 | |||
| Full name | Kamatamare Sanuki | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1956; 69 years ago (1956) | ||
| Ground | Pikara Stadium, Marugame, Kagawa | ||
| Capacity | 30,099 | ||
| Chairman | Nobuhiro Kawamura | ||
| Manager | Kim Jong-song | ||
| League | J3 League | ||
| 2024 | J3 League, 16th of 20 | ||
| Website | kamatamare | ||
 Current season | |||
Kamatamare Sanuki (カマタマーレ讃岐、Kamatamāre Sanuki) is a football club based inTakamatsu, the capital city ofKagawa Prefecture of Japan. They currently play in theJ3 League, the Japanese third tier of professional football.
The first part of their name was coined by combining the Japanese wordKamatama (a type ofudon noodle bowl) and the ItalianMare ("Sea"). The second part is what Kagawa Prefectureused to be called.
Their name, as well as their crest, that features a kamatama udon bowl, gained a significant interest and recognition, as the club instantly became one of the most-known non-league sides in Japan when their new name and crest was announced in October 2005.[citation needed]
The club was founded in 1956 as Takasho OB (Old Boys) Soccer Club (高商OBサッカークラブ) by the former students of Takamatsu Commercial High School's soccer club. Since renaming themselves Kagawa Shiun Football Club (香川紫雲フットボールクラブ) in 1991, they have been the leading football club in Kagawa, winning the Shikoku League Championship twice. The club's name changed again in 2000 to Sun Life (サンライフ) Football Club, when a consumer loan company Sun Life signed a sponsorship deal that continued until the end of the 2004 season.
In October 2005, after briefly being called Takamatsu Football Club, the club officially announced their intention to rise to J. League status and changed their name to Kamatamare Sanuki. In 2010 they won the non-leaguetreble by winning the Shikoku League, theShakaijin Cup and theRegional League Promotion Series, and by virtue of the latter they were at last promoted to theJapan Football League.
They entered the J. League ahead of the season 2014, after finishing as runners-up in theJapan Football League in the previous season, having won the J2–J3 promotion/relegation playoff by beatingGainare Tottori 2–1 on aggregate score.
In 2018, After five years stint at J2, Kamatamare Sanuki relegation to J3 League from 2019 for the first time in history after worst performance in second tier and finished bottom place. Since their relegation in 2019, the club won't back to second tier.
On 26 September 2023, Kamatamare Sanuki was declared to have met the requirements to obtain a license up to J1 League level.[1]
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup | Shakaijin Cup | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Division | Tier | Pos | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | |||
| Takasho OB | |||||||||||||||
| 1977 | Shikoku League | 6th | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 32 | 54 | -22 | 10 | Not eligible | ||||
| 1978 | 8th | 14 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 18 | 48 | -30 | 4 | ||||||
| 1979 | Kagawa Pref. League | 1st | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||||||||
| 1980 | 1st | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |||||||||
| 1981 | Shikoku League | 5th | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 26 | 31 | -5 | 15 | |||||
| 1982 | 8th | 14 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 26 | 7 | 13 | ||||||
| 1983 | 2nd | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 45 | 32 | 13 | 21 | ||||||
| 1984 | 2nd | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 33 | 30 | 3 | 17 | ||||||
| 1985 | 6th | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 26 | 48 | -22 | 11 | ||||||
| 1986 | 7th | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 25 | -10 | 8 | ||||||
| 1987 | 8th | 14 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 12 | 53 | -41 | 4 | ||||||
| 1988 | 7th | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 42 | -26 | 10 | ||||||
| 1989 | 6th | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 43 | -28 | 12 | ||||||
| 1990 | 6th | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 31 | -16 | 9 | ||||||
| Kagawa Shiun | |||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Shikoku League | 2nd | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 42 | 15 | 27 | 21 | Not eligible | ||||
| 1992 | 3rd | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 49 | 16 | 33 | 18 | ||||||
| 1993 | 2nd | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 53 | 18 | 35 | 22 | ||||||
| 1994 | 1st | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 46 | 12 | 34 | 23 | ||||||
| 1995 | 2nd | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 42 | 17 | 25 | 30 | ||||||
| 1996 | 2nd | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 41 | 19 | 22 | 31 | ||||||
| 1997 | 1st | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 47 | 24 | 23 | 30 | ||||||
| 1998 | 3rd | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 17 | 4 | 22 | ||||||
| 1999 | 4 | 2nd | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 41 | 25 | 16 | 28 | |||||
| Sun Life FC | |||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Shikoku League | 4 | 4th | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 35 | 32 | 3 | 25 | Not eligible | |||
| 2001 | 3rd | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 45 | 25 | 20 | 24 | ||||||
| 2002 | 2nd | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 33 | 28 | 5 | 30 | ||||||
| 2003 | 6th | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 28 | 36 | -8 | 13 | ||||||
| 2004 | 3rd | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 29 | 26 | 3 | 24 | ||||||
| Takamatsu Football Club | |||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Shikoku League | 4 | 4th | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 31 | 24 | 7 | 22 | Not eligible | |||
| Kamatamare Sanuki | |||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Shikoku League | 4 | 1st | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 45 | 12 | 33 | 37 | Not eligible | |||
| 2007 | 2nd | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 68 | 14 | 54 | 37 | ||||||
| 2008 | 1st | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 62 | 4 | 58 | 40 | ||||||
| 2009 | 2nd | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 56 | 10 | 46 | 36 | 2nd round | |||||
| 2010 | 1st | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 53 | 5 | 48 | 38 | 2nd round | Winners | ||||
| 2011 | JFL | 3 | 11th | 33 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 39 | 49 | -10 | 40 | 3,025 | 2nd round | Not eligible | |
| 2012 | 4th | 32 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 49 | 29 | 20 | 53 | 2,344 | 3rd round | ||||
| 2013 | 2nd | 34 | 21 | 5 | 8 | 49 | 26 | 23 | 68 | 3,125 | 2nd round | ||||
| 2014 | J2 League | 2 | 21st | 42 | 7 | 12 | 23 | 34 | 71 | -37 | 33 | 3,317 | 2nd round | ||
| 2015 | 16th | 42 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 30 | 33 | -3 | 51 | 3,658 | 2nd round | ||||
| 2016 | 19th | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 43 | 62 | -19 | 43 | 3,686 | 2nd round | ||||
| 2017 | 19th | 42 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 41 | 61 | -20 | 38 | 3,805 | 2nd round | ||||
| 2018 | 22nd | 42 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 28 | 72 | -44 | 31 | 3,073 | 2nd round | ||||
| 2019 | J3 League | 3 | 14th | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 33 | 49 | -19 | 39 | 2,112 | 2nd round | ||
| 2020† | 16th | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 33 | 52 | -19 | 31 | 869 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2021† | 15th | 28 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 20 | 41 | -21 | 21 | 1,475 | 1st round | ||||
| 2022 | 17th | 34 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 27 | 49 | -22 | 27 | 1,805 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2023 | 16th | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 29 | 45 | -16 | 44 | 2,062 | 2nd round | ||||
| 2024 | 16th | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 48 | 52 | -4 | 43 | 1,949 | 1st round | 2nd round | |||
| 2025 | TBD | 38 | 1st round | 1st round | |||||||||||
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Shikoku Soccer League | 5 | 1994,1997,2006,2008,2010 |
| Kagawa Prefectural Football Championship Emperor's Cup Kagawa Prefectural Qualifiers | 19 | 1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2005,2006,2007,2008, 2009,2010,2011,2012,2019,2021,2023,2024, 2025 |
| Shakaijin Cup | 1 | 2010 |
| Regional League Promotion Series | 1 | 2010 |
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 | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Kim Jong-song |
| Assistant manager |  Keita Ishiharada Ryohei Saito |
| Goalkeeper coach | Kenta Shimizu |
| Physical coach | Bansaku Igarashi |
| Chief trainer | Michiru Soeda |
| Trainer | Tomonori Kobayashi |
| Side manager | Shotaro Nonaka Daichi Chida |
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | ||
| Masashi Hachuda | Japan | 1 February 2008 | 31 January 2010 |
| Makoto Kitano | Japan | 1 February 2010 | 31 January 2019 |
| Kenichi Uemura | Japan | 1 February 2019 | 31 January 2020 |
| Kazuhito Mochizuki | Japan | 1 February 2020 | 31 January 2021 |
| Nobuyuki Uenoyama | Japan | 1 February 2021 | 31 March 2021 |
| Toshihiro Nishimura | Japan | 1 April 2021 | 11 April 2021 |
| Zdravko Zemunović |  Serbia | 12 April 2021 | 31 January 2022 |
| Toshihiro Nishimura | Japan | 1 February 2022 | 31 January 2023 |
| Atsushi Yoneyama | Japan | 1 February 2023 | 6 July 2025[3] |
| Kim Jong-song | North Korea | 8 July 2025 | present[4] |
| FP 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          2011 |  2012 |     2013 |      2014 |      2015 |
     2016 |     2017 |    2018 |    2019 |    2020 |
     2021 |      2022 |      2023 |      2024 |      2025 - |
| FP 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
    2011 - 2012 |   2013 |      2014 |     2015 |     2016 |
    2017 |    2018 |    2019 |    2020 |    2021 |
    2022 |      2023 |      2024 |      2025 - | |
The Kamatamare players made cameo appearances in the 2006 film"UDON" directed byKatsuyuki Motohiro[1].
