# Zweigen Kanazawa

Zweigen Kanazawa (ツエーゲン金沢, Tsuēgen Kanazawa) is a Japanese football club based in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. They currently play in the J3 League, Japan's third tier of professional league football after being relegated at the end of 2023 of J2 League.

## History

The club was formed in 1956 under the simple name Kanazawa Soccer Club and adopted its current identity in 2006. The Hokushinetsu region, long sleepy in football terms and whose potential only arose with Albirex Niigata leading the way, provided few opportunities for Kanazawa to rise in Japan's football ranks until the late 2000s. On 19 December 2009 they were promoted to the JFL after beating FC Kariya at the promotion/relegation playoff with 2–1 aggregate score, following a third-place finish in the 2009 All Japan Regional Football Promotion League Series.
On December 15, 2010, a new management company called Zweigen, Inc. was established in order to apply to the J-League associate membership.
On January 7, 2011, the team applied for J-League associate membership.
On 16 November 2014, Zweigen became the inaugural J3 League champions, and gained a licence to compete in J2 League from 2015.
On 22 October 2023, Zweigen officially relegated to J3 League for the 2024 season after a narrow by Montedio Yamagata 0–1, thus ending their 9 years stay in J2.

### Name and symbolism

The name "Zweigen" is a portmanteau of the German zwei, for the number 2, and gen, to advance. In Kanazawa dialect, the phrase tsuyoi noda! (We're strong!) became tsuee gen! by double entendre. In German, the word Zweigen means branches (dative—nominative: Zweige), and owing to this, a fleur-de-lis is a key part of the club's crest.

## Stadium

From 1974 to 2024, their home stadium was the 20,261 capacity general-purpose Ishikawa Kanazawa Stadium.
Since 18 February 2024, Zweigen Kanazawa have played at the 10,444 capacity Kanazawa Stadium.

## League & cup record

| 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 |
| 2010 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 9th | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 46 | 41 | 5 | 48 | 1,548 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2011 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 7th | 33 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 49 | 40 | 9 | 47 | 2,504 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2012 | JFL | 3 | 17 | 14th | 32 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 33 | 41 | -8 | 36 | 2,313 | Not eligible | 1st round |
| 2013 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 7th | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 60 | 48 | 12 | 50 | 2,063 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2014 | J3 | 3 | 12 | 1st | 33 | 23 | 6 | 4 | 56 | 20 | 36 | 75 | 3,440 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2015 | J2 | 2 | 22 | 12th | 42 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 46 | 43 | 3 | 54 | 4,910 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2016 | J2 | 2 | 22 | 21st | 42 | 8 | 15 | 19 | 36 | 60 | -24 | 39 | 4,179 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2017 | J2 | 2 | 22 | 17th | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 49 | 67 | -18 | 49 | 4,397 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2018 | J2 | 2 | 22 | 13th | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 52 | 48 | 4 | 55 | 4,528 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2019 | J2 | 2 | 22 | 11th | 42 | 15 | 16 | 11 | 58 | 46 | 12 | 61 | 5,209 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2020 † | J2 | 2 | 22 | 18th | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 57 | 67 | -10 | 49 | 1,866 | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2021 † | J2 | 2 | 22 | 17th | 42 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 39 | 60 | -21 | 41 | 2,533 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2022 | J2 | 2 | 22 | 14th | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 56 | 69 | -13 | 52 | 3,421 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2023 | J2 | 2 | 22 | 22nd | 42 | 9 | 7 | 25 | 40 | 69 | -29 | 34 | 4,239 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2024 | J3 | 3 | 20 | 12th | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 50 | 52 | -2 | 50 | 5,435 | 1st round | 1st round |
| 2025 | J3 | 3 | 20 | TBD | 38 | | | | | | | | | TBD round | TBD round |

### 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 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
* Source: J.League Data Site
* Source: Japan Football League 2010

## Honours

Zweigen Kanazawa Honours :
| Honour | No. | Years |
| Hokushinetsu Division 1 | 1 | 2004 |
| J3 League | 1 | 2014 |

## Current squad

As of 9 July 2024.
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 | Yuto Shirai |
| 2 | DF | JPN | Yuto Nagamine |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Hiroto Hatao |
| 4 | DF | JPN | Ryota Inoue |
| 5 | DF | JPN | Fuga Sakurai |
| 6 | MF | JPN | Yuki Kajiura (on loan from FC Tokyo) |
| 7 | MF | JPN | Dai Tsukamoto |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Keisuke Oyama |
| 9 | FW | JPN | Yusei Toshida |
| 10 | MF | JPN | Shintaro Shimada |
| 11 | FW | JPN | Kyohei Sugiura |
| 14 | MF | JPN | Takayoshi Ishihara |
| 15 | MF | JPN | Yuki Nishiya |
| 16 | DF | JPN | Shunya Mori |
| 17 | MF | JPN | Taiki Kato |
| 18 | MF | JPN | Andrew Kumagai |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | FW | JPN | Yohei Toyoda |
| 21 | GK | JPN | Takumi Yamanoi |
| 22 | MF | JPN | Hayase Takashio (on loan from Yokohama FC) |
| 23 | DF | KOR | Baek In-hwan (on loan from FC Tokyo) |
| 24 | MF | JPN | Shimpei Nishiya |
| 25 | DF | JPN | Masaya Kojima |
| 30 | FW | JPN | Hayato Otani |
| 31 | GK | JPN | Itsuki Ueda |
| 33 | MF | JPN | Hayate Okizaki |
| 34 | DF | JPN | Rai Namimoto |
| 38 | DF | JPN | Norimichi Yamamoto |
| 39 | DF | JPN | Honoya Shoji |
| 55 | DF | JPN | Tomohiro Taira |
| 60 | GK | JPN | Kenya Kubo |
| 77 | FW | BRA | Marlyson (on loan from Figueirense) |
| 95 | FW | BRA | Jefferson Baiano |

### 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 |
| — | MF | JPN | Kazuya Onohara (at Blaublitz Akita) |

## Coaching staff

| Position | Name |
| Manager | Akira Ito |
| Assistant coach | Kiyokazu Kudo |
| First-team coach | Hiroki Shibuya |
| Goalkeeper coach | Noriyuki Yamagishi |
| Physical coach | Tetsuya Sakamoto |
| Analytical coach | Wataru Kuriwaki |
| Chief trainer | Chikashi Masui |
| Trainer | Seiya Motooka Takahiro Yagi |
| Interpreter | Rafael Rayden Igarashi |
| Equipment manager | Tomoya Araki |
| Team manager | Tatsuya Hirano |

## Managerial history

| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | Tenure | Managerial Record | Managerial Record | Managerial Record | Managerial Record | Managerial Record |
| Manager | Nationality | Start | Finish | P | W | D | L | Win % |
| Nobuhiro Ueno | Japan | 1 February 2009 | 31 January 2012 | 81 | 37 | 17 | 27 | 045.68 |
| Hitoshi Morishita | Japan | 1 February 2012 | 31 January 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | !— |
| Masaaki Yanagishita | Japan | 1 February 2017 | 5 November 2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | !— |
| Akira Ito | Japan | 11 December 2023 | present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | !— |

### Key

* Source: J.League Data Site

## Kit evolution

Home Kit - 1st :
| 2006 - 2007 | 2008 - 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 2024 - |
Away Kit - 2nd :
| 2008 - 2010 | 2011 | 2012 - 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 - |
Special Kits - 3rd :
| Summer 2019 | 2021 3rd | 2022 3rd | 2023 3rd |