 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Avispa Fukuoka" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |||
| Full name | Avispa Fukuoka | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Avi, Hachi (Hornet, in Japanese), Meishu | ||
| Founded | 1982; 43 years ago (1982) as Chūō Bōhan SC | ||
| Stadium | Best Denki Stadium Hakata-ku,Fukuoka | ||
| Capacity | 22,563 | ||
| Chairman | Takashi Kawamori | ||
| Manager | Kim Myung-hwi | ||
| League | J1 League | ||
| 2024 | J1 League, 12th of 20 | ||
| Website | www | ||
 Current season | |||
Avispa Fukuoka (アビスパ福岡,Abisupa Fukuoka) is a Japanese professionalfootball club based inHakata,Fukuoka. They currently compete in theJ1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country.
The club were originally based inFujieda, Shizuoka and was founded asChūō Bōhan SC in 1982 by the workers of security company Chuo Bohan inFujieda, Shizuoka. They were promoted to theJapan Soccer League Division 2 in 1991. The club then participated in the newly foundedformer Japan Football League Division 2 in 1992 and were promoted to Division 1 in 1993. They changed their name toFujieda Blux with intention to be a J.League member. However, with difficulties to have a stadium that met J.League requirements, and with local competition fromJúbilo Iwata andShimizu S-Pulse, the football fan base inShizuoka prefecture was already considered saturated.
As a result, in 1994, the club decided to move to Fukuoka where the community was eager to have a J.League club. They adopted new nameFukuoka Blux and became a J.League associate member, while the amateur club of Chūō Bōhan was active in Fujieda until 2006.
The first season in Fukuoka saw them win the JFL championship with help from ArgentineHugo Maradona and they were promoted to J.League. After becoming the champions of1995 Japan Football League as Fukuoka Blux the team was admitted to the J.League in1996 season.
Fukuoka Blux eventually decided to change their name toAvispa Fukuoka, in order to avoid a potential trademark dispute with men's clothier Brooks Brothers. "Avispa" itself means "wasp" in Spanish. The club acquired experienced players such as former Japanese internationalSatoshi Tsunami and defender Hideaki Mori but they finished lowly 15th in the 1996 season.
They finished bottom of the league two consecutive seasons (1997 to 1998), but were able to narrowly avoid relegation. This was because J.League were building foundation of J.League 2 for 1999. Therefore, no clubs were relegated and there were relegation/promotion play-offs for the first time at the end of 1998 season, in which Avispa were involved. Around this time, forwardYoshiteru Yamashita and midfielderChikara Fujimoto were chosen for theJapanese national team.
In 1999, they again reinforced the squad by acquiring experienced players such as former internationalsNobuyuki Kojima andYasutoshi Miura as well as YugoslavianNenad Maslovar. They won a fierce relegation battle and eventually stayed up. In 2000, ArgentineDavid Bisconti and RomanianPavel Badea were transferred to Fukuoka and they finished club record 6th in the second stage. In 2001, the club acquired former Korean internationalNoh Jung-Yoon andYoshika Matsubara but they finished 15th and were relegated to J2.
In 2002, they kept experienced players and released younger players such asDaisuke Nakaharai and Yoshiteru Yamashita but they finished 8th out of 10. In 2002, with new manager Hiroshi Matsuda, they decided to recruit and nurture young players who graduated from local high schools instead of acquiring experienced footballers from other clubs. They initially struggled but came back well and finished 4th. In 2004, they finished 3rd and qualified for the play-offs butKashiwa Reysol dashed their promotion hope by beating them home and away (the scoreline was both 2–0). In 2005, they finished 2nd and gained an automatic promotion to J1. Avispa playersHokuto Nakamura andTomokazu Nagira represented Japan for the2005 World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.
They had been involved in a relegation battle from the beginning of the season. They finished 16th and were relegated to J2 after thepromotion/relegation play-offs againstVissel Kobe, which they tied twice, 0–0 in Kobe, then 1–1 at their home game. Like many J2 teams this has led to financial issues. TheDaily Yomiuri reported that in 2006 Avispa needed 535 millionyen in loans from the local prefectural and municipal governments.
With relegation came another new manager, the former German internationalPierre Littbarski. "Litti" arrived from the Australian A-League, bringing with him several experienced players such asMark Rudan,Joel Griffiths andUfuk Talay, but he was unable to steer Avispa to any notable success. Having finished 7th in 2007, an inability to compete near the top of the league led to Littbarski's sacking in mid-2008. He was replaced by former Avispa playerYoshiyuki Shinoda.
The departure of Littbarski coincided with the departure of the club's Australian players, who were largely replaced with youngsters from a number of Kyushu-based universities. After a reasonable start, Avispa's form has tailed off sharply, with a recent five-game losing streak including 6–0 and 5–0 thrashings away atVentforet Kofu andMito HollyHock respectively. The club finished in the lower half of the J2 table with promotion hopes dashed for another year.
Yoshiyuki Shinoda bolstered his squad for the 2010 season by adding more players from local University teams, and picked up midfieldersKosuke Nakamachi andGenki Nagasato who had previously played together atShonan Bellmare.The season started slowly with the team picking up only 1 point out of a possible 15 in March, but then saw a dramatic improvement in performance as they went on to win 17 of the next 25 games including a come from behind victory against promotion rivalsJEF United. As JEF United went on to drop more points Avispa secured promotion back to J1 with 2 games of the season left to play.
Popular strikerTetsuya Okubo was released at the end of the season, along with 4 other players as the squad was prepared for J1.
Avispa Fukuoka returned to the J1 League in 2011 after earning promotion from J2 the previous season. They struggled throughout the campaign and were relegated after finishing 17th in the table."J1 League 2011 table".Soccerway. Retrieved14 October 2025.
Despite occasional strong performances — including a 5–0 away victory over Montedio Yamagata in November — Avispa were unable to avoid the drop."Montedio Yam 0-5 A Fukuoka".ESPN. 19 November 2011.
The team was looking to bounce straight back to J1 upon their return to the second tier but endured the worst season in the history of the club as they finished a lowly 18th in the table; only winning 9 games all season and conceding 68 goals (onlyGainare Tottori would concede more in the season).The end of the season sawKoji Maeda part ways with the club as they looked to rebuild towards a better 2013.
The club returned to hiring a non-Japanese manager for the first time sincePierre Littbarski as SlovenianMarijan Pusnik arrived.His arrival saw a greater emphasis given towards the development of young players at the club as rookiesYuta Mishima andTakeshi Kanamori were given chances in the first team.
Results on the pitch immediately improved and the club were competing around the play-off positions until a slump in form mid-season coincided with the announcement that the club needed ¥50 million to remain solvent. The club finished in 14th position, but found the money to stay afloat, with Pusnik agreeing to remain as manager for another season.
Avispa finished in 16th place. Pušnik's contract was not renewed and he returned to Slovenia.
The club hired new coachMasami Ihara[1] who twice handledKashiwa Reysol in a caretaker capacity. They finished third and were promoted back to J1 in winning the promotion playoffs.
Avispa finished in 18th place and relegated to J2. League.
Avispa finished in fourth place. In the "J1 promotion play-off", Avispa won the semi-final game 1–0 againstTokyo Verdy. In the final game however, the team had a scoreless draw, 0-0, withNagoya Grampus leaving them in third place, meaning Avispa could not be promoted to J1.
A second-place finish in the2020 J2 League saw Avispa returned to J1 League for the first time since 2016.
On 4 November 2023, Avispa won theJ.League Cup by defeating two-time winnersUrawa Red Diamonds 2–1 in the final match of2023 edition.[2][3] It was the first major trophy in the history of the club.
On 31 October 2024,it was announced that head coachShigetoshi Hasebe who has led Avispa for five years, would be leaving the club at the end of the season.[4]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Kim Myung-hwi |
| Assistant manager |  Takeshi Hanita |
| Coaches | Yuto Kuwahara Shinya Tsukahara |
| Goalkeeping coach | Hideki Tsukamoto |
| Conditioning coach | Sotaro Higuchi |
| Interpreter | Atsushi Kamiyama Gustavo De Marco |
| Chief trainer | Eiji Miyata |
| Athletic trainer | Naoki Yoshioka Naoki Nagai Toshiki Okuno |
| Kit manager | Ryuya Muto Takuna Nakano |
| Competent | Eishi Nakamura |
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | ||
| Yoshio Kikugawa | Japan | 1 January 1982 | 31 December 1994 |
| Jorge Olguín |  Argentina | 1 July 1993 | 31 December 1995 |
| Hidehiko Shimizu | Japan | 1 February 1996 | 31 January 1997 |
| Carlos Pachamé | Argentina | 1 January 1997 | 31 December 1997 |
| Takaji Mori | Japan | 1 February 1998 | 31 January 1999 |
| Yoshio Kikugawa | Japan | 1 January 1999 | 31 December 1999 |
| Nestor Omar Piccoli | Argentina | 1 January 2000 | 31 December 2001 |
| Masataka Imai | Japan | 1 February 2002 | 28 July 2002 |
| Tasuya Mochizuki | Japan | 29 July 2002 | 14 August 2002 |
| Shigekazu Nakamura | Japan | 15 August 2002 | 31 January 2003 |
| Hiroshi Matsuda | Japan | 1 February 2003 | 7 May 2006 |
| Ryōichi Kawakatsu | Japan | 8 May 2006 | 31 January 2007 |
| Hitoshi Okino | Japan | 11 December 2006 | 31 January 2007 |
| Pierre Littbarski |  Germany | 1 February 2007 | 11 July 2008 |
| Yoshiyuki Shinoda | Japan | 15 July 2008 | 3 August 2011 |
| Tetsuya Asano | Japan | 3 August 2011 | 31 December 2011 |
| Kōji Maeda | Japan | 1 January 2012 | 28 October 2012 |
| Futoshi Ikeda | Japan | 29 October 2012 | 31 January 2013 |
| Marijan Pušnik |  Slovenia | 1 January 2013 | 31 December 2014 |
| Masami Ihara | Japan | 1 February 2015 | 31 January 2019 |
| Fabio Pecchia |  Italy | 1 February 2019 | 3 June 2019 |
| Kiyokazu Kudō | Japan | 4 June 2019 | 31 January 2020 |
| Shigetoshi Hasebe | Japan | 1 February 2020 | 31 January 2025 |
| Kim Myung-hwi | South Korea | 1 February 2025 | Current |
| Season(s) | Main Shirt Sponsor | Collarbone Sponsor | Additional Sponsor(s) | Kit Manufacturer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | FJ. Fukuoka Estate | Hakata Green Hotel (Left) | - | Shin Nihon Seiyaku | PIETRO | Hakata Nakasu Fukuya | BIKEN TECHNO | Before the ban is lifted | YONEX |
| 2019 | |||||||||
| 2020 | Plantel EX | PIETRO | |||||||
| 2021 | Shin Nihon Seiyaku | Japan Park (Right) | DMM Hoken | Yupiesu | -/ BYBIT | ||||
| 2022 | DMM Hoken | BYBIT | KIRIN Beverage | ||||||
| 2023 | Agekke | DMM TV | Hakata Nakasu Fukuya | ||||||
| 2024 | APAMAN | ||||||||
| Home 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          1996 - 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 |
  2025 - | ||||
| Away 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
    1996 - 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 |
  2025 - | ||||
| Alternate 3rd / Special | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
   2015 20th Anniversary |    2017 Bee Festival Memorial |  2018 Bee Festival Memorial |  2019 Hachimatsuri Memorial |   2020 25th Anniversary |
  2021 Autumn Formation |  2022 SP |  2023 3rd |      2023 SP |    2024 SP |
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | P | W(OT/PK) | D | L(OT/PK) | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | ||
| 1996 | J1 | 16 | 15th | 30 | 9(–/–) | – | 19(–/2) | 42 | 64 | –22 | 29 | 9,737 | Group stage | Round of 16 |
| 1997 | 17 | 17th | 32 | 6(–/1) | – | 20 ((5/–) | 29 | 58 | –29 | 19 | 8,653 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 1998 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 6(1/1) | – | 22 ((2/2) | 29 | 69 | –40 | 21 | 10,035 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 1999 | 16 | 14th | 30 | 7(3/–) | 1 | 18(1/–) | 41 | 59 | –18 | 28 | 11,467 | 2nd round | Round of 16 | |
| 2000 | 16 | 12th | 30 | 9(4/–) | 2 | 10(5/–) | 41 | 48 | –7 | 37 | 13,612 | 2nd round | Round of 16 | |
| 2001 | 16 | 15th | 30 | 7(2/–) | 2 | 14(5/–) | 35 | 56 | –21 | 27 | 13,822 | 2nd round | 3rd round | |
| 2002 | J2 | 12 | 8th | 44 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 58 | 69 | –11 | 42 | 6,491 | Not eligible | Round of 16 |
| 2003 | 12 | 4th | 44 | 21 | 8 | 15 | 67 | 62 | 5 | 71 | 7,417 | 3rd round | ||
| 2004 | 12 | 3rd | 44 | 23 | 7 | 14 | 56 | 41 | 15 | 76 | 8,743 | 4th round | ||
| 2005 | 12 | 2nd | 44 | 21 | 15 | 8 | 72 | 64 | 8 | 78 | 10,786 | 4th round | ||
| 2006 | J1 | 18 | 16th | 34 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 32 | 56 | –24 | 27 | 13,780 | Group stage | Round of 16 |
| 2007 | J2 | 13 | 7th | 48 | 22 | 7 | 19 | 77 | 61 | 16 | 73 | 9,529 | Not eligible | 4th round |
| 2008 | 15 | 8th | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 55 | 66 | –10 | 58 | 10,079 | 3rd round | ||
| 2009 | 18 | 11th | 51 | 17 | 14 | 20 | 52 | 71 | –19 | 65 | 7,763 | 3rd round | ||
| 2010 | 19 | 3rd | 36 | 21 | 9 | 6 | 63 | 34 | 29 | 69 | 8,821 | Quarter-finals | ||
| 2011 | J1 | 18 | 17th | 34 | 6 | 4 | 24 | 34 | 75 | –42 | 22 | 10,415 | Group stage | 3rd round |
| 2012 | J2 | 22 | 18th | 42 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 53 | 68 | –15 | 41 | 5,586 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2013 | 22 | 14th | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 47 | 54 | –7 | 56 | 5,727 | 2nd round | ||
| 2014 | 22 | 16th | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 52 | 60 | –8 | 50 | 5,062 | 2nd round | ||
| 2015 | 22 | 3rd | 42 | 24 | 10 | 8 | 63 | 37 | 26 | 82 | 8,736 | 3rd round | ||
| 2016 | J1 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 4 | 7 | 23 | 26 | 66 | –40 | 19 | 12,857 | Quarter-finals | 2nd round |
| 2017 | J2 | 22 | 4th | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 54 | 36 | 18 | 74 | 9,550 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2018 | 22 | 7th | 42 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 58 | 42 | 16 | 70 | 8,873 | 3rd round | ||
| 2019 | 22 | 16th | 42 | 12 | 8 | 22 | 39 | 62 | –23 | 44 | 6,983 | 3rd round | ||
| 2020† | 22 | 2nd | 42 | 25 | 9 | 8 | 51 | 29 | 22 | 84 | 3,289 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2021 | J1 | 20 | 8th | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 42 | 37 | 5 | 54 | 5,403 | Group stage | 3rd round |
| 2022 | 18 | 14th | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 29 | 38 | –9 | 38 | 7,150 | Semi-finals | Quarter-finals | |
| 2023 | 18 | 7th | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 37 | 43 | -6 | 51 | 8,689 | Semi-finals | ||
| 2024 | 20 | 12th | 38 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 33 | 38 | -5 | 50 | 9,698 | 3rd Round | 3rd round | |
| 2025 | 20 | TBA | 38 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | |||||||||
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All Japan Senior Football Championship | 2 | 1989, 1990 |
| Japan Football League Division 2 (third tier) | 1 | 1992 |
| Japan Football League (second tier) | 1 | 1995 |
| J.League Cup | 1 | 2023 |
