# Montedio Yamagata

Montedio Yamagata (モンテディオ山形, Montedio Yamagata) is a Japanese professional association football club based in Tendo, Yamagata. The club currently playing in J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football.

## Name origin

Montedio is a coined word combining the Italian word for "mountain" (Monte) and the word for "God" (Dio).

## History

The club based in Tsuruoka was founded in 1984 as NEC Yamagata Soccer Club. It gained the promotion to the Japan Football League (former) in 1994. After renaming itself as Montedio Yamagata in 1996, it has been playing in J. League Division 2 since its inaugural 1999 season.
On 30 November 2008, they were promoted to J. League Division 1 for the first time. They achieved their highest league placing of 13th in 2010. However, in 2011, two strong rental players from Kashima Antlers go back to their own team. This weakened the squad which also suffered many injuries through the year and Montedio were relegated back to J.League Division 2 at the end of 2011. At the end of the season, the manager, Shinji Kobayashi, stepped down even though many fans glorified his accomplishment for the past 4 years.
Yamagata returned to the J1 after spending three seasons in the J2 by winning the J1/J2 promotion playoff final in 2014. They returned to the J2 for the 2016 season, having spent only one season at the J1. The club is currently playing their 8th consecutive season in the J2 on 2023.

## Record as J.League member

| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup |
| Season | Division | Teams | Pos | P | W | D | L | Pts | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup |
| 1999 | J2 | 10 | 7th | 36 | 15 | 4 | 17 | 48 | 1st round | Quarter-finals |
| 2000 | J2 | 11 | 10th | 40 | 11 | 2 | 27 | 33 | 1st round | 2nd round |
| 2001 | J2 | 12 | 3rd | 44 | 27 | 6 | 14 | 80 | 1st round | 3rd round |
| 2002 | J2 | 12 | 11th | 44 | 6 | 17 | 21 | 35 | Not eligible | 1st round |
| 2003 | J2 | 12 | 8th | 44 | 15 | 10 | 19 | 55 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2004 | J2 | 12 | 4th | 44 | 19 | 14 | 11 | 71 | Not eligible | 4th round |
| 2005 | J2 | 12 | 5th | 44 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 64 | Not eligible | 4th round |
| 2006 | J2 | 13 | 8th | 48 | 17 | 14 | 17 | 65 | Not eligible | 4th round |
| 2007 | J2 | 13 | 9th | 48 | 15 | 13 | 20 | 58 | Not eligible | 4th round |
| 2008 | J2 | 15 | 2nd | 42 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 78 | Not eligible | 4th round |
| 2009 | J1 | 18 | 15th | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 39 | Group stage | 3rd round |
| 2010 | J1 | 18 | 13th | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 42 | Group stage | Quarter finals |
| 2011 | J1 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 5 | 23 | 6 | 21 | 1st round | 3rd round |
| 2012 | J2 | 22 | 10th | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 61 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2013 | J2 | 22 | 10th | 42 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 59 | Not eligible | 4th round |
| 2014 | J2 | 22 | 6th | 42 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 64 | Not eligible | Runners up |
| 2015 | J1 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 4 | 18 | 12 | 24 | Group stage | 4th round |
| 2016 | J2 | 22 | 14th | 42 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 47 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2017 | J2 | 22 | 11th | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 59 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2018 | J2 | 22 | 12th | 42 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 56 | Not eligible | Semi-finals |
| 2019 | J2 | 22 | 6th | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 70 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2020 | J2 | 22 | 7th | 42 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 62 | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2021 | J2 | 22 | 7th | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 68 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2022 | J2 | 22 | 6th | 42 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 64 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2023 | J2 | 22 | 5th | 42 | 21 | 4 | 17 | 67 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2024 | J2 | 20 | 4th | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 66 | 1st round | 3rd round |
| 2025 | | 20 | TBD | 38 | | | | | TBD | TBD |

### Key

* Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; 'Pts = Points gained
* Source: J.League Data Site

## Current squad

As of 18 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 | AUS | Thomas Heward-Belle |
| 2 | DF | JPN | Taiju Yoshida |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Yuta Kumamoto |
| 4 | DF | JPN | Keisuke Nishimura |
| 5 | DF | JPN | Takashi Abe |
| 6 | DF | JPN | Takumi Yamada |
| 7 | MF | JPN | Leo Takae |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Yudai Konishi |
| 9 | FW | JPN | Junya Takahashi |
| 10 | MF | JPN | Ryoma Kida |
| 11 | FW | JPN | Yoshiki Fujimoto |
| 13 | DF | JPN | Hiroya Nodake |
| 14 | MF | JPN | Koki Sakamoto |
| 15 | DF | JPN | Ayumu Kawai |
| 16 | GK | JPN | Ko Hasegawa |
| 17 | MF | JPN | Chihiro Kato |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | MF | JPN | Shuto Minami |
| 19 | DF | JPN | Kazuma Okamoto |
| 20 | MF | JPN | Kaina Yoshio |
| 21 | MF | JPN | Wataru Tanaka |
| 22 | DF | JPN | Hayate Shirowa |
| 23 | FW | JPN | Shingo Omori (on loan from Consadole Sapporo) |
| 25 | MF | JPN | Shintaro Kokubu |
| 31 | GK | JPN | Riku Terakado |
| 32 | GK | JPN | Taisei Kambayashi |
| 33 | DF | JPN | Toraji Chiba |
| 42 | MF | JPN | Zain Issaka |
| 55 | FW | JPN | Shummei Horikane |
| 71 | MF | JPN | Ryotaro Nakamura |
| 88 | MF | JPN | Shoma Doi |
| 90 | FW | JPN | Akira Silvano Disaro |
| 99 | FW | GEO | Beka Mikeltadze |

### 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 | Kiriya Sakamoto (at Giravanz Kitakyushu) |
| — | DF | JPN | Jo Soma (at Kagoshima United) |
| — | DF | JPN | Keita Yoshioka (at Blaublitz Akita) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | JPN | Kaisei Kano (at Fukushima United) |
| — | MF | JPN | Rui Yokoyama (at Renofa Yamaguchi) |
| — | FW | JPN | Ryo Arita (at Renofa Yamaguchi) |

## Club officials

| Position | Name |
| Manager | Susumu Watanabe |
| Assistant manager | Jin Sato Ken Iwase |
| First-team coach | Keisuke Kaizaki Ren Yumitani |
| Goalkeeper coach | Yusaburo Matsuoka |
| Physical coach | Kenta Hamabe |
| Performance coordinator | Yosuke Kyoya |
| Analyst | Kanta Hashiba |
| Trainer | Tsukasa Sato Hiraku Toguri So Adachi |
| Team operations coordinator | Masahiro Sasaki |
| General affairs | Takuya Fukai Takaaki Sakai |

## Managerial history

| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | Tenure |
| Manager | Nationality | Start | Finish |
| Shoichi Kato | Japan | 1984 | 1989 |
| Masanobu Tashiro | Japan | 1990 | 1993 |
| Naoki Sugisawa | Japan | 1994 | |
| Nobuhiro Ishizaki | Japan | 1 February 1995 | 31 January 1999 |
| Shigeharu Ueki | Japan | 1 February 1999 | 31 January 2001 |
| Kōichi Hashiratani | Japan | 1 January 2001 | 31 December 2003 |
| Jun Suzuki | Japan | 1 February 2004 | 31 January 2006 |
| Yasuhiro Higuchi | Japan | 1 February 2006 | 31 January 2008 |
| Shinji Kobayashi | Japan | 1 February 2008 | 31 January 2012 |
| Ryōsuke Okuno | Japan | 1 February 2012 | 31 January 2014 |
| Nobuhiro Ishizaki | Japan | 1 February 2014 | 31 January 2017 |
| Takashi Kiyama | Japan | 1 February 2017 | 31 January 2020 |
| Kiyotaka Ishimaru | Japan | 1 February 2020 | 21 April 2021 |
| Jin Satō | Japan | 22 April 2021 | 29 April 2021 |
| Peter Cklamovski | Australia/ North Macedonia | 30 April 2021 | 4 April 2023 |
| Susumu Watanabe | Japan | 4 April 2023 | Current |

### General managers

* Shigetoshi Nakaigawa – 1986–1997, 2007–2019

## Honours

Montedio Yamagata honours :
| Honour | No. | Years |
| Yamagata Prefecture League | 1 | 1989 |
| Tohoku Soccer League | 4 | 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 |

## Kit evolution

Home Kit 1st :
| 1999 | 2000–2002 | 2003–2004 | 2005 - 2006 | 2007 |
| 2008–2009 | 2010–2011 | 2012–2013 | 2014 | 2015–2016 |
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 - |
Away Kit 2nd :
| 1999 | 2000–2003 | 2004 | 2005–2006 | 2007 |
| 2008–2009 | 2010–2011 | 2012–2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 - |
Other Kits - 3rd :
| 2013 Summer 3rd | 2018 3rd | 2018 New breed debut | 2019 Natsuni | 2021 Natsuni |
| 2022 Natsuuni | 2023 3rd | 2023 Natsuuni | 2024 Natsuuni |

## Rivalries
### Ōu Honsen (Dewa derby)

NEC Yamagata and TDK first met in 1990 in old Tohoku regional football league. The two clubs have been based in former Dewa Province, and their rivalry is renamed as Ōu Honsen (奥羽本戦) after the Japan Railways Ōu Main Line (奥羽本線) in 2021.
* Battle of Ōshū