# 2023 Avispa Fukuoka season

The 2023 season was Avispa Fukuoka's 41st season in existence and the club's third consecutive season in the top flight of Japanese football. In addition to the domestic league, Avispa Fukuoka participated in this season's edition of the Emperor's Cup and the J.League Cup.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 15 August 2023.
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) |
| 5 | DF | JPN | Daiki Miya (vice-captain) |
| 6 | MF | JPN | Hiroyuki Mae (vice-captain) |
| 7 | MF | JPN | Takeshi Kanamori (vice-captain) |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Kazuya Konno |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Lukian |
| 10 | FW | JPN | Hisashi Jogo |
| 11 | MF | JPN | Yuya Yamagishi |
| 14 | MF | JPN | Tatsuya Tanaka |
| 16 | DF | JPN | Itsuki Oda |
| 17 | FW | JPN | Shun Nakamura |
| 18 | FW | BRA | Wellington |
| 19 | MF | JPN | Sotan Tanabe |
| 20 | DF | JPN | KennedyEgbus Mikuni |
| 21 | GK | JPN | Takumi Yamanoi |
| 22 | DF | JPN | Masashi Kamekawa |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 26 | DF | JPN | Seiya Inoue |
| 27 | FW | JPN | Ryoga Sato |
| 28 | FW | JPN | Reiju Tsuruno |
| 29 | DF | JPN | Yota Maejima |
| 30 | MF | JPN | Masato Shigemi |
| 31 | GK | JPN | Masaaki Murakami |
| 33 | DF | BRA | Douglas Grolli |
| 35 | MF | JPN | Yuto Hiratsuka |
| 37 | DF | JPN | Masaya Tashiro |
| 41 | GK | JPN | Daiki Sakata |
| 44 | DF | JPN | Kimiya Moriyama (vice-captain) |
| 45 | FW | JPN | Ichika Maeda $^{Type2}$ |
| 46 | MF | JPN | Katsuki Nishimura $^{Type2}$ |
| 47 | MF | JPN | Sota Iwanaga $^{Type2}$ |
| 49 | GK | JPN | Jin Tokishi $^{Type2}$ |
| 51 | GK | JPN | Kazuaki Suganuma |
| 99 | MF | JPN | Yosuke Ideguchi (on loan from Celtic) |

### 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 | Yuji Kitajima (at Tokyo Verdy) |

## Transfers

Transfers in :
| Join on | Pos. | Player | Moving from | Transfer type |
| 31 Mar | MF | Masato Shigemi | Fukuoka University | Loan transfer; 2023 DSP |
| 1 Mar | FW | Wellington | Shonan Bellmare | Free transfer |
| Pre-season | GK | Daiki Sakata | Iwaki FC | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | GK | Kazuaki Suganuma | Fukuoka University | Loan transfer; 2023 DSP |
| Pre-season | DF | Itsuki Oda | Kashima Antlers | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | DF | Masashi Kamekawa | Yokohama FC | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | MF | Kazuya Konno | FC Tokyo | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | MF | Yosuke Ideguchi | Celtic FC | Loan transfer |
| Pre-season | FW | Ryoga Sato | Tokyo Verdy | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | FW | Reiju Tsuruno | Fukuoka University | Full transfer |
Transfers out :
| Leave on | Pos. | Player | Moving to | Transfer type |
| Pre-season | GK | Rikihiro Sugiyama | – | Retirement |
| Pre-season | DF | Takaaki Shichi | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | DF | Yuta Kumamoto | Montedio Yamagata | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | DF | Toshiki Toya | Kochi United | Free transfer |
| Pre-season | DF | Kaito Kuwahara | Suzuka Point Getters | Free transfer |
| Pre-season | DF | Naoki Wako | – | Retirement |
| Pre-season | MF | Jordy Croux | Cerezo Osaka | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | MF | Yuji Kitajima | Tokyo Verdy | Loan transfer |
| Pre-season | FW | John Mary | Çaykur Rizespor | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | FW | Daiki Watari | Tokushima Vortis | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | FW | Juanma | V-Varen Nagasaki | Full transfer |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| J1 League | 18 February 2023 (2023-2-18) | 12 November 2023 (2023-11-12) | Matchday 1 | | 33 | 15 | 12 | 6 | 37 | 42 | −5 | 045.45 |
| Emperor's Cup | 7 June 2023 (2023-6-7) | 8 October 2023 (2023-10-8) | Second round | Semi-finals | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 080.00 |
| J.League Cup | 8 March 2023 (2023-3-8) | 4 November 2023 (2023-11-4) | Group stage | Winners | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 070.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 48 | 26 | 13 | 9 | 63 | 57 | +6 | 054.17 |
Last updated: 11 November 2023 Source: Soccerway

### J1 League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 5 | Kashima Antlers | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 43 | 34 | +9 | 52 | |
| 6 | Nagoya Grampus | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 41 | 36 | +5 | 52 | |
| 7 | Avispa Fukuoka | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 37 | 43 | −6 | 51 | |
| 8 | Kawasaki Frontale | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 51 | 45 | +6 | 50 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite league stage |
| 9 | Cerezo Osaka | 34 | 15 | 4 | 15 | 39 | 34 | +5 | 49 | |
* ↑ Qualified as the 2023 Emperor's Cup winners.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 25 November 2023. Source: See matches

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 20 January 2023.

### Emperor's Cup

As Avispa is a J1 club, it started the competition in the second round.

### J.League Cup

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Avispa Fukuoka | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 13 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Kashima Antlers | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Albirex Niigata | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 6 | |
| 4 | Kashiwa Reysol | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 5 | |

#### Quarter-finals

Avispa Fukuoka won 2–1 on aggregate.

#### Semi-finals

Avispa Fukuoka won 2–0 on aggregate.