 | |||
| Full name | Iwaki FC | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2012; 13 years ago (2012) | ||
| Ground | Hawaiians Stadium Iwaki Iwaki,Fukushima | ||
| Capacity | 5,600 | ||
| Chairman | Satoshi Okura | ||
| Manager | Yuzo Tamura | ||
| League | J2 League | ||
| 2024 | J2 League, 9th of 20 | ||
| Website | iwakifc | ||
 Current season | |||
Iwaki FC (いわきFC,Iwaki Efushi) is a football (soccer) club based inIwaki, a city inFukushima Prefecture, Japan. The club competes in theJ2 League, the second tier ofJapanese football league system.
Iwaki FC was founded in 2012, before getting official recognition in 2013 with the creation of their homonymous corporation.[1][2] The club name got more attention whenUnder Armour decided to support the club in climbing the Japanese football pyramid from the bottom.[3] The vision behind the club’s formation, was an intention of "making Iwaki the central football-city in Tohoku".[4] In service of this, a new training field opened in November 2016 and the club-house was just launched in May 2017: two central structures necessary to rise to the top of Japanese football.[5][6]
Results during this period supported Iwaki FC’s rise, as they won several lesser league titles in the Fukushima Prefectural Football Leagues, eventually joining the first division of the Fukushima Prefectural Leagues. Their next target was theTohoku Soccer League. Meanwhile, the club achieved their first win at the 23rd National Club Team Football Championship Tournament (winning the final 9–0).[7] Iwaki FC also debuted atEmperor's Cup in2017 edition. After defeating Norbritz Hokkaido in the first round, they surprisingly overcameHokkaido Consadole Sapporo for 5–2 after extra-time.[8] They lost againstShimizu S-Pulse in the third round, but it was still a surprising run.
First advancing to the Tohoku Soccer League in 2018, Iwaki FC earned promotion to the following year'sJFL for the first time in history in 2019, after two seasons in theTohoku Soccer League competition. The club won the All Japan Regional Promotion Series and as a result Iwaki was crowned champions.
Joining the Japan Football League for the 2020 season, in the 2021 season, Iwaki FC finished in first position in the JFL competition, earned promotion to the following year'sJ3 League after two seasons inJFL competition. The team were crowned champions for their first title in the fourth tier in Japan Football League.
In the 2022 season, their first year in the J3 League, Iwaki FC received a J2 license on 28 October 2022, and become eligible for promotion.[9] On 6 November the same year, they were crownedJ3 League champions, earning promotion to the following year'sJ2 League. They secured the league title in the 32nd round, following a 3–0 win againstKagoshima United and defeats for the 2nd and 3rd-placed teams in that round:Fujieda MYFC andMatsumoto Yamaga. 14 days later, Iwaki FC finished as league champions, ending their 2022 season with 78 points from 34 matches, 11 points clear of 2nd-placed Fujieda MYFC, who also ended up being promoted to the J2. On 26 September 2023, Iwaki FC was declared to have met the requirements to obtain a license up to J1 League level.[10]
Iwaki FC used toJ-Village Stadium for 2022 season in J3. But, since promotion to J2 League, Iwaki will useHawaiians Stadium Iwaki for 2023 season.
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | J. League Cup | Emperor's Cup | Shakaijin Cup | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Division | Tier | Teams | Pos. | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |||
| 2013 | Fukushima Prefectural Football League (Div. 3 West)[11][12] | 8 | 6 | 2nd | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 30 | 13 | 17 | 18 | Not eligible | ||
| 2014 | 9 | 5 | 3rd | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 15 | 2 | 10 | ||||
| 2015 | Fukushima Prefectural Football League (Div. 3 East)[13] | 6 | 1st | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 9 | 32 | 30 | ||||
| 2016 | Fukushima Prefectural Football League (Div. 2)[14] | 8 | 6 | 1st | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 1 | 92 | 30 | Did not qualify | Quarter final | |
| 2017 | Fukushima Prefectural Football League (Div. 1)[15] | 7 | 6 | 1st | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 0 | 93 | 30 | 3rd round | 2nd round | |
| 2018 | Tohoku Soccer League (Div. 2 South) | 6 | 10 | 1st | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 139 | 12 | 127 | 54 | 1st round | 3rd | |
| 2019 | Tohoku Soccer League (Div. 1) | 5 | 10 | 1st | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 82 | 14 | 68 | 48 | 1st round | 3rd | |
| 2020 | Japan Football League | 4 | 16 | 7th | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 21 | 2nd round | Not eligible | |
| 2021 | 17 | 1st | 32 | 21 | 8 | 3 | 65 | 28 | 37 | 71 | 1st round | ||||
| 2022 | J3 League | 3 | 18 | 1st | 34 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 72 | 23 | 49 | 76 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2023 | J2 League | 2 | 22 | 18th | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 45 | 69 | -24 | 47 | 2nd round | ||
| 2024 | 20 | 9th | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 53 | 41 | 12 | 54 | 2nd round | 3rd round | |||
| 2025 | 20 | TBD | 38 | TBD | TBD | ||||||||||
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Fukushima Prefectural Adult Soccer League Division 3 East Block | 1 | 2015 |
| National Club Team Football Championship Tournament | 2 | 2016, 2017 |
| Fukushima Prefecture Adult Soccer League Division 2 | 1 | 2016 |
| Fukushima Prefecture Adult Soccer League Division 1 | 1 | 2017 |
| Fukushima Prefectural Football Championship Emperor's Cup Fukushima Prefectural Qualifiers | 4 | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 |
| Tohoku Adult Soccer League Division 2 South | 1 | 2018 |
| Tohoku Adult Soccer League Division 1 | 1 | 2019 |
| Japanese Regional Football Champions League | 1 | 2019 |
| Japan Football League JFL | 1 | 2021 |
| J3 League | 1 | 2022 |
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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| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Yuzo Tamura |
| Assistant manager | Ryo Kobayashi |
| First-team coach | Takumi Watanabe |
| Goalkeeper coach | Jiro Takeda |
| Sprint coach | Shingo Akimoto |
| S&C | Tsubasa Hisanaga Kazuhiko Tomooka |
| Athletic trainer | Atsushi Hokari Tsubasa Hisanaga |
| Analyst | Yuta Murakami |
| Doctor | Yoshifumi Fukushima Yoshitomo Saita Nanako Yamamoto |
| Medical officer | Hidenori Izawa |
| Physiotherapist | Daiki Iwadate |
| Trainer | Kodai Harada Shunichiro Saito |
| Interpreter |  Lim Seung-geon |
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | ||
| Pieter Huistra |  Netherlands | 13 January 2016 | 31 December 2016 |
| Yuzo Tamura | Japan | 1 February 2017 | 31 January 2021 |
| Hiromasa Suguri | Japan | 1 February 2022 | 14 June 2023 |
| Yuzo Tamura | Japan | 15 June 2023 | present |
| Home kit - 1st | ||||
          2017 |     2018 |      2019 |     2020 |     2021 |
    2022 |      2023 |  2024 |    2025 - | |
| Away kit - 2nd | ||||
     2017 |     2018 |     2019 |    2020 |      2021 |
    2022 |      2023 |    2024 |    2025 - | |
| Third / special kits | ||||
     2023 Limited |    2024 Limited | |||