Avispa Fukuoka - last updated on 19 December 2007
(Courtesy of Johnny Beaufays)
Club name: Avispa Fukuoka (アビスパ福岡)
Foundation: 1982
City: Fukuoka
Colours: Blue and grey
Website: www.avispa.co.jp
Honours:
Avispa Fukuoka has currently no honours.
A bit of history:
The club was founded as Chūō Bōhan F.C. in 1982 by the workers of security company Chuo Bohan in Fujieda, Shizuoka. They were promoted to the Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1991. They participated in the newly founded former Japan Football League Division 2 in 1992 and were promoted to Division 1 in 1993. They changed their name to Chūō Bōhan F.C. Fujieda Blux with intention to be a J. League member. However, with difficulties to have a stadium that met the J. League requirement, they decided to move to Fukuoka where the community was eager to have a J. League club. They adopted new name Fukuoka Blux and became a J. League associate member.
The first season in Fukuoka saw them win the JFL championship with help from Argentinean Hugo Maradona and they were promoted to J. League.
They decided to change their name to Avispa Fukuoka to avoid a potential trademark dispute with men's clothier Brooks Brothers. The club acquired experienced players such as former Japanese international Satoshi Tsunami and defender Hideaki Mori but they finished lowly 15th in the 1996 season. They finished bottom of the league two seasons in a row from 1997 to 1998. At the end of the 1998 season, Avispa were involved in the play-offs but they narrowly escaped a relegation. Around this time, forward Yoshiteru Yamashita and midfielder Chikara Fujimoto were chosen for the Japanese national team.
In 1999, they again reinforced the squad by acquiring experienced players such as former internationals Nobuyuki Kojima and Yasutoshi Miura as well as Yugoslavian Nenad Maslovar. They won a fierce relegation battle and eventually stayed up. In 2000, Argentinean David Bisconti and Romanian Pavel Badea were transferred to Fukuoka and they finished club record 6th in the second stage. In 2001, the club acquired former Korean international Noh Jung-Yoon and Yoshika Matsubara but they finished 15th and were relegated to J2.
In 2002, they kept experienced players and released younger players such as Daisuke Nakaharai and Yoshiteru Yamashita but they finished 8th out of 10. In 2002, with new manager Hiroshi Matsuda, they decided to recruit and nurture young players who graduated from local high schools instead of acquiring experienced footballers from other clubs. They initially struggled but came back well and finished 4th. In 2004, they finished 3rd and qualified for the play-offs but Kashiwa Reysol dashed their promotion hope by beating them home and away (the scoreline was both 2-0). In 2005, they finished 2nd and gained an automatic promotion to J1. Avispa players Hokuto Nakamura and Tomokazu Nagira represented Japan for the 2005 World Youth Championship in Holland.
They had been involved in a relegation battle from the beginning of the season. They finished 16th and are relegated to J2 after the promotion/relegation play-offs against Vissel Kobe, which they tied twice, 0-0 in Kobe, then 1-1 at their home game. Like many J2 teams this has led to financial issues. The Daily Yomiuri reports that in 2006 Avispa needed 535 million yen in loans from the local prefectural and municipal governments.
Club crests: (roll on the crest to get more informations)
Avispa Fukuoka
