# Renofa Yamaguchi FC

Renofa Yamaguchi FC (レノファ山口FC, Renofa Yamaguchi Efu Shī) is a Japanese professional football club based in Yamaguchi, the capital of Yamaguchi Prefecture. They currently play in the J2 League, the second tier of professional football in Japan's football league system.

## History

The original football team consisted of a group of teaching staff who were based within Yamaguchi prefecture, a team called Yamaguchi Prefecture Teachers Football Club (山口県サッカー教員団, Yamaguchi-ken sakkā kyōin dan), often abbreviated to Yamaguchi Teachers or Yamaguchi KFC (compare Tochigi S.C. and Gainare Tottori, who started as teachers' clubs and are now members of the J.League).
In February 2006, the Yamaguchi Football Association eyed the placement of a team from Yamaguchi in the J.League. Setting its heart of operations at Yamaguchi Teachers, a new football club was established. At the same time, a public appeal was made to name the new club, with Renofa Yamaguchi F.C. being decided in March of the same year. The word renofa is a wasei-eigo, a combination of three English words: renovation, fight, and fine.
Without a specified home ground, the team played Chūgoku league matches across a number of different venues within the prefecture, including Yamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium, Yamaguchi Kirara Expo Memorial Park, Onoda Football Park, Shunan City Athletic Stadium, and Yamaguchi Football Park. Now however, home games are played at Yamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium.
Though structured with a hometown manager and local players, sponsored by local business and enterprises, and local action plans within the local community, Renofa Yamaguchi F.C. is aiming for a national future in the J.League.
In the days of Yamaguchi Teachers, the team frequently finished mid to low table in the Chūgoku league. However, since the establishing of the new club in 2006, the team has consistently improved their final league position. This culminated in the 2008 season where they achieved their first league win. In the All Japan Regional Football Promotion League Series of that year the team finished fourth in the final round, missing the opportunity for promotion to the Japan Football League. The 2009 season saw them win their first Emperor's Cup match, beating Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima F.C. in a penalty shoot out.
Since the team's formation it had operated as a private organisation, however when the Nonprofit organization Yamaguchi Athletics Club was established on 24 May 2011, managing control of the team changed hands putting the new NPO in charge.
After the club finished on 4th-place in 2014 Japan Football League and passed the necessary licensing, J.League officially admitted Renofa Yamaguchi to participate in J3 League, starting from the 2015 season. Their J.League debut came in 2015 season. On 23 November 2015, Renofa earned their first and successful promotion from the JFL after winning the J3 League. The club was promoted for the J2 League ahead of the 2016 season. The club was guaranteed promotion after a 2–2 draw against Gainare Tottori in the closing rounds of the season, as Renofa were working towards J2 licensing before the season ended, for the promotion to be actually earned.
On 26 September 2023, Renofa Yamaguchi announcement officially granted J1 License.
The club will play their 8th consecutive season at the J2 League on 2023.

## Changes in club name

* Yamaguchi Prefecture Teachers Football Club (山口県サッカー教員団, Yamaguchi-ken sakkā kyōin dan) (Yamaguchi Teachers, Yamaguchi KFC) (1949–2005)
* Renofa Yamaguchi FC (レノファ山口FC, Renofa Yamaguchi Efu Shī) (2006–)

## Team results and managers

(Note that prior to the 1991 season a team would earn two points for a win) (From 1997 to 2006 when a match ended in a draw, a penalty shoot-out would occur. The winning team were awarded 2 points, and the losing team 1 point)

## League & cup record

| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| Season | League | Pos. | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | J. League Cup | Emperor's Cup | Notes |
| Yamaguchi Teachers ||||||||||||||
| 1976 | | | | | | | | | | | Not eligible | 1st round | |
| 1980 | Chūgoku League | 6th | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 27 | 30 | −3 | 11 | Not eligible | | |
| 1981 | Chūgoku League | 7th | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 29 | 31 | −2 | 10 | Not eligible | | |
| 1982 | Chūgoku League | 2nd | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 34 | 21 | 13 | 19 | Not eligible | 1st round | |
| 1983 | Chūgoku League | 2nd | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 35 | 23 | 12 | 19 | Not eligible | | |
| 1984 | Chūgoku League | 4th | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 38 | 27 | 11 | 17 | Not eligible | | |
| 1985 | Chūgoku League | 5th | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 30 | 29 | 1 | 13 | Not eligible | | |
| 1986 | Chūgoku League | 3rd | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 34 | 24 | 10 | 17 | Not eligible | | |
| 1987 | Chūgoku League | 3rd | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 14 | Not eligible | | |
| 1988 | Chūgoku League | 3rd | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 34 | 26 | 8 | 17 | Not eligible | | |
| 1989 | Chūgoku League | 2nd | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 15 | 13 | 17 | Not eligible | | |
| 1990 | Chūgoku League | 4th | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 32 | 25 | 7 | 17 | Not eligible | | |
| 1991 | Chūgoku League | 4th | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 31 | 28 | 3 | 22 | Not eligible | | |
| 1992 | Chūgoku League | 6th | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 19 | 28 | −9 | 13 | Not eligible | | |
| 1993 | Chūgoku League | 3rd | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 23 | 18 | 5 | 22 | Not eligible | | |
| 1994 | Chūgoku League | 6th | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 27 | 23 | 4 | 17 | Not eligible | | |
| 1995 | Chūgoku League | 8th | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 26 | 30 | −4 | 11 | Not eligible | | |
| 1996 | Chūgoku League | 6th | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 35 | −18 | 15 | Not eligible | | |
| 1997 | Chūgoku League | 8th | 14 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 31 | −17 | 7 | Not eligible | | 1 match won, 2 matches lost on penalties. Relegated to Yamaguchi Prefecture League. |
| 1998 | Yamaguchi Prefecture League | | | | | | | | | | Not eligible | | |
| 1999 | Yamaguchi Prefecture League | | | | | | | | | | Not eligible | 1st round | Promoted to Chūgoku League. |
| 2000 | Chūgoku League | 5th | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 34 | −14 | 20 | Not eligible | | 1 match won on penalties. |
| 2001 | Chūgoku League | 7th | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 30 | −13 | 12 | Not eligible | 1st round | 1 match won, 1 match lost on penalties. |
| 2002 | Chūgoku League | 4th | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 31 | −14 | 12 | Not eligible | | 1 match won, 1 match lost on penalties. Winners of the Chūgoku League fair play award. |
| 2003 | Chūgoku League | 8th | 14 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 22 | −14 | 11 | Not eligible | 1st round | 3 matches won, 2 matches lost on penalties. Winners of the Chūgoku League fair play award. Relegated to Yamaguchi Prefecture League. |
| 2004 | Yamaguchi Prefecture League | 1st | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | | | | 24 | Not eligible | 1st round | Promoted to Chūgoku League. |
| 2005 | Chūgoku League | 7th | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 23 | −12 | 9 | Not eligible | | 2 matches won, 2 matches lost on penalties. |
| Renofa Yamaguchi FC ||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Chūgoku League | 4th | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 28 | −3 | 25 | Not eligible | | |
| 2007 | Chūgoku League | 3rd | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 33 | 46 | −13 | 22 | Not eligible | 1st round | |
| 2008 | Chūgoku League | 1st | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 45 | 15 | 30 | 38 | Not eligible | | Finalist in the Promotional Series |
| 2009 | Chūgoku League | 2nd | 18 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 53 | 21 | 32 | 40 | Not eligible | 2nd round | |
| 2010 | Chūgoku League | 1st | 18 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 51 | 17 | 34 | 43 | Not eligible | 2nd round | |
| 2011 | Chūgoku League | 2nd | 18 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 54 | 17 | 37 | 41 | Not eligible | 2nd round | |
| 2012 | Chūgoku League | 4th | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 47 | 22 | 25 | 32 | Not eligible | | |
| 2013 | Chūgoku League | 1st | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 53 | 13 | 40 | 42 | Not eligible | 1st round | Promoted to JFL |
| 2014 | JFL | 4th | 26 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 51 | 27 | 24 | 51 | Not eligible | | Promoted to J3 |
| 2015 | J3 | 1st | 36 | 25 | 3 | 8 | 96 | 36 | 60 | 78 | Not eligible | 1st round | Promoted to J2 |
| 2016 | J2 | 12th | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 55 | 63 | -8 | 53 | Not eligible | 3rd round | |
| 2017 | J2 | 20th | 42 | 11 | 5 | 26 | 48 | 69 | -21 | 38 | Not eligible | 2nd round | |
| 2018 | J2 | 8th | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 63 | 64 | -1 | 61 | Not eligible | 3rd round | |
| 2019 | J2 | 15th | 42 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 54 | 70 | -16 | 47 | Not eligible | 3rd round | |
| 2020 | J2 | 22nd | 42 | 9 | 6 | 27 | 43 | 74 | -31 | 33 | Not eligible | Did not qualify | |
| 2021 | J2 | 15th | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 37 | 51 | -14 | 43 | Not eligible | 1st round | |
| 2022 | J2 | 16th | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 51 | 54 | -3 | 50 | Not eligible | 3rd round | |
| 2023 | J2 | 20th | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 37 | 67 | -30 | 44 | Not eligible | 2nd round | |
| 2024 | J2 | 11th | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 43 | 44 | -1 | 53 | 1st round | TBC | |
| 2025 | J2 | 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
* Source: J.League Data Site

## Honours

Renofa Yamaguchi honours :
| Honour | No. | Years |
| Yamaguchi Prefectural Championship | 7 | 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010 |
| Yamaguchi Prefectural League | 1 | 2004 |
| Chūgoku League | 3 | 2008, 2010, 2013 |
| Noue Cup | 1 | 2008 |
| Shakaijin Cup | 1 | 2013 |
| J3 League | 1 | 2015 |

## Players
### Current squad

    As of 14 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 |
| 1 | GK | NED | Nick Marsman |
| 4 | DF | JPN | Keita Matsuda (on loan from Kyoto Sanga) |
| 6 | DF | KOR | Kim Byeom-yong |
| 7 | MF | JPN | Naoto Misawa |
| 8 | FW | JPN | Kazuya Noyori |
| 9 | FW | JPN | Ryo Arita (on loan from Montedio Yamagata) |
| 10 | MF | JPN | Joji Ikegami |
| 11 | MF | JPN | Rui Yokoyama (on loan from Montedio Yamagata) |
| 13 | FW | JPN | Takumi Miyayoshi |
| 14 | DF | JPN | Ryusei Shimodo |
| 15 | DF | JPN | Takeru Itakura |
| 17 | MF | JPN | Kohei Tanabe |
| 18 | DF | JPN | Masashi Kamekawa |
| 19 | FW | JPN | Shunsuke Yamamoto |
| 20 | FW | JPN | Kota Kawano |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | GK | KOR | Choi Hyung-chan |
| 22 | GK | JPN | Koshiro Itohara |
| 26 | GK | JPN | Junto Taguchi |
| 27 | MF | JPN | Ryota Ozawa |
| 28 | MF | JPN | Seigo Kobayashi |
| 30 | MF | JPN | Yohei Okuyama |
| 33 | MF | JPN | Yuma Kimura |
| 34 | FW | JPN | Daigo Furukawa |
| 38 | FW | JPN | Toa Suenaga |
| 40 | MF | JPN | Hikaru Naruoka |
| 45 | FW | JPN | Ota Yamamoto (on loan from Kashiwa Reysol) |
| 49 | DF | JPN | Yuya Mineda |
| 55 | DF | JPN | Shuto Okaniwa (on loan from FC Tokyo) |
| 76 | DF | JPN | Shun Isotani |
| 94 | FW | BRA | Sílvio |

### 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 | Hidenori Takahashi (at Tochigi SC) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | JPN | Hiro Mizuguchi (at Atletico Suzuka) |

## Club officials

| Position | Staff |
| Manager | Ryo Shigaki |
| Assistant manager | Genki Nakayama |
| First-team coach | Hideo Yoshizawa |
| Goalkeeper coach | Kenji Yamada |
| Assistant fitness coach | Tsutomu Okabayashi Atsushi Noto |
| Fitness coach | Tomoyuki Sato |
| Physical coach | Junichi Matsumoto |
| Technical coach | Yuhei Anbe |
| Doctor | Toru Moriwaki |
| Physiotherapist | Takashi Sasaki |
| Competent | Kenta Nakatsuka |
| Side affairs | Taiyo Kodama Rui Nagao |
| Interpreter | Leandro Yusuke Saito Nanon Sringamchoi |

## Managerial history

League matches only.
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | Tenure | Managerial Record | Managerial Record | Managerial Record | Managerial Record | Managerial Record |
| Manager | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | W% |
| Takashi Yamamoto | Japan | 1990 | 31 January 2006 |
| Takashi Miyanari | Japan | 1 February 2006 | 31 January 2010 |
| Takashi Kawamura | Japan | 1 February 2012 | 31 January 2013 |
| Genki Nakayama | Japan | 1 February 2013 | 31 January 2014 |
| Nobuhiro Ueno | Japan | 1 February 2014 | 23 May 2017 | 119 | 57 | 21 | 41 | 047.90 |
| Shinji Sarusawa | Japan | 24 May 2017 | 5 June 2017 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 000.00 |
| Carlos Mayor | Argentina | 6 June 2017 | 31 December 2017 | 25 | 9 | 1 | 15 | 036.00 |
| Masahiro Shimoda | Japan | 1 February 2018 | 31 January 2021 | 130 | 40 | 27 | 63 | 030.77 |
| Susumu Watanabe | Japan | 1 February 2021 | 28 September 2021 | 31 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 025.81 |
| Yoshihiro Natsuka | Japan | 29 September 2021 | 9 May 2023 | 67 | 18 | 21 | 28 | 026.87 |
| Genki Nakayama | Japan | 10 May 2023 | 7 June 2023 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 000.00 |
| Juan Esnáider | Argentina | 8 June 2023 | 13 November 2023 | 23 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 026.09 |
| Ryo Shigaki | Japan | 1 December 2023 | present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | !— |

### Key

* Source: J.League Data Site

## Kit evolution

Home Kits - 1st :
| 2006 - 2007 | 2008 - 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| 2025 - |
Away Kits - 2nd :
| 2006 - 2007 | 2008 - 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| 2025 - |