Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo

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Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo
北海道コンサドーレ札幌

Full name	Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo
Nickname(s)	Consa
Founded	1935; 89 years ago (1935) as Toshiba Horikawa-cho SC
Stadium	Sapporo Dome
Capacity	41,484
Owner	Isao Ishimizu (11.4%) Ishiya (9.5%)[1]
Chairman	Yoshikazu Nonomura
Head coach	Daiki Iwamasa
League	J2 League
2024	J1 League, 19th of 20 (relegated)
Website	www.consadole-sapporo.jp
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo (北海道コンサドーレ札幌, Hokkaidō Konsadōre Sapporo)^[2] is a Japanese professional football club based in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. They set to play in the J2 League from 2025 after relegation from J1 in 2024, the Japanese second tier of football league.

Their main home ground is the indoor Sapporo Dome, which was shared with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters baseball team until 2022. Some matches are also played at the outdoor Sapporo Atsubetsu Stadium.

The club's name "Consadole" is a combination of consado, a reverse of the Japanese word Dōsanko (道産子, meaning "people of Hokkaido") and the Spanish expression Olé.

Consadole's club tradition dates back to 1935 when Toshiba Horikawa-cho Soccer Club was founded in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. They were promoted to the now-defunct Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1978.^[3] They adopted new name Toshiba Soccer Club in 1980 and were promoted to the JSL Division 1 in 1989.^[3] Their highest placement, 4th in the 1990 and 1991 seasons. Relegating themselves as they were not ready for J.League implementation, they joined the newly formed Japan Football League in 1992 and played the last season as Toshiba S.C. in 1995.^[3]

They sought to be a professional club, but the owner Toshiba did not regard Kawasaki as an ideal hometown. This was because Verdy Kawasaki, one of the most prominent clubs at that time, was also based in the city, which Toshiba apparently believed was not big enough to accommodate two clubs. (Verdy has since crossed the Tama River to be based in Chōfu City in the west of Tokyo and has been renamed as Tokyo Verdy 1969; the only remaining professional club is Kawasaki Frontale, originally part of Fujitsu.)

They decided to move to Sapporo where the local government and community had been keen to provide a base for a professional soccer team as they awaited Daiwa House Premist Dome to be completed in 2001. The ownership was transferred from Toshiba to Hokkaido Football Club plc. before the start of the 1996 season.^[3]

Toshiba does not have financial interest in the club any more but Consadole still boasts their forerunner's red and black colours on their uniform.^[4] The colours were an idea from then-player Nobuhiro Ishizaki (who played when the team was still based in Kawasaki and later coached them in Sapporo) who was a fan of A.C. Milan. It also became the symbol of Toshiba's sports teams such as Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo.

Consadole Sapporo inherited the JFL status from Toshiba S.C.. Their debut season in 1996 was not overly successful as they finished 5th and missed promotion. However, they won the JFL championship in 1997 and were promoted to J.League.^[3]

In 1998, their first J.League season saw them finish 14th out of 18 but this did not guarantee them staying up. From the 1999 season, the J.League had 2 divisions and the play-offs involving five teams (four J.League sides and the champions of the JFL) were to be played. In order to decide who were involved in the play-offs, not only the results of the 1998 season but also those of the 1997 were taken account of. Consadole, who did not play in the previous season, was placed 14th in the aggregate standing and despite finishing above Gamba Osaka (who had finished fourth in 1997), was forced to face the play-offs. They lost all four games, two against Vissel Kobe, and another two against Avispa Fukuoka, and became the first-ever J.League side that experienced relegation.^[5]

In 1999, Takeshi Okada, the former Japan national team coach, was appointed as head coach in an effort to make an immediate comeback to J1, but this attempt failed as they finished 5th. Their heavy investment on players counted against them and, at this point, the debt owed by the club exceeded three billion yen (US$33 million). The bankruptcy looked a near-certainty.

In 2000, they cut costs dramatically. As a result, the team often included as many as eight on-loan players in the starting line-up. However, this strategy paid off and the club won the J2 championship as well as promotion to J1. The club posted a single-year profit for the first time in their history this year.

In 2001, they finished 11th in J1. However, at the end of the season, the club failed to persuade Okada to renew the contract and several leading players also left the club. In 2002, they finished bottom and were relegated to J2 for a second time.^[5]

In 2003, they again tried to return to the top-flight immediately by investing heavily but the team didn't perform well on the pitch. They finished ninth and their debt again crossed the 3-billion-yen mark.

The deficit-ridden club realized they needed a drastic restructuring and released highly paid leading players including mainstay Yasuyuki Konno. The rejuvenated but inexperienced team finished bottom of J2 in 2004. The bright side was their improved financial situation where the debt was sharply reduced to less than 100 million yen.

In 2005 and 2006, they finished sixth. In 2006 they also reached the semi-finals of the Emperor's Cup, 15 years after reaching the semi-finals in Kawasaki–the furthest they've reached in the Cup. In 2007 they finally earned promotion as champions and play in J1 in the 2008 season.^[5]

A loss on October 19, 2008, confirmed Sapporo's relegation to J2 for the 2009 season, overtaking Kyoto Sanga as the league's most relegated side. Having won the Japanese second-tier championship a record five times (including two JSL Second Divisions as Toshiba, and one former JFL title), they were promoted to Division One after finishing third in 2011. However, a torrid 2012 season ended with Consadole holding the highest goals conceded per game ratio, the worst points per game ratio and the highest loss percentage in J.League history as they were relegated after just 27 matches played, making the 2012 team one of the worst to have ever featured in the top division.^[6]　From the 2016 season, the club has adopted the new name as "Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo".^[7]

In 2016, the club changed its name to Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. After four years spent at the J2, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo returned to the J1 ahead of the 2017 season, having been promoted as 2016 J2 League champions.

On 9 February 2018, the team won the inaugural Pacific Rim Cup tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii, defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps 1–0.^[8] 2018 was the season they reached their highest placing in the J.League era and in Sapporo – 4th, 27 years after achieving the same place in Kawasaki.

In January 2022, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo's Thai player Chanathip Songkrasin who was part of the 2018 J.League Best XI joined Kawasaki Frontale with a transfer fee of around $3.8 million, breaking the J.League record for the highest domestic transfer.^[9]

On 1 December 2024, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo secure relegation to J2 League from 2025 was confirmed after Kashiwa Reysol draw against Vissel Kobe 1-1 and ended seven years at top tier.

In the Captain Tsubasa manga series, two characters were from Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, midfielder Hikaru Matsuyama (himself a Hokkaido native) and forward Kazumasa Oda. In 2017, Matsuyama became an Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo player, given a squad number, 36, and is also an official ambassador of the team from Hokkaido.

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo's mascot is Dole Kun, an anthropomorphic Shima Fukurou (or Blakiston's fish owl). The owl was chosen as not only was it on Consa's crest, but also because it is the largest owl in Japan, and it also lives in Hokkaido. He also enjoys having hot baths sometimes. He also is friends with Frep the Fox and Polly Polaris, the mascots of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, which can be attributed because the Fighters and Consa share the same stadium.

As of 27 August 2024.^[10]

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 Takanori Sugeno 2 DF  JPN Ryu Takao 3 DF  KOR Park Min-gyu 4 FW  JPN Daiki Suga 6 DF  JPN Toya Nakamura 7 FW  JPN Musashi Suzuki (on loan from Gamba Osaka) 8 MF  JPN Kazuki Fukai 9 FW  ESP Jordi Sánchez 10 MF  JPN Hiroki Miyazawa 11 MF  JPN Ryota Aoki 13 FW  KOR Kim Gun-hee 14 MF  JPN Yoshiaki Komai (vice-captain) 15 DF  JPN Rei Ieizumi 16 MF  JPN Tatsuya Hasegawa 17 GK  JPN Jun Kodama 18 MF  JPN Yuya Asano 19 MF  THA Supachok Sarachat 21 GK  JPN Shunta Awaka

No. Pos. Nation Player 25 MF  JPN Leo Osaki (vice-captain) 27 MF  JPN Takuma Arano (captain) 30 MF  JPN Hiromu Tanaka 31 MF  JPN Shuma Kido DSP 33 MF  JPN Tomoki Kondo 34 GK  JPN Kojiro Nakano 35 MF  JPN Kosuke Hara 37 MF  JPN Katsuyuki Tanaka 40 FW  JPN Shido Izuma 42 GK  JPN Ryuma Takeuchi Type 2 48 DF  JPN Kanta Sakamoto Type 2 49 MF  JPN Kanta Kawasaki Type 2 50 DF  JPN Daihachi Okamura 51 GK  JPN Shun Takagi 70 MF  GHA Francis Cann 71 FW  JPN Haruto Shirai 88 DF  JPN Seiya Baba 99 MF  JPN Yuki Kobayashi

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 23 FW  JPN Shingo Omori (at Giravanz Kitakyushu) 28 DF  JPN Yamato Okada (at Roasso Kumamoto) 47 DF  JPN Shota Nishino (at Kamatamare Sanuki)

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  JPN Akito Fukumori (at Yokohama FC) — FW  BRA Douglas Oliveira (at Iwate Grulla Morioka) — FW  JPN Taika Nakashima (at Mito HollyHock)

• Past (and present) players who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles can be found here

Position	Staff
Head coach	Daiki Iwamasa
Assistant coach	Masaru Okita Daisuke Sugiura Makoto Sunakawa Hiromu Watahiki
Goalkeeping coach	Yasuyuki Akaike Takahiro Takagi
Physical coach	Shunsuke Otsuka
Physiotherapist	Celso Ricardo de Souza
Athletic trainer	Seiichi Iwasa
Public relations officer	Takuya Ito

Champions

Runners-up

Third place

Promoted

Relegated

League					J.League Cup	Emperor's Cup
Season	Div.	Teams	Pos.	Attendance/G
1998	J1	18	14th	11,953	Group stage	4th round
1999	J2	10	5th	10,986	1st round	3rd round
2000		11	1st	12,910	1st round	4th round
2001	J1	16	11th	22,228	Group stage	3rd round
2002		16	16th	19,140	Group stage	3rd round
2003	J2	12	9th	10,766	–	3rd round
2004		12	12th	9,466	–	Quarter-finals
2005		12	6th	11,133	–	3rd round
2006		13	6th	10,478	–	Semi-finals
2007		13	1st	12,112	–	3rd round
2008	J1	18	18th	14,547	Group stage	4th round
2009	J2	18	6th	10,207	–	3rd round
2010		19	13th	10,738	–	3rd round
2011		20	3rd	10,482	–	2nd round
2012	J1	18	18th	12,008	Group stage	2nd round
2013	J2	22	8th	10,075	–	Quarter-finals
2014		22	10th	11,060	–	3rd round
2015		22	10th	11,960	–	3rd round
2016		22	1st	14,559	–	2nd round
2017	J1	18	11th	18,418	Play-off stage	2nd round
2018		18	4th	17,222	Group stage	4th round
2019		18	10th	18,768	Runners-up	2nd round
2020 †		18	12th	4,303	–	Did not qualify
2021 †		20	10th	6,816	Quarter-finals	3rd round
2022		18	10th	12,215	Play-off stage	3rd round
2023		18	12th	14,254	Quarter-finals	Round of 16
2024		20	19th	17,086	Quarter-finals	Round of 16
2025	J2	20

Key

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo honours

Honour	No.	Years
All Japan Senior Football Championship	1	1977
Japan Soccer League (Second tier)	1	1979, 1988–89,
JSL Cup	1	1981 (shared with Mitsubishi Motors)
Japan Football League	1	1997
J2 League	3	2000, 2007, 2016

Manager	Nationality	Tenure
		Start	Finish
Tadao Onishi	Japan	1 February 1981	31 January 1986
Takeo Takahashi	Japan	1 February 1987	1 February 1997
Hugo Fernández	URU	1 February 1997	18 October 1998
Hajime Ishii	Japan	19 October 1998	31 January 1999
Takeshi Okada	Japan	1 February 1999	31 January 2002
Tetsuji Hashiratani	Japan	1 February 2002	31 May 2002
Radmilo Ivančević	Serbia	1 June 2002	16 September 2002
Chang Woe-ryong	South Korea	16 September 2002	31 January 2003
João Carlos	Brazil	1 February 2003	4 August 2003
Chang Woe-ryong	South Korea	5 August 2003	31 January 2004
Masaaki Yanagishita	Japan	1 February 2004	31 January 2007
Toshiya Miura	Japan	1 February 2007	31 January 2009
Nobuhiro Ishizaki	Japan	1 February 2009	31 January 2013
Keiichi Zaizen	Japan	1 February 2013	27 August 2014
Yoshihiro Natsuka	Japan	28 August 2014	6 September 2014
Ivica Barbarić	Bosnia and Herzegovina	7 September 2014	24 July 2015
Shuhei Yomoda	Japan	24 July 2015	31 January 2018
Mihailo Petrović	Serbia	1 February 2018	31 January 2025[11]
Daiki Iwamasa	Japan	12 December 2024	present[12]

Home Kits - 1st
1997 - 1998	1999 - 2000	2001 - 2002	2003 - 2004	2005
2006	2007 - 2008	2009	2010	2011
2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
2022	2023	2024 -

Away Kits - 2nd
1997 - 1998	1999 - 2000	2001	2002 - 2003	2004 - 2005
2006	2007	2008	2009	2010 - 2011
2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
2022	2023	2024 -

Special Kits - 3rd
2016 20th Hakodate Commemorative	2018 Hokkaido naming 150th anniversary	2020 3rd	2021 3rd	2021 25th Anniversary
2022 3rd	2023 3rd	2024 3rd

• Khon Kaen (March 2013−)
• Long An (March 2013−)
• Johor Darul Ta'zim (April 2016−)^[13]
• Sint-Truidense VV (April 2019−)
• Buriram United (June 2022−) ^[14]
• Persipura Jayapura (June 2023−)
• AC Milan (March 2024−)

• Official website (in Japanese)