Mito HollyHock

The club was founded in 1990 as Prima Aseno FC by the factory workers of Prima Ham (a food company) in Tsuchiura. It changed its name to Prima Ham FC Tsuchiura and gained promotion to the Japan Football League after finishing as runner-up in the 1996 Regional League play-off. It merged with FC Mito (founded in 1994) and re-branded itself as Mito HollyHock before the start of the 1997 season when Prima Ham decided to discontinue its financial support to the club.

Mito's application to play in the inaugural 1999 season of J. League Division 2 was initially turned down due to an unstable financial and fan base. However, after finishing 3rd in the Japan Football League in 1999 and gaining support, the club was invited into the J. League in 2000.

As of 2016, Mito HollyHock fields teams in women's football[1] in Kanto league division 2, and ice hockey[2] in the Ibaraki prefecture league.

Being a traditionally weak club in the league, Mito has tended to play a defensive game and has proven successful at it. This stinginess at the back is often referred to as "Mito-nachio" after the Catenaccio playing style, which is also a pun on the hometown's local specialty, Mito natto.

Recently, though, the team has been attempting implementation of stronger offensive tactics in an attempt to gain momentum for a promotion bid.

Key

• Pos. = Position in league; GP = Games Played; W = Games won; D = Games Drawn; L = Games Lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals Difference; Pts = Points gained
• Attendance/G = Average home league attendance
• † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
• Source: J.League Data Site

As of 20 November 2021.[3] 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 Koji Homma 3 DF  JPN Koshi Osaki 4 DF  PHI Jefferson Tabinas 5 MF  JPN Yuji Kimura 6 MF  JPN Yuichi Hirano 7 FW  JPN Towa Yamane (On loan from Cerezo Osaka) 8 MF  JPN Yuto Mori 9 FW  JPN Masato Nakayama 10 MF  JPN Jun Kanakubo 11 FW  JPN Mizuki Ando 13 DF  JPN Shohei Kishida 14 MF  JPN Kai Matsuzaki 15 MF  JPN Koya Okuda 16 GK  JPN Ayumi Niekawa 17 MF  JPN Ryo Niizato 18 FW  JPN Shumpei Fukahori 19 FW  JPN Koichi Murata

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 FW  JPN Noah Kenshin Browne 21 DF  JPN Nao Yamada 22 DF  JPN Ko Yanagisawa 24 DF  JPN Junya Hosokawa 25 MF  JPN Yuto Hiratsuka 26 MF  JPN Kaito Hirata 28 MF  JPN Shuto Watanabe (On loan from Nagoya Grampus) 29 DF  JPN Yota Tanabe 31 FW  JPN Shota Fujio (On loan from Cerezo Osaka) 32 GK  JPN Akihito Ozawa 33 DF  JPN Stevia Egbus Mikuni 37 DF  JPN Koki Gotoda 39 MF  JPN Kaiyo Yanagimachi 41 GK  JPN Kaiho Nakayama 43 MF  JPN Yoshitake Suzuki (On loan from FC Tokyo) 46 MF  JPN Ryotaro Ito (On loan from Urawa Reds) 50 MF  JPN Takahiro Nakazato

Out on loan

March 6, 2021. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  JPN Shuhei Takizawa (on loan to Montedio Yamagata)

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  Home side goal seat section
• 
  Home side A seat section, with supporters
• 
  Mito vs. Sapporo, 18 November 2006

• Official Site (in Japanese)
• English News Site
• Mito HollyHock 2014 Squad