# FC Gifu

Football Club Gifu (フットボールクラブ岐阜, Futtobōrukurabu Gifu), abbreviated as FC Gifu (FC岐阜, Efu Shī Gifu) is a Japanese football club based in Gifu, capital of Gifu Prefecture, Japan. They play in the J3 League, the third tier of Japanese professional football.

## History

During the Japan Soccer League and former Japan Football League years, the city and prefecture of Gifu were represented by the Seino Transportation Co. (西濃運輸 Seinō Un'yu) works team, which was relegated from the old JFL for the last time in 1997 and folded shortly thereafter in January 1998.
The modern-day Gifu club was founded in 2001 (Seino's last manager Masayuki Katsuno was among the founders, and a former Seino player, Takashi Umeda, recently returned to town and joined the club following a decade-long stint with Oita Trinita). The club was promoted to the new Japan Football League in 2007 after beating Honda Lock S.C. in the promotion/relegation play-offs.
The team earned third place at the end of the 2007 season, meaning it qualified for promotion to J.League Division 2. On 3 December 2007, J. League approved a promotion for the team for the 2008 season.
The club finished the 2012 season in 21st place, narrowly missing out on relegation to the Japan Football League.
Between 2013 and 2018, the team has constantly been placed in the lower realms of J.League Division 2 (now renamed to J2 League) and narrowly avoiding relegation until 2019 when they finished last in the league and were relegated to J3 League. Since then the club has played in the J3 League.

## Crest

The team's crest was designed to represent Gifu Prefecture. The top of the crest represents the mountain ranges of the northern part of the prefecture. The flowers are Chinese milk vetch, which are the prefectural flower. Each of the three lines represents one of the Kiso Three Rivers flowing through the prefecture. The banner at the base of the crest is the same as the symbol on the helmet of the victorious Tokugawa clan at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.

## 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 | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup |
| 2001 | GPD1 | 5 | 2nd | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 40 | 7 | 33 | 25 | | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2002 | GPD1 | 5 | 1st | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 4 | 36 | 30 | | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2003 | GPD1 | 5 | 1st | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 4 | 30 | 30 | | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2004 | JRL | 8 | 3rd | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 22 | 21 | 1 | 24 | | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2005 | JRL | 8 | 2nd | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 26 | 7 | 19 | 29 | | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2006 | JRL | 8 | 1st | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 3 | 43 | 44 | | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2007 | JFL | 18 | 3rd | 34 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 45 | 31 | 14 | 60 | 3,529 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2008 | J2 | 15 | 13th | 42 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 41 | 69 | -28 | 42 | 3,745 | Not eligible | 4th round |
| 2009 | J2 | 18 | 12th | 51 | 16 | 14 | 21 | 62 | 72 | -10 | 62 | 4,302 | Not eligible | Quarter final |
| 2010 | J2 | 19 | 14th | 36 | 13 | 6 | 17 | 32 | 45 | -13 | 45 | 3,108 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2011 | J2 | 20 | 20th | 38 | 6 | 6 | 26 | 39 | 83 | -44 | 24 | 4,120 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2012 | J2 | 22 | 21st | 42 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 27 | 55 | -28 | 35 | 4,270 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2013 | J2 | 22 | 21st | 42 | 9 | 10 | 23 | 37 | 80 | -43 | 37 | 4,525 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2014 | J2 | 22 | 17th | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 54 | 61 | -7 | 49 | 7,584 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2015 | J2 | 22 | 20th | 42 | 12 | 7 | 23 | 37 | 71 | -34 | 43 | 6,179 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2016 | J2 | 22 | 20th | 42 | 12 | 7 | 23 | 47 | 71 | -24 | 43 | 5,662 | Not eligible | 1st round |
| 2017 | J2 | 22 | 18th | 42 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 56 | 68 | -12 | 46 | 6,977 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2018 | J2 | 22 | 20th | 42 | 11 | 9 | 22 | 44 | 62 | -18 | 42 | 6,858 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2019 | J2 | 22 | 22nd | 42 | 7 | 9 | 26 | 33 | 78 | -45 | 30 | 6,692 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2020 † | J3 | 18 | 6th | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 50 | 39 | 11 | 56 | 2,643 | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2021 † | J3 | 15 | 6th | 28 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 38 | 35 | 3 | 41 | 3,505 | Not eligible | 1st round |
| 2022 | J3 | 18 | 14th | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 43 | 53 | -10 | 37 | 4,194 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2023 | J3 | 20 | 8th | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 44 | 35 | 9 | 54 | 4,733 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2024 | J3 | 20 | 8th | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 64 | 56 | 8 | 53 | 4,684 | 1st round | 2nd round |
| 2025 | J3 | 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 home league attendance
* † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
* Source: J.League Data Site

## Honours

FC Gifu Honours :
| Honour | No. | Years |
| Gifu Prefecture Division 1 | 2 | 2002, 2003 |
| Tōkai Division 1 | 1 | 2006 |
| Gifu Prefectural Football Championship, Emperor's Cup Shizuoka Prefectural Qualifiers | 6 | 2006, 2007, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 |

## Current squad

As of 8 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 | Shu Mogi |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Riku Nozawa |
| 4 | DF | JPN | Kentaro Kai |
| 5 | DF | JPN | Ryoma Ishida |
| 6 | MF | JPN | Sora Igawa |
| 7 | MF | JPN | Jiro Nakamura (on loan from Gamba Osaka) |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Daigo Araki |
| 10 | MF | JPN | Ryoma Kita |
| 11 | FW | JPN | Kai Sasaki |
| 14 | MF | JPN | Yoshiatsu Oiji |
| 15 | MF | JPN | Naoki Yamada |
| 16 | MF | JPN | Ryo Nishitani (on loan from Tokyo Verdy) |
| 17 | FW | JPN | Yuya Nagai |
| 19 | MF | JPN | Ayumu Matsumoto |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | GK | JPN | Sera Yamaguchi |
| 22 | MF | PRK | Mun In-ju |
| 23 | DF | JPN | Kodai Hagino |
| 24 | FW | JPN | Shohei Aihara |
| 26 | DF | JPN | Shohei Ogushi |
| 27 | FW | JPN | Tomoya Yokoyama |
| 28 | MF | JPN | Tatsuya Hakozaki |
| 31 | GK | ESP | Jon Ander Serantes |
| 32 | FW | JPN | William Owie (on loan from Kashiwa Reysol) |
| 33 | DF | KOR | Kim Yu-geon |
| 37 | DF | JPN | Shogo Terasaka (on loan from Vissel Kobe) |
| 39 | MF | JPN | Jin Izumisawa |
| 50 | GK | JPN | Daiki Goto |
| 55 | DF | JPN | Ryo Toyama |

### 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 | Kowa Yonaha (at Fukui United) |

## Coaching staff

| Position | Name |
| Manager | Yasuaki Oshima |
| First-team coach | Yusuke Noda Takuya Honda Yuki Yoshimura |
| Goalkeeper coach | Teppei Uesugi |
| Conditioning coach | Shuichi Yoshimura |
| Conditioning advisor | Nobuyuki Nozaki |
| Doctor | Atsushi Yamaga |
| Trainer | Hitoshi Suzuki Yudai Kato Yuki Hirano |
| Competent | Kotaro Sakaguchi |
| Side affairs | Hideaki Nobuta |

## Managerial history

| Manager | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | W % |
| Masayuki Katsuno | Japan | 1 January 2001 | 31 January 2006 | 63 | 44 | 6 | 13 | 69.84 |
| Tetsuya Totsuka | Japan | 1 February 2006 | 21 June 2007 | 38 | 29 | 5 | 4 | 76.32 |
| Hideki Matsunaga | Japan | 21 June 2007 | 31 January 2010 | 120 | 39 | 32 | 49 | 032.50 |
| Yasuharu Kurata | Japan | 1 February 2010 | 31 January 2011 | 37 | 13 | 6 | 18 | 035.14 |
| Takahiro Kimura | Japan | 1 February 2011 | 31 January 2012 | 39 | 6 | 6 | 27 | 015.38 |
| Kōji Gyōtoku | Japan | 1 February 2012 | 18 August 2013 | 72 | 13 | 20 | 39 | 018.06 |
| Keiju Karashima | Japan | 18 August 2013 | 31 January 2014 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 023.08 |
| Ruy Ramos | Japan | 1 February 2014 | 22 July 2016 | 111 | 32 | 20 | 59 | 028.83 |
| Megumu Yoshida | Japan | 22 July 2016 | 31 January 2017 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 027.78 |
| Takeshi Ōki | Japan | 1 February 2017 | 17 June 2019 | 105 | 26 | 26 | 53 | 024.76 |
| Makoto Kitano | Japan | 18 June 2019 | 31 January 2020 | 25 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 16.00 |
| Zdravko Zemunović | Serbia | 1 February 2020 | 20 September 2020 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 46.67 |
| Kenji Nakada | Japan | 21 September 2020 | 31 January 2021 | 19 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 47.37 |
| Takayoshi Amma | Japan | 1 February 2021 | 31 January 2022 | 29 | 12 | 5 | 12 | 41.38 |
| Toshiya Miura | Japan | 1 February 2022 | 5 May 2022 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 28.57 |
| Yuji Yokoyama | Japan | 6 May 2022 | 30 November 2022 | 29 | 9 | 6 | 14 | 31.34 |
| Yusaku Ueno | Japan | 1 December 2022 | 27 June 2024 | 62 | 24 | 17 | 21 | 38.71 |
| Kenichi Amano | Japan | 28 June 2024 | 2 December 2024 | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 47.50 |
| Yasuaki Oshima | Japan | 1 January 2025 | | | | | | |

## Kit evolution

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

## Other teams

They also run as a reserve team FC Gifu Second, which currently plays in the Tōkai Adult League Division 2. They have played in the Emperor's Cup and Shakaijin Cup in the past.