Takayuki Nishigaya

Takayuki Nishigaya (西ヶ谷 隆之, Nishigaya Takayuki, born May 12, 1973) is a Japanese manager and former footballer who is the current head coach of the Singapore national football team.

Takayuki Nishigaya
西ヶ谷 隆之

Personal information
Full name	Takayuki Nishigaya
Date of birth	(1973-05-12) May 12, 1973 (age 49)
Place of birth	Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder, Defender
Youth career
1989–1991	Shimizu Commercial High School
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1995	University of Tsukuba
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–1997	Nagoya Grampus Eight	35	(0)
1998	Avispa Fukuoka	25	(0)
1999	Verdy Kawasaki	3	(0)
2000	JEF United Ichihara	0	(0)
2001	Albirex Niigata	37	(0)
Total		100	(0)
Managerial career
2015–2017	Mito HollyHock
2018	SC Sagamihara
2019–2020	Matsumoto Yamaga U18
2020–2021	Matsumoto Yamaga (assistant)
2022–	Singapore
Honours Nagoya Grampus Eight Runner-up J1 League 1996
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Nishigaya was born in Shizuoka on May 12, 1973. After graduating from the University of Tsukuba, he joined J1 League club Nagoya Grampus Eight with teammate Shigeyoshi Mochizuki in 1996. He mostly played as a centre-back during that first season. In 1998, he moved to Avispa Fukuoka. He became a regular player as the left-back of a three back defence. In 1999, he moved to Verdy Kawasaki, where he did not play much. In 2000, he moved to JEF United Ichihara. Here, too, he did not play much. In 2001, he moved to J2 League club Albirex Niigata. There, he played a variety of positions, such as defensive midfielder, centre-back and left-back. He retired at the end of the 2001 season.

Coaching career

After retiring, Nishigaya started his coaching career at his alma mater, the University of Tsukuba, in 2003. In 2004, he signed with Tokyo Verdy. He coached for their youth team until 2009. In 2010, he became a manager for Meiji University. In 2012, he signed with Albirex Niigata and became a coach under manager Hisashi Kurosaki. However he resigned with Kurosaki in May. In 2013, he signed with Mito HollyHock and became a coach under manager Tetsuji Hashiratani. In June 2015, Hashiratani was sacked and Nishigaya took over the team. He managed the club until 2017. In 2018, he moved to SC Sagamihara and managed the club for one season.

In 2022, he was appointed as the manager of the Singapore national team. He led the team to a disappointing AFF Cup, despite a narrow win against Laos and Myanmar, a scoreless draw with Vietnam, the Lions failed to qualify to the semi-finals after a heavy 4-1 humiliation against Malaysia. Despite calls for him to be replaced, the Football Association of Singapore has not done so due to reasons unknown and he continued to be the head coach without any shame.

Club statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Japan			League		Emperor's Cup		J.League Cup		Total
1996	Nagoya Grampus Eight	J1 League	13	0	1	0	7	0	21	0
1997			22	0	1	0	7	0	30	0
1998	Avispa Fukuoka	J1 League	25	0	3	1	3	1	31	2
1999	Verdy Kawasaki	J1 League	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
2000	JEF United Ichihara	J1 League	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0
2001	Albirex Niigata	J2 League	37	0	0	0	2	0	39	0
Total			100	0	21	1	5	1	126	2

Managerial statistics

^[1]

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Mito HollyHock	2015	2017	109	31	42	36	028.44
SC Sagamihara	2018	2018	32	12	6	14	037.50
Matsumoto Yamaga U18	2019	2020	-	-	-	-	-
Singapore	2022		13	5	3	5	038.46
Total			154	48	51	55	031.17

References

1. J.League Data Site(in Japanese)

External links

• Player statistics at J.League () (in Japanese)  
• Manager statistics manager profile at J.League () (in Japanese)