# FC Ryukyu

FC Ryukyu Okinawa (FC琉球OKINAWA, Efu Shī Ryūkyū OKINAWA) is a Japanese professional football club based in Okinawa. The club plays in the J3 League, Japanese third tier of professional football. The team's home stadium is Tapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
The team derive their name from Ryukyu, the historic name for Okinawa Prefecture. The club once had futsal and handball teams.

## History

The club was founded in 2003. Most of the players who initially joined the club were those who had left Okinawa Kariyushi FC after a rift with their management, which were beholden to the Kariyushi hotel chain. Their first 2003 season saw them win the championship in Okinawa Prefectural Division 3 North. They were allowed to skip to Division 1 the next season, where they again succeeded in finishing top of the table.
In the 2005 season, they belonged to the Kyūshū Regional League (Kyu League). After finishing 2nd and winning the Regional League play-off, they were promoted to the JFL and became the first ever Okinawan football side who played in a national league.
In December 2007, the club appointed former Japan national coach Philippe Troussier as their general manager. Jean-Paul Rabier was appointed as their manager in January 2008.
They applied for J. League Associate Membership in January 2008, but their application was declined at the J. League board meeting held on February 19, 2008.
In December 2008, the resignation of Rabier was announced. Former coach Hiroyuki Shinzato was promoted to be the new manager in January 2009.
In 2014, FC Ryukyu could finally join the J3 League.
In January 2015, FC Ryukyu announced a partnership with Seoul United from the Korean Challengers League. According to the agreement the teams will play a friendly match every year. The first match was scheduled for 1 March 2015.
FC Ryukyu have made steady progress in recent years, finishing in 8th place in J3 in 2016, and improving on that the following year, finishing 6th.
In the 2018 season they secured promotion to J2 with 3 games left after a 1–1 draw at Nagano Parceiro, and in the following game beat Thespakusatsu Gunma to claim the J3 title with two games to spare.
They started their first season in J2 in 2019, in style with 4 straight wins to top the league, but faded as the season progressed eventually finishing in 14th place.
In 2022, after spending four years in the J2 League, the club was relegated back to the J3 League after scoring their lowest points total in the second-tier. The club finished in 21st place with 37 points, only 3 points off the last placed team.
On 26 October 2023, the club announced that they will use FC Ryukyu Okinawa for branding purpose starting 2024 season, although the club's current name will remain used in any competition. The change initially also included the update of club's emblem. However, the plan eventually revised and Ryukyu decided to keep the current emblem for 2024 season, albeit with modified colorway.
For the 2025 season, FC Ryukyu Okinawa announced a new logo.

## Home stadium

The home stadium is the Tapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium (Okinawa Prefectural Sports Park Athletic Stadium), based in Okinawa City.
Until 2014, the Okinawa City Athletic Stadium in Okinawa City was used as the main home stadium, and multiple stadiums were used.

## League & cup record

| Champions | Runners-up | 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 |
| 2005 | Kyushu Soccer League | 4 | 10 | 2nd | 18 | 13.5 | 1 | 3.5 | 51 | 12 | -39 | 42 | – | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2006 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 14th | 34 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 29 | 57 | -28 | 29 | 3,189 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2007 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 17th | 34 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 38 | 82 | -44 | 27 | 2,443 | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2008 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 16th | 34 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 31 | 58 | -27 | 27 | 2,882 | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2009 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 16th | 34 | 11 | 5 | 18 | 42 | 57 | -15 | 38 | 1,348 | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2010 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 10th | 34 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 51 | 51 | 0 | 48 | 1,777 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2011 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 9th | 33 | 14 | 4 | 15 | 47 | 51 | -4 | 46 | 1,860 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2012 | JFL | 3 | 17 | 9th | 32 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 58 | 62 | -4 | 43 | 2,164 | Not eligible | 1st round |
| 2013 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 11th | 34 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 47 | 51 | -4 | 46 | 2,069 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2014 | J3 | 3 | 12 | 9th | 33 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 31 | 50 | -19 | 34 | 1,398 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2015 | J3 | 3 | 13 | 9th | 36 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 45 | 51 | -6 | 45 | 1,498 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2016 | J3 | 3 | 16 | 8th | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 44 | 1,561 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2017 | J3 | 3 | 17 | 6th | 32 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 44 | 36 | 8 | 50 | 2,508 | Not eligible | 1st round |
| 2018 | J3 | 3 | 17 | 1st | 32 | 20 | 6 | 6 | 70 | 40 | 30 | 66 | 3,146 | Not eligible | 1st round |
| 2019 | J2 | 2 | 22 | 14th | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 57 | 80 | -23 | 49 | 4,953 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2020 † | J2 | 2 | 22 | 16th | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 58 | 61 | -3 | 50 | 1,170 | Not eligible | Did not qualify |
| 2021 † | J2 | 2 | 22 | 9th | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 57 | 47 | 10 | 65 | 1,618 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2022 | J2 | 2 | 22 | 21st | 42 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 41 | 65 | -24 | 37 | 1,996 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2023 | J3 | 3 | 20 | 17th | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 43 | 61 | -18 | 43 | 2,534 | Not eligible | 2nd round |
| 2024 | J3 | 3 | 20 | 14th | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 45 | 54 | -9 | 47 | 3,007 | 3rd round | Did not qualify |
| 2025 | J3 | 3 | 20 | TBA | 38 | | | | | | | | | | Did not qualify |

### 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 Ryukyu Honours :
| Honour | No. | Years |
| Okinawa Prefectural League Division 3 North | 1 | 2003 |
| Okinawa Prefectural League Division 1 | 1 | 2004 |
| Japanese Regional Promotion Series | 1 | 2005 |
| J3 League | 1 | 2018 |

## Current squad

As of 12 March 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 |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Shuta Kikuchi (on loan from Shimizu S-Pulse) |
| 4 | DF | JPN | Hiroki Fujiharu |
| 5 | DF | JPN | Kaito Kamiya |
| 7 | MF | JPN | Shunsuke Motegi |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Ryota Iwabuchi |
| 10 | MF | JPN | Yu Tomidokoro |
| 13 | MF | JPN | Sho Iwamoto |
| 14 | DF | JPN | Junya Suzuki |
| 15 | DF | JPN | Ryota Araki |
| 16 | GK | JPN | Hisaya Sato |
| 17 | MF | JPN | Takatora Einaga (on loan from Kawasaki Frontale) |
| 18 | MF | JPN | Sho Hiramatsu |
| 19 | FW | JPN | Miyu Sato |
| 20 | MF | JPN | Sota Nagai (on loan from Tokyo Verdy) |
| 21 | GK | JPN | Shioki Takayama (on loan from Vissel Kobe) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 22 | DF | JPN | Yuzuki Yamato (on loan from Ventforet Kofu) |
| 23 | FW | JPN | Kazuki Sota |
| 24 | MF | JPN | Yuta Sato |
| 25 | FW | JPN | Hidetaka Maie |
| 26 | DF | JPN | Takeshi Yoshimoto |
| 28 | MF | JPN | Jitsuki Tsuha |
| 29 | DF | KOR | Cho Eun-su |
| 33 | GK | JPN | Akihito Ozawa |
| 37 | DF | JPN | Koki Gotoda |
| 39 | FW | JPN | Atsuhito Ihara |
| 47 | FW | JPN | Mohamad Sadiki Wade (on loan from Kashiwa Reysol) |
| 50 | GK | JPN | Koki Kawashima |
| 55 | MF | JPN | Yushin Koki |
| 89 | FW | JPN | Daisuke Takagi |

## Club officials

Club officials for 2024 season
| Position | Name |
| Manager | Tadaaki Hirakawa |
| Coach | Yasutaka Shimizu Hiroyuki Shirai |
| Goalkeeping coach | Kim Jong-dal |
| Analytical coach | Takeshi Hanita |
| Trainer | Hokuto Hatakeda Hayato Yamakawa Yuta Hanamae |
| Side manager | Keita Higa |
| Sports director | Minoru Takehara |
| Reinforcement staff | Ryota Henzan |
| Chief doctor | Kotaro Ishizuka |
| Medical supervisor | Tomoyuki Oshiro |

## Managerial history

| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | Tenure |
| Manager | Nationality | Start | Finish |
| George Yonashiro | Japan | 1 February 2004 | 31 January 2007 |
| Hideo Yoshizawa | Japan | 1 February 2007 | 31 January 2008 |
| Jean-Paul Rabier | France | 1 January 2008 | 31 December 2008 |
| Hiroyuki Shinzato | Japan | 1 February 2009 | 31 January 2012 |
| Takeo Matsuda | Japan | 1 February 2012 | 31 January 2013 |
| Norihiro Satsukawa | Japan | 1 February 2013 | 31 January 2016 |
| Kim Jong-song | North Korea | 1 February 2016 | 31 January 2019 |
| Yasuhiro Higuchi | Japan | 1 February 2019 | 20 October 2021 |
| Tetsuhiro Kina | Japan | 20 October 2021 | 8 June 2022 |
| Kazuki Kuranuki (caretaker) | Japan | 9 June 2022 | 13 June 2022 |
| Nacho Fernández | Spain | 14 June 2022 | 31 January 2023 |
| Kazuki Kuranuki | Japan | 1 February 2023 | 16 May 2023 |
| Tetsuhiro Kina | Japan | 16 May 2023 | 15 September 2023 |
| Kim Jong-song | North Korea | 16 September 2023 | 31 January 2025 |
| Tadaaki Hirakawa | Japan | 1 February 2025 | Current |

## Team colour and crest

The men team's name is FC Ryukyu Okinawa.
Their team colour is bengara, a shade of red pigment. It is called red ochre in English and can be generally described as claret. Bengara derives from a Dutch word 'bengala' which in turn derives from Bengal, a historic region located in India and Bangladesh. This name was given because the pigment was traditionally imported from Bengal to Japan. Okinawa has a close association with the bengara colour which is prominently applied to Shuri Castle, one of the most symbolic historical buildings in the area.
In 2008 they adopted a sky-blue trim for their home uniform, as their bengara pigment pattern was considered too similar to Aston Villa from England (the claret and sky-blue pattern was around long before Troussier and the French staff arrived, so a coincidence in colours is feasible).
Their crest features a pair of Shisas, imaginary talismanic creatures in the area, and the crown of the kings of the former Ryukyu Kingdom.

## Kit evolution

Home kits - 1st :
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 - 2007 | 2008 |
| 2009 - 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| 2025 - |
Away kits - 2nd :
| 2006 - 2007 | 2008 | 2009 - 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 - |
3rd kits - Other :
| 2011 3rd | 2020 charity | 2021 3rd | 2022 3rd | 2022 Shuri Castle Reconstruction Support Charity Match Okinawa Legend |
| 2023 3rd 20th Anniversary | 2024 3rd Zimbeño |