V-Varen Nagasaki - last updated on 6 May 2009
(Courtesy of Johnny Beaufays)
Club name: V-Varen Nagasaki
(V・ファーレン長崎
)
Foundation: June 28th 2006
City: Iseahaya City
Colours: Blue and orange
Website: www.v-varen.com
Honours:
V-Varen Nagasaki has currently no honours.
A bit of history:
V.Varen Nagasaki can trace its history back to 1985, when a club was formed in the Nagasaki prefectural league, Division 2, under the name Ariake Soccer Club. The team gradually progressed up the rankings and in 1991, won promotion to the First Division. It took another nine years for Ariake SC to win the prefectural title, but beginning in 2000 the team established itself as one of the powers in its prefecture, winning the title four out of the next five years and progressing as far as the best four in the playoffs among Kyushu prefectural champions.
In 2004, the team was ready to take the next step up, and to improve the chances of success, Ariake SC merged with Kunim FC -- a team made up of Kunimi HS graduates who were unable to attract offers from pro or semipro clubs. This influx of both players and coaches greatly strengthened the team, and following another prefectural championship, Ariake SC earned promotion to the Kyu League. As 2005 dawned, the team changed its name to V.Varen Nagasaki, adopted the Nagasaki prefectural symbol - the Mandarin Duck - as its mascot and set up an independent management corporation with the expressed intent of bringing J.League football to the western coast of Kyushu. In its very first year under the name "V.Varen", the team proved to be the nearest challengers to Rosso Kumamoto and FC Ryukyu, who have since moved on to bigger and better things, finishing an impressive third in the country's most competitive regional league..
As is the case for many J.League clubs, V.Varen Nagasaki derives its name from a seemingly illogical polyglot of European words. The "V" is supposedly derived from the Portuguese word "vittoria", or "Victory" (though there seems to be no reason why the team couldnt have chosen the English, French ... or in this particular case, Dutch... word for Victory (which also start with the letter V), since it would be a beter match for the remainder of the team name. The word "Varen" was chosen to reflect the city's long history as an important port of call for Portuguese and Dutch traders, throughout the Edo era. It is derived from the Dutch word which means "to voyage by sea".
"Wait a minute"... I think I heard someone in Holland exclaim... "the Dutch word for sea travel is Fahren, not Varen !!! " Well, that may be so, but "Varen" starts with the letter "V", and "V." starts with the letter "V". so its a perfect match... V.Varen! See, the logic is impeccable.
In any event, despite the level of competition in Kyushu the Mighty Ducks charged to the league title the following season, and remained near the top of the table for the next four years. Unfortunately, though, their efforts to make the next step up to the JFL, via the Nationwide Regional League Championship Tournament, were thwarted again and again. But the grassroots support for the team remained strong, and as long as they were able to handle the competition in Kyushu it was a good bet that eventually their opportunity for promotion would arrive. In 2008 V.Varen finished second in the Kyu League, but this time they made it through the playoffs, claiming the top spot in the nationwide tournament and earning promotion to the JFL in 2009.
The Mighty Ducks continue to draw much of their strength from Kunimi HS, the prefecture's perrennial schoolboy soccer powerhouse, with no fewer than eleven Kunimi grads on the roster. Several of the players boast some JFL experience, and the "star" veteran is former Avispa Fukuoka midfielder Takeo Harada. Another player to watch, at least in terms of his potential "political influence", is Eiji Komine, the 23-year-old son of legendary Kunimi HS coach Tadatoshi Komine. Coach Komine has repeatedly turned down offers to coach other JFL and regional teams, and has even been courted by Avispa Fukuoka in the past. Up to now he has always preferred to stay in the high school ranks. However, with three former Kunimi coaches already running the team, and his son on the roster, "Coach K" was finally prevailed upon to leave schoolboy coaching, and took up the post of President at V.Varen Nagasaki Ltd.
Local support for the team is excellent; V.Varen managed to draw crowds of several thousand for home matches throughout the 2007 and 2008 Kyu League seasons, suggesting that they have the infrastructure to make a go of it at an even higher level. The team has officially announced its intention to make a bid for J.League promotion, though its first formal request for J.League associate status was turned down due to some organizational and financial issues. The league did offer strong words of encouragement, however, and we suspect that the team's move to the JFL in 2009 will accelerate the progress towards an eventual J.League berth.
Club crests: (roll on the crest to get more informations)
V-Varen Nagasaki
