 | |||
| Full name | Cerezo Osaka | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Sakura (cherry blossoms) | ||
| Founded | 1957; 68 years ago (1957) as Yanmar Diesel SC | ||
| Stadium | Yodoko Sakura Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 24,481 | ||
| Owner | Yanmar | ||
| Chairman | Hiroaki Morishima | ||
| Manager | Arthur Papas[1] | ||
| League | J1 League | ||
| 2024 | J1 League, 9th of 20 | ||
| Website | cerezo | ||
 Current season | |||
Cerezo Osaka (セレッソ大阪,Seresso Ōsaka) is a Japanese professionalfootball club based inOsaka. The club currently plays in theJ1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's nameCerezo (Spanish forcherry blossom) is also the flower of the city of Osaka.[2] The official hometowns of the club are Osaka andSakai. There exists a local rivalryrivalry withSuita-basedGamba Osaka.
The club, originally calledYanmar Diesel, started in 1957 as thecompany team ofYanmar and was an original founder ("Original Eight"[a]) of the now-disbandedJapan Soccer League (JSL) in 1965. With four Japanese league titles to its credit, it was a mainstay of the JSL Division 1 until1990 when it was first relegated, and joined theformer Japan Football League (JFL) in1992.
In 1993, the club incorporated as Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. and adopted the nameCerezo Osaka after a public contest.[3] In 1994, they won theJapan Football League championship and was promoted to theJ1 League in 1995. This also coincided with a run to the finals of theEmperor's Cup, which they lost toBellmare Hiratsuka.
Cerezo has been relegated from J1 toJ2 on three occasions, but are currently playing in the J1 league. The club had an impressive third-place finish in the2017 season.
On 4 November 2017, Cerezo won the2017 J.League Cup, the first major title in their club history, defeatingKawasaki Frontale 2–0.
On 1 January 2018, Cerezo won the2017 Emperor's Cup, securing their second major title. The final match was againstYokohama F. Marinos, where Cerezo won 2–1 in extra time withKota Mizunuma scoring the winner.
On 10 February 2018, Cerezo won the2018 JapaneseSuper Cup winning 3–2 againstKawasaki Frontale.
In May 2018, the club changed its incorporated name from Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. to Cerezo Osaka Co., Ltd.
In 2022, the club got close to winning the J.League Cup for their second title, but blew a 1–0 lead toSanfrecce Hiroshima in injury time after Hiroshima playerPieros Sotiriou scored two goals in the 96th and 101st minutes of the match to give the opponent the J.League Cup.
On 1 February 2023, Cerezo signed formerBorussia Dortmund andManchester United player,Shinji Kagawa on a two-years contract.
The hometowns of the club areOsaka andSakai. The club plays at theYodoko Sakura Stadium, with some bigger matches played at theYanmar Stadium Nagai.[4]
The club practices at Minami Tsumori Sakura Sports Park, Maishima Sports Island, andAmagasaki Yanmar Diesel Ground.
The club's mascots are a wolf namedLobby (from Spanishlobo, meaning wolf) andMadame Lobina, Lobby's mother.[5] On February 22, 2020,host and TV personalityRoland was appointed Cerezo's "Official CereMan".[6]
Cerezo's biggest rival is fellow Osaka clubGamba Osaka. The matches played between Cerezo and Gamba are referred to as theOsaka derby.
Cerezo's club colour ispink, like the cherry blossoms that the club's name is based on. Combination colours have been navy blue and black. This year, the uniform colour is pink (home) and white (away) for the outfield players and black (home), pink (away) and green for the goalkeepers.
During the Yanmar Diesel days in the late 1970s to mid-1980s, the uniform was all-red reminiscent ofDeportivo Toluca.
| Season(s) | Main Shirt Sponsor | Collarbone Sponsor(s) | Additional Sponsor(s) | Kit Manufacturer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Yanmar | - | - | Nippon Ham | Singha | Kincho | Nakabayashi | - | Puma |
| 2019 | Sharp | ||||||||
| 2020 | - / Danish | ||||||||
| 2021 | Yodogawa Steel Works | - | |||||||
| 2022 | Yodogawa Steel Works | Nikkon Holdings | - / Capcom | ||||||
| 2023 | Capcom | - | |||||||
| 2024 | |||||||||
| 2025 | Mizuno | ||||||||
| Home Kits - 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          1994 - 1996 |     1997 - 1998 |      1999 - 2003 |      2004 - 2005 |      2006 - 2007 |
     2008 - 2009 |      2010 |     2011 |     2012 |     2013 |
    2014 |      2015 |      2016 |      2017 |      2018 |
     2019 |      2020 |      2021 |     2022 |     2023 |
     2024 |      2025 | |||
| Away Kits - 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
     1994 - 1996 |     1997 - 1998 |      1999 - 2002 |      2003 - 2004 |      2005 |
     2006 |      2007 |      2008 |     2009 |     2010 |
    2011 |      2012 |     2013 |     2014 |      2015 |
     2016 |      2017 |      2018 |      2019 |      2020 |
     2021 |    2022 |     2023 |      2024 |      2025 |
| Special Kits - 3rd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
    2010 88 Memorial |     2011 Eight Summer |    2013 Yanmar Premium Cup |     2014 20th Anniversary |      2015 Kincho Stadium 5th Anniversary |
    2016 Summer |      2017 Summer |    2018 ACL |     2018 Limited |    2019 25th Anniversary |
 2020 Limited |    2021 ACL 1st |    2021 ACL 2nd |    2021 Limited |    2022 Limited |
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup | ACL | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | P | W(OTW/PKW) | D | L(OTL/PKL) | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | |||
| 1995 | J1 | 14 | 8th | 52 | 25(0/0) | - | 11(0/2) | 43 | 44 | -1 | 41 | 12,097 | – | 2nd round | Did not qualify |
| 1996 | 16 | 13th | 30 | 10 | - | 20 | 38 | 56 | -18 | 30 | 8,229 | Group stage | Round of 16 | ||
| 1997 | 17 | 11th | 32 | 13(1/2) | - | 10(5/1) | 53 | 56 | -3 | 43 | 9,153 | Group stage | Round of 16 | ||
| 1998 | 18 | 9th | 34 | 14(1/0) | - | 17(1/1) | 56 | 79 | -23 | 44 | 9,864 | Group stage | 3rd round | ||
| 1999 | 16 | 6th | 30 | 15(4/0) | - | 10(1/0) | 64 | 45 | 19 | 53 | 10,216 | 2nd round | Round of 16 | ||
| 2000 | 16 | 5th | 30 | 14(3/0) | - | 11(2/0) | 54 | 49 | 5 | 48 | 13,548 | 2nd round | Quarter-finals | ||
| 2001 | 16 | 16th | 30 | 5(3/0) | 2 | 18(0/0) | 41 | 70 | -29 | 21 | 11,857 | 1st round | Runners-up | ||
| 2002 | J2 | 12 | 2nd | 44 | 25 | 12 | 7 | 93 | 53 | 40 | 87 | 7,952 | Not eligible | Round of 16 | |
| 2003 | J1 | 16 | 9th | 30 | 12 | 4 | 14 | 55 | 56 | -1 | 40 | 13,854 | Group stage | Runners-up | |
| 2004 | 16 | 15th | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 42 | 64 | -22 | 26 | 14,323 | Group stage | 4th round | ||
| 2005 | 18 | 5th | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 48 | 40 | 8 | 59 | 17,648 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | ||
| 2006 | 18 | 17th | 34 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 44 | 70 | -26 | 27 | 13,026 | Quarter-finals | 4th round | ||
| 2007 | J2 | 13 | 5th | 48 | 24 | 8 | 16 | 72 | 55 | 17 | 80 | 6,627 | Not eligible | 4th round | |
| 2008 | 15 | 4th | 42 | 21 | 6 | 15 | 81 | 60 | 21 | 69 | 10,554 | 4th round | |||
| 2009 | 18 | 2nd | 51 | 31 | 11 | 9 | 100 | 53 | 47 | 104 | 9,912 | 2nd round | |||
| 2010 | J1 | 18 | 3rd | 34 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 51 | 31 | 20 | 61 | 15,026 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 2011 | 18 | 12th | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 67 | 53 | 14 | 43 | 14,145 | Quarter final | Semi-finals | Quarter-finals | |
| 2012 | 18 | 14th | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 47 | 53 | -6 | 42 | 16,815 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Did not qualify | |
| 2013 | 18 | 4th | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 53 | 32 | 21 | 59 | 18,819 | Quarter-finals | Round of 16 | ||
| 2014 | 18 | 17th | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 36 | 48 | -12 | 31 | 21,627 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Round of 16 | |
| 2015 | J2 | 22 | 4th | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 57 | 40 | 17 | 67 | 12,232 | Not eligible | 1st round | Did not qualify |
| 2016 | 22 | 4th | 42 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 62 | 46 | 16 | 78 | 12,509 | 3rd round | |||
| 2017 | J1 | 18 | 3rd | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 64 | 43 | 22 | 63 | 20,970 | Winner | Winner | |
| 2018 | 18 | 7th | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 39 | 38 | 1 | 50 | 18,542 | Quarter final | Round of 16 | Group stage | |
| 2019 | 18 | 5th | 34 | 18 | 5 | 11 | 39 | 29 | 14 | 59 | 21,518 | Play-offs | Round of 16 | Did not qualify | |
| 2020† | 18 | 4th | 34 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 46 | 37 | 9 | 60 | 7,014 | Quarter final | Did not qualify | ||
| 2021† | 20 | 12th | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 47 | 51 | -4 | 48 | 5,351 | Runners up | Semi-finals | Round of 16 | |
| 2022 | 18 | 5th | 34 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 46 | 40 | 6 | 51 | 11,427 | Runners up | Quarter-finals | Did not qualify | |
| 2023 | 18 | 9th | 34 | 15 | 4 | 15 | 39 | 34 | 5 | 49 | 17,074 | Group stage | Round of 16 | ||
| 2024 | 20 | 10th | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 43 | 48 | -5 | 52 | 17,903 | Playoff round | 3rd round | ||
| 2025 | 20 | TBA | 38 | TBD | TBD | ||||||||||
As bothYanmar Diesel (1957–1993) andCerezo Osaka (1993–present)
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Emperor's Cup | 4 | 1968,1970,1974,2017 |
| Japan Soccer League Division 1 | 4 | 1971,1974,1975,1980 |
| Japan Soccer League Cup | 3 | 1973 (shared),1983,1984 |
| All Japan Senior Football Championship | 1 | 1976 |
| Queen's Cup | 1 | 1976 |
| Japanese Super Cup | 2 | 1981,2018 |
| Japan Football League | 1 | 1994 |
| J.League Cup | 1 | 2017 |
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Club officials for 2025.[9]
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Arthur Papas |
| Assistant manager | Raffaele Napoli |
| Coaches | Hussein Skenderovic Tsutomu Komatsu Bruno Quadros |
| Analytical coach | Shuta Tsukamoto Yuki Yoshimura |
| Goalkeeping coach | Koji Inada |
| Head of performance | Yusuke Fukuhara |
| Physical coach | Takeshi Ikoma |
| Athletic performance coach | Hikaru Fujii |
| Physiotherapists | Atsushi Kitaura Akihiro Sasaki |
| Trainers | Koji Hanaki Haruki Wada |
| Interpreters | Takanori Shirasawa Kazuyuki Ishikawa Bruno Hideo Owada Nattapol Phongchaisirikul |
| Chief secretary | Atsushi Imanishi |
| Team secretary | Shoki Kokawa Lee Song-in |
| Kitman | Tomoharu Nagahisa |
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | ||
| Paulo Emilio | Brazil | 1 January 1994 | 31 December 1995 |
| Hiroshi Sowa | Japan | 1 January 1996 | 31 December 1996 |
| Levir Culpi | Brazil | 1 February 1997 | 31 December 1997 |
| Yasutaro Matsuki | Japan | 1 January 1998 | 31 December 1999 |
| René Desaeyere |  Belgium | 1 February 1999 | 31 January 2000 |
| Hiroshi Soejima | Japan | 1 February 2000 | 19 August 2001 |
| João Carlos | Brazil | 20 August 2001 | 4 November 2001 |
| Akihiro Nishimura | Japan | 5 November 2001 | 6 October 2003 |
| Yuji Tsukada | Japan | 7 October 2003 | 1 January 2004 |
| Petar Nadoveza |  Croatia | 2 January 2004 | 1 February 2004 |
| Fuad Muzurović |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 February 2004 | 22 March 2004 |
| Albert Pobor | Croatia | 23 March 2004 | 28 June 2004 |
| Shinji Kobayashi | Japan | 1 July 2004 | 17 April 2006 |
| Yuji Tsukada | Japan | 18 April 2006 | 31 December 2006 |
| Satoshi Tsunami | Japan | 1 January 2007 | 7 May 2007 |
| Levir Culpi | Brazil | 8 May 2007 | 31 December 2011 |
| Sérgio Soares | Brazil | 1 January 2012 | 26 August 2012 |
| Levir Culpi | Brazil | 27 August 2012 | 11 December 2013 |
| Ranko Popović |  Serbia | 1 January 2014 | 9 June 2014 |
| Marco Pezzaiuoli |  Germany | 16 June 2014 | 8 September 2014 |
| Yuji Okuma | Japan | 8 September 2014 | 16 December 2014 |
| Paulo Autuori | Brazil | 1 January 2015 | 17 November 2015 |
| Kiyoshi Okuma | Japan | 17 November 2015 | 31 January 2017 |
| Yoon Jong-hwan | South Korea | 1 February 2017 | 31 December 2018 |
| Miguel Ángel Lotina |  Spain | 1 February 2019 | 31 January 2021 |
| Levir Culpi | Brazil | 1 February 2021 | 26 August 2021 |
| Akio Kogiku | Japan | 26 August 2021 | 11 October 2024 |
| Arthur Papas | Australia | 17 December 2024 | |
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | AFC Champions League | Group G |  Arema FC Malang | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2nd |
 Shandong Luneng Taishan | 4–0 | 0–2 | ||||
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 1–0 | 0–1 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Gamba Osaka | 1–0 | ||||
| Quarter-finals | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 4–3 | 1–6 | 5–9 | ||
| 2014 | Group F | Pohang Steelers | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2nd | |
| Shandong Taishan | 1–3 | 2–1 | ||||
| Buriram United | 4–0 | 2–2 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Guangzhou | 1–5 | 1–0 | 2–5 | ||
| 2018 | Group G | Jeju United | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3rd | |
| Guangzhou | 0–0 | 1–3 | ||||
| Buriram United | 2–2 | 0–2 | ||||
| 2021 | Play-off round | Melbourne City | Cancelled | |||
| Group J | Guangzhou | 5–0[b] | 2–0[b] | 1st | ||
 Kitchee | 2–1[b] | 0–0[b] | ||||
| Port | 1–1[b] | 3–0[b] | ||||
| Round of 16 | Pohang Steelers | 0–1 | ||||
In themanga seriesCaptain Tsubasa, a character named Teppei Kisugi becomes a professional football player and joins Cerezo Osaka.[11]
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