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| Full name | Albirex Niigata | ||
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| Nickname | Albi | ||
| Founded | 1955; 71 years ago (1955) as Niigata Eleven SC | ||
| Ground | Denka Big Swan Stadium, Niigata | ||
| Capacity | 42,300 | ||
| Chairman | Daisuke Korenaga | ||
| Manager | Toru Irie (interim) | ||
| League | J2 League | ||
| 2025 | J1 League, 20th of 20 (relegated) | ||
| Website | www | ||
 Current season | |||
Albirex Niigata (アルビレックス新潟,Arubirekkusu Nīgata) is a professionalfootball club based inNiigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 asNiigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. They currently compete in theJ1 League after earning promotion from theJ2 League as champions in2022. However, after four years, in the upcoming season, they will return to theJ2 League, the second tier of football in the country, following their relegation from theJ1 League in the 2025 season.
For many years it had been a local autonomous amateur club,Niigata 11, that could never hope to see the light of day in an oldJapan Soccer League dominated almost entirely by company teams. The creation of the J. League spurred the club to rise, and in the 1990s it began climbing fast through the divisions.[1]
In 1998, Albirex Niigata joined theJapan Football League, and was merged into theJ2 League after its creation in 1999. The team gradually became competitive and in 2001 and 2002 it came close to getting promoted to J1 and in 2003,[2] it became the champion of J2 and finally joined the top flight.
The team name is made from combining the starAlbireo of the constellationCygnus (the Swan) and theLatin wordRex meaning 'king'.[3] In 1997, due to copyright issues, the team name was changed fromAlbireo Niigata to the currentAlbirex Niigata.
Joining the J. League in 1999, its hometowns areNiigata andSeiro. Until 2003, it used Niigata Perfectural Sport Ground as the home ground but since 2004, the team began usingNiigata Stadium Big Swan as well and now plays most of its games there. In 2003,[4] it set a record for highest attendance in the J. League with the cumulative total of around 660,000.[5] Its practice grounds are Albirex's training facilities inSeiro Albillage and the Ijimino Sports Park (五十公野運動公園,Ijimino Undō Kōen) inShibata.
The club plays its home games in the Niigata Stadium "Big Swan", which is currently called Denka Big Swan Stadium through a sponsorship deal. The stadium was opened in 2001 and has a capacity of 42,300. Prior to this the club had played its matches in theNiigata City Athletic Stadium constructed in 1938 with a capacity of 18,000.
The stadium was the site of two first round matches and one Round of 16 match in the past2002 FIFA World Cup. It was also the venue for the 2009National Sports Festival.
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.
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| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Toru Irie (interim) |
| Assistant manager | Takafumi Yoshimoto |
| Technical coach | Mirai Morita Namito Ikezawa |
| Physical coach | Tsutomu Anno |
| Goalkeeping coach | Ryuji Ishizue |
| Assistant goalkeeping coach | Yasuhiro Watanabe |
| Chief doctor | Satoshi Watanabe |
| Chief trainer | Seiichi Narahara |
| Training coaches | Tetsuo Hasegawa Koji Okamoto |
| Physiotherapist | Takeshi Iokawa |
| Interpreter | Yu Kusayanagi Yoshio Silvio Kanashiro Cantao |
| Competent | Takaaki Onozaki |
| Deputy officer | Ryo Doi |
| Equipment manager | Kota Tamakawa |
Correct as of 23 October 2022
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | Managerial Record League | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | P | W | D | L | W % | ||
| Frans van Balkom |  Netherlands | 1 February 1995 | 31 January 1998[7] | 36 | 28 | 3 | 5 | 077.78 |
| Yoshikazu Nagai | Japan | 1 February 1998 | 31 December 2000[7] | 76 | 35 | 7 | 34 | 046.05 |
| Yasuharu Sorimachi | 1 February 2001 | 31 January 2006[7] | 196 | 97 | 40 | 59 | 049.49 | |
| Jun Suzuki | 1 February 2006 | 31 January 2010[7][8][9][10] | 136 | 51 | 32 | 53 | 037.50 | |
| Hisashi Kurosaki | 1 February 2010 | 21 May 2012[11][12][13][14] | 80 | 24 | 25 | 31 | 030.00 | |
| Nobuhiro Ueno (caretaker) | 22 May 2012 | 10 June 2012[14][15] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 000.00 | |
| Masaaki Yanagishita | 11 June 2012 | 31 January 2016[13][14][16] | 68 | 20 | 18 | 30 | 029.41 | |
| Tatsuma Yoshida | 1 February 2016 | 27 September 2016[17] | 30 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 023.33 | |
| Koichiro Katafuchi (caretaker) | 27 September 2016 | 31 January 2017[17] | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 025.00 | |
| Fumitake Miura | 1 February 2017 | 7 May 2017 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 010.00 | |
| Koichiro Katafuchi (caretaker) | 8 May 2017 | 10 May 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | !— | |
| Wagner Lopes | 11 May 2017 | 31 December 2017 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 026.09 | |
| Masakazu Suzuki | 1 February 2018 | 7 August 2018 | 27 | 8 | 5 | 14 | 029.63 | |
| Koichiro Katafuchi | 8 August 2018 | 13 April 2019 | 24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 041.67 | |
| Kazuaki Yoshinaga | 14 April 2019 | 31 January 2020 | 33 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 042.42 | |
| Albert Puig Ortoneda |  Spain | 1 February 2020 | 31 January 2022 | 84 | 32 | 29 | 23 | 038.10 |
| Rikizo Matsuhashi | Japan | 1 February 2022 | 31 January 2025[18] | 43 | 25 | 9 | 9 | 058.14 |
| Daisuke Kimori | 1 February 2025 | 23 June 2025 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 029.17 | |
| Toru Irie (interim) | 23 June 2025 | present | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 000.00 | |
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | P | W(OTW) | D | L(OTL) | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | ||
| 1999 | J2 | 10 | 4th | 36 | 16(4) | 2 | 13(1) | 46 | 40 | 6 | 58 | 4,211 | First round | Third round |
| 2000 | 11 | 7th | 40 | 11(4) | 5 | 18(2) | 54 | 63 | 9 | 46 | 4,007 | First round | Round of 16 | |
| 2001 | 12 | 4th | 44 | 22(4) | 4 | 7(7) | 79 | 47 | 32 | 78 | 16,659 | First round | Round of 16 | |
| 2002 | 12 | 7th | 44 | 23 | 13 | 8 | 75 | 47 | 28 | 82 | 21,478 | Not eligible | Third round | |
| 2003 | 12 | 1st | 44 | 27 | 7 | 10 | 80 | 40 | 40 | 88 | 30,339 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2004 | J1 | 16 | 10th | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 47 | 58 | –11 | 37 | 37,689 | Group stage | Fourth round |
| 2005 | 18 | 12th | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 47 | 62 | –15 | 42 | 40,114 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 2006 | 14th | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 46 | 65 | –19 | 42 | 38,709 | Group stage | Round of 16 | ||
| 2007 | 6th | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 48 | 47 | 1 | 51 | 38,276 | Group stage | Fourth round | ||
| 2008 | 13th | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 32 | 46 | –14 | 37 | 34,490 | Group stage | Round of 16 | ||
| 2009 | 8th | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 42 | 31 | 11 | 50 | 33,446 | Group stage | Quarter-finals | ||
| 2010 | 9th | 34 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 48 | 45 | 3 | 49 | 30,542 | Group stage | Round of 16 | ||
| 2011 | 14th | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 38 | 46 | –8 | 39 | 26,049 | Quarter-finals | Third round | ||
| 2012 | 15th | 34 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 29 | 34 | –5 | 40 | 25,018 | Group stage | Third round | ||
| 2013 | 7th | 34 | 17 | 4 | 13 | 48 | 42 | 6 | 55 | 26,112 | Group stage | Third round | ||
| 2014 | 12th | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 30 | 36 | –6 | 44 | 22,979 | Group stage | Third round | ||
| 2015 | 15th | 34 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 41 | 58 | –17 | 34 | 21,936 | Semi-finals | Third round | ||
| 2016 | 15th | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 33 | 49 | –16 | 30 | 21,181 | Group stage | Round of 16 | ||
| 2017 | 17th | 34 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 28 | 60 | –32 | 28 | 22,034 | Group stage | Third round | ||
| 2018 | J2 | 22 | 16th | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 48 | 56 | –8 | 53 | 14,913 | Group stage | Third round |
| 2019 | 10th | 42 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 71 | 52 | –19 | 62 | 14,497 | Not eligible | Second round | ||
| 2020† | 11th | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 55 | 55 | 0 | 57 | 5,361 | Did not qualify | |||
| 2021† | 6th | 42 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 61 | 40 | 21 | 68 | 10,879 | Third round | |||
| 2022 | 1st | 42 | 25 | 9 | 8 | 73 | 35 | 38 | 84 | 14,954 | Second round | |||
| 2023 | J1 | 18 | 10th | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 36 | 40 | –4 | 45 | 21,731 | Group stage | Quarter-finals |
| 2024 | 20 | 16th | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 44 | 59 | –15 | 42 | 22,430 | Runners-up | Third round | |
| 2025 | 20th | 38 | 4 | 12 | 22 | 36 | 67 | –31 | 24 | 22,600 | Third round | Third round | ||
| 2026 | J2 | 10 | TBD | 18 | N/A | N/A | ||||||||
| 2026–27 | 20 | TBD | 38 | TBD | TBD | |||||||||
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Hokushinetsu Football League | 3 | 1986,1996,1997 |
| J2 League | 2 | 2003,2022 |
Orange represents the sunset of Niigata, and blue represents theSea of Japan.[19]
| Home kits - 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          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 kits - 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
     1999 - 2000 |      2001 - 2002 |      2003 - 2004 |     2005 - 2007 |      2008 - 2009 |
     2010 - 2011 |     2012 - 2013 |      2014 - 2015 |      2016 |     2017 |
     2018 |     2019 |      2020 |      2021 |      2022 |
     2023 |      2024 |      2025 - | ||
| 3rd kits - Other | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
    2015 Cup |    2016 3rd | 2016 Cup | 2017 3rd |      2017 Summer |
    2018 Isao Honma retirement match |      2020 ONE NIIGATA Memorial Blue | |||
| Active departments of Albirex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Since 2004, Albirex Niigata has selected a number of players for its satellite team in theSingapore Premier League. Albirex also has a women's team and joined L2 league (an equivalent of J2) in 2004. Albirex Ladies won the L2 title in 2006,[20] and went on to join L1 in 2007.
Albirex Niigata Ladies (Japan Women's Football League)Japan Soccer College (Hokushinetsu Football League)
Albirex Niigata Singapore (Singapore Premier League)In addition to the J1 Albirex Niigata football team, there is aNiigata Albirex basketball club in theB.League, as well as a ski, snowboard,baseball, and track and field team. Even though the teams share the same name, the management and finances are completely separate for each team.
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| National | |
