is a Japanese professional association football club based in Tendō, Yamagata in the Yamagata Prefecture. The club currently plays in J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football.
History The club based in Tsuruoka was founded in 1984 as NEC Yamagata Soccer Club. It gained the promotion to the Japan Football League (former) in 1994. After renaming itself as Montedio Yamagata in 1996, it has been playing in J. League Division 2 since its inaugural 1999 season.
On 30 November 2008, they were promoted to J. League Division 1 for the first time. They achieved their highest league placing of 13th in 2010. However, in 2011, two strong loan players from Kashima Antlers were recalled. This weakened the squad which also suffered many injuries through the year and Montedio were relegated back to J.League Division 2 at the end of 2011. At the end of the season, the manager, Shinji Kobayashi, stepped down even though many fans praised his accomplishments over the past 4 years.
Yamagata returned to the J1 after spending three seasons in the J2 by winning the J1/J2 promotion playoff final in 2014. They returned to the J2 for the 2016 season, having spent only one season at the J1. The club is currently playing their 10th consecutive season in the J2 in 2025.
Team image
Name origin Montedio is a coined word combining the Italian word for "mountain" (Monte) and the word for "God" (Dio).
Rivalries
Ōu Honsen (Dewa derby)
NEC Yamagata and TDK first met in 1990 in old Tohoku regional football league. The two clubs have been based in former Dewa Province, and their rivalry is renamed as Ōu Honsen (奥羽本戦) after the Japan Railways Ōu Main Line (奥羽本線) in 2021.
Battle of Ōshū
Stadium
Since joining the J.League, Montedio has been using the ND Soft Stadium Yamagata as their home stadium.
The new stadium, with a planned capacity of 21,292 spectators—similar to the current ND Stadium—will feature stands designed for cold regions and a full roof for spectators, in line with the J.League club license. Tendo Mayor Shinji Yamamoto has expressed plans to secure a new parking lot to replace the current one, which will serve as the construction site. Yamagata Prefecture Governor Mieko Yoshimura stated that the prefecture intends to cooperate with land use based on the mayor's plans.
Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors
Kit evolution Home Kit 1st
Away Kit 2nd Other Kits - 3rd
Players
First-team squad .
Out on loan
Management and staff Club officials for 2025 season Position NameManager Akinobu YokouchiCoach Jin Sato Ken Iwase Keisuke Kaizaki Ren YumitaniGoalkeeper coach Yusaburo MatsuokaPhysical coach Kenta HamabeAnalyst Daito Kai Hinata SakaguchiTrainer Tsukasa Sato Hiraku Toguri So Adachi Daigo ShigeokaTeam operations coordinator Masahiro SasakiGeneral affairs Takuya Fukai Takaaki SakaiInterpreters Yuki Masuda Kei Yoshida
Honours +Montedio Yamagata honoursHonour No. YearsYamagata Prefecture League11989Tohoku Soccer League41990, 1991, 1992, 1993
Managerial history Manager TenureStart Finish Shoichi Kato 1984 1989 Masanobu Tashiro 1990 1993 Naoki Sugisawa 1994 Nobuhiro Ishizaki 1 February 1995 31 January 1999 Shigeharu Ueki 1 February 1999 31 January 2001 Kōichi Hashiratani 1 January 2001 31 December 2003 Jun Suzuki 1 February 2004 31 January 2006 Yasuhiro Higuchi 1 February 2006 31 January 2008 Shinji Kobayashi 1 February 2008 31 January 2012 Ryōsuke Okuno 1 February 2012 31 January 2014 Nobuhiro Ishizaki (2) 1 February 2014 31 January 2017 Takashi Kiyama 1 February 2017 31 January 2020 Kiyotaka Ishimaru 1 February 2020 21 April 2021 Jin Satō 22 April 2021 29 April 2021 Peter Cklamovski 30 April 2021 4 April 2023 Susumu Watanabe 4 April 2023 18 June 2025 Jin Satō (Interim)18 June 2025 25 June 2025 Akinobu Yokouchi 25 June 2025 Current
General managers Shigetoshi Nakaigawa – 1986–1997, 2007–2019
Season by season record ChampionsRunners-upThird placePromotedRelegated League J.LeagueCup Emperor'sCupSeason DivisionTeamsAttendance/G1999 J210 7th 36 15 4 17 48 2,980 1st round Quarter-finals200011 10th 40 11 2 27 33 3,468 1st round 2nd round200112 3rd 44 27 6 14 80 4,391 1st round 3rd round200212 11th 44 6 17 21 35 3,755 Not eligible 1st round200312 8th 44 15 10 19 55 4,370 3rd round200412 4th 44 19 14 11 71 6,420 4th round200512 5th 44 16 16 12 64 5,949 4th round200613 8th 48 17 14 17 65 5,085 4th round200713 9th 48 15 13 20 58 4,243 4th round200815 2nd 42 239 10 78 6,273 4th round2009 J1 18 15th 34 10 9 15 39 12,056 Group stage 3rd round201018 13th 34 11 9 14 42 11,710 Group stage Quarter finals201118 18th 34 5 23 6 21 9,325 1st round 3rd round2012J2 22 10th 42 16 13 13 61 7,355 Not eligible 3rd round201322 10th42 16 15 11 59 7,020 4th round201422 6th 42 18 14 10 64 6,348 Runners up2015 J1 18 18th 34 4 18 12 24 10,005 Group stage 4th round2016J2 22 14th 42 11 17 14 47 6,254 Not eligible 3rd round201722 11th 42 14 11 17 59 6,582 3rd round201822 12th 42 14 14 14 56 6,766 Semi-finals201922 6th 42 20 12 10 70 8,289 2nd round2020 †22 7th 42 17 14 11 62 2,944 Did not qualify2021 †22 7th 42 20 8 14 68 5,082 2nd round202222 6th 42 17 13 12 64 6,451 2nd round202322 5th 42 21 4 17 67 8,318 3rd round202420 4th 38 20 6 12 66 10,264 1st round 3rd round202520 10th 38 15 8 15 53 11,067 2nd round 4th round202610 TBD 18 N/A N/A2026-2720 TBD 38 TBD TBD Key
References
External links
Montedio Squad