 1 | 2000 |

## Current squad

    As of 9 February 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 | Yuta Terasawa |
| 2 | MF | JPN | Itto Fujita |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Shuto Nagano (on loan from FC Tokyo) |
| 4 | DF | JPN | Seiya Nikaido |
| 6 | DF | JPN | Hayato Nukui |
| 7 | MF | JPN | Hideatsu Ozawa |
| 8 | DF | JPN | Keita Tanaka |
| 9 | FW | JPN | Ryo Tanada (on loan from Sanfrecce Hiroshima) |
| 10 | FW | JPN | Yuta Togashi |
| 11 | MF | JPN | Atsuki Tojo |
| 13 | MF | JPN | Yusuke Shimizu (on loan from RB Omiya Ardija) |
| 14 | MF | JPN | Makoto Fukoin |
| 15 | MF | JPN | Sota Higashide |
| 16 | MF | JPN | Sota Maruyama |
| 17 | DF | JPN | Taichi Matsumoto |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | FW | JPN | Koya Handa (on loan from Blaublitz Akita) |
| 19 | FW | JPN | Naoto Miki |
| 20 | MF | JPN | Mio Tsuneyasu |
| 21 | DF | JPN | Takumi Kawamura (on loan from Tokyo Verdy) |
| 22 | FW | JPN | Ibuki Yoshida |
| 23 | FW | USA | Kojo Dadzie |
| 27 | MF | JPN | Yuhei Nishida |
| 28 | MF | CHN | Jin Shiming |
| 31 | GK | JPN | Ryota Koma |
| 32 | MF | JPN | Taku Ikawa |
| 34 | MF | JPN | Daichi Soga |
| 38 | DF | JPN | Koki Azumane |
| 39 | GK | JPN | Riki Sakuraba |
| 41 | DF | JPN | Kei Oshiro |
| 42 | MF | JPN | Masaki Kaneura |
| 55 | DF | JPN | Haruki Oshima |

### 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 | Hibiki Nishio (on loan at Belugarosso Iwami) |

## Coaching staff

| Position | Name |
| Manager | Kentaro Hayashi |
| First-team coach | Daichi Niwa Yuki Shimizu |
| Goalkeeper coach | Tetsuya Higashi |
| Technical coach | Shoma Kurata |
| Trainer | Kiyoshi Otani Takato Hiromori |
| Competent | Atsumu Ugata |
| Side affairs | Takuma Kawada |

## Managerial history

| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | Tenure |
| Manager | Nationality | Start | Finish |
| Yoji Mizuguchi | Japan | February 1, 2007 | August 15, 2007 |
| Witthaya Laohakul | Thailand | August 23, 2007 | February 1, 2010 |
| Takeo Matsuda | Japan | February 1, 2010 | January 31, 2012 |
| Hideo Yoshizawa | Japan | February 1, 2012 | January 31, 2013 |
| Norio Omura | Japan | December 7, 2013 | August 12, 2013 |
| Koji Maeda | Japan | August 12, 2013 | January 31, 2014 |
| Masanobu Matsunami | Japan | February 1, 2014 | January 31, 2016 |
| Tetsuji Hashiratani | Japan | February 1, 2016 | January 31, 2017 |
| Ryuzo Morioka | Japan | February 1, 2017 | June 4, 2018 |
| Daisuke Sudo | Japan | June 4, 2018 | January 31, 2019 |
| Riki Takagi | Japan | February 1, 2019 | May 4, 2021 |
| Kim Jong-song | North Korea | May 10, 2021 | June 19, 2023 |
| Kohei Masumoto (caretaker) | Japan | June 20, 2023 | November 24, 2023 |
| Kentaro Hayashi | Japan | December 8, 2023 | current |

## Kit evolution

Home kit - 1st :
| 2007 - 2008 | 2009 - 2010 | 2011 - 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 - |
Away kit - 2nd :
| 2007 - 2008 | 2009 - 2010 | 2011 - 2012 | 2013 | 2014 - 2015 |
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 - |