| Clubname: | Cerezo Osaka セレッソ大阪 |
| Fullname: | Cerezo Osaka |
| Nickname: | Sakura (cherry blossoms) |
| Founded: | as Yanmar Diesel SC |
| Stadium: | Yodoko Sakura Stadium |
| Capacity: | 24,481 |
| Owner: | Yanmar |
| Chairman: | Hiroaki Morishima |
| Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
| Manager: | Akio Kogiku |
| Website: | http://www.cerezo.co.jp/ |
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| Current: | Cerezo Osaka season |
is a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name Cerezo (Spanish for cherry blossom) is also the flower of the city of Osaka.[1] The official hometowns of the club are Osaka and Sakai. They form a local rivalry with Suita-based Gamba Osaka.
The club, originally called Yanmar Diesel, started in 1957 as the company team of Yanmar and was an original founder ("Original Eight") of the now-disbanded Japan Soccer League (JSL) in 1965. With four Japanese league titles to its credit, it was a mainstay of the JSL Division 1 until 1990 when it was first relegated, and joined the former Japan Football League (JFL) in 1992.
In 1993, the club incorporated as Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. and adopted the name Cerezo Osaka after a public contest.[2] In 1994, they won the Japan Football League championship and was promoted to the J1 League in 1995. This also coincided with a run to the finals of the Emperor's Cup, which they lost to Bellmare Hiratsuka.
Cerezo has been relegated from J1 to J2 on three occasions, but are currently playing in the J1 league. The club had an impressive third-place finish in the 2017 season.
On 4 November 2017, Cerezo won the 2017 J.League Cup, the first major title in their club history, defeating Kawasaki Frontale 2–0.
On 1 January 2018, Cerezo won the 2017 Emperor's Cup, securing their second major title. The final match was against Yokohama F. Marinos, where Cerezo won 2–1 in extra time with Kota Mizunuma scoring the winner.
On 10 February 2018, Cerezo won the 2018 Japanese Super Cup winning 3–2 against Kawasaki Frontale.
In May 2018, the club changed its incorporated name from Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. to Cerezo Osaka Co., Ltd.
In 2022, the club got close to winning the J.League Cup for their second title, but blew a 1–0 lead to Sanfrecce Hiroshima in injury time after Hiroshima player Pieros Sotiriou scored two goals in the 96th and 101st minutes of the match to give the opponent the J.League Cup.
On 1 February 2023, Cerezo signed former Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United player, Shinji Kagawa on a two-years contract.
The hometowns of the club are Osaka and Sakai. The club plays at the Yodoko Sakura Stadium, with some bigger matches played at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai.[3]
The club practices at Minami Tsumori Sakura Sports Park, Maishima Sports Island, and Amagasaki Yanmar Diesel Ground.
The club's mascots are a wolf named Lobby (from Spanish lobo, meaning wolf) and Madame Lobina, Lobby's mother.[4] On February 22, 2020, host and TV personality Roland was appointed Cerezo's "Official CereMan".[5]
Cerezo's biggest rival is fellow Osaka club Gamba Osaka. The matches played between Cerezo and Gamba are referred to as the Osaka derby.
Cerezo's club colour is pink, like the cherry blossoms that the club's name is based on. Combination colours have been navy blue and black. This year, the uniform colour is pink (home) and white (away) for the outfield players and black (home), pink (away) and green for the goalkeepers.
During the Yanmar Diesel days in the late 1970s to mid-1980s, the uniform was all-red reminiscent of Deportivo Toluca.
| Season(s) | Main Shirt Sponsor | Collarbone Sponsor(s) | Additional Sponsor(s) | Kit Manufacturer | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | rowspan="3" | - | rowspan="3" | - | Kincho | Nakabayashi | rowspan="2" | - | Puma | |||
| 2019 | Sharp | |||||||||||
| 2020 | - / Danish | |||||||||||
| 2021 | Yodogawa Steel Works | - | ||||||||||
| 2022 | Yodogawa Steel Works | Nikkon Holdings | - / Capcom | |||||||||
| 2023 | Capcom | rowspan="2" | - | |||||||||
| 2024 | ||||||||||||
| bgcolor=gold | Champions | bgcolor=silver | Runners-up | Third place | bgcolor=palegreen | Promoted | bgcolor=pink | Relegated |
| League | ACL | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | P | W(OTW/PKW) | D | L(OTL/PKL) | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | ||||
| 1995 | J1 | 14 | 8th | 52 | 25(0/0) | - | 11(0/2) | 43 | 44 | -1 | 41 | 12,097 | – | 2nd round | – | |
| 1996 | 16 | 13th | 30 | 10 | - | 20 | 38 | 56 | -18 | 30 | 8,229 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |||
| 1997 | 17 | 11th | 32 | 13(1/2) | - | 10(5/1) | 53 | 56 | -3 | 43 | 9,153 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |||
| 1998 | 18 | 9th | 34 | 14(1/0) | - | 17(1/1) | 56 | 79 | -23 | 44 | 9,864 | Group stage | 3rd round | |||
| 1999 | 16 | 6th | 30 | 15(4/0) | - | 10(1/0) | 64 | 45 | 19 | 53 | 10,216 | 2nd round | Round of 16 | |||
| 2000 | 16 | 5th | 30 | 14(3/0) | - | 11(2/0) | 54 | 49 | 5 | 48 | 13,548 | 2nd round | Quarter-finals | |||
| 2001 | 16 | bgcolor=pink | 16th | 30 | 5(3/0) | 2 | 18(0/0) | 41 | 70 | -29 | 21 | 11,857 | 1st round | bgcolor=silver | Runners-up | |
| 2002 | J2 | 12 | bgcolor=palegreen | 2nd | 44 | 25 | 12 | 7 | 93 | 53 | 40 | 87 | 7,952 | Not eligible | Round of 16 | |
| 2003 | J1 | 16 | 9th | 30 | 12 | 4 | 14 | 55 | 56 | -1 | 40 | 13,854 | Group stage | bgcolor=silver | Runners-up | |
| 2004 | 16 | 15th | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 42 | 64 | -22 ||26 ||14,323 ||Group stage ||4th round |-|2005|18 ||5th ||34 ||16 ||11 ||7 ||48 ||40 ||8 ||59 ||17,648 ||Quarter-finals ||Semi-finals|-|2006|18 ||bgcolor=pink|17th ||34 ||6 ||9 ||19 ||44 ||70 ||-26 ||27 ||13,026 ||Quarter-finals ||4th round |-|2007|rowspan="3"|J2 ||13 ||5th ||48 ||24 ||8 ||16 ||72 ||55 ||17 ||80 ||6,627 || rowspan="3" |Not eligible ||4th round |-|2008|15 ||4th ||42 ||21 ||6 ||15 ||81 ||60 ||21 ||69 ||10,554 ||4th round |-|2009|18 ||bgcolor=palegreen|2nd ||51 ||31 ||11 ||9 ||100 ||53 ||47 ||104 ||9,912 ||2nd round |-|2010|rowspan="5"|J1 ||18 ||bgcolor=ff6600|3rd ||34 ||17 ||10 ||7 ||51 ||31 ||20 ||61 ||15,026 ||Group stage ||Round of 16|-|2011|18 ||12th ||34 ||11 ||10 ||13 ||67 ||53 ||14 ||43 ||14,145 ||Quarter final ||Semi-finals ||Quarter-finals|-|2012|18 ||14th ||34 ||11 ||9 ||14 ||47 ||53 ||-6 ||42 ||16,815 ||Quarter-finals ||Quarter-finals ||rowspan="2"|–|-|2013|18 ||4th ||34 ||16 ||11 ||7 ||53 ||32 ||21 ||59 ||18,819 ||Quarter-finals ||Round of 16|-|2014|18 ||bgcolor=pink|17th ||34 ||7 ||10 ||17 ||36 ||48 ||-12 | 31 | 21,627 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Round of 16 | ||
| 2015 | J2 | 22 | 4th | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 57 | 40 | 17 | 67 | 12,232 | Not eligible | 1st round | – | |
| 2016 | 22 | bgcolor=palegreen | 4th | 42 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 62 | 46 | 16 | 78 | 12,509 | 3rd round | |||
| 2017 | J1 | 18 | 3rd | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 64 | 43 | 22 | 63 | 20,970 | bgcolor=gold | Winner | bgcolor=gold | Winner |
| 2018 | 18 | 7th | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 39 | 38 | 1 | 50 | 18,542 | Quarter final | Round of 16 | Group stage | ||
| 2019 | 18 | 5th | 34 | 18 | 5 | 11 | 39 | 29 | 14 | 59 | 21,518 | Play-offs | Round of 16 | – | ||
| 2020 † | 18 | 4th | 34 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 46 | 37 | 9 | 60 | 7,014 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2021 † | 20 | 12th | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 47 | 51 | -4 | 48 | 5,351 | Round of 16 | ||||
| 2022 | 18 | 5th | 34 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 46 | 40 | 6 | 51 | 11,427 | – | ||||
| 2023 | 18 | 9th | 34 | 15 | 4 | 15 | 39 | 34 | 5 | 49 | 17,074 | Round of 16 | ||||
| 2024 | 20 | TBA | 38 | |||||||||||||
As both Yanmar Diesel (1957–1993) and Cerezo Osaka (1993–present)
| No. ! | scope=col | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In chronological order--> | scope=row | Emperor's Cup | 4 | 1968, 1970, 1974, 2017 |
| scope=row | Japan Soccer League Division 1 | 4 | 1971, 1974, 1975, 1980 | |
| scope=row | Japan Soccer League Cup | 3 | 1973 (shared), 1983, 1984 | |
| scope=row | Queen's Cup | 1 | 1976 | |
| scope=row | All Japan Senior Football Championship | 1 | 1976 | |
| scope=row | Japan Football League | 1 | 1994 | |
| scope=row | J.League Cup | 1 | 2017 | |
| scope=row | Japanese Super Cup | 1 | 2018 |
1995–2001
2002
2003–2006
2007–2009
2010–2014
2015–2016
2017–present
| Position | Staff | |
|---|---|---|
| Head coach |  Akio Kogiku | |
| Assistant head coach | Daisuke Takahashi | |
| First team coach |  Bruno Quadros Kota Fujimoto | |
| Analytical coach | Yamato Saino | |
| Goalkeeping coach | Nobuhiro Takeda | |
| Physical coach | Sho Watanabe Atsuhiro Furuta | |
| Performance coach | Yusuke Fukuhara | |
| Physiotherapist | Atsushi Kitaura Akihiro Sasaki | |
| Trainer | Koji Hanaki Haruki Wada | |
| Interpreter | Jackson Yozen Tonaki Kento Koike Takanori Shirasawa | |
| Chief manager | Atsushi Imanishi | |
| Manager | Shoki Kokawa  Lee Sung-in | |
| Kitman | Tomoharu Nagahisa |
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure< | --!colspan="5" | Managerial Record--> | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | P | W | D | L | W %--> |
| 1 January 1994 | 31 December 1995 | --> | ||||
| 1 January 1996 | 31 December 1996 | --> | ||||
| 1 February 1997 | 31 December 1997 | --> | ||||
| 1 January 1998 | 31 December 1999 | --> | ||||
| 1 February 1999 | 31 January 2000 | --> | ||||
| 1 February 2000 | 19 August 2001 | --> | ||||
| 20 August 2001 | 4 November 2001 | --> | ||||
| 5 November 2001 | 6 October 2003 | --> | ||||
| 7 October 2003 | 1 January 2004 | --> | ||||
| 2 January 2004 | 1 February 2004 | --> | ||||
| 1 February 2004 | 22 March 2004 | --> | ||||
| 23 March 2004 | 28 June 2004 | --> | ||||
| 1 July 2004 | 17 April 2006 | --> | ||||
| 18 April 2006 | 31 December 2006 | --> | ||||
| 1 January 2007 | 7 May 2007 | --> | ||||
| 8 May 2007 | 31 December 2011 | --> | ||||
| 1 January 2012 | 26 August 2012 | --> | ||||
| 27 August 2012 | 11 December 2013 | --> | ||||
| 1 January 2014 | 9 June 2014 | --> | ||||
| 16 June 2014 | 8 September 2014 | --> | ||||
| 8 September 2014 | 16 December 2014 | --> | ||||
| 1 January 2015 | 17 November 2015 | --> | ||||
| 17 November 2015 | 31 January 2017 | --> | ||||
| 1 February 2017 | 31 December 2018 | --> | ||||
| 1 February 2019 | 31 January 2021 | --> | ||||
| 1 February 2021 | 26 August 2021 | --> | ||||
| 26 August 2021 | present | --> | ||||
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | AFC Champions League | Group G |  Arema FC Malang | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2nd |
 Shandong Luneng Taishan | 4–0 | 0–2 | ||||
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 1–0 | 0–1 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Gamba Osaka | 1–0 | ||||
| Quarter-finals | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 4–3 | 1–6 | 5–9 | ||
| 2014 | Group F | Pohang Steelers | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2nd | |
| Shandong Taishan | 1–3 | 2–1 | ||||
 Buriram United | 4–0 | 2–2 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Guangzhou | 1–5 | 1–0 | 2–5 | ||
| 2018 | Group G | Jeju United | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3rd | |
| Guangzhou | 0–0 | 1–3 | ||||
| Buriram United | 2–2 | 0–2 | ||||
| 2021 | Play-off round |  Melbourne City | colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | |||
| Group J | Guangzhou | 5–0 | 2–0 | 1st | ||
 Kitchee | 2–1 | 0–0 | ||||
| Port | 1–1 | 3–0 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Pohang Steelers | 0–1 | ||||
In the popular Captain Tsubasa manga, a character named Teppei Kisugi becomes a professional football player and joins Cerezo Osaka.