Cerezo Osaka

Cerezo Osaka
セレッソ大阪
Full name	Cerezo Osaka
Nickname(s)	Sakura (cherry blossoms)
Founded	1957; 64 years ago
Ground	Yanmar Stadium Nagai
Capacity	47,853
Owner	Yanmar
Chairman	Hiroaki Morishima
Manager	Miguel Ángel Lotina
League	J1 League
2019	J1 League, 5th of 18
Website	Club website
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

Cerezo Osaka (セレッソ大阪, Seresso Ōsaka) are a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team name Cerezo (Spanish for cherry tree) is also the flower of the city of Osaka.^[1] The official hometowns for the team are Osaka and Sakai.

History[edit source | edit]

File:CerezoOsaka.png

Old crest

The team, originally called Yanmar Diesel, started in 1957 as the company team of Yanmar and was an original founder of the now-disbanded Japan Soccer League. With four Japanese league titles to its credit, it was a mainstay of the JSL First Division until 1990 when it was first relegated, and joined the former Japan Football League in 1992.

In 1993, the club incorporated as Osaka Football Club Ltd., and adopted the name Cerezo after a public contest.^[2] In 1994, they won the JFL championship and was promoted to the J1 League in 1995. This also coincided with a run to the finals of the Emperor's Cup, which they lost to Bellmare Hiratsuka.

Cerezo has relegated from J1 to J2 three times, but are currently playing in the J1 league. The team had an impressive third-place finish in the 2017 season.

On 4 November 2017 they won the J.League YBC Levain Cup, the first major title for Cerezo Osaka. The final match was against Kawasaki Frontale.

On 1 January 2018, Cerezo Osaka won the Emperor's Cup, securing their second major title. The final match was against Yokohama F. Marinos.

On 10 February 2018, they won the Xerox Super Cup, playing against Kawasaki Frontale.

In May 2018, the club changed its incorporated name from Osaka Soccer Club, Co. Ltd. to Cerezo Osaka Co., Ltd.

Colors[edit source | edit]

Cerezo's team colour is pink, like the cherry blossom flowers that the name is based on. Combination colours have been navy blue and black. This year, the uniform colour is pink (home) and white (away) for the field players, black (home) and pink (away) or green for the goal keepers.

During the Yanmar Diesel days in the late 1970s to mid-1980s, the uniform was all-red reminiscent of Deportivo Toluca.

Colour, sponsors and manufacturers[edit source | edit]

Season(s)	Main Shirt Sponsor	Collarbone Sponsor		Additional Sponsor(s)				Kit Manufacturer
2019	YANMAR	-	-	Nipponham	SINGHA	KINCHO	Nakabayashi	PUMA
2020	YANMAR	-	-	Nipponham	SINGHA	SHARP	Nakabayashi	PUMA

Grounds[edit source | edit]

The hometown for the team are Osaka and Sakai Japan. The team plays at Kincho Stadium, with some bigger games played at Yanmar Stadium Nagai.^[3]

The team practices at Minami Tsumori Sakura Sports Park, Maishima Sports Island, and Amagasaki Yanmar Diesel Ground.

Team mascots[edit source | edit]

The main team mascot is a wolf, named Lobby. The other team mascot is Madame Lobina, Lobby's mother.^[4]

Rivalries[edit source | edit]

Cerezo's biggest rival is fellow Osaka team Gamba Osaka. The matches played against Gamba are referred to as the Osaka derby.

Record as J.League member[edit source | edit]

Season	Div.	Tms.	Pos.	Attendance/G	J.League Cup	Emperor's Cup	ACL
1995	J1	14	8	12,097	–	2nd round	–
1996	J1	16	13	8,229	Group stage	4th round	–
1997	J1	17	11	9,153	Group stage	4th round	–
1998	J1	18	9	9,864	Group stage	3rd round	–
1999	J1	16	6	10,216	2nd round	4th round	–
2000	J1	16	5	13,548	2nd round	Quarter-final	–
2001	J1	16	16	11,857	1st round	Final	–
2002	J2	12	2	7,952	–	4th round	–
2003	J1	16	9	13,854	Group stage	Final	–
2004	J1	16	15	14,323	Group stage	4th round	–
2005	J1	18	5	17,648	Quarter-final	Semi-final	–
2006	J1	18	17	13,026	Quarter-final	4th round	–
2007	J2	13	5	6,627	–	4th round	–
2008	J2	15	4	10,554	–	4th round	–
2009	J2	18	2	9,912	–	2nd round	–
2010	J1	18	3	15,026	Group stage	4th round	–
2011	J1	18	12	14,145	Quarter-final	Semi-final	Quarter-final
2012	J1	18	14	16,815	Quarter-final	Quarter-final	–
2013	J1	18	4	18,819	Quarter-final	4th round	–
2014	J1	18	17	21,627	Quarter-final	Quarter-final	Round of 16
2015	J2	22	4	12,232	–	1st round	–
2016	J2	22	4	12,509	–	3rd round	–
2017	J1	18	3	20,970	Winner	Winner	–
2018	J1	18	7	18,542	Quarter-final	4th round	Group stage
2019	J1	18	5	21,518	Play-offs	4th round	–

Key

Tms. = Number of teams
Pos. = Position in league
Attendance/G = Average league attendance

League history[edit source | edit]

Japan Soccer League Division 1: 1965–1990 (as Yanmar Diesel)
Japan Soccer League Division 2: 1991 (as Yanmar Diesel)
Japan Football League Division 1: 1992–94 (as Yanmar Diesel until 1993; Cerezo Osaka since 1994)
J1 League: 1995–2001
J2 League: 2002
J1 League: 2003–2006
J2 League: 2007–2009
J1 League: 2010–2014
J2 League: 2015–2016
J1 League: 2017–present

Players[edit source | edit]

Current squad[edit source | edit]

Out on loan[edit source | edit]

Last updated 11 July 2019.^[6]

Template:Football squad start Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad mid Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad end

Under-23 Squad[edit source | edit]

Template:Football squad start Template:Fs Player Template:Fs Player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad mid Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad player Template:Football squad end

Honours[edit source | edit]

Yanmar Osaka Soccer Club[edit source | edit]

Japan Soccer League

Winners (4): 1971, 1974, 1975, 1980

JSL Cup

Winners (3): 1973 (shared), 1983, 1984

Emperor's Cup

Winners (3): 1968, 1970, 1974

Cerezo Osaka[edit source | edit]

Japan Football League

Winners (1): 1994 (as the company team)

J.League Cup

Winners (1): 2017

Emperor's Cup

Winners (1): 2017

Runners-up (3): 1994, 2001, 2003

Japanese Super Cup

Winners (1): 2018

Suruga Bank Championship

Runners-up (1): 2018

Contiental record[edit source | edit]

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2011	AFC Champions League	Group G	Template:Country data IDN Arema	2–1	0–4	2nd
			Shandong Luneng	4–0	2–0
			Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1–0	1–0
		Round of 16	Gamba Osaka	0–1
		Quarter-finals	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	4–3	6–1	5–9
2014	AFC Champions League	Group F	Pohang Steelers	0–2	1–1	2nd
			Shandong Luneng	1–3	1–2
			Template:Country data THA Buriram United	4–0	2–2
		Round of 16	Guangzhou Evergrande	1–5	0–1	2–5
2018	AFC Champions League	Group G	Jeju United	2–1	0–1	3rd
			Guangzhou Evergrande	0–0	3–1
			Template:Country data THA Buriram United	2–2	2–0

Managers[edit source | edit]

^[7]

Manager	Nationality	Tenure
Paulo Emilio	Template:Fb	1 January 1994 – 31 December 1995
Hiroshi Sowa	Template:Fb	1 January 1996 – 31 December 1996
Levir Culpi	Template:Fb	1 February 1997 – 31 December 1997
Yasutaro Matsuki	Template:Fb	1 January 1998 – 31 December 1999
René Desaeyere	Template:Fb	1 February 1999 – 31 January 2000
Hiroshi Soejima	Template:Fb	1 February 2000 – 19 August 2001
João Carlos	Template:Fb	20 August 2001 – 4 November 2001
Akihiro Nishimura	Template:Fb	5 November 2001 – 6 October 2003
Yuji Tsukada	Template:Fb	7 October 2003 – 1 January 2004
Petar Nadoveza	Template:Fb	2 January 2004 – 1 February 2004
Fuad Muzurović	Template:Fb	1 February 2004 – 22 March 2004
Albert Pobor	Template:Fb	23 March 2004 – 28 June 2004
Shinji Kobayashi	Template:Fb	1 July 2004 – 17 April 2006
Yuji Tsukada	Template:Fb	18 April 2006 – 31 December 2006
Satoshi Tsunami	Template:Fb	1 January 2007 – 7 May 2007
Levir Culpi	Template:Fb	8 May 2007 – 31 December 2011
Sérgio Soares	Template:Fb	1 January 2012 – 26 August 2012
Levir Culpi	Template:Fb	27 August 2012 – 11 December 2013
Ranko Popović	Template:Fb	1 January 2014 – 9 June 2014
Marco Pezzaiuoli	Template:Fb	16 June 2014 – 8 September 2014
Yuji Okuma	Template:Fb	8 September 2014 – 16 December 2014
Paulo Autuori	Template:Fb	1 January 2015 – 17 November 2015
Kiyoshi Okuma	Template:Fb	17 November 2015 – 31 January 2017
Yoon Jong-hwan	Template:Fb	1 February 2017 – 31 December 2018
Miguel Ángel Lotina	Template:Fb	1 February 2019 – present

In popular culture[edit source | edit]

In the popular Captain Tsubasa manga, a character named Teppei Kisugi becomes a professional football player and joins Cerezo Osaka.^{[citation needed]}

Former players[edit source | edit]

References[edit source | edit]

↑ Club Guide Profile, Link to official team profile site.
↑ "Cerezo Osaka Profile". Cerezo Osaka official website. Archived from the original on 12 March 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
↑ Stadium Information, Link to stadiums.
↑ セレッソ大阪とは (in Japanese). Cerezo Osaka. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
↑ "トップチーム選手".
↑ "ニュース". セレッソ大阪HP. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
↑ "Club history". セレッソ大阪　沿革. Retrieved 10 January 2018.

External links[edit source | edit]

Cerezo Osaka official website
Cerezo Osaka on Facebook (in Thai)
Cerezo Osaka official website (in Japanese)

Template:Cerezo Osaka

[Club_Profile-1] Club Guide Profile, Link to official team profile site.

[2] "Cerezo Osaka Profile". Cerezo Osaka official website. Archived from the original on 12 March 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2008.

[stadium_information-3] Stadium Information, Link to stadiums.

[4] セレッソ大阪とは (in Japanese). Cerezo Osaka. Retrieved April 17, 2018.

[5] "トップチーム選手".

[6] "ニュース". セレッソ大阪HP. Retrieved 10 January 2018.

[7] "Club history". セレッソ大阪　沿革. Retrieved 10 January 2018.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]