| Clubname: | Ehime FC 愛媛FC |
| Upright: | 0.6 |
| Fullname: | Ehime Football Club |
| Short Name: | Ehime |
| Stadium: | Ningineer Stadium Matsuyama, Ehime |
| Capacity: | 21,419 |
| Chairman: | Fumio Kamei |
| Manager: | Kiyotaka Ishimaru |
| Current: | 2024 Ehime FC season |
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commonly known as Ehime FC (愛媛FC, Ehime Efu Shī) is a professional football club based in Matsuyama, the capital city of Ehime Prefecture of Japan. The club currently compete in J2 League, the second tier of Japanese professional football. They returned to J2 League in 2024, following promotion as third-tier league champions of 2023.
The club was founded in 1970 as Matsuyama Soccer Club and renamed itself as Ehime Football Club in 1995.[1] For many years it competed in the regional and prefectural league, as Matsuyama was represented in the Japan Soccer League by the local club belonging to the Teijin company.
Ehime F.C. was promoted to the Japan Football League in 2003. After winning the JFL in 2005 season, Ehime spent 16 seasons in the J2 League before being relegated to the J3 League at the end of the 2021 season.
On 28 November 2007, Ehime pulled off a major shock by consigning the Urawa Red Diamonds, the AFC Champions League 2007 winners, to a fourth-round exit from the Emperor's Cup courtesy of a 2–0 win on Urawa's home soil, Urawa Komaba Stadium.[2]
On 11 November 2023, after two years absence from Japanese second division, Ehime FC officially returned to J2 League for 2024 season.[3] They were promoted as J3 League champions of 2023 season with a narrow 1–0 win against their local rivals, FC Imabari on the matchweek 35, with Riki Matsuda scored the only goal of the match.[4] [5]
The club plays its home games at Ningineer Stadium in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture. The stadium, which is owned by Ehime Prefecture, has a capacity of 21,419 spectators. The sports facility is operated and managed by the Ehime Prefectural Sports Promotion Corporation as the designated manager.
| bgcolor=gold | Champions | bgcolor=silver | Runners-up | Third place | bgcolor=palegreen | Promoted | bgcolor=pink | Relegated |
| League | Emperor's Cup | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | P | W | D | L | G | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | |||
| 2006 | 13 | 9th | 48 | 14 | 11 | 23 | 51 | 63 | -13 | 53 | 4,139 | Not eligible | 4th round | ||
| 2007 | 13 | 10th | 48 | 12 | 9 | 27 | 39 | 66 | -27 | 45 | 3,317 | Quarter final | |||
| 2008 | 15 | 14th | 42 | 9 | 10 | 23 | 39 | 66 | -27 | 37 | 3,704 | 4th round | |||
| 2009 | 18 | 15th | 51 | 12 | 11 | 28 | 54 | 80 | -26 | 47 | 3,694 | 2nd round | |||
| 2010 | 19 | 11th | 36 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 48 | 4,386 | 2nd round | |||
| 2011 | 20 | 15th | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 44 | 54 | -10 | 44 | 3,475 | 4th round | |||
| 2012 | 22 | 16th | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 47 | 46 | 1 | 50 | 3,629 | 2nd round | |||
| 2013 | 22 | 17th | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 43 | 52 | -9 | 47 | 3,950 | 2nd round | |||
| 2014 | 22 | 19th | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 54 | 58 | -4 | 48 | 3,820 | 4th round | |||
| 2015 | 22 | 5th | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 47 | 39 | 8 | 65 | 3,771 | 3rd round | |||
| 2016 | 22 | 10th | 42 | 12 | 20 | 10 | 41 | 40 | 1 | 56 | 4,089 | 3rd round | |||
| 2017 | 22 | 15th | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 54 | 68 | -14 | 51 | 3,866 | 3rd round | |||
| 2018 | 22 | 18th | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 34 | 52 | -18 | 48 | 3,161 | 2nd round | |||
| 2019 | 22 | 19th | 42 | 12 | 6 | 24 | 46 | 62 | -16 | 42 | 3,780 | 2nd round | |||
| 2020 † | 22 | 21st | 42 | 8 | 10 | 24 | 38 | 68 | -30 | 34 | 1,512 | Did not qualify | |||
| 2021 † | 22 | 20th | 42 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 38 | 67 | -29 | 35 | 1,854 | 1st round | |||
| 2022 | 18 | 7th | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 51 | 41 | 10 | 52 | 2,938 | Did not qualify | |||
| 2023 | 20 | bgcolor=gold | 1st | 38 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 59 | 48 | 11 | 73 | 3,674 | |||
| 2024 | J2 | 20 | 17th | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 41 | 69 | -28 | 40 | 4,721 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2025 | 20 | TBA | 38 | ||||||||||||
| No. | scope=col | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In chronological order--> | scope=row | Shikoku Football League | 3 | 1998, 1999, 2000 |
| scope=row | Japan Football League | 1 | 2005 | |
| scope=row | J3 League | 1 | 2023 | |
| Position[7] | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | Kiyotaka Ishimaru |
| Assistant managers | Shinya Aono Kazuhisa Kawahara On Byung-hoon |
| Goalkeeper coach | Keisuke Hada |
| Physical coach | Takehisa Tsugawa |
| Analytical coach | Toya Takemoto |
| Interpreter | Yohei Murayama |
| Chief trainer | Haruhiko Tsukada |
| Trainer | Yukinari Miyamoto Hiroki Hongo |
| Chief doctor | Kazuki Morizane |
| Doctor | Takashi Inoue Yoshito Homma Shinji Iwata Tomofumi Kinoshita |
| Competent | Hideki Ikenaga |
| Side affairs | Manato Fujitsu Taichi Zen |
| Mental advisor | Konomi Kimura |
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure < | --!colspan="5" | Managerial Record--> | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | P | W | D | L | W %--> |
| 1 February 2001 | 31 January 2005 | --> | ||||
| 1 February 2005 | 14 September 2009 | --> | ||||
| 15 September 2009 | 15 November 2012 | --> | ||||
| 1 February 2013 | 31 January 2015 | --> | ||||
| 1 February 2015 | 31 January 2017 | --> | ||||
| 1 February 2017 | 15 May 2018 | --> | ||||
| 15 May 2018 | 31 January 2021 | --> | ||||
| 1 February 2021 | 4 April 2021[8] | --> | ||||
| 7 April 2021 | 16 December 2021[9] | --> | ||||
| 17 December 2021 [10] | --> | |||||