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Iwate Grulla Morioka

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Iwate Grulla Morioka
いわてグルージャ盛岡
Full nameIwate Grulla Morioka
Nickname(s)Tsuru (The Cranes)
Founded2003; 21 years ago (2003)
StadiumIwagin Stadium
Morioka, Iwate
Capacity4,938
ChairmanYutaka Akita
ManagerKei Hoshikawa
LeagueJapan Football League
2024J3 League, 20th of 20 (relegated)
Websitehttp://grulla-morioka.jp/

Iwate Grulla Morioka (いわてグルージャ盛岡, Iwate Gurūja Morioka) is a Japanese association football club based in Morioka, capital of Iwate Prefecture. They set to play in Japan Football League from 2025, the Japanese fourth tier of semi-professional football after relegation from J3 League in 2024.

Name origin

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"Grulla" is the Spanish word of "crane", which was used in the mon of Nanbu clan of former Morioka han and later became the local symbol of Morioka.

History

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Initially known as Villanova Morioka (ヴィラノーバ盛岡, Viranōba Morioka), the team was organised by alumni of Morioka Commercial High School and Morioka Chuo High School in 2000.

In 2003, a nonprofit organisation Association of Setting Up a J. League Team in Morioka (Jリーグチームを盛岡に作る会, J Rīgu chīmu wo Morioka ni tsukuru kai) was founded, and the team was reorganised and changed their name to Grulla Morioka (グルージャ盛岡) in February 2004 with the intention of achieving promotion to the J. League by 2008.

Under the new organisation, former JEF United and Oita Trinita player Shinichi Muto was invited to coach and captain the team with the company of players from the defunct Villanova Morioka and from J2 league. They played their first match on May 9, 2004, and it could be seen as an introduction to the local press beforehand. They won the Tohoku Soccer League second division in 2004 and therefore promotion to the first division for the 2005 season. In 2005 season, they won their first of six league championships, which they shared with TDK S.C.

In 2013 they won the Regional Promotion Series and were promoted directly to the newly formed J3 League, skipping the Japan Football League which became the new fourth tier.

From the 2019 season, the club has adopted the new name as "Iwate Grulla Morioka".[1] In 2021 they earned promotion to the J2 League as J3 runners-up and made their debut in the second tier in 2022.

On 28 October 2022, Iwate Grulla Morioka acquired the J1 License, meaning that from the 2022 season, they can now be promoted to the J1 League if the club finishes in J2's Top 2.

The team played in the inaugural season of J3 League in 2014 after winning the Tohoku Soccer League, one of the Japanese Regional Leagues, in 2013. Iwate played in the J3 until 2021, when was promoted to the J2 for the 2022 season.

Downfall to Third and Fourth tier in two years

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After just one season in the second division, the club were relegated back to the J3 after finishing in 22nd and last place in the league with a total of thirty-four points.

On 3 November 2024, Iwate finished last position after draw 1-1 against Zweigen Kanazawa on away game and possibility relegation to JFL for the first time in history from 2025.[2][3] On 17 November at same year, relegation to JFL was confirmed by Iwate after Tochigi City FC secure promotion automatic to J3 League for the first time in history.[4][5]

Stadium

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Iwate plays at (or have played) at three stadiums. Their main stadium is Iwagin Stadium, which has a capacity of 4,938.

The second stadium is the Kitakami Stadium, located in the city of Kitakami, Iwate, which has a capacity of 6,376.

They have played before at the Iwate Morioka Stadium.

League & cup record

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Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League J. League
Cup
Emperor's
Cup
Shakaijin
Cup
Season Division Tier Teams Pos. P W D L F A GD Pts Attendance\G
Grulla Morioka
2003 Tohoku League
Div. 2 North
5 6 4th 10 5 3 2 16 12 4 18 Not eligible
2004 6 1st 10 9 1 0 54 9 45 28
2005 Tohoku League
Div. 1
4 7 1st 12 9 2 1 36 10 26 29 1st round
2006 8 2nd 14 11 0 3 32 18 14 30
2007 8 1st 14 13 0 1 65 14 51 39
2008 8 1st 14 12 2 0 63 8 55 38 2nd round
2009 8 1st 14 11 3 0 59 15 44 36 1st round
2010 8 1st 14 12 1 1 57 11 46 37 2nd round
2011 7 2nd 12 8 3 1 35 15 20 27 1st round 2nd round
2012 7 2nd 12 10 0 2 48 5 43 30 1st round
2013 10 1st 18 16 1 1 95 10 85 49 1st round Runner's up
2014 J3 3 12 5th 33 12 9 12 34 25 9 45 1,522 1st round Not eligible
2015 13 11th 36 11 8 17 36 47 −11 35 1,239 1st round
2016 16 13th 30 6 12 12 43 47 −4 30 1,182 3rd round
2017 17 15th 32 7 8 17 32 49 −17 29 1,337 2nd round
2018 17 13th 32 12 4 16 41 56 −15 40 1,216 1st round
Iwate Grulla Morioka
2019 J3 3 18 18th 34 7 5 22 36 63 −27 26 1,368 Not eligible 2nd round Not eligible
2020 18 11th 34 11 9 14 36 47 -11 42 481 Did not qualify
2021 15 2nd 28 15 8 5 43 28 15 53 1,394 3rd round
2022 J2 2 22 22nd 42 9 7 26 35 80 -45 34 3,087 3rd round
2023 J3 3 20 10th 38 15 9 14 48 49 -1 54 1,254 2nd round
2024 20 20th 38 5 7 26 27 80 -53 22 1,362 2nd round 2nd round
2025 JFL 4 16 TBD 30 Not eligible
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 season attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
  • Source: J.League Data Site

Honours

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Iwate Grulla Morioka Honours
Honour No. Years
Tohoku League Div. 2 North 1 2004
Tohoku League Div. 1 6 2005 (Shared with TDK), 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013
Regional Football Champions League 1 2013

Current squad

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As of 7 August 2024.[6] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Japan JPN Takuo Okubo
3 DF Japan JPN Ryo Saito
4 DF Japan JPN Daisuke Fukagawa
5 DF Japan JPN Maaya Sako (on loan from Tokyo Verdy)
6 DF Japan JPN Shunki Takahashi
7 FW Japan JPN Shumpei Fukahori
8 MF Japan JPN Tsubasa Yuge
9 FW Japan JPN Ken Tokura
10 MF Nigeria NGA Kenneth Otabor
11 MF Japan JPN Sota Kiri
13 MF Japan JPN Daiki Kogure
14 MF Japan JPN Koki Matsubara
15 MF Japan JPN Toi Kagami
16 DF North Korea PRK Ryu Se-gun
17 MF Japan JPN Ryo Niizato
18 DF Japan JPN Tsuyoshi Miyaichi
19 FW Japan JPN Miyu Sato
20 MF Japan JPN Shota Shimogami
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 GK Japan JPN Agashi Inaba
22 DF Japan JPN Daigo Nishi
23 FW Japan JPN Koki Toyoda (on loan from Nagoya Grampus)
25 DF Japan JPN Yuzuki Yamato (on loan from Ventforet Kofu)
27 DF Japan JPN Kaio Yabunaka
29 MF Japan JPN Koki Mizuno
30 MF Japan JPN Shuto Adachi (on loan from Vissel Kobe)
31 GK South Korea KOR Kim Sung-kon
32 FW Japan JPN Mamoru Kamisasanuki
33 DF South Korea KOR Lee Byung-chan
44 DF Japan JPN Eiru Aratama
45 FW Japan JPN Hayata Mizuno (on loan from Ventforet Kofu)
46 MF Japan JPN Atsutaka Nakamura
51 DF Japan JPN Kota Fukatsu
77 MF Japan JPN Kanta Komatsu
88 GK South Korea KOR Kim Jae-young
MF Japan JPN Shusei Yamauchi (on loan from FC Ryukyu)

Club staff

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Position Staff
Chairman Japan Yutaka Akita
Manager Japan Takuya Jinno
Assistant managers Japan Tetsuji Nakamikawa
South Korea Kim Song-yong
First-team coach and Technical coach Japan Kazuki Fukayama
Goalkeeper coach Japan Izumi Niinuma
Physical coach Japan Yusuke Hoshigami
Trainer Japan Nobuyuki Sasaki
Japan Yuji Hanzawa
Japan Takuya Miyagawa
Physiotherapist Japan Kotaro Watanabe
Competent Japan Kazuki Oshima
Side affairs Japan Yuto Sugawara
Team doctor Japan Moritaka Maruyama
Japan Goro Tajima
Japan Ryunosuke Oikawa
Japan Shinya Oikawa
Japan Yasutaka Oya
Japan Ko Tanifuji
Japan Hiroki Kaneko
Japan Shuntaro Wada
Japan Yusuke Chiba
Japan Masanori Matsuura
Sports pharmacist Japan Ikumi Sugiyama

Managerial history

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Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Shinobu Yoshida  Japan 2003
Shinichi Muto  Japan 2004 2005
Toru Yoshida  Japan 2006 2010
Naoki Naruo  Japan 1 February 2012 31 January 2016
Akihiko Kamikawa  Japan 1 February 2016 31 December 2016
Toshimi Kikuchi  Japan 1 February 2017 31 January 2020
Yutaka Akita  Japan 1 February 2020 31 January 2023
Yoshika Matsubara  Japan 1 February 2023 19 September 2023
Tetsuji Nakamikawa  Japan 20 September 2023 7 May 2024
Takuya Jinno  Japan 8 May 2024 current

Kit evolution

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Home Kits - 1st
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024 -
Away Kits - 2nd
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024 -
Sprcial Kits - 3rd
2021 3rd -

References

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  1. ^ Iwate Grulla Morioka(in Japanese)
  2. ^ "岩手のJ3最下位が確定...JFL自動降格が決定的に". ゲキサカ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  3. ^ "【クラブ】いわてグルージャ盛岡を応援してくださる全ての皆さまへ". いわてグルージャ盛岡 オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  4. ^ Jリーグが栃木シティの入会を承認! JFL初優勝でJ3へ「入会審査項目をすべて充足いたしました」 - 超ワールドサッカー! 2024年11月17日
  5. ^ いわてグルージャ盛岡 JFL降格決定 - NHK NEWS WEB 2024年11月17日
  6. ^ "PROFILE". grulla-morioka.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 February 2023.
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