FC Gifu

During the Japan Soccer League and former Japan Football League years, the city and prefecture of Gifu were represented by the Seino Transportation Co. (西濃運輸 Seinō Un'yu) works team, which was relegated from the old JFL for the last time in 1997 and folded shortly thereafter.

The modern-day Gifu club was founded in 2001 (Seino's last manager Masayuki Katsuno was among the founders, and a former Seino player, Takashi Umeda, recently returned to town and joined the club following a decade-long stint with Oita Trinita). The club was promoted to the new Japan Football League in 2007 after beating Honda Lock S.C. in the promotion/relegation play-offs.

The team earned third place at the end of the 2007 season, meaning it qualified for promotion to J. League Division 2. On December 3, 2007, J. League approved a promotion for the team for the 2008 season.[2]

The club finished the 2012 season in 21st place, narrowly missing out on relegation to the Japan Football League.[3]

Between 2013 and 2018, the team has constantly been placed in the lower realms of J. League Division 2 and narrowly avoiding relegation until 2019 when they finished last in the league and were relegated to J. League Division 3.

The team's crest was designed to represent Gifu Prefecture. The top of the crest represents the mountain ranges of the northern part of the prefecture. The flowers are Chinese milk vetch, which are the prefectural flower. Each of the three lines represents one of the Kiso Three Rivers flowing through the prefecture. The banner at the base of the crest is the same as the symbol on the helmet of the victorious Tokugawa clan at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.

Key

As of 15 July 2021.[4] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  JPN Michiya Okamoto 2 DF  JPN Wataru Hashimoto 3 DF  JPN Tadashi Takeda 4 DF  JPN Kentaro Kai 5 DF  BRA Paulão 6 MF  JPN Shohei Mishima 7 FW  JPN Toma Murata 8 MF  JPN Kensei Nakashima 9 FW  JPN Hirofumi Yamauchi 10 MF  JPN Shota Kawanishi 11 MF  BRA Lelêu 14 MF  JPN Takuya Honda 15 FW  JPN Bright Machida 16 FW  JPN Yuta Togashi 17 DF  JPN Takumi Fujitani

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 FW  JPN Kohei Hattori 20 GK  JPN Kazushige Kirihata (On loan from Kashiwa Reysol) 21 GK  JPN Takuya Matsumoto 22 DF  JPN Tetsuya Funatsu 23 MF  JPN Ryotaro Onishi 24 FW  JPN Shohei Aihara 25 MF  JPN Yoshiatsu Oiji 26 DF  JPN Arata Koyama 27 DF  JPN Natsu Motoishi 28 MF  JPN Haruki Mitsuda (On loan from Matsumoto Yamaga) 29 MF  JPN Ayumu Matsumoto 30 MF  KOR Kim Ho 31 GK  JPN Cholhwan Ono 41 MF  JPN Ryohei Yoshihama 42 MF  JPN Yōsuke Kashiwagi

• Tetsuya Totsuka (2006–07)
• Hideki Matsunaga (2007–09)
• Yasuharu Kurata (2010)
• Takahiro Kimura (2011)
• Koji Gyotoku (2012–13)
• Keiju Karashima (2013)
• Ruy Ramos (2014–2016)
• Megumu Yoshida (2016)
• Takeshi Oki (2017–2019)
• Makoto Kitano (2019)

• F.C. Gifu Official Website (in Japanese)