Omiya Ardija

(Redirected from NTT Kanto SC)

Omiya Ardija (大宮アルディージャ, Ōmiya Arudīja) is a Japanese professional association football club based in Ōmiya, Saitama Prefecture. Its "hometown" as designated by the league is the whole of Saitama city, which is shared with neighbours Urawa Red Diamonds. The team set to competes in the J2 League from 2025, the Japanese second tier of professional football. After promotion from 2024 in third tier.

Omiya Ardija
大宮アルディージャ
Full nameOmiya Ardija
Nickname(s)Risu (The Squirrels)
Founded1969; 55 years ago (1969)
StadiumNACK5 Stadium Ōmiya
Omiya-ku, Saitama, Saitama
Capacity15,500
OwnerRed Bull GmbH
ChairmanMasashi Mori
ManagerTetsu Nagasawa
LeagueJ2 League
2024J3 League, 1st of 20 (promoted)
Websitewww.ardija.co.jp
Current season

Crest

edit

Omiya Ardija's crest features a squirrel on the right, which is the animal of Omiya. On the left, there are 5 lines, which reference the historic roads that run through Omiya, including the famous Nakasendō, which runs to the Hikawa Shrine, right near Nack5 Stadium.[1][2]

On 6 November 2024, Omiya Ardija announcement officially change crest and name to RB Omiya Ardija after acquiring Red Bull GmbH from 2025.[3] Logo colour is Orange and Blue.

 

History

edit

The team were founded in 1968 as NTT Saitama Soccer Selection in Urawa, Saitama and later known as the NTT Kantō Soccer Club in 1969. They were first promoted to the Japan Soccer League (JSL) Division 2 in 1987/88, and when the JSL folded, joined the former Japan Football League.[4]

In 1998 it was separately incorporated as NTT Sport Community K.K. based in Ōmiya to participate in the J. League. The name "Ardija" is a transcription of the Spanish language ardilla (squirrel) which is the mascot of Ōmiya and the park in which their home stadium is located.[4][5]

Their matches against Urawa Red Diamonds have been called the "Saitama derby".[6]

In 2005–2007 most of Omiya's home matches were held at Saitama Stadium 2002 and Urawa Komaba Stadium due to expansion works at their home ground. In October 2007 the expansion was complete. On November 11, the re-opening match was held as a J. League season match between the Ardija and Ōita Trinita (1–2).[7]

Omiya competed in the J1 League following an immediate promotion in 2015 after being relegated in 2014. Omiya was relegated again following the 2017 season. They competed in J1 2005 and continued to remain until 2014, following promotion from J2 in 2004 as the second placed team.

In 2023, Omiya were relegated to J3 League after six seasons stint in second division due to worst performance and will play third division football for the first time since 1993.

On 15 February 2024, before the start of the season, Sports Nippon reported that Austrian energy drink maker Red Bull may buy a J.League club, and that Omiya Ardija was the leading candidate.[8] On July 26 of the same year, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Red Bull had reached an agreement in principle to buy Omiya Ardija.[9]

In August 2024, Omiya Ardija announced Red Bull as their new owner, after acquiring 100% of the club shares, formerly owned by NTT, becoming part of their multi-club ownership.[10] This will be the first time that a foreign company has become the sole owner of a major Japanese professional sports team, including the J.League.[11] Red Bull began by acquiring management rights to Austrian first division club Salzburg in 2005 and now owns six clubs: Leipzig in Bundesliga, New York Red Bulls in the United States MLS, Liefering in Admiral 2. Liga, Bragantino in Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A and Red Bull Brasil (now Red Bull Bragantino II) in the Sao Paulo State Championship. In the past, they also owned Red Bull Ghana in Africa and Omiya will be the eighth club they own.

NTT East will continue to support the company as a sponsor even after the transfer of shares.[12]

On 13 October 2024, Omiya secure promotion to J2 League after defeat Fukushima United 3-2 and return to second tier after one year absence. Six days later, Omiya secure first title of J3 League after draw against FC Imabari 1-1 on matchweek 33.

Stadiums

edit

Their home field is Nack5 Stadium Ōmiya (Nack5スタジアム大宮, Nakku-faibu Sutajiamu Ōmiya): Ōmiya Football Stadium by the naming rights with occasional games being played at the Kumagaya Athletic Stadium.

Mascots

edit

Omiya Ardija has two squirrels as its mascots, named Ardi and Miya. Both wear the team kits. According to the club website, Miya is one size smaller than Ardi, being then, slightly shorter than him.[13][4]

Record as a J. League member

edit
Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League J. League
Cup
Emperor's
Cup
Season Div. Teams Pos. P W (OTW) D L (OTL) F A GD Pts Attendance/G
as Omiya Ardija
1999 J2 10 6th 36 14 (4) 1 15 (2) 47 44 3 51 2,674 1st round 3rd round
2000 11 4th 40 21 (2) 1 14 (2) 55 49 6 68 3,477 1st round 3rd round
2001 12 5th 44 20 (6) 6 11(1) 73 43 30 78 3,864 1st round 1st round
2002 12 6th 44 14 17 13 52 42 10 59 5,266 Not eligible 4th round
2003 12 6th 44 18 7 19 52 61 -9 61 5,058 3rd round
2004 12 2nd 44 26 9 9 63 38 25 87 6,108 5th round
2005 J1 18 13th 34 12 5 17 39 50 -11 41 9,980 Quarter final Semi final
2006 18 12th 34 13 5 16 43 55 -12 44 10,234 Group stage 5th round
2007 18 15th 34 8 11 15 24 40 -16 35 11,465 Group stage 4th round
2008 18 12th 34 12 7 15 36 45 -9 43 9,350 Group stage 5th round
2009 18 13th 34 9 12 13 40 47 -7 39 13,707 Group stage 3rd round
2010 18 12th 34 11 9 14 39 45 -6 42 11,064 Group stage 4th round
2011 18 13th 34 10 12 12 38 48 -10 42 12,221 2nd round 2nd round
2012 18 13th 34 11 11 12 38 45 -7 44 10,637 Group stage 4th round
2013 18 14th 34 14 3 17 45 48 -3 45 11,138 Group stage 2nd round
2014 18 16th 34 9 8 17 44 60 -16 35 10,811 Group stage Quarter final
2015 J2 22 1st 42 26 8 8 72 37 35 86 9,490 Not eligible 3rd round
2016 J1 18 5th 34 15 11 8 41 36 5 56 11,814 Quarter final Semi final
2017 18 18th 34 5 10 19 28 60 -32 25 11,464 Group stage Quarter final
2018 J2 22 5th 42 21 8 13 65 48 17 71 9,224 Not eligible 3rd round
2019 22 3rd 42 20 15 7 62 40 22 75 9,478 3rd round
2020 22 15th 42 14 11 17 43 52 -9 53 2,515 Did not qualify
2021 22 16th 42 9 15 18 51 56 -5 42 4,311 2nd round
2022 22 19th 42 10 13 19 48 64 -16 43 5,272 3rd round
2023 22 21st 42 11 6 25 37 71 -49 39 6,862 3rd round
2024 J3 20 1st 38 25 10 3 72 32 40 85 7,472 2nd round 2nd round
as RB Omiya Ardija
2025 J2 20 TBD 38 TBD round
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

edit
Omiya Ardija Honours
Honour No. Years
Shakaijin Cup 1 1981
Regional League promotion series 1 1986
J2 League 1 2015
J3 League 1 2024

Players

edit
As of 9 August 2024.[14]

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   JPN Takashi Kasahara
3 DF   JPN Shuto Okaniwa (on loan from FC Tokyo)
4 DF   JPN Rion Ichihara
5 DF   JPN Niki Urakami
6 MF   JPN Toshiki Ishikawa
7 MF   JPN Masato Kojima
9 FW   COL Fabián González
13 MF   JPN Rin Yamazaki
14 MF   JPN Toya Izumi (on loan from Vissel Kobe)
16 DF   JPN Yuto Ueda (on loan from Kyoto Sanga)
17 MF   JPN Katsuya Nakano
20 DF   JPN Wakaba Shimoguchi
21 GK   JPN Yuki Kato
22 DF   JPN Rikiya Motegi
23 FW   JPN Kenyu Sugimoto (on loan from Júbilo Iwata)
25 DF   JPN Tetsuya Chinen (on loan from Vegalta Sendai)
26 DF   JPN Mizuki Hamada
28 FW   JPN Takamitsu Tomiyama
No. Pos. Nation Player
30 MF   BRA Arthur Silva
31 MF   JPN Raisei Abe
33 DF   JPN Takuya Wada
34 DF   JPN Yosuke Murakami
35 MF   JPN Yusuke Shimizu
37 DF   JPN Kaishin Sekiguchi
38 DF   JPN Shunya Suzuki
39 MF   JPN Jin Izumisawa
40 GK   JPN Ko Shimura
42 FW   JPN Kazushi Fujii
43 MF   JPN Kota Nakayama DSP
44 DF   JPN Keita Fukui DSP
47 DF   JPN Hideki Saito Type 2
48 FW   JPN Mark Isozaki Type 2
49 FW   JPN Tomoya Osawa
50 GK   JPN Manafu Wakabayashi
90 FW   NGA Oriola Sunday

Out on loan

edit

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
8 MF   JPN Fumiya Takayanagi (at Gainare Tottori)
11 FW   JPN Seiya Nakano (at Azul Claro Numazu)
No. Pos. Nation Player
46 DF   JPN Masato Nuki (at ReinMeer Aomori)
MF   JPN Soya Takada (at Tokushima Vortis)
  • Past (and present) players who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles can be found here

Omiya Ardija U-18

edit
As of 15 April 2024.

The main U-18 team of Omiya Ardija currently plays in the Prince Takamado U-18 Premier League, the top-flight league for U-18 clubs in the country.[15]

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   JPN Hirai Shimizu
2 DF   JPN Hideki Saito
3 DF   JPN Shunya Sakai
4 DF   JPN Kairu Onishi
5 DF   JPN Yuya Motegi
6 MF   JPN Daichi Yamanaka
7 MF   JPN Hoga Tanno
8 MF   JPN Rikuta Horiuchi
9 FW   JPN Mark Isozaki
10 MF   JPN Ryo Kikunami
11 MF   JPN Fugo Tomaru
13 DF   JPN Asahi Fujiwara
14 FW   JPN Rikuto Heike
15 FW   JPN Soryu Noguchi
17 MF   JPN Sora Tanaka
19 DF   JPN Otaro Hagiwara
20 MF   JPN Kosei Saito
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 GK   JPN Musashi Kaneko
22 FW   JPN Shun Ozeki
23 DF   JPN Sena Chida
24 MF   JPN Taito Kanda
25 MF   JPN Yuzuki Kobayashi
26 DF   JPN Rin Nakazawa
26 FW   JPN Haruto Nakajima
28 FW   JPN Matthew Edward
29 DF   JPN Sunao Kidera
30 DF   JPN Toma Endo
31 GK   JPN Taishi Okamura
32 FW   JPN Keito Kyuragi
33 DF   JPN Masato Kawata
34 MF   JPN Shota Ohira
35 MF   JPN Seiga Honda
36 MF   JPN Masato Kosaka

Coaching staff

edit
Position Staff
Manager   Tetsu Nagasawa
Assistant coach   Tetsuhiro Kina
First-team coach   Naomichi Wakamiya
  Yusuke Shimada
Goalkeeping coach   Norio Takahashi
Physical coach   Takuma Okumura
Technical staff   Yuki Fukuro
Chief manager   Yosuke Hakamada
Side manager   Yuichi Goto
Interpreter   Leonardo Uehara
  Minori Sato
Chief athletic trainer   Takafumi Kazama
Athletic trainer   Kenichi Sekido
  Natsuya Yashiro
Physiotherapist   Ryohei Ikuta

Managerial history

edit
Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Pim Verbeek   Netherlands 1 January 1999 31 December 1999
Toshiya Miura   Japan 1 February 2000 31 January 2002
Henk Duut   Netherlands 22 December 2001 22 December 2002
Masaaki Kanno   Japan 1 February 2003 13 October 2003
Eijun Kiyokumo   Japan 10 October 2003 31 December 2003
Toshiya Miura   Japan 1 February 2004 31 January 2007
Robert Verbeek   Netherlands 1 January 2007 30 June 2007
Satoru Sakuma   Japan 1 July 2007 31. December 2007
Yasuhiro Higuchi   Japan 1 February 2008 31 January 2009
Chang Woe-ryong   South Korea 1. February 2009 26 April 2010
Jun Suzuki   Japan 24 April 2010 19 May 2012
Takeyuki Okamoto (interim)   Japan 31 Mai 2012 10 June 2012
Zdenko Verdenik   Slovenia 10 June 2012 11 August 2013
Takeyuki Okamoto (interim)   Japan 11 August 2013 20 August 2013
Tsutomu Ogura   Japan 20 August 2013 31 December 2013
Kiyoshi Okuma   Japan 1 February 2014 31 August 2014
Hiroki Shibuya   Japan 31 August 2014 28 May 2017
Akira Ito   Japan 29 Mai 2017 5 November 2017
Masatada Ishii   Japan 6 November 2017 31 January 2019
Takuya Takagi   Japan 1 February 2019 31 January 2021
Ken Iwase   Japan 1 February 2021 25 May 2021
Norio Sasaki   Japan 26 May 2021 9 June 2021
Masahiro Shimoda   Japan 10 June 2021 26 May 2022
Naoki Soma[2]   Japan 28 May 2022 19 May 2023
Masato Harasaki[16]   Japan 19 May 2023 present

Kit evolution

edit
Home Kit – 1st
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Kit – 2nd
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018 3rd
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018
20th anniversary
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2023
25th anniversary

References

edit
  1. ^ Every J.League club badge explained | The meaning behind every J.League team crest, 5 May 2022, retrieved 31 May 2022
  2. ^ a b "相馬直樹 監督 就任のお知らせ" (in Japanese). 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  3. ^ "RB大宮株式会社 クラブプロパティ変更のお知らせ". 大宮アルディージャ. 6 November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Omiya Ardija Club Profile". J. League. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  5. ^ "Club Profile". Omiya Ardija. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  6. ^ "The 13th Saitama derby in the football-mad region comes around this Saturday in Japan's J-League when Urawa Red Diamonds face Omiya Ardija". Goal.com. 11 June 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  7. ^ "オレンジの聖地一新 NACK5スタジアム大宮". Saitama Shimbun (in Japanese). 47news. 23 October 2007.
  8. ^ "レッドブルJリーグ参入へ J初の外国資本企業オーナー誕生も J3大宮が最有力候補". スポーツニッポン. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  9. ^ "レッドブル、Jリーグ参入 J3大宮アルディージャを買収". 日本経済新聞. 26 July 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Red Bull adds first Asian club to soccer portfolio with Omiya Ardija takeover". SportsPro (in Japanese). sportspromedia.com. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  11. ^ "レッドブルがJ3大宮アルディージャ買収発表 NTT東日本から、Jリーグに参入". 日本経済新聞. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  12. ^ "大宮アルディージャの株式、レッドブルに譲渡 佐野社長「成功につなげる」 契約締結、譲渡は今年9月を予定 NTT東日本はスポンサー企業に クラブ名の存続などについても言及". 埼玉新聞. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  13. ^ "大宮アルディージャ公式サイト". www.ardija.co.jp. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  14. ^ "TOPTEAM". Omiya Ardija. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  15. ^ "ACADEMY" (in Japanese). Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  16. ^ "監督交代のお知らせ" (in Japanese). 19 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
edit