Renofa Yamaguchi FC explained

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, 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.^[1] 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.^{[2] [3]}

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[8]

The club will play their 8th consecutive season at the J2 League on 2023.

Changes in club name

• (Yamaguchi Teachers, Yamaguchi KFC) (1949–2005)
• (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

bgcolor=gold

Champions

bgcolor=silver

Runners-up

Third place

bgcolor=palegreen

Promoted

bgcolor=pink

Relegated

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

Key

Honours

Honour !!scope=col

No. !	scope=col	Years
In chronological order-->	scope=row	Yamaguchi Prefectural Championship	7	1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010
scope=row	Yamaguchi Prefectural League	1	2004
scope=row	Chūgoku League	3	2008, 2010, 2013
scope=row	Noue Cup	1	2008
scope=row	Shakaijin Cup	1	2013
scope=row	J3 League	1	2015

Players

Current squad

As of 2 August 2024.^[9]

Out on loan

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		Managerial Record
		From	To	P	W	D	L	W%
Takashi Yamamoto		1990	31 January 2006
Takashi Miyanari		1 February 2006	31 January 2010
Takashi Kawamura		1 February 2012	31 January 2013
		1 February 2013	31 January 2014
		1 February 2014	23 May 2017
		24 May 2017	5 June 2017
		6 June 2017	31 December 2017
		1 February 2018	31 January 2021
		1 February 2021	28 September 2021
		29 September 2021	9 May 2023
		10 May 2023	7 June 2023
		8 June 2023	13 November 2023
		1 December 2023	present

Key

• Source: J.League Data Site

External links

• Official Site
• Chūgoku League Official Site

Notes and References

1. Web site: 出場チーム 第９０回天皇杯全日本サッカー選手権大会 (Participating teams – The 90th Emperor Cup All Japan Championship Series) (in Japanese). Chugoku Shimbun. Japan Football Association. 2012-08-02.
2. Web site: チーム概要 (Team Outline) (in Japanese). Renofa Yamaguchi F.C.. 2012-08-02. 2016-08-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20160826113017/http://www.renofa.com/team_outline.html. dead.
3. Web site: 出場チーム 第９１回天皇杯全日本サッカー選手権大会 (Participating teams – The 91st Emperor Cup All Japan Championship Series) (in Japanese). Chugoku Shimbun. Japan Football Association. 2012-08-02.
4. Web site: チーム概要 (Team Outline) (in Japanese). Renofa Yamaguchi F.C.. 2012-07-30. 2016-08-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20160826113017/http://www.renofa.com/team_outline.html. dead.
5. Web site: Match No. 9 第８９回天皇杯全日本サッカー選手権大会 (Match 9 – The 89th Emperor Cup All Japan Championship Series) (in Japanese). Japan Football Association. 2012-08-02.
6. Web site: ＮＰＯ法人「山口アスレチック・クラブ」誕生 プロスポーツチーム空白県からの脱却を (The Birth of the NPO "Yamaguchi Athletics Club" – Growing out of a Prefecture with no Pro-Sports Team) (in Japanese). https://archive.today/20130219041331/http://www.sunday-yamaguchi.co.jp/news/2011/2011.6/0629prosports.html. dead. 2013-02-19. Sunday Yamaguchi. 2012-08-02.
7. Web site: ja:Ｊ３入会承認！. Approval of J3 membership!. http://renofa.com/news2014/1119.html. Renofa Yamaguchi. 19 November 2014. ja. 19 November 2014.
8. Web site: [レノファ山口FC OfficialSite] 2024シーズン J1クラブライセンスの交付について]. レノファ山口FC岐 OfficialSite . 20 November 2023. ja . 26 September 2023.
9. Web site: PLAYER2024 . RENOFA YAMAGUCHI FC . 1 February 2024.