Júbilo Iwata

Júbilo Iwata (Japanese: ジュビロ磐田, Hepburn: Jubiro Iwata) is a Japanese professional football team based in Iwata, located in Shizuoka Prefecture. The club competes in J1 League following promotion from J2 League in 2023.

Júbilo Iwata
ジュビロ磐田

Full name	Júbilo Iwata
Nickname(s)	Júbilo
Founded	1972 (1972) as Yamaha Motor S.C.
Ground	Yamaha Stadium Iwata, Shizuoka
Capacity	15,165
Owner	Yamaha Motor Company
Chairman	Yoshirou Takahira
Manager	Akinobu Yokouchi
League	J1 League
2023	J2 League, 2nd of 22 (promoted)
Website	www.jubilo-iwata.co.jp
Home colours Away colours

Etymology

The team's name Júbilo means 'joy' in Spanish and Portuguese.

History

Origins and rise to the top (1972–1996)

The team started out as the company team for Yamaha Motor Corporation in April 1972. After making its way through the Shizuoka and Tōkai football leagues, it played in the Japan Soccer League until it reorganized as the J.League at the end of 1992.

Their first glory happened when they won both the Emperor's Cup and promotion as champions of the JSL Division 2 in 1982. They won their first Japanese league title in the 1987/88 season. Due to problems in the upcoming professionalization, Yamaha decided to relegate themselves and not be one of the J.League founder members.

They finished in 2nd place of the JFL 1st division, a division below the top flight, in 1993 and were promoted to the J1 league for 1994. The team welcomed Marius Johan Ooft as its manager, as well as the Brazil national team captain Dunga and a number of foreign players to build a winning team. Dunga's football philosophy deeply influenced the club, initially as a player and currently as an advisor.

Glory years (1997–2003)

In a seven-year period between 1997 and 2003, the club won a number of titles relying on Japanese players instead of foreigners who may leave on a transfer during the middle of the season. Within this period Júbilo won the J.League title three times, finished second three more and won each of the domestic cup competitions once. In 1999, Júbilo were also crowned Champions of Asia after winning the final match against Esteghlal in front of 121,000 spectators at the Azadi Stadium.

In one of the most fruitful periods in J.League history, Júbilo broke several records and created some new ones. Amongst these are the most goals scored in a season (107 in 1998); the fewest goals conceded in a season (26 in 2001); the biggest goal difference (plus 68 goals in 1998); and the largest win (9–1 against Cerezo Osaka in 1998). In 2002, the team won both stages of the championship, a first in J.League history, and the same year the team had a record seven players selected for the J.League Team of the Year. All of these records still stand today.

Between 1997 and 2003, Júbilo were one of the most successful teams in the J. League. Over this seven-year spell Jubilo finished outside the top two of J1 just once, winning the league title on three occasions. This period also saw a number of cup final appearances, including winning the Emperor's Cup, the J. League Cup, and the Asian Champions League once each.

Post-glory years (2003–2015)

Yamaha Stadium Júbilo Iwata

Since their last cup triumph in the 2003 Emperor's Cup, the squad which took them to such heights began to age. Without similarly skilled replacements coming through the youth team or from outside, Júbilo's power started to fade, and in 2007 the club ended the season in a record worst position of 9th. Perhaps more concerning to Júbilo supporters is their eclipse in recent seasons by bitter local rivals Shimizu S-Pulse who, in ending the season above Júbilo every year since 2006, have become Shizuoka prefecture's premier performing team. In 2008 they finished 16th out of 18 – their lowest position in the 18-club table – but kept their J1 position by defeating Vegalta Sendai in the promotion/relegation playoff.

In 2013 season, it took them until 8th week to make their first win in the league matches, and never move up higher than 16th since they were ranked down to 17th as of the end of 5th week. Then eventually suffered their first relegation to 2014 J.League Division 2 after they were defeated by Sagan Tosu at their 31st week match. Júbilo were promoted back to J1 in 2015 after finishing runners-up.

Yo-yo era (2019–present)

After an 18th-place finish in 2019, Iwata were relegated to J2 for 2020. The following year, Júbilo won J2 and were promoted for the 2022 J1 League season.

In 2022, Júbilo couldn't find their way into success throughout the season, with forgettable campaigns being made in each competition. In the J.League Cup, the team saw an early elimination at the group stage, finishing third at their group after losing half of their fixtures. In the Emperor's Cup, they were eliminated in the Round of 16 by Tokyo Verdy at extra-time, despite looking promising after 5–2 win against Matsumoto Yamaga on the 2nd round.

On 19 October 2022, Júbilo Iwata announced through their media accounts that for both transfers windows of the 2023 season, the club would be unable to make new signings after a ban was imposed by FIFA and the CAS. The ban, however, didn't applied to youth team promotions of Júbilo's academy system, and for players returning from loan transfers. The decision was made based on issues regarding Fabián González's contract with the club, as the player supposedly cancelled a contract signed with an unnamed Thai club without a justifiable reason. According to Júbilo, at the time of his signing (in the pre-season) they were unaware of the previous contract González signed with the Thai club. The situation became public after the Thai club left a complaint highlighting the transfer issue situation to FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber in April 2022. González was also imposed a punishment by FIFA, being suspended from any participation in official matches for four months. The transfer ban also led to a provisional contract cancellation of Shu Morooka on 17 November 2022, who had during the season signed a provisional contract for the 2023 season, after graduating from university. Then, on the same day, it was announced he would join Kashima Antlers instead. Later on 20 December, the club filed an appeal about the CAS decision over the subject, but it was denied on 22 December.

The situation in J1 became much worse for the club, spending the last 16 rounds of the top-flight league without leaving relegation zone, resulted another drop to J2 League for 2023 season, which confirmed on the penultimate round. Nonetheless, just a year later, Iwata eventually made a swift return to J1 for the 2024 season by finishing as runners-up of the second-tier, obtained a 2–1 away win in the final matchweek of the season against Tochigi SC on 12 November 2023 and favoured by results of another matches in the same day. On 1 March 2024, Ryo Germain scored 4 goals in a memorable 5–4 league away win against Kawasaki Frontale.

Rivalries

The fiercest professional rivals of Júbilo Iwata are Shimizu S-Pulse from Shizuoka. The club also have rivalries with both Kashima Antlers and Yokohama Marinos, with whom they traded the Japanese league championship since the late 1980s. During the Japan Soccer League days, they had a more local derby with Honda, across the Tenryu in Hamamatsu, but as Honda has long resisted professionalism, competitive matches between them since 1994 are a rarity. Júbilo also competed with another Shizuoka club, Fujieda MYFC in 2014 Emperor's Cup as well as 2023 J2 League, all won by Iwata side. On J3 League, there are Azul Claro Numazu, although neither clubs have ever faced one another in a competitive match.

Stadium

Yamaha Stadium

Júbilo plays their home games at the Yamaha Stadium. The stadium has a seating capacity of 15,165 people. It is one of the few dedicated football stadiums in Japan that are operated and managed by the club. It is said to be the easiest place to watch a game in Japan.

For big fixtures such as the Shizuoka Derby with Shimizu S-Pulse and against some of the top teams in J1, Júbilo would play at the much larger Ecopa Stadium in Fukuroi City, a venue built specifically for the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals. The stadium surrounded by the rich nature of Mt. Ogasa and full of greenery, is the largest multi-purpose stadium in the prefecture, boasting a fully equipped facility that can accommodate 50,000 people.

Júbilo use both Okubo Ground in Iwata and Iwata Sports Park Yumeria as training grounds.

Current squad

As of 6 September 2024.

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	Eiji Kawashima
2	DF	JPN	Ikki Kawasaki
3	DF	JPN	Riku Morioka
4	DF	JPN	Ko Matsubara (vice-captain)
6	DF	JPN	Makito Ito
7	MF	JPN	Rikiya Uehara (vice-captain)
10	MF	JPN	Hiroki Yamada (captain)
11	FW	JPN	Ryo Germain
13	MF	JPN	Kotaro Fujikawa
14	MF	JPN	Masaya Matsumoto
15	DF	JPN	Kaito Suzuki
16	MF	BRA	Léo Gomes
17	FW	BRA	Weverton
18	DF	JPN	Keita Takahata
19	MF	BRA	Bruno José
20	GK	JPN	Yuya Tsuboi (on loan from Vissel Kobe)
21	GK	JPN	Ryuki Miura
23	MF	BEL	Jordy Croux

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
24	GK	JPN	Mitsuki Sugimoto
25	MF	JPN	Shun Nakamura
26	DF	JPN	Shunsuke Nishikubo
32	DF	ISR	Hassan Hilu
35	DF	KOR	Park Se-gi
36	DF	BRA	Ricardo Graça
37	MF	JPN	Rei Hirakawa
39	MF	JPN	Koshiro Sumi DSP
40	MF	JPN	Shota Kaneko
46	FW	JPN	Shota Yamamoto Type 2
47	GK	JPN	Keizen Iida Type 2
48	MF	JPN	Tokumo Kawai Type 2
50	MF	JPN	Hiroto Uemura
51	GK	JPN	Keitaro Nakajima
55	FW	JPN	Ryo Watanabe (on loan from Cerezo Osaka)
67	DF	JPN	Ryusei Yoshimura DSP
99	FW	BRA	Matheus Peixoto

Out on loan

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
5	DF	JPN	Daiki Ogawa (at JEF United Chiba)
8	MF	JPN	Kotaro Omori (at Kamatamare Sanuki)
31	MF	JPN	Yosuke Furukawa (at Górnik Zabrze)
77	MF	JPN	Kensuke Fujiwara (at Giravanz Kitakyushu)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	JPN	Mahiro Yoshinaga (at Kamatamare Sanuki)
—	FW	JPN	Keisuke Goto (at RSCA Futures)
—	FW	JPN	Kenyu Sugimoto (at Omiya Ardija)

Club officials

For the 2024 season.

Club officials

Position	Name
Sports director	Toshiya Fujita
Manager	Akinobu Yokouchi
Coach	Fumitake Miura Yasumasa Nishino
Goalkeeping coach	Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi
Physical coach	Kentaro Chuman
Assistant physical coach	Ryosuke Inada
Chief analyst	Kiyotaka Sakai
Analyst	Takashi Harada
Chief trainer	Takahiro Abe
Physiotherapist	Toyohiro Oshiro
Athletic trainer	Yusuke Otsuga Kazumasa Terui
Chief manager	Yuichi Kiyan
Manager	Hideki Masaki Satoru Tanigawa
Interpreter	Hiroaki Akasaka Antonio Danilo Hideki Uehara Gabriel

Honours

Júbilo Iwata honours

Honour	No.	Years
Regional Promotion Series	2	1977, 1978
Emperor's Cup	2	1982, 2003
Japan Soccer League Division 2	1	1982
Japan Soccer League Division 1	1	1987/88
Japan Football League	1	1992
J1 League	3	1997, 1999, 2002
J.League Cup	2	1998, 2010
Asian Club Championship	1	1998/99
Asian Super Cup	1	1999
Japanese Super Cup	3	2000, 2003, 2004
J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship	1	2011
J2 League	1	2021

Players who played in the FIFA World Cup

The following players have been selected by their country in the World Cup, while playing for Júbilo Iwata:

• Dunga (1998)
• Hiroshi Nanami (1998)
• Masashi Nakayama (1998, 2002)
• Toshihiro Hattori (1998, 2002)
• Takashi Fukunishi (2002, 2006)
• Kim Jin-Kyu (2006)
• Yūichi Komano (2010)
• Masahiko Inoha (2014)

Award winners

The following players have won the awards while at Júbilo Iwata:

• J.League Player of the Year
  • Dunga (1997)
  • Masashi Nakayama (1998)
  • Toshiya Fujita (2001)
  • Naohiro Takahara (2002)
• J.League Top Scorer
  • Masashi Nakayama (1998, 2000)
  • Naohiro Takahara (2002)
  • Ryoichi Maeda (2009, 2010)
• J.League Best XI
  • Hiroshi Nanami (1996, 1997, 1998, 2002)
  • Dunga (1997, 1998)
  • Tomoaki Ōgami (1997)
  • Masashi Nakayama (1997, 1998, 2000, 2002)
  • Daisuke Oku (1998)
  • Toshiya Fujita (1998, 2001, 2002)
  • Makoto Tanaka (1998)
  • Takashi Fukunishi (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003)
  • Arno van Zwam (2001)
  • Toshihiro Hattori (2001)
  • Go Oiwa (2001)
  • Hideto Suzuki (2002)
  • Makoto Tanaka (2002)
  • Naohiro Takahara (2002)
  • Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (2006)
  • Ryoichi Maeda (2009, 2010)
  • Yūichi Komano (2012)
• J.League Rookie of the Year
  • Robert Cullen (2005)
• J.League Cup MVP
  • Nobuo Kawaguchi (1998)
  • Ryoichi Maeda (2010)
• J.League Cup New Hero Award
  • Hiroshi Nanami (1996)
  • Naohiro Takahara (1998)
• J2 League Top Scorer
  • Jay Bothroyd (2015)

Club captains

• Shinichi Morishita(1994)
• Mitsunori Yoshida (1995)
• Masashi Nakayama (1996–1998)
• Toshihiro Hattori (1999–2005)
• Takashi Fukunishi (2006)
• Hideto Suzuki (2007)
• Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (2008)
• Ryo Takano (2009)
• Daisuke Nasu (2010–2011)
• Daiki Yamada (2012–2013)
• Daisuke Matsui (2014)
• Ryoichi Maeda (2014)
• Kota Ueda (2015–2016)
• Kentaro Oi (2017)
• Nagisa Sakurauchi (2018–2020)

Former players

Players with senior international caps:

JFA Hiroki Yamada Hiroshi Nanami Masashi Nakayama Masahiko Inoha Naohiro Takahara Norihiro Nishi Ryoichi Maeda Takashi Fukunishi Toshihiro Hattori Yūichi Komano

AFC/ CAF/ OFC Hwang Song-su Kim Jong-song Baek Sung-dong Choi Yong-soo Han Sang-woon Jung Woo-young Kim Jin-Kyu Lee Gang-Jin Lee Keun-ho Park Joo-ho

UEFA Salvatore Schillaci André Paus Arno van Zwam Gerald Vanenburg Dmitri Radchenko Aleksandar Živković Avraam Papadopoulos

CONMEBOL Adílson Batista Alessandro Cambalhota Carlinhos Paraíba Dedimar Dunga Fabrício Ferdinando Leda Gavião Gilsinho Henrique Marcelo Mabilia Marquinhos Paraná Popo Rodrigo Rodrigo Gral Rodrigo Souto Thiago Tinga Walter Roberto Torres

Managerial history

Manager	Nationality	Tenure
		Start	Finish
Ryuichi Sugiyama	Japan	1974	30 June 1987
Kikuo Konagaya	Japan	1 July 1987	31 December 1991
Kazuaki Nagasawa	Japan	1 January 1992	31 January 1994
Hans Ooft	Netherlands	1 February 1994	31 January 1997
Luiz Felipe Scolari	Brazil	1 February 1997	29 May 1997
Takashi Kuwahara	Japan	29 May 1997	31 January 1998
Valmir	Brazil	1 February 1998	31 December 1998
Takashi Kuwahara	Japan	1 February 1999	31 January 2000
Gjoko Hadžievski	Macedonia	1 February 2000	31 August 2000
Masakazu Suzuki	Japan	1 September 2000	31 January 2003
Masaaki Yanagishita	Japan	1 February 2003	31 January 2004
Takashi Kuwahara	Japan	1 February 2004	31 August 2004
Masakazu Suzuki	Japan	1 September 2004	9 November 2004
Masakuni Yamamoto	Japan	9 November 2004	19 June 2006
Adílson Batista	Brazil	23 June 2006	1 September 2007
Atsushi Uchiyama	Japan	1 September 2007	31 August 2008
Hans Ooft	Netherlands	2 September 2008	31 January 2009
Masaaki Yanagishita	Japan	1 February 2009	31 January 2011
Hitoshi Morishita	Japan	1 February 2012	4 May 2013
Tetsu Nagasawa	Japan	5 May 2013	26 May 2013
Takashi Sekizuka	Japan	27 May 2013	31 January 2014
Péricles Chamusca	Brazil	1 February 2014	24 September 2014
Hiroshi Nanami	Japan	25 September 2014	30 June 2019
Hideto Suzuki	Japan	1 July 2019	15 August 2019
Minoru Kobayashi	Japan	15 August 2019	19 August 2019
Fernando Jubero	Spain	20 August 2019	1 October 2020
Masakazu Suzuki	Japan	2 October 2020	31 January 2021
Akira Ito	Japan	1 February 2022	14 August 2022
Hiroki Shibuya	Japan	17 August 2022	31 January 2023
Akinobu Yokouchi	Japan	1 February 2023	present

Record as J.League member

Champions

Runners-up

Third place

Promoted

Relegated

Season	Div.	Teams	Pos.	P	W (OTW / PKW)	D	L (OTL / PKL)	F	A	GD	Pts	Attendance/G	J.League Cup	Emperor's Cup	Asia
1994	J1	12	8th	44	20	-	24	56	69	-13	-	14,497	Final	1st round	–	–
1995		14	6th	52	28 (- / 0)	-	23 (- / 1)	88	77	11	85	17,313	Not held	2nd round
1996		16	4th	30	20 (- / 0)	-	8 (- / 2)	53	38	15	62	13,792	Group stage	3rd round
1997		17	1st	32	20 (3 / 0)	-	6 (3 / 0)	72	35	35	66	10,448	Final	Semi-final
1998		18	2nd	34	26 (0 / 0)	-	7 (1 / 0)	107	39	78	78	12,867	Winner	Quarter final
1999		16	1st	30	14 (3 / -)	1	9 (3 / -)	52	42	10	49	12,273	Quarter final	Quarter-final	CC	Winner
2000		16	4th	30	17 (2)	0	7 (4)	67	42	25	55	12,534	Quarter-final	Quarter final	CC	Final
2001		16	2nd	30	18 (8)	1	2 (1)	63	26	37	71	16,650	Final	4th round	CC	Final
2002		16	1st	30	18 (8)	1	3	72	30	42	71	16,564	Quarter final	Quarter final	–	–
2003		16	2nd	30	16	9	5	56	34	22	57	17,267	Semi-final	Winner
2004		16	5th	30	14	6	10	54	44	10	48	17,126	Group stage	Final	CL	Group stage
2005		18	6th	34	14	9	11	51	41	10	51	17,296	Quarter-final	Quarter final	CL	Group stage
2006		18	5th	34	17	7	10	68	51	17	58	18,002	Quarter-final	Quarter final	–	–
2007		18	9th	34	15	4	15	54	55	-1	49	16,359	Group stage	5th round
2008		18	16th	34	10	7	17	40	48	-8	37	15,465	Group stage	5th round
2009		18	11th	34	11	8	15	50	60	-10	41	13,523	Group stage	4th round
2010		18	11th	34	11	11	12	38	49	-11	44	12,137	Winner	4th round
2011		18	8th	34	13	8	13	53	45	8	47	11,796	Quarter final	3rd round
2012		18	12th	34	13	7	14	57	53	4	46	13,122	Group stage	4th round
2013		18	17th	34	4	11	19	40	56	-16	23	10,895	Group stage	Quarter final
2014	J2	22	4th	42	18	13	11	67	55	12	67	8,774	Not eligible	3rd round
2015		22	2nd	42	24	10	8	72	43	29	82	10,041		2nd round
2016	J1	18	13th	34	8	12	14	37	50	-13	36	14,611	Group stage	3rd round
2017		18	6th	34	16	10	8	50	30	20	58	16,321	Group stage	Quarter final
2018		18	16th	34	10	11	13	35	48	-13	41	15,474	Play-off stage	Quarter final
2019		18	18th	34	8	7	19	29	51	-22	31	15,277	Play-off stage	4th round
2020 †	J2	22	6th	42	16	15	11	58	47	11	63	3,214	Not eligible	Did not qualify
2021 †		22	1st	42	27	10	5	75	42	33	91	5,968		Quarter final
2022	J1	18	18th	34	6	12	16	32	57	-25	30	9,942	Group stage	Round of 16
2023	J2	22	2nd	42	21	12	9	74	44	30	75	10,446	Group stage	3rd round
2024	J1	20	TBD	38									2nd round	2nd round

• Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points gained
• OTW / PKW = Overtime wins / Penalty kicks wins 1997 & 1998 seasons - 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2002 Overtime wins only
• OTL / PKL = Overtime losses / Penalty kicks losses 1997 and 1998 seasons - 1999, 2000 & 2001 Overtime losses only
• Attendance/G = Average league home attendance
• † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
• Source: J.League Data Site

Kit evolution

Home kits 1st
1994 - 1996	1997	1998 - 1999	2000 - 2001	2002
2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
2008	2009	2010 - 2011	2012	2013
2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
2024 -

Away kits 2nd
1994 - 1996	1997	1998 - 1999	2000 - 2001	2002
2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
2008	2009	2010 - 2011	2012	2013
2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
2024 -

Third kits
2003 3rd	2005 Friendly match	2013 20 Anniversary 3rd	2016 Midsummer decisive battle	2017 Midsummer challenge
2017 3rd	2018 Limited	2019 Summer Night Challenge	2020 Limited	2021 Limited
2023 30th Anniversary	2024 3rd

In popular culture

In the manga series Captain Tsubasa, three characters were players of Júbilo Iwata. The midfielders Taro Misaki and Hanji Urabe, and the defender Ryo Ishizaki.

External links

• Official website in English
• Official website in Japanese