Ventforet Kofu

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Ventforet Kofu
ヴァンフォーレ甲府

Full name	Ventforet Kofu Football Club
Nickname(s)	Ventforet
Short name	VFK
Founded	1965; 59 years ago (1965) as Kofu Club
Stadium	JIT Recycle Ink Stadium, Kōfu
Capacity	17,000
Chairman	Kazuyuki Umino
Manager	Yoshiyuki Shinoda
League	J2 League
2024	J2 League, 14th of 20
Website	www.ventforet.jp
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Ventforet Kofu (ヴァンフォーレ甲府, Vanfōre Kōfu) is a Japanese professional football club from Kōfu in Yamanashi Prefecture. The team currently competes in the J2 League, Japanese second tier of professional football, hosting their home matches in the JIT Recycle Ink Stadium, located in Kōfu.

Ventforet has won a total of 1 J2 League title and 1 Emperor's Cup in their history.

The word "Ventforet" is a compound formed from two French root words: "vent" (wind) and "forêt" (forest). The name alludes to the famous phrase Fū-rin-ka-zan (風林火山) that Takeda Shingen, a prominent Kōfu-based daimyō in the Sengoku period, emblazoned on his war banners. The phrase contains four similies: as swift as the wind; as silent as a forest; as fierce as fire; as immovable as a mountain.

The club was founded in 1965 when the old boys' club of Kofu Dai-ichi High School, the Kakujo Club, started to recruit graduates of other high schools with the intention of promotion to the Japan Soccer League and was formed as Kofu Club. Kofu Club was formed by volunteers, unlike other mainstream football clubs at that time in Japan, whose players were mostly the employees of their sponsoring companies.

Kofu Club joined the newly formed JSL Division 2 in 1972. They stayed there until the conclusion of the league in 1992 when it became a founding member of the former Japan Football League.

The club was renamed Ventforet Kofu in 1995 and joined J.League Division 2 in 1999 when it was formed. The club survived a difficult period between 1999 and 2001, when it suffered from financial troubles as well as miserable results on the pitch, including a streak of twenty-five consecutive losses. Ventforet finished bottom for three seasons in succession and was dubbed as "Excess baggage of J2".

Ventforet improved in 2002, and in 2005 finished third, gaining promotion to the Japanese first division by winning the promotion/relegation play-offs against Kashiwa Reysol. However, the team was relegated with a week remaining in the 2007 season.

At the end of 2010 season, the team was promoted a second time. Despite having striker Mike Havenaar contend for the Top Scorer award in division one the following year, the club was relegated again at the end of 2011. However, it returned after only one year's absence as champions of division two, Ventforet's first championship in its thirty-six-year history. Ventforet remained in J.League 1 until 2017, consistently staying as a top tier J.League 2 team after relegation

Ventforet participated in the 2022 Emperor's Cup, earning a direct second round entry alongside all J1 and J2 League teams. Following a 5–1 win over Okayama-based International Pacific University, they then only faced J1 League opponents the rest of the tournament. They would beat Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo and Sagan Tosu away from home by 2–1 and 3–1 respectively to advance to the quarter finals, in a stage which they had been on 4 times without ever getting past it. In another match away from home, now against Avispa Fukuoka, the game would be tied up 1–1 and head into extra time, with Yoshiki Torikai scoring in the 97th minute to bring Kofu to their first Emperor's Cup Semi-final, where they would beat Kashima Antlers thanks to Jumma Miyazaki's goal in the 37th minute to reach their first Emperor's Cup Final.

In the final, Kofu were up against Sanfrecce Hiroshima, a J1 team who hadn't won an Emperor's Cup since 1969 (including amateur era). Kazushi Mitsuhira scored in the 26th minute to give Kofu the lead, before Sanfrecce midfielder Takumu Kawamura tied the match in the 84th minute. After a scoreless extra time, the final was decided in a penalty shootout. After Sanfrecce missed their fourth penalty, 42-year-old Hideomi Yamamoto scored Kofu's fifth and final penalty to win the Emperor's Cup champions for the first time. Their win marked the first time that a J2 League team had won the Emperor's Cup since FC Tokyo in 2011, the fourth J2 champion overall, and the first occasion in which the winner was not the second division champions. Thus, they will play the AFC Champions League while playing in their domestic second-tier league.

On 20 September 2023, Ventforet played their first AFC Champions League official match against Australian side Melbourne City for the competition's group stage. Playing away at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium with few of their usual starting players, the match ended in a 0–0 draw, earning them their first point and clean sheet in this competition.^[1] On 4 October 2023, Ventforet picked up their first Champions League win against Thai champions Buriram United. Motoki Hasegawa scored in stoppage time as Ventforet won 1–0 at home, On 12 December 2023, Ventforet clinched their spots in the Round of 16 after a 2–3 away win against Buriram United. This marks the first time a team qualified for the knockout phase of the AFC Champions League though not playing in their nation's top division. Ventforet than faced against Korean giants, Ulsan Hyundai in the Round of 16, however, they were knocked out from the tournament after suffering a 5–1 on aggregate defeat.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		VEN	MCY	ZHP	BUR
1	Ventforet Kofu	6	3	2	1	11	8	+3	11	Advance to round of 16		—	3–3	4–1	1–0
2	Melbourne City	6	2	3	1	8	6	+2	9			0–0	—	1–1	0–1
3	Zhejiang	6	2	1	3	9	13	−4	7			2–0	1–2	—	3–2
4	Buriram United	6	2	0	4	9	10	−1	6			2–3	0–2	4–1	—

Champions

Runners-up

Third place

Promoted

Relegated

League													J.League Cup	Emperor's Cup	AFC Champions League
Year	Division	Tier	Pos.	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Attendance/G
1992	former JFL Div. 2	3	5th	18	9	1	8	26	29	-3	28		Not eligible		Not eligible
1993			9th	18	6	-	12	15	37	-22	-
1994	former JFL	2	14th	30	9	-	21	36	74	-38	-			2nd round
1995			9th	30	14	-	16	54	54	0	43
1996			11th	30	11	-	19	50	56	-6	33			2nd round
1997			6th	30	19	-	11	59	41	18	52			3rd round
1998			4th	30	22	-	8	74	40	34	59			4th round
1999	J2	2	10th	36	5	4	27	32	85	-53	18	1,469	1st round	2nd round
2000			11th	40	5	3	32	31	84	-53	18	1,850	1st round	4th round
2001			12th	44	8	2	34	38	98	-60	25	3,130	1st round	3rd round
2002			7th	44	16	10	18	51	55	-4	58	4,914	Not eligible	3rd round
2003			5th	44	19	12	13	58	46	12	69	5,796		3rd round
2004			7th	44	15	13	16	51	46	5	58	6,370		4th round
2005			3rd	44	19	12	13	78	64	14	69	6,931		4th round
2006	J1	1	15th	34	12	6	15	42	64	-22	42	12,211	Group Stage	Quarter Finals
2007			17th	34	7	6	21	33	65	-32	27	13,734	Quarter Finals	5th round
2008	J2	2	7th	42	15	14	13	56	47	9	59	10,354	Not eligible	4th round
2009			4th	51	28	13	10	76	46	30	97	11,059		4th round
2010			2nd	36	19	13	4	71	40	31	70	12,431		3rd round
2011	J1	1	16th	34	9	19	6	42	63	-21	33	12,106	1st round	3rd round
2012	J2	2	1st	42	24	4	14	63	35	28	86	10,407		2nd round
2013	J1	1	15th	34	8	13	13	30	41	-11	37	12,614	Group Stage	Quarter Finals
2014			13th	34	9	11	14	27	31	-4	41	12,171	Group Stage	Round of 16
2015			13th	34	10	17	7	26	43	-17	37	11,612	Group Stage	4th round
2016			14th	34	7	17	10	32	58	-26	31	10,833	Group Stage	2nd round
2017			16th	34	7	16	11	23	39	-16	32	10,829	Group Stage	2nd round
2018	J2	2	9th	42	16	15	11	56	46	10	59	7,384	Quarter Finals	Quarter Finals
2019			5th	42	20	11	11	64	40	24	71	8,273	Not eligible	Quarter Finals
2020 †			4th	42	16	17	9	50	41	9	65	2,485		Did not qualify
2021 †			3rd	42	23	11	8	65	38	27	80	4,325		2nd round
2022			18th	42	11	15	16	47	54	-7	48	4,930		Winner
2023			8th	42	18	10	14	60	50	10	64	7,485		Round of 16	Round of 16
2024			14th	38	12	9	17	54	57	-3	45	8,274	Quarter final	2nd round
2025			TBA	38									TBD	TBD

Key

Ventforet Kofu honours

Honour	No.	Years
Kantō Soccer League	2	1969, 1970
J2 League	1	2012
Emperor's Cup	1	2022

• Kanto League: 1967–71 (as Kofu Club)
• Division 2 (JSL Div. 2): 1972–91 (as Kofu Club)
• Division 3 (former JFL Div. 2): 1992–93 (as Kofu Club)
• Division 2 (former JFL): 1994–98 (Kofu Club until 1994, Ventforet Kofu since 1995)
• Division 2 (J.League Div. 2): 1999–05
• Division 1 (J.League Div. 1): 2006–07
• Division 2 (J.League Div. 2): 2008–10
• Division 1 (J.League Div. 1): 2011
• Division 2 (J.League Div. 2): 2012
• Division 1 (J.League Div. 1): 2013–2017
• Division 2 (J.League Div. 2): 2018–

As of 21 August 2024.^[2]

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 Kohei Kawata 3 DF  KOR Taiga Son 4 DF  JPN Hideomi Yamamoto 6 MF  JPN Iwana Kobayashi (vice-captain) 7 MF  JPN Sho Araki (vice-captain) 8 MF  JPN Kosuke Taketomi 9 FW  JPN Kazushi Mitsuhira 10 MF  JPN Yoshiki Torikai 11 FW  BRA Macula 13 FW  JPN Yukito Murakami 14 MF  JPN Riku Nakayama 15 FW  JPN Riku Iijima 16 MF  JPN Koya Hayashida 18 MF  JPN Naoto Misawa 19 FW  JPN Jumma Miyazaki 21 MF  BRA Renato Augusto 23 DF  JPN Masahiro Sekiguchi (captain)

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 DF  JPN Takahiro Iida (on loan from Kyoto Sanga) 26 MF  JPN Kazuhiro Sato 29 DF  JPN Kaito Kamiya 30 FW  JPN Kotatsu Kumakura DSP 31 GK  JPN Kakeru Miyashita Type 2 32 GK  KOR Koh Bong-jo (on loan from Sagan Tosu) 33 GK  JPN Kodai Yamauchi 34 MF  JPN Takuto Kimura (on loan from Yokohama F. Marinos) 35 DF  JPN Taiju Ichinose DSP 40 DF  BRA Eduardo Mancha 41 MF  JPN Miki Inoue 44 FW  JPN Yamato Naito 51 MF  BRA Adaílton 88 GK  JPN Tsubasa Shibuya 99 FW  NGA Peter Utaka

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 20 MF  JPN Hikaru Endo (at Tegevajaro Miyazaki) 22 DF  JPN Riku Nozawa (at FC Gifu)

No. Pos. Nation Player 28 FW  JPN Hayata Mizuno (at Iwate Grulla Morioka)

Position	Name
Manager	Yoshiyuki Shinoda
Assistant managers	Shinji Otsuka Katsutomo Oshiba Yuji Yokoyama
Goalkeeper coach	Yuji Nakagawa
Physical coach	José Fernando
Analysis coach	Yoshiki Hara Kanta Yonekura
Chief trainer	Hiroaki Maeda
Trainer	Masaya Tanaka Taku Hirai
Physiotherapist	Taiki Saito
Athletic trainer	Shigeru Asahina
Competent	Yoshiki Tsuruta
Side affairs	Tetsuro Ajisawa
Interpreter	Bruno Iwasaki

Manager	Nationality	Tenure
		Start	Finish
Susumu Katsumata	Japan	1 January 1994	31 January 1995
Yūji Tsukada	Japan	1 February 1995	31 January 1999
Susumu Katsumata	Japan	1 February 1999	31 January 2000
Yūji Tsukada	Japan	1 February 2000	31 January 2001
Luis dos Reis	Brazil	1 February 2001	31 January 2002
Takeshi Ōki	Japan	1 February 2002	31 January 2003
Hideki Matsunaga	Japan	1 February 2003	31 January 2005
Takeshi Ōki	Japan	1 February 2005	31 January 2008
Takayoshi Amma	Japan	1 February 2008	31 January 2010
Kazuo Uchida	Japan	1 February 2010	31 January 2011
Toshiya Miura	Japan	1 February 2011	7 August 2011
Satoru Sakuma	Japan	8 August 2011	31 December 2011
Hiroshi Jōfuku	Japan	1 February 2012	31 January 2015
Yasuhiro Higuchi	Japan	1 February 2015	13 May 2015
Satoru Sakuma	Japan	13 May 2015	31 December 2016
Tatsuma Yoshida	Japan	1 February 2017	30 April 2018
Nobuhiro Ueno	Japan	1 May 2018	31 January 2019
Akira Itō	Japan	1 February 2019	31 January 2022
Tatsuma Yoshida	Japan	1 February 2022	31 January 2023
Yoshiyuki Shinoda	Japan	1 February 2023	Current

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