| Clubname: | Kyoto Sanga 京都サンガ |
| Upright: | 0.6 |
| Fullname: | Kyoto Sanga Football Club |
| Nickname: | Purple Sanga |
| Founded: | , as Kyoto Shiko Club (京都紫光クラブ) |
| Ground: | Sanga Stadium by Kyocera Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan |
| Capacity: | 21,600 |
| Owner: | Kyoto Purple Sanga Co., Ltd. |
| Chairman: | Masaaki Ito |
| Manager: | Cho Kwi-jae |
| Position: | J1 League, 13th of 18 |
| Website: | http://www.sanga-fc.jp/english/ |
| Pattern La1: | _Kyoto Sanga F.C. 2024 HOME FP |
| Pattern B1: | _Kyoto Sanga F.C. 2024 HOME FP |
| Pattern Ra1: | _Kyoto Sanga F.C. 2024 HOME FP |
| Pattern Sh1: | _Kyoto Sanga F.C. 2023 HOME FP2 |
| Pattern So1: | _Kyoto Sanga F.C. 2023 HOME FP |
| Leftarm1: | 800080 |
| Body1: | 800080 |
| Rightarm1: | 800080 |
| Shorts1: | 000000 |
| Socks1: | 000000 |
| Pattern La2: | _Kyoto Sanga F.C. 2024 AWAY FP |
| Pattern B2: | _Kyoto Sanga F.C. 2024 AWAY FP |
| Pattern Ra2: | _Kyoto Sanga F.C. 2024 AWAY FP |
| Pattern Sh2: | _Kyoto Sanga F.C. 2024 AWAY FP |
| Pattern So2: | _Kyoto Sanga F.C. 2024 AWAY FP |
| Leftarm2: | FFFFFF |
| Body2: | FFFFFF |
| Rightarm2: | FFFFFF |
| Shorts2: | FFFFFF |
| Socks2: | FFFFFF |
| Current: | Kyoto Sanga FC season |
| Kyoto Purple Sanga Co., Ltd. | |
| Type: | Public |
| Industry: | Sports |
| Founded: | in Kyoto, Japan[1] |
| Founders: | --> |
| Areas Served: | --> |
| Products: | Football club |
| Owners: | Kyocera (55.4%)[2] Nintendo (16.6%) |
is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. The club plays in the J1 League, the top tier of football in the country. Its name "Sanga" comes from the Sanskrit word sangha, a term meaning "group" or "club" and often used to denote the Buddhist priesthood, associating the club with Kyoto's many Buddhist temples.[3]
The club was formerly known as Kyoto Purple Sanga with "purple", the colour of the team uniforms, an imperial colour reflecting Kyoto's status as Japan's ancient imperial capital city. It was decided that, from 2007, the team will simply be known as "Kyoto Sanga". They are the oldest club competing in the J.League.
Kyoto Sanga have won two J2 League titles and one Emperor's Cup.
The club was started as Kyoto Shiko Club, one of the few proper Japanese football clubs in the sense of being strictly dedicated to football and not being part of a company. Like Ventforet Kofu, it could not rise to a Japan Soccer League First Division dominated by company teams; in 1993, after the J.League was created, Kyoto Shiko Club, aided by funds from local new sponsors Kyocera and Nintendo, professionalized (though some players broke away and formed their own clubs, see below) and joined the former Japan Football League under the new name Kyoto Purple Sanga.
First joining the J.League in 1996, Kyoto Purple Sanga hold the dubious distinction of being the League's most relegated side, having been demoted on three separate occasions. Relegation to J2 League occurred at the end of the 2000, 2003 and 2006 seasons; more than any other team. The 2003 relegation happened despite having many national team players such as Park Ji-sung and Daisuke Matsui on its roster, and they eventually left for European clubs.
In December 2007, the club gained J1 League status for the fourth time in their history via the promotion/relegation playoff and therefore shorten its club name to Kyoto Sanga.[4] A 0–2 home defeat to Urawa Reds on 14 November 2010 confirmed Sanga's relegation back to J2, bringing an end to their three-season spell in the top flight.[5]
In the 2021 season, Kyoto Sanga returned to J1 League after an 11-year absence and finished as runner-up. In 2022, Kyoto Sanga remained in J1 League after draw 1–1 against Roasso Kumamoto in Promotion Relegation play-offs.
Kyoto Sanga is considered the main continuation of the Kyoto Shiko Club that competed in the Japan Soccer League Second Division. "Shiko" (紫光) means "brilliant purple" and is the colour that Shiko/Sanga have always worn.
Kyoto Sanga played most of their home match at the Takebishi Stadium Kyoto since their interception. The stadium holds up to 20,588 capacity and was built in 1942. In 2019, Kyoto Sanga announced plans to move to Sanga Stadium by Kyocera, a new, football-specific stadium being built in Kameoka, in time for the 2020 season .
On 11 January 2020, Kyoto Sanga moved to their new stadium, the Sanga Stadium by Kyocera which is the first professional football-specific stadium in Kyoto. The naming rights were purchased by ceramic company Kyocera having signed a 20-years deal worth ¥2 billion.
For the 2024 season.
| Position | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| Manager |  Cho Kwi-jae | |
| First-team coach |  Ryuji Ishikawa Koichi Sugiyama Naomichi Wakamiya Shuto Wakui | |
| Goalkeeping coach | Yasuhiro Tominaga | |
| Physical coach | Hirokazu Nishigata | |
| Chief Trainer | Minoru Kimoto | |
| Trainer | Yoshiaki Shirai Masaki Dozono Takuya Kawada | |
| Interpreter | Taketo Okamoto Hiroki Kimura | |
| Competent | Naoya Omae | |
| Side Affairs | Ryusei Ishikura | |
| Kit man | Noriyuki Matsuura |
| No. ! | scope=col | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In chronological order--> | scope=row | Kansai Soccer League | 4 | 1969, 1971, 1979, 1988 |
| scope=row | All Japan Senior Football Championship | 1 | 1988 | |
| scope=row | J2 League | 2 | 2001, 2005 | |
| scope=row | Emperor's Cup | 1 | 2002 | |
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure< | --!colspan="5" | Managerial Record--> | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | --> | |||
| 1 January 1983 | 30 June 1990 | --> | |||
| 1 February 1994 | 31 January 1995 | --> | |||
| 1 February 1995 | 10 June 1996 | --> | |||
| 11 June 1996 | 31 January 1997 | --> | |||
| 1 January 1997 | 31 December 1997 | --> | |||
| 1 February 1998 | 1 June 1998 | --> | |||
| 2 June 1998 | 30 June 1999 | --> | |||
| 1 July 1999 | 31 May 2000 | --> | |||
| 1 June 2000 | 31 May 2003 | --> | |||
| 1 June 2003 | 30 June 2003 | --> | |||
| 1 July 2003 | 31 December 2003 | --> | |||
| 1 February 2004 | 13 June 2004 | --> | |||
| 14 June 2004 | 4 October 2006 | --> | |||
| 5 October 2006 | 11 October 2007 | --> | |||
| 12 October 2007 | 27 July 2010 | --> | |||
| 27 July 2010 | 31 January 2011 | --> | |||
| 1 February 2011 | 31 January 2014 | --> | |||
| 1 January 2014 | 18 June 2014 | --> | |||
| 29 June 2014 | 31 January 2015 | --> | |||
| 1 February 2015 | 10 July 2015 | --> | |||
| 11 July 2015 | 6 December 2016 | --> | |||
| 1 January 2017 | 10 May 2018 | --> | |||
| 11 May 2018 | 31 January 2019 | --> | |||
| 1 February 2019 | 31 January 2020 | --> | |||
| 1 February 2020 | 31 January 2021 | --> | |||
| 1 February 2021 | Current | --> | |||
| bgcolor=gold | Champions | bgcolor=silver | Runners-up | Third place | bgcolor=palegreen | Promoted | bgcolor=pink | Relegated |
| Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | P | W (OTW / PKW) | D | L (OTL / PKL) | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | Emperor's Cup | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyoto Purple Sanga | ||||||||||||||
| 1996 | J1 | 16 | 16th | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 22 | 54 | -32 | 24 | 9,404 | Group stage | Quarter-finals |
| 1997 | 17 | 14th | 32 | 9 (0 / 0) | - | 18 (3 / 2) | 40 | 70 | -30 | 27 | 7,881 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 1998 | 18 | 13th | 34 | 10 (4 / 1) | - | 16 (3 / 0) | 47 | 63 | -16 | 39 | 8,015 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 1999 | 16 | 12th | 30 | 9 (2) | 0 | 15 (4) | 38 | 58 | -20 | 31 | 8,859 | 2nd round | Round of 16 | |
| 2000 | 16 | 15th | 30 | 7 (1) | 2 | 15 (5) | 39 | 66 | -27 | 25 | 7,253 | Semi-finals | 3rd round | |
| 2001 | J2 | 12 | 1st | 44 | 23 (5) | 5 | 11 (0) | 79 | 48 | 31 | 84 | 3,808 | 1st round | Round of 16 |
| 2002 | J1 | 16 | 5th | 30 | 11 (6) | 1 | 12 | 44 | 42 | 2 | 46 | 10,352 | Group stage | Winner |
| 2003 | 16 | 16th | 30 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 28 | 60 | -32 | 23 | 10,850 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 2004 | J2 | 12 | 5th | 44 | 19 | 12 | 13 | 65 | 53 | 12 | 69 | 7,807 | Not eligible | 4th round |
| 2005 | 12 | 1st | 44 | 30 | 7 | 7 | 89 | 40 | 49 | 97 | 7,857 | 4th round | ||
| 2006 | J1 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 38 | 74 | -36 | 22 | 9,781 | Group stage | 4th round |
| Kyoto Sanga | ||||||||||||||
| 2007 | J2 | 13 | 3rd | 48 | 24 | 14 | 10 | 80 | 59 | 21 | 86 | 6,629 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2008 | J1 | 18 | 14th | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 37 | 46 | -9 | 41 | 13,687 | Group stage | Round of 16 |
| 2009 | 18 | 12th | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 35 | 47 | -12 | 41 | 11,126 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 2010 | 18 | 17th | 34 | 4 | 7 | 23 | 30 | 60 | -30 | 19 | 10,510 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 2011 | J2 | 20 | 7th | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 50 | 45 | 5 | 58 | 6,294 | Not eligible | Runners-up |
| 2012 | 22 | 3rd | 42 | 23 | 5 | 14 | 61 | 45 | 16 | 74 | 7,273 | 3rd round | ||
| 2013 | 22 | 3rd | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 68 | 46 | 22 | 70 | 7,891 | 3rd round | ||
| 2014 | 22 | 9th | 42 | 14 | 18 | 10 | 57 | 52 | 5 | 60 | 7,520 | 3rd round | ||
| 2015 | 22 | 17th | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 45 | 51 | -6 | 50 | 7,491 | 3rd round | ||
| 2016 | 22 | 5th | 42 | 18 | 15 | 9 | 50 | 37 | 13 | 69 | 6,524 | 2nd round | ||
| 2017 | 22 | 12th | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 55 | 47 | 8 | 57 | 6,748 | 2nd round | ||
| 2018 | 22 | 19th | 42 | 12 | 7 | 23 | 40 | 58 | -18 | 43 | 5,663 | 3rd round | ||
| 2019 | 22 | 8th | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 59 | 56 | 3 | 68 | 7,850 | 2nd round | ||
| 2020 † | 22 | 8th | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 47 | 45 | 2 | 59 | 2,924 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2021 † | 22 | 2nd | 42 | 24 | 12 | 6 | 59 | 31 | 28 | 84 | 5,207 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2022 | J1 | 18 | 16th | 34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 30 | 38 | -8 | 36 | 11,692 | Semi-finals | |
| 2023 | 18 | 13th | 34 | 12 | 4 | 18 | 40 | 45 | -5 | 40 | 12,141 | 2nd round | ||
| 2024 | 20 | TBA | 38 | |||||||||||
1966–1971 (as Kyoto Shiko Club)
(As of 2023): 13 seasons in the top tier, 28 seasons in the second tier, 1 season in the third tier and 16 seasons in the Regional Leagues.