Urawa Red Diamonds
Full name | Urawa Red Diamonds | ||
---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | Reds (レッズ, Rezzu) / Red Devils (赤い悪魔, Akai Akuma) | ||
Founded | 1950 1992 1996 as Mitsubishi Urawa FC as Urawa Red Diamonds | as Mitsubishi Motors FC
||
Stadium | Saitama Stadium 2002 Saitama, Japan | ||
Capacity | 63,700 | ||
Owner | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | ||
Chairman | Keizo Fuchita | ||
Manager | Per-Mathias Høgmo | ||
League | J1 League | ||
2023 | J1 League, 4th of 18 | ||
Website | Club website | ||
| |||
The Urawa Red Diamonds (浦和レッドダイヤモンズ, Urawa Reddo Daiyamonzu), colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, Urawa Rezzu), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J1 League, the top tier of football in the country. Its name comes from the former city of Urawa, now part of Saitama.
The name 'Red Diamonds' alludes to the club's pre-professional era parent company Mitsubishi. The corporation's logo consists of three red diamonds, one of which remains within the current club badge.
Urawa Reds have won 1 J1 League title, 8 Emperor's Cup, 4 J.League Cup and 5 Japanese Super Cup. Continentally, Urawa Reds have won three AFC Champions League trophies in 2007, 2017, 2022 and also won the 2017 J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship.
Internationally, Urawa Reds has made three appearances in the FIFA Club World Cup with their most recent appearance being in the 2023 edition.
History
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries established a football club in 1950[1] in Kobe and moved the club to Tokyo in 1958. In 1965 it formed the Japan Soccer League (JSL) along with today's JEF United Chiba, Kashiwa Reysol, Cerezo Osaka, Sanfrecce Hiroshima and three other clubs who have since been relegated to regional leagues ("Original Eight"[a]).
Mitsubishi first won the JSL championship in 1969, as a break in Mazda/Sanfrecce's dominance (and also with the fact that Toyo were in
Domestic treble
Mitsubishi were the first Japanese club to complete a domestic
Name changed
The club name was than changed to ''Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club'' from in April 1992 where their nickname was "Red Diamonds". However in February 1996, the club name was changed to "Urawa Red Diamonds".
The club has enjoyed mixed fortunes since the J-League advent. The club finished bottom of the league for the first two seasons of the J-League with an average crowd of under 15,000. In 1999 they suffered relegation to the second tier of Japanese football yet again. The club has since improved in form in recent years, starting with a 2003 victory in the Nabisco Cup.
In 2006, Urawa Reds clinched their first professional league title by defeating runners-up Gamba Osaka 3–2 on December 2 in front of 63,000 supporters. This came after two close calls in the previous two years. In 2005, they finished 2nd, one point behind champions Gamba Osaka. In 2004, they finished 3rd in the first stage and won the second stage. Having qualified for the two-match J.League Championship decider, they lost on penalty shootout to Yokohama F. Marinos.
Back to back cup champion
Urawa Reds were back to back Emperor's Cup winners in 2005 and 2006. Winning the title for the first time since their establishment as a professional club, they defeated Shimizu S-Pulse 2–1 on 1 January 2006, and retained the title in 2007 with a 1–0 win over Gamba Osaka. This win also completed a league-cup double. In the 2007 tournament they were defeated at the first hurdle by J2 League outfit Ehime FC.
In 2007, despite a seemingly unassailable lead of seven points with four games remaining, Urawa Reds picked up only two points from their final four games. This run included losing at home to Kashima Antlers; the club who would leapfrog Urawa on the final day of the season to claim their fifth J.League title. Following their capitulation in the fourth round of the Emperor's Cup to J2 League outfit Ehime FC, Urawa Reds had to be content with their 2007 AFC Champions League fixtures.
AFC Champions League winner
Urawa Reds recorded their first prestigious cup overcoming
Throughout the 2008 AFC Champions League edition, Urawa Reds attempted to win their second consecutive AFC Champions League title and progressed to the semi-finals where they were defeated by fellow J-League rivals, and eventual Champions League winners, Gamba Osaka 3–1 on aggregate.
On 8 March 2014, a banner which read "JAPANESE ONLY" was hung at one of the entrances to the stands.[2] As punishment for this racist behavior, the league match on 28 March was played behind closed doors.[3]
In the 2017 AFC Champions League edition, Urawa Reds had a good run throughout the entire tournament which see them face Saudi Arabia club, Al-Hilal in the final which see Urawa Reds winning the 2017 AFC Champions League final 2–1 on aggregate to clinch their 2nd trophy.
Urawa Reds managed to make their way through all the way until the 2019 AFC Champions League final facing off against Al-Hilal once again which however, the club fell to 3–0 aggregate lost to the Saudi Arabia club.
During the 2022 AFC Champions League, Urawa Reds had an easier run en route to the final where they faced three Southeast Asian club along the way, Singapore league champions Lion City Sailors in the group stage while they faced Malaysia league champions Johor Darul Ta'zim 5–0 in the Round of 16 and Thailand league champions BG Pathum United 4–0 in the Quarter-finals. Urawa Reds would than face Korea league champions, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the semi-finals which ended up with Urawa Reds advancing to the final after winning the penalty shootout. The club would than faced their tournament rivals, Al-Hilal for the third time in the 2022 AFC Champions League final in which Urawa Red won 2–1 on aggregate clinching their 3rd trophy.
On 19 September 2023, it was announced by JFA that Urawa Reds will not be participating in 2024 edition of Emperor's Cup following the riot caused by the fans after 0–3 loss against Nagoya Grampus in the 4th round of 2023 edition.[4]
International affiliation
The club is also notable in that former
, visited Japan and played friendly games at the Saitama Stadium.In August 2004, Urawa Reds appeared in a pre-season four-club friendly tournament, the Vodafone Cup, at Old Trafford, the home ground of Manchester United. Urawa Reds missed a few key players, losing their first match 5–2 against the Argentinian side Boca Juniors. The second fixture against the hosts, Manchester United, was called off due to a massive electric storm. Some 800 Urawa Reds fans had travelled to the game and were later compensated.
The club's supporters also have an unofficial relationship with Chinese club
Home stadium
Since the establishment of J.League in 1992, the club had used the
New home ground
In October 2001,
Facilities
Urawa Reds uses Ohara City Field for training. In addition to this facility, the club opened Redsland in 2005, which has three grass fields, one
Mascots
The Red Diamonds have four mascots; Redia, Friendia, Schale, and Diarra. However, Redia doesn't make much appearances at Saitama Stadium, due to the club's policy of the stadium being a "place for serious competition". When he does occasionally appear at the stadium, he does not participate in any fan activities. Because of this, Reds fans dubbed him as a NEET mascot (which is an acronym for "No education, employment, or training").[9] According to the club profile, Redia and Friendia were married during a Reds fan festival in 1997. The younger twin mascots, Schale and Diarra, were born on the day the Red Diamonds won their first J. League Championship in 2006.[10]
Rivalries
Saitama derby
Urawa Red Diamonds has a
Marunouchi Gosanke
During the JSL years and into the 1990s, Urawa's main top flight rivals were JEF United Chiba and Kashiwa Reysol, both now based in Chiba Prefecture. Because of their former parent companies' headquarters being all based in Marunouchi, Tokyo, the three clubs were known as the Marunouchi Gosanke (丸の内御三家, "Marunouchi Big Three") and fixtures among them were known as the Marunouchi derbies, although the term is falling out of use as they are now based in different prefectures and rarely play home games in Tokyo stadiums.
Others
Rivals further afield include
Women's team
The club also has a women's football team, currently playing in the WE League as Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies.[11]
Kit and colours
Colours
The main colours of the Urawa Red Diamonds are red, black and white.
Kit evolution
Home kit - 1st | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
1993–1994 |
1995–1996 |
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 kit - 2nd | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
1993–1994 |
1995–1996 |
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– |
Alternative kit - 3rd | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
1992 - 1993 Cup 1st |
2012 3rd |
2013 3rd |
2014 3rd |
2017 3rd |
2019 3rd |
2020 3rd |
2022 vs PSG |
2022 vs Eintracht Frankfurt | |
Players
Current squad
- As of 25 March 2024.[12]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Club officials
For the 2024 J1 League season.
Position | Name |
---|---|
Sporting director | Hisashi Tsuchida |
Manager | Per-Mathias Høgmo |
Assistant manager | Morten Kalvenes |
First-team coach | Masato Maesako Nobuyasu Ikeda |
Coach and analyst | Mario Eduardo Chavez Maiki Hayashi |
Physical coach | Tatsuru Ishiguri Wojciech Ignatiuk |
Goalkeeper coach | Juan Miret |
Assistant goalkeeper coach | Tomoyasu Ando |
Honours
Domestic
As both Mitsubishi (amateur era) and Urawa Red Diamonds (professional era)
League
- Japan Soccer League/J.League Division 1
- Japan Soccer League Division 2
Cups
International
Individual awards
World Cup players
The following players have represented their country at the World Cup whilst playing for Urawa Red Diamonds:
- Wataru Endo
- Tomoaki Makino
- Andrew Nabbout
Club captains
- Koichi Shitani 1992–1993
- Masahiro Fukuda 1994–1997
- Takashi Tsuchida 1998–1999
- Shinji Ono 2000–2001
- Masami Ihara 2001–2002
- Hideki Uchidate 2003
- Nobuhisa Yamada 2004–2008
- Keita Suzuki 2009–2011
- Yuki Abe 2012–2017
- Yōsuke Kashiwagi 2018–2019
- Shusaku Nishikawa 2020–2022
- Hiroki Sakai 2023–present
Former players
International capped players
Manager history
Manager | Nationality | Tenure | |
---|---|---|---|
Start | Finish | ||
Hiroshi Ninomiya | Japan | 1 February 1967 | 31 January 1975 |
Kenzo Yokoyama | Japan | 1 February 1975 | 31 January 1983 |
Kuniya Daini | Japan | 1 February 1984 | 30 June 1989 |
Kazuo Saito | Japan | 1 July 1989 | 30 June 1992 |
Takaji Mori | Japan | 1 July 1993 | 31 January 1994 |
Kenzo Yokoyama | Japan | 1 February 1994 | 31 January 1995 |
Holger Osieck | Germany | 1 February 1995 | 31 December 1996 |
Horst Köppel | Germany | 1 February 1997 | 31 December 1998 |
Hiromi Hara | Japan | 1 February 1998 | 30 June 1999 |
Aad de Mos | Netherlands | 1 July 1999 | 3 December 1999 |
Yasushi Yoshida | Japan | 4 December 1999 | 31 January 2000 |
Kazuo Saito | Japan | 2 February 2000 | 2 October 2000 |
Kenzo Yokoyama | Japan | 3 October 2000 | 31 January 2001 |
Tita |
Brazil | 1 February 2001 | 27 August 2001 |
Pita |
Brazil | 28 August 2001 | 31 January 2001 |
Hans Ooft |
Netherlands | 1 February 2002 | 31 January 2004 |
Guido Buchwald | Germany | 1 February 2004 | 31 January 2006 |
Holger Osieck | Germany | 1 February 2007 | 16 March 2008 |
Gert Engels | Germany | 16 March 2008 | 27 November 2008 |
Volker Finke | Germany | 1 February 2009 | 31 January 2011 |
Željko Petrović | Montenegro | 1 February 2011 | 20 October 2011 |
Takafumi Hori (caretaker) | Japan | 20 October 2011 | 31 January 2012 |
Mihailo Petrović | Serbia | 1 February 2012 | 30 July 2017 |
Takafumi Hori | Japan | 31 July 2017 | 2 April 2018 |
Tsuyoshi Otsuki | Japan | 3 April 2018 | 24 April 2018 |
Oswaldo de Oliveira | Brazil | 25 April 2018 | 28 May 2019 |
Tsuyoshi Otsuki | Japan | 29 May 2019 | 22 December 2020 |
Ricardo Rodríguez | Spain | 22 December 2020 | 30 October 2022 |
Maciej Skorża | Poland | 10 November 2022 | 30 December 2023 |
Per-Mathias Høgmo | Norway | 1 January 2024 |
League & cup record
Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | Avg. Attd. | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup | Super Cup | AFC CL | Others | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | – | – | – | – | Group stage | Semi-finals | – | – | – | – |
1993 | J1 | 10 | 10th | 11,459 | Group stage | 2nd round | – | – | – | – |
1994 | 12 | 12th | 18,475 | Quarter-finals | 3rd round | – | – | – | – | |
1995 | 14 | 4th | 19,560 | – | Quarter-finals | – | – | – | – | |
1996 | 16 | 6th | 24,329 | Group stage | Semi-finals | – | – | – | – | |
1997 | 17 | 10th | 20,504 | Quarter-finals | Round of 16 | – | – | – | – | |
1998 | 18 | 6th | 22,706 | Group stage | Quarter-finals | – | – | – | – | |
1999 | 16 | 15th | 21,206 | Quarter-finals | Round of 16 | – | – | – | – | |
2000 | J2 | 11 | 2nd | 16,923 | 1st round | Round of 16 | – | – | – | – |
2001 | J1 | 16 | 10th | 26,720 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | – | – | – | – |
2002 | 16 | 11th | 26,296 | Runners-up | 3rd round | – | – | – | – | |
2003 | 16 | 6th | 28,855 | Winners | 3rd round | – | – | – | – | |
2004 | 16 | 2nd | 36,660 | Runners-up | Semi-finals | – | – | – | – | |
2005 | 18 | 2nd | 39,357 | Semi-finals | Winners | – | – | – | – | |
2006 | 18 | 1st | 45,573 | Quarter-finals | Winners | Winners | – | – | – | |
2007 | 18 | 2nd | 46,667 | Quarter-finals | Round of 16 | Runners-up | Winners | A3 | 3rd place | |
FIFA | 3rd place | |||||||||
2008 | 18 | 7th | 47,609 | Group stage | 5th round | – | Semi-finals | – | – | |
2009 | 18 | 6th | 44,210 | Quarter-finals | 2nd round | – | – | – | – | |
2010 | 18 | 10th | 39,941 | Group stage | Quarter-finals | – | – | – | – | |
2011 | 18 | 15th | 33,910 | Runners-up | Quarter-finals | – | – | – | – | |
2012 | 18 | 3rd | 36,634 | Group stage | Round of 16 | – | – | – | – | |
2013 | 18 | 6th | 37,100 | Runners-up | 3rd round | – | Group stage | – | – | |
2014 | 18 | 2nd | 35,516 | Quarter-finals | 3rd round | – | – | – | – | |
2015 | 18 | 3rd | 38,745 | Quarter-finals | Runners-up | Runners-up | Group stage | – | – | |
2016 | 18 | 2nd | 36,935 | Winners | Round of 16 | – | Round of 16 | – | – | |
2017 | 18 | 7th | 33,542 | Quarter-finals | Round of 16 | Runners-up | Winners | Suruga | Winners | |
FIFA | 5th place | |||||||||
2018 | 18 | 5th | 34,798 | Play-off stage | Winners | – | – | – | – | |
2019 | 18 | 14th | 34,184 | Quarter-finals | Round of 16 | Runners-up | Runners-up | – | – | |
2020 † | 18 | 10th | 7,869 | Group stage | Did not qualify | – | – | – | – | |
2021 † | 20 | 6th | 8,244 | Semi-finals | Winners | – | – | – | – | |
2022 | 18 | 9th | 23,617 | Semi-finals | 3rd round | Winners | Winners | – | – | |
2023 | 18 | 4th | 30,509 | Runners-up | Round of 16 | – | Group stage | FIFA | 4th Place |
- Key
- Pos. = Position in league
- Attendance/G = Average home league attendance
- † 2020, 2021 seasons attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
League history
Excepting two seasons in which they were in the second tier, Mitsubishi/Urawa has always competed in the top flight, thereby being the club with the most top flight seasons total.
- Mitsubishi (Amateur era)
- Urawa Red Diamonds (Professional era)
- Division 1 (J.League): 1993–99
- Division 2 (J.League Div.2): 2000
- Division 1 (J.League Div.1): 2001–
- Top scorer: Masahiro Fukuda with 152 goals
Notes
- ^ The original clubs of the Japan Soccer League in 1965 were Mitsubishi Motors, Furukawa Electric, Hitachi, Yanmar Diesel, Toyo Kogyo, Yawata Steel, Toyota Industries and Nagoya Mutual Bank.
- ^ The original clubs of the J.League in 1993 were Kashima Antlers, Urawa, JEF United Ichihara, Verdy Kawasaki, Yokohama Marinos, Yokohama Flügels, Shimizu S-Pulse, Nagoya Grampus Eight, Gamba Osaka and Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
References
- ^ 浦和レッズ年表 Archived 2008-10-25 at the Wayback Machine, Urawa Red Diamonds
- ^ ARUDOU, DEBITO (12 March 2014). "J.League and media must show red card to racism". Japan Times. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
- ^ "Urawa Reds play to empty stadium after fans banned for racist banner". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
- ^ "【規律委員会】 2023年9月19日付 公表". www.jfa.jp (in Japanese). JFA. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
- ^ J-League partner Urawa seal domestic double Archived 2007-05-19 at the Wayback Machine, FC Bayern
- ^ 06.01.18 FCバイエルン・ミュンヘン(ドイツ)とのパートナーシップ締結について Archived 2008-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, Urawa Red Diamonds
- ^ "Wild East Football". Archived from the original on 2019-03-25. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
- ^ レッズランド | 浦和レッズ Archived 2008-10-24 at the Wayback Machine, Urawa Red Diamonds
- ^ A brief history of J.League mascots | Mascot madness in Japanese football, archived from the original on 2022-04-07, retrieved 2022-04-08
- ^ "CLUB-PROFILE | URAWA RED DIAMONDS OFFICIAL WEBSITE". www.urawa-reds.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2022-05-09. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
- ^ URAWA REDS LADIES Archived 2008-10-24 at the Wayback Machine, Urawa Red Diamonds
- ^ "TOP TEAM". Retrieved 20 January 2024.
External links
- Urawa Red Diamonds official website (in Japanese and English)
- Urawa Red Diamonds Supporters Media website (unofficial) (in Japanese)