 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Vissel Kobe" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |||
| Full name | Vissel Kobe | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Ushi (cows) | ||
| Founded | 1966; 59 years ago (1966) (as Kawasaki Steel SS)[1] | ||
| Stadium | Noevir Stadium Kobe Hyōgo-ku, Kōbe,Hyōgo | ||
| Capacity | 30,134 | ||
| Owner | Rakuten | ||
| Chairman | Yuki Chifu[2] | ||
| Manager | Takayuki Yoshida | ||
| League | J1 League | ||
| 2024 | J1 League, 1st of 20 (champions) | ||
| Website | vissel-kobe | ||
 Current season | |||
Vissel Kobe (ヴィッセル神戸,Visseru Kōbe) is aJapanese professionalfootball club based inKobe,Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in theJ1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. They are currently theJ1 League champions. The club's home stadium isNoevir Stadium Kobe, inHyōgo-ku, though some home matches are played atKobe Universiade Memorial Stadium inSuma-ku.
The club was founded in 1966 as the semi-professionalKawasaki Steel Soccer Club inKurashiki,Okayama Prefecture.[3] It was first promoted to theJapan Soccer League Division 2 in 1986, and stayed there until the JSL folded in 1992.[3] As their performance in the old second tier had been in the bottom nine clubs, they were put into theJapan Football League Division 2 (new third tier overall in theJapanese football league system) and stayed there until the tiers were reunited into a single second tier for 1994.
In 1995, the city of Kobe reached an agreement withKawasaki Steel, the parent company, to move the club to Kobe and compete for a spot in the professional J.League asVissel Kobe.Vissel is a combination of the words "victory" and "vessel", in recognition of Kobe's history as a port city.[3] (Owing to its importance to the city of Kobe,Kawasaki Heavy Industries, parent company of former team patron Kawasaki Steel, remains a Vissel Kobe sponsor. Kawasaki Steel was eventually sold off to become part ofJFE Holdings.)
Vissel Kobe began play in 1994 in theJapan Football League, a league below J.League, and thesupermarket chainDaiei was slated as the club's primary investor. However, the economic downturn following theGreat Hanshin earthquake forced Daiei to pull out and the city of Kobe became responsible for operating the club.
Despite finishing 2nd in the JFL in 1996, Vissel was promoted to the J.League (the champions,Honda FC, refused to abandon their corporate ownership and become a professional club) and began play in the top division of Japanese football in 1997. However, due to mismanagement, including the inability to secure investors and sponsors, Vissel was unable to contend for the league title. In December, 2003, mounting financial losses forced the club to file forbankruptcy protection.
In January 2004, Vissel was sold to Crimson Group, parent company of online merchantRakuten, whose president is Kobe nativeHiroshi Mikitani. Vissel's first signing under the Mikitani regime,İlhan Mansız, who was acquired partly to capitalize on his popularity during the2002 FIFA World Cup hosted in Korea and Japan, but the Turkishforward played just three matches before leaving the team because of a knee injury. At the time of the purchase, Mikitani alienated supporters by changing the team uniform colours from black and white stripes tocrimson, after his Crimson Group and the colour of his alma mater,Harvard Business School. TheTohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, abaseball team also owned by Rakuten but based inSendai andRakuten Monkeys, abaseball team inTaoyuan, Taiwan, wear the same colours.
Vissel finished 11th in the league in 2004, the same position as the previous year, and finished 18th and last place in 2005, resulting in relegation from J.League Division 1, or J1, to J2. During the two-year span, Vissel had five different head coaches. 2006 was Vissel's first season in J2 after nine years in the top division of soccer in Japan. They finished 3rd in the 2006 season and returned to J1 after beatingAvispa Fukuoka in thepromotion/relegation play-offs.
During the period of 2007 to 2011 Vissel finished in the bottom half of the table each year. In 2012 they finished 16th, third from last, and were again relegated to J2. In 2013, Vissel finished in second place, 4 points behindGamba Osaka, which secured their return to J1 for the 2014 season.
On 6 December 2014, Rakuten Inc. bought the team from the Crimson Group.[4]
_(cropped).jpg)
In 2017, Vissel signed2014 FIFA World Cup winnerLukas Podolski. He was the first prominent international player Vissel had been able to sign sinceMichael Laudrup in 1996. Shortly after, in May 2018, Vissel signed anotherWorld Cup winner,Andrés Iniesta, fromFC Barcelona.[5] In December 2018 Vissel Kobe managed to sign alsoDavid Villa fromNew York City. The Spanish striker scored 13 goals in 28 games. AlongsideSergi Samper andAndrés Iniesta, Villa was the third Spaniard in the team in that season in which they guided Vissel Kobe to win the2019 Emperor's Cup.
On 1 January 2020, first time finalist Vissel beatKashima Antlers in the2019 Emperor's Cup final at the recently openedNew National Stadium to win the first title in the club history. The furthest Kobe had been in the Emperor's Cup was the semi-finals of 2000 and 2017.[6] This was also Spanish strikerDavid Villa's last professional match.[7] Vissel also qualified for the2020 AFC Champions League for the first time. On 8 February 2020, Vissel beatYokohama F. Marinos in which the scoreline was 3–3. Vissel Kobe eventually won 3-2 on penalties to win their firstJapanese Super Cup title and their second national title ever.[8] On 12 February 2020, Vissel played their first AFC Champions League match against Malaysian league champions,Johor Darul Ta'zim at home winning them 5–1 in whichKeijiro Ogawa scored a hat-trick in the match. The club than managed to have a good run in the competition all the way until the semi-finals facing against eventual winners KoreanUlsan Hyundai however, Vissel was knocked out by the Korean club losing 2–1 in extra time after conceding an unfortunate penalty kick.
In 2021, Vissel achieved an historic third place in the table, thus qualifying for the2022 AFC Champions League yet again in which the club had another good run in the campaign before losing to KoreanJeonbuk Hyundai Motors 3–1 in the quarter-finals.
On 3 September 2023, Vissel signed former Spanish international midfielder,Juan Mata but, while the players and the fans benefited from his presence (players said he was amazing to train with, fans loved seeing him, he again raised the profile of the club) injuries kept him from playing much at all in meaningful games. On 25 November 2023, Vissel Kobe was confirmed as the2023 J1 League champions for the first time in history, following a 2–1 win overNagoya Grampus in the second last week of the season. Kobe thus became the firstJapanese football champions to be promoted to the top tier after the J.League era started, as well as the first to play third division football (the oldJapan Football League Division 2) before winning the title. On 17 February 2024, Vissel played their second Japanese Super Cup appearance against 2023 Emperor's Cup winner,Kawasaki Frontale but lost 1–0. Vissel also qualified directly to the newly revamp2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite tournament.On 23 of November 2024, Vissel won the secondEmperor's Cup of the club history, after a victory over they regional rivalsGamba Osaka in theKansai Derby.
Aston Villa: 2023–On 19 October 2023,English Premier League club, Aston Villa announced a collaborative partnership with Vissel Kobe - so said the press release: "further strengthening the international network and player development pipeline which is part of this exciting step forward for both clubs, Villa and Vissel are working to create a bilateral development framework for players and staff which will enhance youth development, alongside the cooperative sharing of ideas, techniques and best practice. The partnership looks to further open up pathways for talented Japanese players to play in Europe and, ultimately, at Aston Villa. This synergy between the clubs will also extend to first team level, with the exchange of technical knowledge and coaching methodology together with collaboration in the areas of performance, scouting & recruitment, data analysis and overall squad management."
Górnik Zabrze: 2024–Both clubs are tied with an agreement signed in December 2024. Vissel Kobe and Górnik Zabrze will work on making the path between Asia and Europe to promote both teams in case of sporting performance and scouting.[9]
Seattle Sounders: 1995–1996, 2025–Shortly after moving to Kobe in 1995, Vissel partnered withthe Sounders (who, at the time, were newly members of the second-divisionAmerican Professional Soccer League), as Seattle and Kobe are sister cities. The agreement lasted from 1995 to 1996, and during this time, the teams played a home and away exhibition series to fundraise for the relief efforts followingthe 1995 earthquake in Kobe. In 2025, on the thirtieth anniversary of the original partnership on 17 January, Vissel and the Sounders (now a member of top-divisionMajor League Soccer) announced the re-establishment of their partnership. This agreement began with a loan of Kobe player Kaito Yamada to Seattle's reserve squad, theTacoma Defiance.[10]
Since 2003, the home stadium isNoevir Stadium Kobe.[11] The stadium has a capacity of 30,132.
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 2024.[13]
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Takayuki Yoshida |
| Assistant manager | Tomo SugawaraKunie Kitamoto |
| Young player development coach | Yuji Miyahara |
| Goalkeeper coach |  Sidmar |
| Analytical coach | Tatsuro Takenaka Daichi Matsumoto |
| Physical coach | Akira Umeki Hikaru Fujii |
| Interpreter | Eiji Kumon Daisuke Kawashima |
| Chief trainer | Yoshio Shibata |
| Trainer | Masaaki Morita Ryota Matsuda Minoru Onogawa Naoto Nakayama |
| Dietitian | Rika Kawabata |
| Chief side manager | Shusuke Sasagawa |
| Equipment manager | Takuya Arai Tomoki Ishiguro |
| Side manager | Yuto Kato |
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | ||
| Stuart Baxter |  Scotland | 1 February 1995 | 31 January 1998 |
| Benito Floro |  Spain | 1 February 1998 | 24 September 1998 |
| Harumi Kori |  Japan | 25 September 1998 | 31 January 1999 |
| Ryoichi Kawakatsu | 1 February 1999 | 25 July 2002 | |
| Hiroshi Matsuda | 1 July 2002 | 31 January 2003 | |
| Hiroshi Soejima | Japan | 1 February 2003 | 31 January 2004 |
| Ivan Hašek |  Czech Republic | 1 February 2004 | 30 September 2004 |
| Hiroshi Kato | Japan | 1 October 2004 | 31 January 2005 |
| Hideki Matsunaga | 1 February 2005 | 19 April 2005 | |
| Émerson Leão | Brazil | 19 April 2005 | 14 June 2005 |
| Pavel Řehák | Czech Republic | 15 June 2005 | 31 January 2006 |
| Stuart Baxter | Scotland | 1 February 2006 | 4 September 2006 |
| Hiroshi Matsuda | Japan | 5 September 2006 | 11 December 2008 |
| Caio Júnior(interim) | Brazil | 11 December 2008 | 30 June 2009 |
| Masahiro Wada(interim) | Japan | 1 July 2009 | 5 August 2009 |
| Toshiya Miura | 5 August 2009 | 11 September 2010 | |
| Masahiro Wada | 11 September 2010 | 30 April 2012 | |
| Ryo Adachi(interim) | 1 May 2012 | 21 May 2012 | |
| Akira Nishino | 22 May 2012 | 8 November 2012 | |
| Ryo Adachi(interim) | 9 November 2012 | 31 December 2012 | |
| Ryo Adachi | 1 January 2013 | 31 January 2015 | |
| Nelsinho Baptista | Brazil | 1 February 2015 | 15 August 2017 |
| Takayuki Yoshida | Japan | 16 August 2017 | 16 September 2018 |
| Kentaro Hayashi(interim) | 17 September 2017 | 3 October 2018 | |
| Juan Manuel Lillo | Spain | 4 October 2018 | 16 April 2019 |
| Takayuki Yoshida | Japan | 17 April 2019 | 8 June 2019 |
| Thorsten Fink |  Germany | 9 June 2019 | 21 September 2020 |
| Marcos Vives | Spain | 22 September 2020 | 23 September 2020 |
| Atsuhiro Miura[14] | Japan | 24 September 2020 | 20 March 2022 |
| Lluís Planagumà(interim) | Spain | 21 March 2022 | 7 April 2022 |
| Miguel Ángel Lotina | 8 April 2022 | 29 June 2022 | |
| Takayuki Yoshida | Japan | 30 June 2022 | current |
Total (as of 2024): 26 seasons in the top tier, 11 seasons in the second tier, 2 seasons in the third tier and 8 seasons in the Regional Leagues.
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Division | Teams | Position | Plays | W (OTW / PKW) | D | L (OTL / PKL) | F | A | GD | Points | Attendance/G | ||
| 1997 | J1 | 17 | 16th | 32 | 6(1 / 0) | – | 21(2 / 0) | 43 | 78 | -35 | 24 | 6,567 | Group stage | Round of 16 |
| 1998 | 18 | 17th | 34 | 8(0 / 1) | – | 23(2 / 0) | 45 | 89 | -44 | 25 | 7,686 | 3rd round | ||
| 1999 | 16 | 10th | 30 | 9(3) | 4 | 12(2) | 38 | 45 | -7 | 37 | 7,691 | 1st round | 3rd round | |
| 2000 | 16 | 13th | 30 | 10(1) | 1 | 16(2) | 40 | 49 | -9 | 33 | 7,512 | 2nd round | Semi-finals | |
| 2001 | 12th | 30 | 8(1) | 7 | 10(4) | 41 | 52 | -11 | 33 | 13,872 | Round of 16 | |||
| 2002 | 14th | 30 | 8(2) | 3 | 17 | 33 | 44 | -11 | 31 | 10,467 | Group stage | 3rd round | ||
| 2003 | 13th | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 35 | 63 | -28 | 30 | 11,195 | Quarter-finals | |||
| 2004 | 11th | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 50 | 55 | -5 | 36 | 15,735 | 4th round | |||
| 2005 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 4 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 67 | -37 | 21 | 14,913 | |||
| 2006 | J2 | 13 | 3rd | 48 | 25 | 11 | 12 | 78 | 53 | 25 | 86 | 6,910 | – | 3rd round |
| 2007 | J1 | 18 | 10th | 34 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 58 | 48 | 10 | 47 | 12,460 | Group stage | Round of 16 |
| 2008 | 10th | 34 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 39 | 38 | 1 | 47 | 12,981 | ||||
| 2009 | 14th | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 40 | 48 | -8 | 39 | 13,068 | ||||
| 2010 | 15th | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 37 | 45 | -8 | 38 | 12,824 | 3rd round | |||
| 2011 | 9th | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 44 | 45 | -1 | 46 | 13,233 | 1st round | 3rd round | ||
| 2012 | 18 | 16th | 34 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 41 | 50 | -9 | 39 | 14,638 | Group stage | 2nd round | |
| 2013 | J2 | 22 | 2nd | 42 | 25 | 8 | 9 | 78 | 41 | 37 | 83 | 11,516 | – | 3rd round |
| 2014 | J1 | 18 | 11th | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 49 | 50 | -1 | 45 | 15,010 | Quarter-finals | 2nd round |
| 2015 | 12th | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 44 | 49 | -5 | 38 | 16,265 | Semi-finals | Quarter-finals | ||
| 2016 | 7th | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 56 | 43 | 13 | 55 | 17,018 | Quarter-finals | Round of 16 | ||
| 2017 | 9th | 34 | 13 | 5 | 16 | 40 | 45 | -5 | 44 | 18,272 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | ||
| 2018 | 10th | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 45 | 52 | -7 | 45 | 21,450 | Play-off stage | Round of 16 | ||
| 2019 | 8th | 34 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 61 | 59 | 2 | 47 | 21,491 | Group stage | Winners | ||
| 2020† | 14th | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 50 | 59 | -9 | 36 | 6,041 | Quarter-finals | Did not qualify | ||
| 2021† | 20 | 3rd | 38 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 62 | 36 | 26 | 73 | 7,120 | Play-off stage | Round of 16 | |
| 2022 | 18 | 13th | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 35 | 41 | -6 | 40 | 15,572 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | |
| 2023 | 1st | 34 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 60 | 29 | 31 | 71 | 22,405 | Group stage | Quarter-finals | ||
| 2024 | 20 | 1st | 38 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 61 | 36 | 25 | 72 | 21,811 | 3rd round | Winners | |
| 2025 | TBD | 38 | TBD | Runners-up | ||||||||||
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| J1 League | 2 | 2023,2024 |
| Chūgoku Soccer League (as Kawasaki Steel Mizushima) | 5 | 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985 |
| Emperor's Cup | 2 | 2019,2024 |
| Japanese Super Cup | 1 | 2020 |
| All Japan Senior Football Championship | 1 | 1976 |
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | AFC Champions League | Group G |  Johor Darul Ta'zim | Cancelled | 1st | |
 Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 0–2 | 1–0 | ||||
 Guangzhou Evergrande | 0–2 | 3–1 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Shanghai Port | 2–0 | ||||
| Quarter-finals | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | |||||
| Semi-finals | Ulsan Hyundai | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | ||||
| 2022 | Play-off round |  Melbourne Victory | 4–3 (a.e.t.) | |||
| Group J | Shanghai Port | Cancelled | ||||
 Kitchee | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1st | |||
 Chiangrai United | 6–0 | 0–0 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 3–2 | ||||
| Quarter-finals | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 1–3 (a.e.t.) | ||||
| 2024–25 | League stage | Buriram United | — | 0–0 | 5th | |
| Shandong Taishan | 2–1 | — | ||||
| Ulsan HD | — | 2–0 | ||||
| Gwangju | 2–0 | — | ||||
| Central Coast Mariners | 3–2 | — | ||||
| Pohang Steelers | — | 1–3 | ||||
| Shanghai Port | 4–0 | — | ||||
| Shanghai Shenhua | — | 2–4 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Gwangju FC | 2–0 | 0–3 (a.e.t.) | 2–3 | ||
| Home kit - 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          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 - | ||||
| Away kit - 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
    1997 - 1998 |      1999 - 2001 |      2002 - 2003 |     2004 |      2005 - 2006 |
     2007 |    2008 |      2009 |  2010 |      2011 |
    2012 |      2013 |      2014 |      2015 |      2016 |
 2017 |  2018 |     2019 |   2020 |  2021 |
     2022 |      2023 |      2024 - | ||
| Alternative Kit - 3rd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
     2014 10th Anniversary Crimson FC |      2015 Club's 20th anniversary |     2017 Kobe Port's 150th Anniversary |  2018 3rd |     2019 3rd |
     2020 Club's 25th Anniversary |    2021 3rd |     2022 3rd | ||
| 8 titles | |
|---|---|
| 7 titles | |
| 5 titles | |
| 4 titles | |
| 3 titles | |
| 2 titles | |
| 1 title | |
| People |
|  | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Products |
| ||||||||||
