Hoyo AC Elan Ōita

Verspah Oita
ヴェルスパ大分
Full nameVerspah Oita
Founded2003; 21 years ago (2003)
GroundOita Sports Park
Capacity16,000
ChairmanSanu Toru
ManagerTakashi Yamahashi[1]
LeagueJapan Football League
20236th of 15
WebsiteClub website

Verspah Oita (ヴェルスパ大分, Verusupa Ōita) is a Japanese football club based in the city of Ōita, capital of Ōita Prefecture. They currently play in the Japan Football League, the fourth tier of Japanese league football.[2] The 2023 season is their 12th consecutive season in the JFL.

History

The club was formed in 2003 as Hoyo FC. In 2005 they changed their name to Hoyo Atletico Elan, the name in which they competed for many years in the Kyushu Football League. The club is backed by the Hoyo Group, a digital camera and auto parts manufacturer based in nearby Kunisaki. In 2010 they changed their name to Hoyo Atletico Elan Oita. In 2011, they changed their name to Hoyo AC Elan Oita, won the Kyushu Soccer League and earned third place in the Regional League promotion series, which gave them qualification to compete in the JFL from 2012. Ahead of a league jump, they changed their name to Hoyo Oita on 2012.

In December 2013, the club tried to get closer ties to the community and therefore made another name change, this time to Verspah Oita (ヴェルスパ大分, Verusupa Ōita), for the 2014 season onwards, which the club have kept untouched ever since.[3]

In 2020, Verspah won their first Japan Football League title. The title campaign was fairly unusual, as issues regarding COVID-19 prevented the league to be held normally. The clubs were only able to play the first half of the planned matches, 15 out of 30. The league decided to abandon the season and give the title to the 1st-placed team at that time, which was Verspah Oita. As the club did not have a J3 license at the time, the club was unable to receive promotion to professional league football, despite being a J.League 100 Year Plan club status holders.

In 2021, with the league operating normally with all matches being played, Verspah ended the league season in the 3rd place, but, the same issue was brought up. The club still was not a J3 license holder, and then, could not get promoted to the J3. Their J3 license was issued and granted only in the following 2022 season, which the club finished in 8th place, eight points off the promotion zone.

Team name

The current team's name, "Verspah", was coined by combining the Portuguese word "vermelho", which means "red", and the English word "spa", which represents hot springs (after famously-known Beppu Onsen), and the initial letter "H" of the former team name Hoyo Oita.

Home Towns

The main home towns are Beppu and Yufu. On 28 June 2022, at a J.League Board of Directors meeting,[4] they approved the addition of the Ōita city.

Historical Logos

used until 2012 used 2012–2013
Hoyo AC Elan Oita crest, used until 2012
Hoyo Oita crest, used in 2012 and 2013

League & cup record

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League Emperor's
Cup
Season Division Tier Pos. P W (PK) D L (PK) F A GD Pts Att/G
Hoyo Atletico Elan
2007 Oita Prefectural League
(Div. 1)		 5 2nd 10 8 1 1 53 5 48 25 –
2008 3rd 10 7 1 2 44 11 33 22 –
2009 1st 9 8 1 0 39 5 34 25 –
Hoyo Atletico Elan Oita
2010 Kyushu Soccer
League		 4 1st 16 13 (2) – 1 (0) 48 8 40 44 1st round
Hoyo AC Elan Oita
2011 Kyushu Soccer
League		 4 1st 18 15 (2) – 0 (1) 55 11 44 49 1st round
Hoyo Oita
2012 JFL 3 15th 32 9 8 15 40 57 -17 35 479 2nd round
2013 15th 34 9 5 20 32 45 -13 32 333 2nd round
Verspah Oita
2014 JFL 4 7th 26 8 9 9 30 28 2 33 333 2nd round
2015 10th 30 10 7 13 40 47 -7 37 488 2nd round
2016 13th 30 6 13 11 30 42 -12 31 488 –
2017 14th 30 5 12 13 27 46 -19 27 407 2nd round
2018 9th 30 11 6 13 29 38 -9 39 582 1st round
2019 7th 30 10 10 10 42 36 6 40 503 1st round
2020 † 1st 15 10 2 3 27 16 11 32 306 4th round
2021 † 3rd 32 19 5 8 46 24 22 62 386 Round of 16
2022 8th 30 12 7 11 40 44 -4 43 1,590 2nd round
2023 6th 28 10 10 8 28 29 -1 40 834 3rd round
2024 TBD 30 TBC
Key
  • 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
  • Att/G = Average home league attendance
  • † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic

Honours

Verspah Oita Honours
Honour No. Years
Oita Prefecture League 3rd Division 1 2005
Oita Prefecture League 2nd Division 1 2006
Oita Prefecture League 1st Division 1 2009
Kyushu League 2 2010, 2011
Japan Football League 1 2020

Current squad

As of 7 April 2024.[5] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Club staff

Position Staff
Manager Japan Takashi Yamahashi
Assistant manager Japan Gen Nakamura
First-team coach Japan Toyoki Hasegawa
Japan Kazuya Sakamoto
Goalkeeper coach Japan Masao Noda
Physical coach Japan Shota Maki
Trainer Japan Ryo Hanada
Kit man Japan Ryota Sakamoto
Side affairs Japan Chiharu Suzukawa

Managerial history

Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Haruo Yuki  Japan 1 January 1, 2012 31 December 2015
Tōru Sano  Japan 1 February 2016 31 January 2018
Shigemitsu Sudō  Japan 1 February 2018 31 January 2021
Takashi Yamahashi  Japan 1 February 2021 Current

References

  1. ^ "New Manager for 2021". verspah.jp. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Japan - Verspah Oita - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news - Soccerway". www.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  3. ^ "ニュース一覧 | HOYO大分". hoyo-oita.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-12.
  4. ^ "Addition of Oita City as Hometown". verspah.jp. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  5. ^ "選手紹介". verspah.jp. Retrieved August 2, 2022.

External links