| Clubname: | Vissel Kobe ヴィッセル神戸 |
| Fullname: | Vissel Kobe |
| Nickname: | Ushi (cows) |
| Founded: | (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 |
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| Current: | Vissel Kobe season |
is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. They are currently the J1 League champions. The club's home stadium is Noevir Stadium Kobe, in Hyōgo-ku, though some home matches are played at Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium in Suma-ku.
The club was founded in 1966 as the semi-professional Kawasaki Steel Soccer Club in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture.[3] It was first promoted to the Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1986, and stayed there until the JSL folded in 1992. As their performance in the old second tier had been in the bottom nine clubs, they were put into the Japan Football League Division 2 (new third tier overall in the Japanese 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 with Kawasaki Steel, the parent company, to move the club to Kobe and compete for a spot in the professional J.League as Vissel Kobe. Vissel is a combination of the words "victory" and "vessel", in recognition of Kobe's history as a port city. (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 of JFE Holdings.)
Vissel Kobe began play in 1994 in the Japan Football League, a league below J.League, and the supermarket chain Daiei was slated as the club's primary investor. However, the economic downturn following the Great 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 for bankruptcy protection.
In January 2004, Vissel was sold to Crimson Group, parent company of online merchant Rakuten, whose president is Kobe native Hiroshi Mikitani. Vissel's first signing under the Mikitani regime, İlhan Mansız, who was acquired partly to capitalize on his popularity during the 2002 FIFA World Cup hosted in Korea and Japan, but the Turkish forward 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 to crimson, after his Crimson Group and the colour of his alma mater, Harvard Business School. The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, a baseball team also owned by Rakuten but based in Sendai and Rakuten Monkeys, a baseball team in Taoyuan, 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 beating Avispa Fukuoka in the promotion/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 behind Gamba 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]
In 2017, Vissel signed 2014 FIFA World Cup winner Lukas Podolski. He was the first prominent international player Vissel had been able to sign since Michael Laudrup in 1996. Shortly after, in May 2018, Vissel signed another World Cup winner, Andrés Iniesta, from FC Barcelona.[5] In December 2018 Vissel Kobe managed to sign also David Villa from New York City. The Spanish striker scored 13 goals in 28 games. Alongside Sergi Samper and Andrés Iniesta, Villa was the third Spaniard in the team in that season in which they guided Vissel Kobe to win the 2019 Emperor's Cup.
On 1 January 2020, first time finalist Vissel beat Kashima Antlers in the 2019 Emperor's Cup final at the recently opened New 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 striker David Villa's last professional match.[7] Vissel also qualified for the 2020 AFC Champions League for the first time. On 8 February 2020, Vissel beat Yokohama F. Marinos in which the scoreline was 3–3. Vissel Kobe eventually won 3-2 on penalties to win their first Japanese 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 which Keijiro 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 Korean Ulsan 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 the 2022 AFC Champions League yet again in which the club had another good run in the campaign before losing to Korean Jeonbuk 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 the 2023 J1 League champions for the first time in history, following a 2–1 win over Nagoya Grampus in the second last week of the season. Kobe thus became the first Japanese 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 old Japan 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 revamp 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite tournament.On 23 of November 2024, Vissel won the second Emperor's Cup of the club history, after a victory over they regional rivals Gamba Osaka in the Kansai Derby.
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 with the Sounders (who, at the time, were newly members of the second-division American 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 following the 1995 earthquake in Kobe. In 2025, on the thirtieth anniversary of the original partnership, Vissel and the Sounders (now a member of top-division Major 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, the Tacoma Defiance.[10]
Since 2003, the home stadium is Noevir Stadium Kobe.[11] The stadium has a capacity of 30,132.
Club officials for 2024. [14]
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Takayuki Yoshida |
| Assistant manager | Tomo Sugawara Kunie 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< | --!colspan="5" | Managerial Record--> | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | --> | |||
| 1 February 1995 | 31 January 1998 | --> | |||
| 1 February 1998 | 24 September 1998 | --> | |||
| 25 September 1998 | 31 January 1999 | --> | |||
| 1 February 1999 | 25 July 2002 | --> | |||
| 1 July 2002 | 31 January 2003 | --> | |||
| 1 February 2003 | 31 January 2004 | --> | |||
| 1 February 2004 | 30 September 2004 | --> | |||
| 1 October 2004 | 31 January 2005 | --> | |||
| 1 February 2005 | 19 April 2005 | --> | |||
| 19 April 2005 | 14 June 2005 | --> | |||
| 15 June 2005 | 31 January 2006 | --> | |||
| 1 February 2006 | 4 September 2006 | --> | |||
| 5 September 2006 | 11 December 2008 | ||||
| Caio Júnior (interim) | 11 December 2008 | 30 June 2009 | --> | ||
| Masahiro Wada (interim) | 1 July 2009 | 5 August 2009 | --> | ||
| 5 August 2009 | 11 September 2010 | --> | |||
| 11 September 2010 | 30 April 2012 | --> | |||
| Ryo Adachi (interim) | 1 May 2012 | 21 May 2012 | --> | ||
| 22 May 2012 | 8 November 2012 | --> | |||
| Ryo Adachi (interim) | 9 November 2012 | 31 December 2012 | --> | ||
| 1 January 2013 | 31 January 2015 | --> | |||
| 1 February 2015 | 15 August 2017 | --> | |||
| 16 August 2017 | 16 September 2018 | --> | |||
| Kentaro Hayashi (interim) | 17 September 2017 | 3 October 2018 | --> | ||
| 4 October 2018 | 16 April 2019 | --> | |||
| 17 April 2019 | 8 June 2019 | --> | |||
| 9 June 2019 | 21 September 2020 | --> | |||
| 22 September 2020 | 23 September 2020 | --> | |||
| Atsuhiro Miura[15] | 24 September 2020 | 20 March 2022 | --> | ||
| Lluís Planagumà (interim) | 21 March 2022 | 7 April 2022 | --> | ||
| 8 April 2022 | 29 June 2022 | --> | |||
| 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.
| 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 (OTW / PKW) | D | L (OTL / PKL) | F | A | GD | Pts | 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 | Group stage | 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 | 16 | 12th | 30 | 8 (1) | 7 | 10 (4) | 41 | 52 | -11 | 33 | 13,872 | 2nd round | Round of 16 | |
| 2002 | 16 | 14th | 30 | 8 (2) | 3 | 17 | 33 | 44 | -11 | 31 | 10,467 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 2003 | 16 | 13th | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 35 | 63 | -28 | 30 | 11,195 | Group stage | Quarter-finals | |
| 2004 | 16 | 11th | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 50 | 55 | -5 | 36 | 15,735 | Group stage | 4th round | |
| 2005 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 4 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 67 | -37 | 21 | 14,913 | Group stage | 4th round | |
| 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 | 18 | 10th | 34 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 39 | 38 | 1 | 47 | 12,981 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 2009 | 18 | 14th | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 40 | 48 | -8 | 39 | 13,068 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 2010 | 18 | 15th | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 37 | 45 | -8 | 38 | 12,824 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 2011 | 18 | 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 | 2nd round | |
| 2015 | 18 | 12th | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 44 | 49 | -5 | 38 | 16,265 | Semi-finals | Quarter-finals | |
| 2016 | 18 | 7th | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 56 | 43 | 13 | 55 | 17,018 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2017 | 18 | 9th | 34 | 13 | 5 | 16 | 40 | 45 | -5 | 44 | 18,272 | Semi-finals | ||
| 2018 | 18 | 10th | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 45 | 52 | -7 | 45 | 21,450 | Play-off stage | Round of 16 | |
| 2019 | 18 | 8th | 34 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 61 | 59 | 2 | 47 | 21,491 | Group stage | Winners | |
| 2020 † | 18 | 14th | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 50 | 59 | -9 | 36 | 6,041 | 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 | ||
| 2023 | 18 | bgcolor=gold | 1st | 34 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 60 | 29 | 31 | 71 | 22,405 | Quarter-finals | |
| 2024 | 20 | bgcolor=gold | 1st | 38 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 61 | 36 | 25 | 72 | 21,811 | Winners | |
| 2025 | 20 | TBD | 38 | TBD | ||||||||||
| No. ! | scope=col | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In chronological order--> | scope=row | All Japan Senior Football Championship | 1 | 1976 |
| scope=row | Chūgoku Soccer League (as Kawasaki Steel Mizushima) | 5 | 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985 | |
| scope=row | Emperor's Cup | 2 | 2019, 2024 | |
| scope=row | Japanese Super Cup | 1 | 2020 | |
| scope=row | J1 League | 2 | 2023, 2024 |
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | AFC Champions League | Group G | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 1st | ||
 Suwon Samsung Bluewings | ||||||
 Guangzhou Evergrande | ||||||
| Round of 16 | Shanghai Port | |||||
| Quarter-finals | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | |||||
| Semi-finals | Ulsan Hyundai | |||||
| 2022 | AFC Champions League | Play-off round |  Melbourne Victory | |||
| Group J | Shanghai Port | |||||
 Kitchee | 1st | |||||
 Chiangrai United | ||||||
| Round of 16 | Yokohama F. Marinos | |||||
| Quarter-finals | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | |||||
| 2024–25 | AFC Champions League Elite | League stage | Buriram United | |||
| Shandong Taishan | ||||||
| Ulsan HD | ||||||
| Gwangju | ||||||
| Central Coast Mariners | ||||||
| Pohang Steelers | ||||||
| Shanghai Port | ||||||
| Shanghai Shenhua | ||||||