Omiya Ardija

This article is about the men's football club based in Japan. For the women's team, see Omiya Ardija Ventus.

Omiya Ardija (大宮アルディージャ, Ōmiya Arudīja) is a professional association football club based in Ōmiya in Saitama, Japan. Its "hometown" as designated by the league is the whole of Saitama city, which is shared with neighbours Urawa Red Diamonds. The team currently competes in the J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football.

Omiya Ardija
大宮アルディージャ

Full name	Omiya Ardija
Nickname(s)	Risu (The Squirrels)
Founded	1969; 54 years ago (1969)
Stadium	NACK5 Stadium Ōmiya Omiya-ku, Saitama, Saitama
Capacity	15,500
Owner	NTT Group
Chairman	Masashi Mori
Head coach	Masato Harasaki
League	J2 League
2022	J2 League, 19th of 22
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Their home field is Nack5 Stadium Ōmiya (Nack5スタジアム大宮, Nakku-faibu Sutajiamu Ōmiya): Ōmiya Football Stadium by the naming rights with occasional games being played at the Kumagaya Athletic Stadium.

Crest

Omiya Ardija's crest features a squirrel on the right, which is the animal of Omiya. On the left, there are 5 lines, which reference the historic roads that run through Omiya, including the famous Nakasendō, which runs to the Hikawa Shrine, right near Nack5 Stadium.^[1][2]

History

The team were founded in 1968 as NTT Saitama Soccer Selection in Urawa, Saitama and later known as the NTT Kantō Soccer Club in 1969. They were first promoted to the Japan Soccer League (JSL) Division 2 in 1987/88, and when the JSL folded, joined the former Japan Football League.^[3]

In 1998 it was separately incorporated as NTT Sport Community K.K. based in Ōmiya to participate in the J. League. The name "Ardija" is a transcription of the Spanish language ardilla (squirrel) which is the mascot of Ōmiya and the park in which their home stadium is located.^[3][4]

Their matches against Urawa Red Diamonds have been called the "Saitama Derby".^[5]

In 2005–2007 most of Omiya's home matches were held at Saitama Stadium 2002 and Urawa Komaba Stadium due to expansion works at their home ground. In October 2007 the expansion was complete. On November 11, the re-opening match was held as a J. League season match between the Ardija and Ōita Trinita (1–2).^[6]

Omiya competed in the J1 League following an immediate promotion in 2015 after being relegated in 2014. Omiya was relegated again following the 2017 season. They competed in J1 2005 and continued to remain until 2014, following promotion from J2 in 2004 as the second placed team.

Mascots

Omiya Ardija has two squirrels as its mascots, named Ardi and Miya. Both wear the team kits. According to the club website, Miya is one size smaller than Ardi, being then, slightly shorter than him.^[7][3]

Record as a J. League member

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	6th	36	14 (4)	1	15 (2)	47	44	3	51	2,674	1st round	3rd round
2000		11	4th	40	21 (2)	1	14 (2)	55	49	6	68	3,477	1st round	3rd round
2001		12	5th	44	20 (6)	6	11(1)	73	43	30	78	3,864	1st round	1st round
2002		12	6th	44	14	17	13	52	42	10	59	5,266	Not eligible	4th round
2003		12	6th	44	18	7	19	52	61	-9	61	5,058		3rd round
2004		12	2nd	44	26	9	9	63	38	25	87	6,108		5th round
2005	J1	18	13th	34	12	5	17	39	50	-11	41	9,980	Quarter final	Semi-final
2006		18	12th	34	13	5	16	43	55	-12	44	10,234	Group stage	5th round
2007		18	15th	34	8	11	15	24	40	-16	35	11,465	Group stage	4th round
2008		18	12th	34	12	7	15	36	45	-9	43	9,350	Group stage	5th round
2009		18	13th	34	9	12	13	40	47	-7	39	13,707	Group stage	3rd round
2010		18	12th	34	11	9	14	39	45	-6	42	11,064	Group stage	4th round
2011		18	13th	34	10	12	12	38	48	-10	42	12,221	2nd round	2nd round
2012		18	13th	34	11	11	12	38	45	-7	44	10,637	Group stage	4th round
2013		18	14th	34	14	3	17	45	48	-3	45	11,138	Group stage	2nd round
2014		18	16th	34	9	8	17	44	60	-16	35	10,811	Group stage	Quarter final
2015	J2	22	1st	42	26	8	8	72	37	35	86	9,490	Not eligible	3rd round
2016	J1	18	5th	34	15	11	8	41	36	5	56	11,814	Quarter final	Semi-final
2017		18	18th	34	5	10	19	28	60	-32	25	11,464	Group stage	Quarter final
2018	J2	22	5th	42	21	8	13	65	48	17	71	9,224	Not eligible	3rd round
2019		22	3rd	42	20	15	7	62	40	22	75	9,478		3rd round
2020 †		22	15th	42	14	11	17	43	52	-9	53	2,515		Did not qualify
2021 †		22	16th	42	9	15	18	51	56	-5	42	4,311		2nd round
2022		22	19th	42	10	13	19	48	64	-16	43	5,272		3rd round
2023		22	TBA	42										3rd round

Key

• Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points gained
• Attendance/G = Average home league attendance
• † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.
• Source: J. League Data Site

Honours

• All Japan Senior Football Championship
  • Champions: 1981
• Regional Promotion Series
  • Champions: 1986
• J2 League
  • Champions: 2015

Players

As of 18 August 2023.^[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   JPN Takashi Kasahara 3 DF   JPN Shuto Okaniwa (on loan from FC Tokyo) 4 DF   BRA Kaique Mafaldo (on loan from V-Varen Nagasaki) 5 DF   JPN Niki Urakami 6 MF   JPN Hisashi Ohashi 7 MF   JPN Masato Kojima 8 MF   JPN Hiroki Kurimoto 9 FW   JPN Seiya Nakano 10 FW   POL Jakub Świerczok 11 MF   JPN Atsushi Kurokawa (on loan from Machida Zelvia) 13 FW   JPN Rin Yamazaki 14 MF   JPN Hidetoshi Miyuki 15 MF   JPN Keisuke Oyama 16 MF   JPN Toshiki Ishikawa 17 DF   JPN Ryo Shinzato 19 MF   BRA Rodrigo Angelotti (on loan from Kashiwa Reysol) 22 DF   JPN Rikiya Motegi 23 FW   JPN Kiichi Yajima 25 DF   JPN Yutaro Hakamata

No. Pos. Nation Player 28 FW   JPN Takamitsu Tomiyama 31 MF   JPN Raisei Abe 32 MF   JPN Fumiya Takayanagi 33 FW   JPN Keisuke Muroi 34 DF   JPN Rio Omori (on loan from FC Tokyo) 35 GK   JPN Yuta Minami 37 DF   JPN Kaishin Sekiguchi ^DSP 38 DF   JPN Shunya Suzuki 39 MF   JPN Jin Izumisawa 40 GK   JPN Ko Shimura 41 DF   JPN Takahiro Iida (on loan from Kyoto Sanga) 42 FW   JPN Kazushi Fujii ^DSP 43 DF   JPN Rion Ichihara ^Type 2 44 GK   JPN Hirai Shimizu ^Type 2 45 MF   JPN Haruhi Taneda ^Type 2 46 DF   JPN Masato Nuki 49 MF   JPN Tomoya Osawa 50 GK   JPN Manafu Wakabayashi

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK   JPN Yūki Katō (On loan at Giravanz Kitakyushu) — DF   JPN Keisuke Nishimura (On loan at Montedio Yamagata)

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF   JPN Shoi Yoshinaga (On loan at Ehime FC) — MF   JPN Soya Takada (On loan at Tokushima Vortis)

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

Omiya Ardija U-18

As of 30 August 2023.

The U-18 team of Omiya Ardija currently plays in the Prince Takamado U-18 Premier League, the top-flight league for U-18 clubs in the country. Only the registered players for the competition will be displayed.^[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   JPN Yuya Takada 2 DF   JPN Takeru Takahashi 3 DF   JPN Kazuhiko Asai 4 DF   JPN Rion Ichihara 5 DF   JPN Takumi Makabe 6 MF   JPN Kota Yoda 7 FW   JPN Shintaro Takahashi 8 MF   JPN Naoto Abe 9 FW   JPN So Ishikawa 10 MF   JPN Haruhi Taneda 11 FW   JPN Mark Isozaki 13 DF   JPN Hideki Saito 14 MF   JPN Ryo Kikunami 15 DF   JPN Kairu Onishi 16 GK   JPN Hirai Shimizu

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF   JPN Houga Tanno 18 MF   JPN Fugo Tomaru 19 DF   JPN Yuya Motegi 20 FW   JPN Rikuta Horiuchi 21 GK   JPN Ibuki Noguchi 22 MF   JPN Daichi Yamanaka 23 MF   JPN Tsubasa Tanaka 24 FW   JPN Rikuto Heike 25 DF   JPN Asahi Fujiwara 26 FW   JPN Shunya Sakai 28 MF   JPN Sora Tanaka 29 FW   JPN Soryu Noguchi 30 DF   JPN Otaro Hagiwara 31 GK   JPN Musashi Kaneko 32 DF   JPN Sena Chida

Coaching staff

For the 2023 season.

Position	Staff
Manager	Masato Harasaki
Assistant coach	Kohei Katsuno   Hiroki Shibuya
First-team coach	Shin Kanazawa
Goalkeeping coach	Noriyuki Yamagishi
Fitness coach	Tetsuji Wada   Ryosuke Kaji
Physical coach	Ryugo Okamoto   Tomonobu Yokoyama
Athletic coach	Takafumi Kazama   Ryosuke Kaji   Natsuya Yashiro
Chief doctor	Daisuke Iwasawa
Doctor	Shoichi Hasegawa
Physiotherapist	Yukihiso Miyama
Interpreter	Leonardo Uehara
Chief manager	Yosuke Hakamada
Manager	Shoki Kokawa
Technical staff	Yuki Fukuro

Managerial history

Manager	Nationality	Tenure
		Start	Finish
Pim Verbeek	Netherlands	1 January 1999	31 December 1999
Toshiya Miura	Japan	1 February 2000	31 January 2002
Henk Duut	Netherlands	22 December 2001	22 December 2002
Masaaki Kanno	Japan	1 February 2003	13 October 2003
Eijun Kiyokumo	Japan	10 October 2003	31 December 2003
Toshiya Miura	Japan	1 February 2004	31 January 2007
Robert Verbeek	Netherlands	1 January 2007	30 June 2007
Satoru Sakuma	Japan	1 July 2007	31. December 2007
Yasuhiro Higuchi	Japan	1 February 2008	31 January 2009
Chang Woe-ryong	South Korea	1. February 2009	26 April 2010
Jun Suzuki	Japan	24 April 2010	19 May 2012
Takeyuki Okamoto (interim)	Japan	31 Mai 2012	10 June 2012
Zdenko Verdenik	Slovenia	10 June 2012	11 August 2013
Takeyuki Okamoto (interim)	Japan	11 August 2013	20 August 2013
Tsutomu Ogura	Japan	20 August 2013	31 December 2013
Kiyoshi Okuma	Japan	1 February 2014	31 August 2014
Hiroki Shibuya	Japan	31 August 2014	28 May 2017
Akira Ito	Japan	29 Mai 2017	5 November 2017
Masatada Ishii	Japan	6 November 2017	31 January 2019
Takuya Takagi	Japan	1 February 2019	31 January 2021
Ken Iwase	Japan	1 February 2021	25 May 2021
Norio Sasaki	Japan	26 May 2021	9 June 2021
Masahiro Shimoda	Japan	10 June 2021	26 May 2022
Naoki Soma^[2]	Japan	28 May 2022	19 May 2023
Masato Harasaki^[10]	Japan	19 May 2023	present

Kit evolution

Home Kit – 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 -

Away Kit – 2nd
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 -

Special Kits – 3rd
2018 3rd	2018 20th anniversary	2023 25th anniversary

References

1. Every J.League club badge explained | The meaning behind every J.League team crest, retrieved 31 May 2022
2. "相馬直樹 監督 就任のお知らせ" (in Japanese). 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
3. "Omiya Ardija Club Profile". J. League. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
4. "Club Profile". Omiya Ardija. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
5. "The 13th Saitama derby in the football-mad region comes around this Saturday in Japan's J-League when Urawa Red Diamonds face Omiya Ardija". Goal.com. 11 June 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
6. "オレンジの聖地一新 NACK5スタジアム大宮". Saitama Shimbun (in Japanese). 47news. 23 October 2007.
7. "大宮アルディージャ公式サイト". www.ardija.co.jp. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
8. "TOPTEAM". Omiya Ardija. Retrieved 5 August 2023.

October 22, 2023