commonly known as is a Japanese professional football club based in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. They currently play in the Japan Football League, the country's 4th tier of semi-professional league football.

History The club was founded as Honda Motor, Honda works team in 1971. They were promoted to the Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1975 and to the JSL Division 1 in 1981. While still in Division 2, Honda was invited to a friendly match at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii against New York Cosmos (at the time featuring Brazilian legend Pelé as their top star) and lost 5–0.

The closest they came to the JSL title was in 1985–86 and 1990–91 seasons, when they finished in third place. In 1991 they also made the finals of both the Japan Soccer League Cup and Konica Cup, but lost both times. They also made the Emperor's Cup semi-finals in 1990 and 1991. They stayed in the top flight until the conclusion of the league in 1992.

In the early 1990s, the club considered the possibilities of turning professional and participating in J. League. They sought the merger with their sister club Honda Motor Sayama F.C. and Urawa was chosen as a possible hometown. However, they failed to persuade the owner Honda Motor who insisted they should abide by their principle to concentrate on their core business of automobile manufacturing.

As a result of this decision, many players left the club. They played in the newly formed Japan Football League Division 1 in 1992 and finished 9th out of 10. They were relegated to Division 2 where they won the championship in 1993. The 2 divisions of the JFL were merged in 1994 and the club joined the league.

In 1996, they won the championship in the JFL. Around that time, the club made the second effort to be a professional club. They acquired associate membership in J. League under new name Acute Hamamatsu but the inadequate stadium and insufficient local support (the closest professional club is Júbilo Iwata, formerly part of Yamaha Motor Corporation), forced them to give it up. Iwata was a common derby foe in the JSL and their fixtures were known as Tenryu-side Derby (天竜川決戦).

In 1999, the JFL was reorganised as the new JFL. They have been playing in the league since its inception.

J's Gatekeeper Honda F.C. does not aim to be promoted to the J. League due to the mandatory loss of corporate backing. They provide a hurdle for independent sides wishing to gain promotion, which requires teams to finish in the top two in the league. Honda perennially occupying one of these spots makes their challenge even more difficult. Supporters of these clubs have dubbed Honda F.C. as J's Gatekeeper (the Gatekeeper of J. League).

Honda F.C., having played in the old Japan Soccer League in the past but never contending for the title, has in 2007 given some J1 teams a run for their money in the Emperor's Cup, reaching the quarterfinals after disposing of former champions Kashiwa Reysol and top contenders Nagoya Grampus (their first quarterfinals since 1991). They were nevertheless defeated by J1 champions Kashima Antlers on 22 December. The 2008 cup did not go well for them, as they were eliminated by Sagan Tosu 4–0 in the third round, but they still won the JFL championship.

Stadium

The club's home arena is the Honda Miyakoda Soccer Stadium located in Hamana-ku, Hamamatsu. It is owned by Honda Motor Company. The stadium was redeveloped in 1996. This reconstruction included the building of a new mobile platform (1,000 seats) and corner floodlights. The stadium now holds 4,000 spectators.

League & cup record ChampionsRunners-upThird placePromotedRelegated League League Cup Emperor's CupSeason Division Tier Teams Pos. P W D L F A GD Pts1971Western Shizuoka 1st –Did not qualify1972Shizuoka 1st 1973Tōkai - 8 1st 14 12 1 1 48 13 35 25 3rd round1974101st 13 9 3 1 53 11 42 21 2nd round1975JSL Div.2 2 10 4th 18 10 2 6 33 29 4 22 Did not qualify197610 4th 18 6 9 3 25 17 8 21 Quarter final 1st round197710 7th 18 8 0 10 25 24 1 29 Semi final 2nd round197810 1st 18 14 0 4 39 9 30 57 Quarter final 2nd round197910 4th 18 11 0 7 31 25 6 44 2nd round 2nd round198010 1st18 13 2 3 43 17 26 28 2nd round 2nd round1981JSL Div.1 1 10 6th 18 5 4 9 23 28 -5 14 2nd round 2nd round198210 9th 18 4 6 8 17 29 -12 14 Quarter final 1st round198310 8th 18 4 6 8 17 23 -6 14 Quarter final Quarter final198410 5th 18 7 5 6 26 23 3 19 Semi final Quarter final1985–8612 3rd 22 8 12 2 30 20 10 28 Semi final 2nd round1986–8712 9th 22 6 8 8 20 24 -4 20 Semi final Quarter final1987–8812 8th 22 6 8 8 19 22 -3 20 Semi final Quarter final1988–8912 9th 22 7 6 9 20 23 -3 27 2nd round Quarter final1989–9012 6th 22 10 2 10 32 29 3 22 2nd round 2nd round1990–9112 3rd 22 10 8 4 29 21 8 38 Semi final Semi-final1991–9212 10th 22 5 8 9 18 25 -7 23 Final Semi-final1992JFL (former) Div.1210 9th 18 4 4 10 19 36 -17 16 Not eligible2nd round1993JFL (former) Div.23 10 1st 18 15 - 3 62 21 41 -Did not qualify1994JFL (former) 2 16 9th 30 12 - 18 49 62 -13 -199516 7th 30 16 - 14 58 42 16 49 1st round199616 1st 30 25 - 5 83 3 48 75 3rd round199716 4th 30 23 - 7 60 37 23 65 3rd round199816 5th 30 19 - 11 57 45 12 54 4th round1999JFL 3 9 2nd 24 18 1 5 69 34 35 50 3rd round200012 2nd 22 17 0 5 51 29 22 49 3rd round200116 1st 30 22 5 3 74 19 55 71 3rd round200218 1st 17 13 2 2 39 14 25 41 3rd round200316 2nd 30 21 4 5 73 30 43 67 3rd round200416 2nd 30 19 5 6 64 36 28 62 4th round200516 5th 30 17 5 8 59 37 22 56 4th round200618 1st 34 26 5 3 77 36 41 83 4th round200718 5th 34 16 10 8 61 42 19 58 Quarter final200818 1st 34 22 8 4 80 33 47 74 3rd round200918 7th 34 13 12 9 49 38 11 51 2nd round201018 4th 34 18 5 11 52 43 9 59 2nd round201118 6th 34 15 7 11 40 36 4 52 Did not qualify201217 5th 32 16 5 11 55 39 16 53201318 5th 34 14 11 9 54 38 16 5320144 14 1st 26 16 5 5 58 28 30 53201516 3rd30 21 5 4 73 22 51 68201616 1st 30 18 7 5 52 29 23 61 Round of 16201716 1st 30 21 7 2 72 20 52 70 2nd round201816 1st 30 25 4 1 76 25 51 79 2nd round201916 1st 30 19 6 5 59 30 29 63 Quarter final202016 4th 15 5 7 3 20 12 8 22 Quarter final 202117 2nd 32 20 5 5 69 25 44 67 3rd round202216 3rd 30 16 8 6 47 23 24 56 2nd round202315 1st 28 14 8 5 48 25 23 50 2nd round202416 7th 30 11 10 9 34 27 7 43 2nd round202516 1st 30 17 9 4 51 28 23 60 1st round2026–2716 TBD 30 TBD

Key Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points gained Source: JFL, Honda FC website

Honours +Honda FC honoursHonour No. YearsAll Japan Senior Football Championship21974, 1999Japan Soccer League Division 221978, 1980Japan Football League (former) Division 211993Japan Football League (former)11996Japan Football League112001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2025

Current squad

Coaching staff PositionStaffManager Hidekazu KobayashiAssistant Manager Takahiro Tsuchiya Shota ItokazuGoalkeeper coach Moto NakamuraPhysical coach Shoji TakagiAnalyst Tatsuya FuruhashiTrainer Masataka Oba Tomoya ObaManager Shunsei Mashiyama

Managerial history Manager Nationality Tenure Start Finish Katsuyoshi Kuwabara 1 February 1973 31 January 1983Masakatsu Miyamoto 1 February 1983 30 June 1990Masataka Imai 1 July 1990 31 December 1992Kazuaki Nagasawa 1 February 1997 31 January 1998Akiyoshi Ohashi 1 January 2000 31 December 2001Takayoshi Amma 1 February 2002 31 January 2005Hideo Yoshizawa 1 February 2005 31 December 2006Masakazu Ishibashi 1 January 2007 31 December 2009Takahiro Ōkubo 1 January 2010 31 December 2011Yoshitaka Maeda 1 February 2012 31 January 2014Hiroyasu Ibata 1 February 2014 31 January 2021Hiroyuki Abe 1 February 2021 31 January 2023Hidekazu Kobayashi 1 February 2023 31 January 2025Shota Itokazu 1 February 2025 current

Kit evolution Home kit - 1st

Away kit - 2nd

References

External links