Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo (北海道コンサドーレ札幌,Hokkaidō Konsadōre Sapporo)^[2] is a Japanese professionalfootball club based inSapporo, on the island ofHokkaido. They will play in the 2025J2 League, the second tier league of Japanese football, after relegation from the J1 League at conclusion of the2024 season.

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo
北海道コンサドーレ札幌

Full name	Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo
Nickname(s)	Consa
Founded	1935; 90 years ago (1935) asToshiba Horikawa-cho SC
Stadium	Sapporo Dome
Capacity	41,484
Owner	Isao Ishimizu (11.4%) Ishiya (9.5%)[1]
Chairman	Yoshikazu Nonomura
Manager	Daiki Iwamasa
League	J2 League
2024	J1 League, 19th of 20 (relegated)
Website	www.consadole-sapporo.jp
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Their main home ground is the indoorSapporo Dome, which was shared with theHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters baseball team until 2022. Some matches are also played at the outdoorSapporo Atsubetsu Stadium.

The club's name "Consadole" is a combination ofconsado, a reverse of the Japanese wordDosanko (道産子, meaning "people of Hokkaido") and theSpanish expressionOlé.

Consadole's club tradition dates back to 1935 whenToshiba Horikawa-cho Soccer Club was founded inKawasaki, Kanagawa. They were promoted to the now-defunctJapan Soccer League Division 2 in 1978.^[3] They adopted new nameToshiba Soccer Club in 1980 and were promoted to the JSL Division 1 in 1989.^[3] Their highest placement, 4th in the 1990 and 1991 seasons. Relegating themselves as they were not ready for J.League implementation, they joined the newly formedJapan Football League in 1992 and played the last season as Toshiba S.C. in 1995.^[3]

They sought to be a professional club, but the owner Toshiba did not regard Kawasaki as an ideal hometown. This was becauseVerdy Kawasaki, one of the most prominent clubs at that time, was also based in the city, which Toshiba apparently believed was not big enough to accommodate two clubs. (Verdy has since crossed theTama River to be based inChōfu City in the west of Tokyo and has been renamed as Tokyo Verdy 1969; the only remaining professional club isKawasaki Frontale, originally part ofFujitsu.)

They decided to move to Sapporo where the local government and community had been keen to provide a base for a professional soccer team as they awaitedDaiwa House Premist Dome to be completed in 2001. The ownership was transferred from Toshiba to Hokkaido Football Club plc. before the start of the 1996 season.^[3]

Toshiba does not have financial interest in the club any more but Consadole still boasts their forerunner's red and black colours on their uniform.^[4] The colours were an idea from then-playerNobuhiro Ishizaki (who played when the team was still based in Kawasaki and later coached them in Sapporo) who was a fan ofA.C. Milan. It also became the symbol of Toshiba's sports teams such asToshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo.

Consadole Sapporo inherited the JFL status from Toshiba S.C.. Their debut season in 1996 was not overly successful as they finished 5th and missed promotion. However, they won the JFL championship in 1997 and were promoted to J.League.^[3]

In 1998, their first J.League season saw them finish 14th out of 18 but this did not guarantee them staying up. From the 1999 season, the J.League had 2 divisions and the play-offs involving five teams (four J.League sides and the champions of the JFL) were to be played. In order to decide who were involved in the play-offs, not only the results of the 1998 season but also those of the 1997 were taken account of. Consadole, who did not play in the previous season, was placed 14th in the aggregate standing and despite finishing aboveGamba Osaka (who had finished fourth in 1997), was forced to face the play-offs. They lost all four games, two againstVissel Kobe, and another two againstAvispa Fukuoka, and became the first-ever J.League side that experienced relegation.^[5]

In 1999,Takeshi Okada, the formerJapan national team coach, was appointed as head coach in an effort to make an immediate comeback to J1, but this attempt failed as they finished 5th. Their heavy investment on players counted against them and, at this point, the debt owed by the club exceeded three billion yen (US$33 million). The bankruptcy looked a near-certainty.

In 2000, they cut costs dramatically. As a result, the team often included as many as eight on-loan players in the starting line-up. However, this strategy paid off and the club won the J2 championship as well as promotion to J1. The club posted a single-year profit for the first time in their history this year.

In 2001, they finished 11th in J1. However, at the end of the season, the club failed to persuade Okada to renew the contract and several leading players also left the club. In 2002, they finished bottom and were relegated to J2 for a second time.^[5]

In 2003, they again tried to return to the top-flight immediately by investing heavily but the team didn't perform well on the pitch. They finished ninth and their debt again crossed the 3-billion-yen mark.

The deficit-ridden club realized they needed a drastic restructuring and released highly paid leading players including mainstayYasuyuki Konno. The rejuvenated but inexperienced team finished bottom of J2 in 2004. The bright side was their improved financial situation where the debt was sharply reduced to less than 100 million yen.

In 2005 and 2006, they finished sixth. In 2006 they also reached the semi-finals of theEmperor's Cup, 15 years after reaching the semi-finals in Kawasaki–the furthest they've reached in the Cup. In 2007 they finally earned promotion as champions and play in J1 in the 2008 season.^[5]

A loss on October 19, 2008, confirmed Sapporo's relegation to J2 for the 2009 season, overtaking Kyoto Sanga as the league'smost relegated side. Having won theJapanese second-tier championship a record five times (including two JSL Second Divisions as Toshiba, and one former JFL title), they were promoted to Division One after finishing third in 2011. However, a torrid 2012 season ended with Consadole holding the highest goals conceded per game ratio, the worst points per game ratio and the highest loss percentage in J.League history as they were relegated after just 27 matches played, making the 2012 team one of the worst to have ever featured in the top division.^[6]　From the 2016 season, the club has adopted the new name as "Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo".^[7]

In 2016, the club changed its name toHokkaido Consadole Sapporo. After four years spent at the J2, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo returned to the J1 ahead of the 2017 season, having been promoted as2016 J2 League champions.

On 9 February 2018, the team won the inaugural Pacific Rim Cup tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii, defeating theVancouver Whitecaps 1–0.^[8] 2018 was the season they reached their highest placing in the J.League era and in Sapporo – 4th, 27 years after achieving the same place in Kawasaki.

In January 2022, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo'sThai playerChanathip Songkrasin who was part of the 2018J.League Best XI joinedKawasaki Frontale with a transfer fee of around $3.8 million, breaking theJ.League record for the highest domestic transfer.^[9]

On 1 December 2024, after seven years in the top flight, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo got relegated to theJ2 League.

In theCaptain Tsubasamanga series, two characters were from Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, midfielder Hikaru Matsuyama (himself a Hokkaido native) and forward Kazumasa Oda. In 2017, Matsuyama became an Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo player, given a squad number, 36, and is also an official ambassador of the team fromHokkaido.

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo's mascot is Dole Kun, an anthropomorphic Shima Fukurou (orBlakiston's fish owl). The owl was chosen as not only was it on Consa's crest, but also because it is the largest owl in Japan, and it also lives in Hokkaido. He also enjoys having hot baths sometimes. He also is friends withFrep the Fox and Polly Polaris, the mascots of theHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, which can be attributed because the Fighters and Consa share the same stadium.

As of 21 March 2025.^[10]

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.

• Past (and present) players who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles can be foundhere

For the 2025 season^[11]

Key

•  Khon Kaen (March 2013−)
•  Long An (March 2013−)
•  Johor Darul Ta'zim (April 2016−)^[14]
•  Sint-Truidense VV (April 2019−)
•  Buriram United (June 2022−)^[15]
•  Persipura Jayapura (June 2023−)
•  AC Milan (March 2024−)

• Official website(in Japanese)