| Clubname: | Kawasaki Frontale 川崎フロンターレ |
| Upright: | 0.8 |
| Fullname: | Kawasaki Frontale |
| Nickname: | Azzurro Nero (Blue-black), Frontale |
| Founded: | as Fujitsu SC |
| Owner: | Fujitsu |
| Chairman: | Yoshihiro Warashina |
| Manager: | Toru Oniki |
| Ground: | Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, Nakahara, Kawasaki, Japan |
| Capacity: | 26,232 |
| Pattern La1: | _kawasaki frontale 2024 HOME FP |
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| Pattern So1: | _kawasaki frontale 2022 HOME FP |
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| Pattern La2: | _kawasaki frontale 2024 AWAY FP |
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| Website: | http://www.frontale.co.jp/ |
| Current: | Kawasaki Frontale season |
is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club currently compete in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium in Nakahara Ward, located in the central area of Kawasaki.
The club was founded in 1955 as Fujitsu Soccer Club. It was one of many city clubs that comprised the Japan Soccer League (JSL), including Yomiuri (later Tokyo Verdy 1969), Toshiba (later Consadole Sapporo) and NKK SC (now defunct). They first made the JSL Division 1 in 1977, only to be relegated the next season.
Fujitsu's club became professional in 1997, and changed its name to "Kawasaki Frontale", which means "frontal" in Italian. The club old crest and colours are based on those of Brazilian side Grêmio, because both clubs have cooperated since 26 March 1997.[1]
The club joined the second division of the J.League in 1999 and went on to become the champion of the division. But in the next season, they sank to the bottom of J.League Division 1 and were relegated.
Frontale would not return to the top flight until 2000, when they were promoted to the rebranded J1. But, they were once again dropped to the J2 at the end of the season.
In 2004, Frontale crowned champions of J2 and won promotion to J1 for the second time. With the former rival city clubs out of the way due to relocation or liquidation, they began building their power base in the city.
In 2006, the club achieved runners-up position in J1, their highest league position up to that time. As a result, they entered the AFC Champions League for the first time in 2007 from the group stage.
Kawasaki made important success in the competition, as they became the first Japanese club for qualifying its group stage before the eventual winners, Urawa Red Diamonds. However, they eventually lost in the quarter finals against Iranian club, Sepahan, in a penalty shoot-out, following two scoreless games.
After two more second-place finishes in 2008 and 2009, Kawasaki finally won the title in 2017, coming from behind to upstage bitter rivals Kashima Antlers after they were held to a draw at Júbilo Iwata, 16 seasons and 40 years after their first promotion to the top division.
Kawasaki became the first team to win four J1 titles in a five-year span. They came up short multiple times (2000, 2007, 2009 and 2017) but won their first J.League Cup in 2019, beating Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo on penalties. In 2020, they successfully won their third J1 League title with 83 points, staying 17 points clear off the runners-up, Gamba Osaka. They made sure of the title with four games to spare, which was a record under the 34-match league format. With a player depth not being restricted to the starting XI, Frontale managed to get the best out of the five substitutions allowed by the J. League, per FIFA recommendation, instated after the COVID-19 outbreak. A good example was a breakout season by Kaoru Mitoma, who started more matches on the bench than in the starting XI.[2]
In 2021, Frontale won their first title of the year in the opening match of the season, beating Gamba Osaka 3–2 in the 2021 Japanese Super Cup.
Raised standards, eye-catching performances, and increase of national team level players coming from Frontale led foreign clubs to pay attention to their players. Among the most significant departures, Frontale saw two major talents leaving the club mid-season. Kaoru Mitoma was included in the 2020 J.League Best XI in his first full season as a professional despite playing less than half of his matches as a starter for Frontale, being signed by Brighton & Hove Albion of the Premier League. The second one was midfielder, Ao Tanaka. The 2020 J.League Rookie of the Year which quickly earned his spot on the starting XI after turning professional, transferring to Fortuna Düsseldorf of 2. Bundesliga on loan, which later would have his deal turning permanent. They weren't the only departures leaving a mark on the team, as they followed Hidemasa Morita to Europe, as the latter went on to sign for Santa Clara of the Primeira Liga.
However, despite Frontale having their future performances being apparently threatened after these departures, the club went on to win the 2021 J1 League with a record-breaking season, which saw them: Winning the most points on a single J1 League season ever, with 92 points won on 38 matches; Achieving the fewest number of losses on a J1 League season, registering only two losses in total (the first J1 loss only came six months after the season opening); Being the joint unbeaten team at home matches in a J1 League season, equalling Urawa Red Diamonds's tally in 2006; Being the first ever J1 team to win more than 80 points on consecutive seasons.[3]
Leandro Damião, with 23 goals, was Frontale's individual highlight on the 2021 season, helping him win the MVP award, after being the joint league top-scorer and one of the players with the most assists of the tournament. The latter record was accomplished by another Frontale players, Miki Yamane, which also saw several call-ups for the National Team throughout the 2021 and 2022 season, alongside other Frontale players and formers players, like the team captain Shogo Taniguchi, and midfielder Yasuto Wakizaka. They joined many other players who previously were selected for the Japan national football team while playing at Frontale.[4] Of the selected players, some players can be highlighted, like defender Yoshinobu Minowa, who was selected in 2005. After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, midfielder Kengo Nakamura and forward Kazuki Ganaha became new Japan internationals, especially Kengo Nakamura, who being a mainstay at club and country for a long time. Long-serving for the national team, goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima was also selected while at Frontale, making his debut on the 2008 East Asian Cup. Shuhei Terada, who played all of his 13-year professional career at Frontale, was also selected for the national team from 2008 to 2009.
After five consecutive seasons winning at least one major title from 2017 to 2021, Frontale tasted a season without winning any silverware for the entire 2022. Taking their previous overall season into account, the club went through an uninspired season, which saw early eliminations in all four competitions the club played that involved knockout-stage formats. On February, the club already saw their first match of the season resulting on a defeat, after losing 2–0 by Urawa Red Diamonds at the Super Cup. On April, the club was eliminated at the 2022 AFC Champions League at its group stage, finishing their group as runners-up, behind Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta'zim. On June, at the Emperor's Cup, Frontale were unexpectedly eliminated, at the third round of the competition, after being defeated by J2 League club Tokyo Verdy by 1–0.
On the latter half of the season, Frontale continued an atypically poor run of form. On August, the club started their campaign at the J.League Cup, entering the competition late in the double-legged quarter-finals, after receiving a bye from the early stages of the competition due to their AFC Champions League qualification. The club played this quarter-finals against Cerezo Osaka, and was awarded the hosting rights of the tie's second leg. Despite not losing any of the two legs, Frontale didn't won any, either. At Cerezo, the match ended 1–1, giving a theoretical relief for Frontale ahead of the match, who only needed a 0–0 draw or a win to proceed in the competition. Frontale started the second leg winning 2–0, with Marcinho scoring two goals at the 40th and 53rd minute. Surprisingly, Frontale collapsed at the dying minutes of the match, conceding two heading goals at the 90th and 95th minute, respectively.
Following the elimination at the J.League Cup, only the J1 League title was then available for Frontale to chase. Oscillating placements throughout the campaign, the club still managed to finish five separate matchweeks at the top of the league in the first half of the season. In the second half of the season, though, never again did Frontale get past the second place. Serving as a minor consolation for their season, the club held to a hardly-fought title chase alongside Sanfrecce Hiroshima (until the closing matchweeks). On December, at the 38th round, the last round of the season, Frontale were narrow two points away from first-placed Yokohama F. Marinos. A 13-goal difference was also in Frontale's way, meaning that in the more realistic scenario, Frontale needed to win their match and expect Marinos to lose theirs. Playing the round against FC Tokyo, Frontale were early threatened with a red card, as Jung Sung-ryong was sent off a few minutes after Frontale's first goal. Despite playing the rest of the match with 10 players, Frontale still managed to win past FC Tokyo by 3–2. Playing against Vissel Kobe, Marinos won the match by 3–1, and then were handed the J1 League title. On the plus side, finishing as the league's runners-up led the club to qualify for the 2023–24 AFC Champions League, entering the competition in the group stage.
On 9 December 2023, Frontale won the 2023 Emperor's Cup title, beating Kashiwa Reysol 8–7 in the penalty shootout after the match ended 0–0.[5] This second national cup victory resulting their qualification for the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite, entering directly from the league stage.
On 17 February 2024, Frontale defeated 2023 J1 League champions, Vissel Kobe, in the 2024 Japanese Super Cup at Japan National Stadium to clinch their third title of the competition.[6] [7]
Frontale's rivalry with FC Tokyo is known as the Tamagawa Clásico (using the Spanish word "Clásico" as used in derbies in Spain and Latin America). The two clubs first met in the inaugural Kanto Soccer League in 1967, but did not meet again until 1991 in the old Japan Soccer League Division 2 and were rivals for promotion to the J.League in the 1990s. They co-founded the new J2 League in 1999 and were promoted together the same year, and although Frontale were immediately relegated, they were promoted again in 2005 and have regularly met since then.
Frontale also has a Tamagawa rivalry with Tokyo Verdy 1969, which was originally also based in Kawasaki and moved to Chofu, Tokyo in 2000. The two were co-founders of the JSL Division 2 in 1972 and, although spent 20 seasons (1979 to 1999) in separate tiers, rekindled the rivalry in the late 1990s as Kawasaki fans deserted Tokyo Verdy to support Frontale, seen as a more community-focused club, and since then their fortunes have reversed as Frontale is a top flight mainstay while Tokyo Verdy sunk into the second tier beginning in 2005.
Fukushima United (1 February 2024−31 January 2026)[8]
Grêmio (26 March 1997−present)| Season(s) | Main Shirt Sponsor | Collarbone Sponsor | Additional Sponsor(s) | Kit Manufacturer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Fujitsu | - / RENOSY | - / Fujitsu BSC | SMBC Nikko Securities | Fujitsu Fsas | Fujitsu Marketing | PFU | Puma |
| 2019 | ||||||||
| 2020 | Fujitsu Marketing / Fujitsu Japan | |||||||
| 2021 | Anker Japan | Fujitsu Japan | - / Matsuo Komuten | |||||
| 2022 | Kawasaki Shinkin Bank | Matsuo Corporation | ||||||
| 2023 | Ebara Food Industry | PwC Consulting | ||||||
The main U-18 team of Kawasaki Frontale currently plays in 2024 Prince Takamado U-18 Premier League, the top-flight league for U-18 team of football clubs and senior high school football teams in the country. Only the registered players for the competition will be displayed.[11] [12] [13]
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | Toru Oniki |
| Head coach | Mitsuhiro Toda |
| First-Team coach | Tatsuya Murata Yu Nikaido Kenta Kano |
| Goalkeeper coach | Tomoaki Ishino |
| Physical coach | Takanori Ishii |
| Analyst | Ryoga Matsuno |
| Trainer | Toshiyuki Tokorozawa Yoji Hirahara Tomohisa Seki Katsuhiro Suzuki Naoya Kinoshima |
| Physiotherapist | Hiroshi Nishimura Ryota Kudo |
| Interpreter | Daigo Terasaki Kazuya Nakayama Hiroto Furukawa  Kim Myong-ho |
| Roupeiro | Hiroyuki Ito |
| Side manager | Takashi Seto Akito Kobayashi |
| Scouting | Tatsuru Mukojima |
| Doctor | Hiroshi Iwaso Hidetaka Goto Yutaro Ishida Ryota Kuzuhara Eisaburo Honda Kensuke Kimura |
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| Season | Teams | AFC CL | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | JFL | 16 | 3rd | Did not enter | 3rd round | – | – | |
| 1998 | 16 | 2nd | Group stage | 3rd round | – | – | ||
| 1999 | J2 | 10 | 1st | 5,396 | 1st round | 4th round | – | – |
| 2000 | J1 | 16 | 16th | 7,439 | Runners-up | 3rd round | – | – |
| 2001 | J2 | 12 | 7th | 3,784 | Quarter finals | Semi-finals | – | – |
| 2002 | 12 | 4th | 5,247 | Did not qualify | Quarter finals | – | – | |
| 2003 | 12 | 3rd | 7,258 | 4th round | – | – | ||
| 2004 | 12 | 1st | 9,148 | 5th round | – | – | ||
| 2005 | J1 | 18 | 8th | 13,658 | Group stage | Quarter finals | – | – |
| 2006 | 18 | 2nd | 14,340 | Semi-finals | 5th round | – | – | |
| 2007 | 18 | 5th | 17,338 | Runners-up | Semi-finals | – | Quarter finals | |
| 2008 | 18 | 2nd | 17,565 | Group stage | 5th round | – | – | |
| 2009 | 18 | 2nd | 18,847 | Runners-up | Quarter finals | – | Quarter finals | |
| 2010 | 18 | 5th | 18,562 | Semi-finals | 4th round | – | Group stage | |
| 2011 | 18 | 11th | 17,340 | 2nd round | 4th round | – | – | |
| 2012 | 18 | 8th | 17,807 | Group stage | 4th round | – | – | |
| 2013 | 18 | 3rd | 16,644 | Semi-finals | Quarter finals | – | – | |
| 2014 | 18 | 6th | 16,661 | Semi-finals | 3rd round | – | Round of 16 | |
| 2015 | 18 | 5th | 20,999 | Group stage | 4th round | – | – | |
| 2016 | 18 | 3rd | 22,136 | Group stage | Runners-up | – | – | |
| 2017 | 18 | 1st | 22,112 | Runners-up | Quarter finals | – | Quarter finals | |
| 2018 | 18 | 1st | 23,218 | Quarter finals | Quarter finals | Runners-up | Group stage | |
| 2019 | 18 | 4th | 23,272 | Winners | 4th round | Winners | Group stage | |
| 2020 † | 18 | 1st | 7,862 | Semi final | Winners | – | – | |
| 2021 † | 20 | 1st | 7,342 | Quarter finals | Semi-finals | Winners | Round of 16 | |
| 2022 | 18 | 2nd | 17,939 | Quarter finals | 3rd round | Runners-up | Group stage | |
| 2023 | 18 | 8th | 19,840 | Group Stage | Winners | – | Round of 16 | |
Total (as of 2021): 20 seasons in the top tier, 30 seasons in the second tier and 5 seasons in the Regional Leagues.
As Fujitsu SC (1955–1996) and Kawasaki Frontale (1997–present) :
| No. ! | scope=col | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In chronological order--> | scope=row | Kanto Soccer League | 1 | 1968 |
| scope=row | Japan Soccer League Division 2 | 1 | 1976 | |
| scope=row | J2 League | 2 | 1999, 2004 | |
| scope=row | J1 League | 4 | 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 | |
| scope=row | J.League Cup | 1 | 2019 | |
| scope=row | Japanese Super Cup | 3 | 2019, 2021, 2024 | |
| scope=row | Emperor's Cup | 2 | 2020, 2023 |
Kengo Nakamura (2016) Yu Kobayashi (2017) Akihiro Ienaga (2018) Juninho (2008) Yoshito Ōkubo (2013, 2014, 2015) Yu Kobayashi (2017) Kengo Nakamura (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018) Hiroyuki Taniguchi (2006) Juninho (2007) Eiji Kawashima (2009) Yoshito Ōkubo (2013, 2014, 2015) Yu Kobayashi (2016, 2017) Shintaro Kurumaya (2017, 2018) Elsinho (2017, 2018) Shogo Taniguchi (2018, 2020, 2021, 2022) Akihiro Ienaga (2018, 2020, 2021, 2022) Ryota Oshima (2018) Miki Yamane (2020, 2021, 2022) Jesiel (2020, 2021) Hidemasa Morita (2020) Kaoru Mitoma (2020) Kyohei Noborizato (2020) Ao Tanaka (2020) Leandro Damião (2021) Reo Hatate (2021) Yasuto Wakizaka (2021, 2022, 2023) Ao Tanaka (2019)The following players have been selected by their country in the World Cup, while playing for Kawasaki Frontale:
The following players have represented their country at the Summer Olympic Games whilst playing for Kawasaki Frontale:
| Manager | Nat. | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 (resigned in halfway) | |||
| Everaldo Pierrotti | 1997 (till the season end) | ||
| 1998–99 (resigned in halfway) | |||
| 1999 (till the season end) | |||
| 2000 (resigned in halfway) | |||
| 2000 (after Zeca, resigned) | |||
| 2000 (till the season end) | |||
| January 2001 – June 2001 (resigned in halfway) | |||
| July 2001 – December 2003 (after Horii) | |||
| January 2004 – April 2008 (resigned in halfway due to illness) | |||
| May 2008 – December 2008 (till the season end) | |||
| January 2009 – December 2009 (returned) | |||
| January 2010 – December 2010 (returned) | |||
| January 2011 – 11 April 2012 (sacked in halfway) | |||
| 12 April 2012 – 22 April 2012 (interim) | |||
| 23 April 2012 – 31 December 2016 | |||
| 1 February 2017 – present |