 | |||
| Full name | Renofa Yamaguchi Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Renofa | ||
| Founded | 1949; 76 years ago (1949) (as Yamaguchi Teachers) | ||
| Stadium | Ishin Me-Life Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 20,000 | ||
| Managing Organisation | Renofa Yamaguchi Co,.Ltd. | ||
| Chairman | Fumihiko Koyama | ||
| Manager | Genki Nakayama | ||
| League | J2 League | ||
| 2024 | J2 League, 11th of 20 | ||
| Website | renofa | ||
 Current season | |||
Renofa Yamaguchi FC (レノファ山口,Renofa Yamaguchi Efu Shī) is a Japanese professionalfootball club based inYamaguchi, the capital ofYamaguchi Prefecture. They currently play in theJ2 League, the second tier of professional football inJapan's football league system.
The original football team consisted of a group of teaching staff who were based within Yamaguchi prefecture, a team calledYamaguchi Prefecture Teachers Football Club (山口県サッカー教員団,Yamaguchi-ken sakkā kyōin dan), often abbreviated toYamaguchi Teachers orYamaguchi KFC (compareTochigi S.C. andGainare Tottori, who started as teachers' clubs and are now members of theJ.League).
In February 2006, the Yamaguchi Football Association eyed the placement of a team from Yamaguchi in theJ.League. Setting its heart of operations at Yamaguchi Teachers, a new football club was established.[1] At the same time, a public appeal was made to name the new club, withRenofa Yamaguchi F.C. being decided in March of the same year. The wordrenofa is awasei-eigo, a combination of threeEnglish words: renovation, fight, and fine.[2][3]
Without a specified home ground, the team played Chūgoku league matches across a number of different venues within the prefecture, includingYamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium, Yamaguchi Kirara Expo Memorial Park, Onoda Football Park, Shunan City Athletic Stadium, and Yamaguchi Football Park. Now however, home games are played at Yamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium.
Though structured with ahometown manager and local players, sponsored by local business and enterprises, and local action plans within the local community, Renofa Yamaguchi F.C. is aiming for a national future in theJ.League.[4]
In the days ofYamaguchi Teachers, the team frequently finished mid to low table in the Chūgoku league. However, since the establishing of the new club in 2006, the team has consistently improved their final league position. This culminated in the 2008 season where they achieved their first league win. In theAll Japan Regional Football Promotion League Series of that year the team finished fourth in the final round, missing the opportunity for promotion to theJapan Football League. The 2009 season saw them win their firstEmperor's Cup match, beatingMitsubishi Motors Mizushima F.C. in a penalty shoot out.[5]
Since the team's formation it had operated as a private organisation, however when theNonprofit organization Yamaguchi Athletics Club was established on 24 May 2011, managing control of the team changed hands putting the newNPO in charge.[6]
After the club finished on 4th-place in2014 Japan Football League and passed the necessary licensing, J.League officially admitted Renofa Yamaguchi to participate in J3 League, starting from the2015 season.[7] Their J.League debut came in 2015 season. On 23 November 2015, Renofa earned their first and successful promotion from the JFL after winning the J3 League. The club was promoted for the J2 League ahead of the 2016 season. The club was guaranteed promotion after a 2–2 draw againstGainare Tottori in the closing rounds of the season, as Renofa were working towards J2 licensing before the season ended, for the promotion to be actually earned.
On 26 September 2023, Renofa Yamaguchi announcement officially granted J1 License.[8]
The club is set to compete in their 10th consecutive season in the J2 League in 2025.
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | J. League Cup | Emperor's Cup | Notes | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Division | Pos. | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | |||
| Yamaguchi Teachers | ||||||||||||||
| 1976 | Not eligible | 1st round | ||||||||||||
| 1980 | Chūgoku League | 6th | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 27 | 30 | −3 | 11 | ||||
| 1981 | 7th | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 29 | 31 | −2 | 10 | |||||
| 1982 | 2nd | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 34 | 21 | 13 | 19 | 1st round | ||||
| 1983 | 2nd | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 35 | 23 | 12 | 19 | |||||
| 1984 | 4th | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 38 | 27 | 11 | 17 | |||||
| 1985 | 5th | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 30 | 29 | 1 | 13 | |||||
| 1986 | 3rd | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 34 | 24 | 10 | 17 | |||||
| 1987 | 3rd | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 14 | |||||
| 1988 | 3rd | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 34 | 26 | 8 | 17 | |||||
| 1989 | 2nd | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 15 | 13 | 17 | |||||
| 1990 | 4th | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 32 | 25 | 7 | 17 | |||||
| 1991 | 4th | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 31 | 28 | 3 | 22 | |||||
| 1992 | 6th | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 19 | 28 | −9 | 13 | |||||
| 1993 | 3rd | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 23 | 18 | 5 | 22 | |||||
| 1994 | 6th | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 27 | 23 | 4 | 17 | |||||
| 1995 | 8th | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 26 | 30 | −4 | 11 | |||||
| 1996 | 6th | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 35 | −18 | 15 | |||||
| 1997 | 8th | 14 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 31 | −17 | 7 | 1 match won, 2 matches lost on penalties. Relegated to Yamaguchi Prefecture League. | ||||
| 1998 | Yamaguchi Prefecture League | |||||||||||||
| 1999 | 1st round | Promoted to Chūgoku League. | ||||||||||||
| 2000 | Chūgoku League | 5th | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 34 | −14 | 20 | 1 match won on penalties. | |||
| 2001 | 7th | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 30 | −13 | 12 | 1st round | 1 match won, 1 match lost on penalties. | |||
| 2002 | 4th | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 31 | −14 | 12 | 1 match won, 1 match lost on penalties. Winners of the Chūgoku League fair play award. | ||||
| 2003 | 8th | 14 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 22 | −14 | 11 | 1st round | 3 matches won, 2 matches lost on penalties. Winners of the Chūgoku League fair play award. Relegated to Yamaguchi Prefecture League. | |||
| 2004 | Yamaguchi Prefecture League | 1st | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 1st round | Promoted to Chūgoku League. | |||||
| 2005 | Chūgoku League | 7th | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 23 | −12 | 9 | 2 matches won, 2 matches lost on penalties. | |||
| Renofa Yamaguchi FC | ||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Chūgoku League | 4th | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 28 | −3 | 25 | Not eligible | |||
| 2007 | 3rd | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 33 | 46 | −13 | 22 | 1st round | ||||
| 2008 | 1st | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 45 | 15 | 30 | 38 | Finalist in thePromotional Series | ||||
| 2009 | 2nd | 18 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 53 | 21 | 32 | 40 | 2nd round | ||||
| 2010 | 1st | 18 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 51 | 17 | 34 | 43 | 2nd round | ||||
| 2011 | 2nd | 18 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 54 | 17 | 37 | 41 | 2nd round | ||||
| 2012 | 4th | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 47 | 22 | 25 | 32 | |||||
| 2013 | 1st | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 53 | 13 | 40 | 42 | 1st round | Promoted toJFL | |||
| 2014 | JFL | 4th | 26 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 51 | 27 | 24 | 51 | 2,297 | Promoted toJ3 | ||
| 2015 | J3 | 1st | 36 | 25 | 3 | 8 | 96 | 36 | 60 | 78 | 4,367 | 1st round | Promoted toJ2 | |
| 2016 | J2 | 12th | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 55 | 63 | -8 | 53 | 6,654 | 3rd round | ||
| 2017 | 20th | 42 | 11 | 5 | 26 | 48 | 69 | -21 | 38 | 5,454 | 2nd round | |||
| 2018 | 8th | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 63 | 64 | -1 | 61 | 6,123 | 3rd round | |||
| 2019 | 15th | 42 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 54 | 70 | -16 | 47 | 5,630 | 3rd round | |||
| 2020† | 22nd | 42 | 9 | 6 | 27 | 43 | 74 | -31 | 33 | 1,976 | Did not qualify | |||
| 2021† | 15th | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 37 | 51 | -14 | 43 | 3,011 | 1st round | |||
| 2022 | 16th | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 51 | 54 | -3 | 50 | 3,661 | 3rd round | |||
| 2023 | 20th | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 37 | 67 | -30 | 44 | 4,407 | 2nd round | |||
| 2024 | 11th | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 43 | 44 | -1 | 53 | 6,089 | 1st round | TBC | ||
| 2025 | TBD | 38 | 3rd round | 2nd round | ||||||||||
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Yamaguchi Prefectural Championship Emperor's Cup Yamaguchi Prefectural Qualifiers | 7 | 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010 |
| Yamaguchi Prefectural League | 1 | 2004 |
| Chūgoku League | 3 | 2008,2010,2013 |
| Noue Cup | 1 | 2008 |
| Shakaijin Cup | 1 | 2013 |
| J3 League | 1 | 2015 |
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.
|
|
Club officials for 2025 season.[10]
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Genki Nakayama |
| Head coach | Hideo Yoshizawa |
| Coach | Ryo Yokotani |
| Goalkeeper coach | Kenji Yamada |
| Physical Coach | Tetsuya Sakamoto |
| Assistant coaches | Kensuke Akasaka Kensuke Sato |
| Doctor | Toru Moriwaki |
| Fitness coach | Tomoyuki Sato |
| Physical coach | Junichi Matsumoto |
| Chief trainer | Tomoyuki Sato |
| Trainers | Atsushi Noto Akihiko Masunari |
| Physiotherapist | Takashi Sasaki |
| Competent | Hiroki Fujikawa |
| Deputy officers | Taiyo Kodama Rui Nagao |
| Interpreter | Yuto Kabazawa |
League matches only.
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | Managerial Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | P | W | D | L | W% | ||
| Takashi Yamamoto | Japan | 1990 | 31 January 2006 | |||||
| Takashi Miyanari | Japan | 1 February 2006 | 31 January 2010 | |||||
| Takashi Kawamura | Japan | 1 February 2012 | 31 January 2013 | |||||
| Genki Nakayama | Japan | 1 February 2013 | 31 January 2014 | |||||
| Nobuhiro Ueno | Japan | 1 February 2014 | 23 May 2017 | 119 | 57 | 21 | 41 | 047.90 |
| Shinji Sarusawa | Japan | 24 May 2017 | 5 June 2017 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 000.00 |
| Carlos Mayor |  Argentina | 6 June 2017 | 31 December 2017 | 25 | 9 | 1 | 15 | 036.00 |
| Masahiro Shimoda | Japan | 1 February 2018 | 31 January 2021 | 130 | 40 | 27 | 63 | 030.77 |
| Susumu Watanabe | Japan | 1 February 2021 | 28 September 2021 | 31 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 025.81 |
| Yoshihiro Natsuka | Japan | 29 September 2021 | 9 May 2023 | 67 | 18 | 21 | 28 | 026.87 |
| Genki Nakayama | Japan | 10 May 2023 | 7 June 2023 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 000.00 |
| Juan Esnáider | Argentina | 8 June 2023 | 13 November 2023 | 23 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 026.09 |
| Ryo Shigaki | Japan | 1 December 2023 | 24 June 2025 | 58 | 18 | 16 | 24 | 031.03 |
| Genki Nakayama | Japan | 24 June 2025 | present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | !— |
| Home Kits - 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          2006 - 2007 |      2008 - 2011 |      2012 |      2013 |      2014 |
   2015 |    2016 |      2017 |      2018 |      2019 |
     2020 |      2021 |      2022 |      2023 |      2024 |
     2025 - | ||||
| Away Kits - 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
     2006 - 2007 |      2008 - 2011 |      2012 |    2013 |      2014 |
     2015 |     2016 |      2017 |      2018 |      2019 |
     2020 |      2021 |      2022 |      2023 |      2024 |
     2025 - | ||||
