Consadole Sapporo - last updated on 19 December 2007
(Courtesy of Johnny Beaufays)
Club name: Consadole Sapporo (コンサドーレ札幌)
Foundation: 1935
City: Sapporo
Colours: Red and black
Website: www.consadole-sapporo.jp
Honours:
Consadole Sapporo has currently no honours.
A bit of history:
Consadole's club tradition dates back to 1935 when Toshiba Horikawa-cho Soccer Club was founded in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. They were promoted to the now-defunct Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1978. They adopted new name Toshiba Soccer Club in 1980 and were promoted to the JSL Division 1 in 1989. They joined the newly formed Japan Football League in 1992 and played the last season as Toshiba S.C. in 1995.
They sought to be a professional club but the owner Toshiba did not regarded Kawasaki as an ideal hometown. This is because Verdy Kawasaki, one of the most prominent clubs at that time, was also based in the city, which Toshiba apparently believed was not big enough to accommodate two clubs. (Verdy now crossed the Tama River to be based in Chōfu City in the west of Tokyo and has been renamed as Tokyo Verdy 1969.)
They decided to move to Sapporo where the local government and community had been keen to provide a base for a professional soccer team as they awaited Sapporo Dome to be completed in 2001. The ownership was transferred from Toshiba to Hokkaido Football Club plc. before the start of the 1996 season.
Toshiba does not have financial interest in the club any more but Consadole still boasts their forerunner's red and black colours on their uniform.
Consadole Sapporo inherited the JFL status from Toshiba S.C.. Their debut season in 1996 was not overly successful as they finished 5th and missed promotion. However, they won the JFL championship in 1997 and were promoted to J. League.
In 1998, their first J. League season saw them finish 14th out of 18 but this didn't guarantee them staying up. From the 1999 season, the J. League would have 2 divisions and the play-offs involving 5 teams (four J. League sides and the champions of the JFL) were to be played. In order to decide who were involved in the play-offs, not only the results of the 1998 season but also those of the 1997 were taken account of. Consadole, who didn't play in the previous season, was placed 16th in the aggregate standing and forced to face the play-offs. They lost all 4 games, 2 against Vissel Kobe, and another 2 against Avispa Fukuoka, and became the first-ever J. League side that experienced relegation.
In 1999, Takeshi Okada, the former Japan national team coach, was appointed as head coach in an effort to make an immediate comeback to J1, but this attempt was failed as they finished 5th. Their heavy investment on players counted against them and, at this point, the debt owed by the club exceeded 3 billion yen (330 million USD). The bankruptcy looked a near-certainty.
In 2000, they cut down the cost dramatically. As a result, the team often included as many as 8 on-loan players in the starting line-up. However, this strategy paid off and the club won the J2 championship as well as promotion to J1. The club posted a single-year profit for the first time in their history this year.
In 2001, they finished 11th in J1. However, at the end of the season, the club failed to persuade Okada to renew the contract and several leading players also left the club. In 2002, they finished bottom and were relegated to J2 for a second time.
In 2003, they again tried to return to the top-flight immediately by investing heavily but the team didn't perform well on the pitch. They finished 9th and their debt again crossed the 3 billion yen mark.
The deficit-ridden club realized they needed a drastic restructuring and released highly paid leading players including mainstay Yasuyuki Konno. The rejuvenated but inexperienced team finished bottom of J2 in 2004. The bright side was their improved financial situation where the debt was sharply reduced to less than 100 million yen.
In 2005 and 2006, they finished 6th. In 2007 they finally earned promotion as champions and will play in J1 for 2008.
Club crests: (roll on the crest to get more informations)
Consadole Sapporo
