is a Japanese professional football club based in Okinawa. The club plays in the J3 League, Japanese third tier of professional football. The team's home stadium is Okinawa Athletic Park Stadium, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
The team derive their name from Ryukyu, the historic name for Okinawa Prefecture. The club once had futsal and handball teams.
History The club was founded in 2003. Many of the players who initially joined the club were former Okinawa Kariyushi FC which was disbanded after failing to win promotion to the JFL the previous year. Their first 2003 season saw them win the championship in Okinawa Prefectural Division 3 North. They were allowed to skip to Division 1 the next season, where they again succeeded in finishing top of the table.
In the 2005 season, they belonged to the Kyūshū Regional League (Kyu League). After finishing 2nd and winning the Regional League play-off, they were promoted to the JFL and became the first ever Okinawan football side who played in a national league.
In December 2007, the club appointed former Japan national coach Philippe Troussier as their general manager. Jean-Paul Rabier was appointed as their manager in January 2008.
They applied for J. League Associate Membership in January 2008, but their application was declined at the J. League board meeting held on February 19, 2008.
In December 2008, the resignation of Rabier was announced. Former coach Hiroyuki Shinzato was promoted to be the new manager in January 2009.
In 2014, FC Ryukyu could finally join the J3 League.
In January 2015, FC Ryukyu announced a partnership with Seoul United from the Korean Challengers League. According to the agreement the teams will play a friendly match every year. The first match was scheduled for 1 March 2015.
FC Ryukyu have made steady progress in recent years, finishing in 8th place in J3 in 2016, and improving on that the following year, finishing 6th.
In the 2018 season they secured promotion to J2 with 3 games left after a 1–1 draw at Nagano Parceiro, and in the following game beat Thespakusatsu Gunma to claim the J3 title with two games to spare.
They started their first season in J2 in 2019, in style with 4 straight wins to top the league, but faded as the season progressed eventually finishing in 14th place.
In 2022, after spending four years in the J2 League, the club was relegated back to the J3 League after scoring their lowest points total in the second-tier. The club finished in 21st place with 37 points, only 3 points off the last placed team.
On 26 October 2023, the club announced that they will use FC Ryukyu Okinawa for branding purpose starting 2024 season, although the club's current name will remain used in any competition. The change initially also included the update of club's emblem. However, the plan eventually revised and Ryukyu decided to keep the current emblem for 2024 season, albeit with modified colorway.
For the 2025 season, FC Ryukyu Okinawa announced a new logo.
Home stadium
The home stadium is the Okinawa Athletic Park Stadium, based in Okinawa City.
Until 2014, the Okinawa City Athletic Stadium in Okinawa City was used as the main home stadium, and multiple stadiums were used.
Training Yaese Town Sports & Tourism Exchange Facility.
League & cup record ChampionsRunners-upThird placePromotedRelegated League J. League Cup Emperor'sCupSeason Div. Tier Teams Pos. P W D L F A GD Pts Attendance/G 2005Kyushu SoccerLeague 410 2nd 18 13.5 1 3.5 51 12 -39 42 – Not eligible3rd round2006JFL 3 18 14th 34 6 11 17 29 57 -28 29 3,189 2nd round200717th 34 7 6 21 38 82 -44 27 2,443 Did not qualify200816th 34 7 6 21 31 58 -27 27 2,882200916th 34 11 5 18 42 57 -15 38 1,348201010th 34 14 6 14 51 51 0 48 1,777 2nd round20119th 33 14 4 15 47 51 -4 46 1,860 2nd round201217 9th 32 12 7 13 58 62 -4 43 2,164 1st round201318 11th 34 12 10 12 47 51 -4 46 2,069 2nd round2014J3 12 9th 33 8 10 15 31 50 -19 34 1,398 2nd round201513 9th 36 12 9 15 45 51 -6 45 1,498 2nd round201616 8th 30 12 8 10 46 46 0 44 1,561 2nd round201717 6th 32 13 11 8 44 36 8 50 2,508 1st round20181st 32 20 6 6 70 40 30 66 3,146 1st round2019 J2 2 22 14th 42 13 10 19 57 80 -23 49 4,953 2nd round2020 † 16th 42 14 8 20 58 61 -3 50 1,170 Did not qualify2021 † 9th 42 18 11 13 57 47 10 65 1,618 2nd round202221st 42 8 13 21 41 65 -24 37 1,996 2nd round2023J3 3 20 17th 38 12 7 19 43 61 -18 43 2,534 2nd round202414th 38 12 11 15 45 54 -9 47 3,007 3rd round Did not qualify202516th 38 10 10 18 41 57 -16 40 2,729 1st round Did not qualify202610 TBD 18 N/A N/A2026–2720 TBD 38 TBD TBD Key
Honours +FC Ryukyu HonoursHonour No. YearsOkinawa Prefectural League Division 3 North12003"Times Cup" Okinawa Prefectural Football Championship Emperor's Cup Okinawa Prefectural Qualifiers132004, 2005, 2009, 2010 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 ,2023Okinawa Prefectural League Division 112004Japanese Regional Promotion Series12005J3 League12018
Current squad
Out on loan
Club officials Club officials for 2025 season Position NameManager Tadaaki HirakawaCoach Naotsugu Obata Jin KanaoyaGoalkeeping coach Kazushi HaebaruAnalytical coach Teraoka HirokiPhysical coach Sho WatanabeChief trainer Syuta IreiTrainer Takuya Kawasaki Ryuki Shindo Ryota OsawaSide manager Naoki Egawa
Managerial history Manager Nationality Tenure Start Finish George Yonashiro 1 February 200431 January 2007Hideo Yoshizawa 1 February 200731 January 2008Jean-Paul Rabier 1 January 200831 December 2008Hiroyuki Shinzato 1 February 200931 January 2012Takeo Matsuda 1 February 201231 January 2013Norihiro Satsukawa 1 February 201331 January 2016Kim Jong-song 1 February 201631 January 2019Yasuhiro Higuchi 1 February 2019 20 October 2021Tetsuhiro Kina 20 October 2021 8 June 2022 Kazuki Kuranuki (caretaker) 9 June 202213 June 2022Nacho Fernández 14 June 202231 January 2023Kazuki Kuranuki 1 February 2023 16 May 2023 Tetsuhiro Kina 16 May 202315 September 2023 Kim Jong-song 16 September 202331 January 2025 Tadaaki Hirakawa 1 February 2025Current
Team colour and crest
The men team's name is FC Ryukyu Okinawa.
Their team colour is bengara, a shade of red pigment. It is called red ochre in English and can be generally described as claret. Bengara derives from a Dutch word 'bengala' which in turn derives from Bengal, a historic region located in India and Bangladesh. This name was given because the pigment was traditionally imported from Bengal to Japan. Okinawa has a close association with the bengara colour which is prominently applied to Shuri Castle, one of the most symbolic historical buildings in the area.
In 2008 they adopted a sky-blue trim for their home uniform, as their bengara pigment pattern was considered too similar to Aston Villa from England (the claret and sky-blue pattern was around long before Troussier and the French staff arrived, so a coincidence in colours is feasible).
Their crest features a pair of Shisas, imaginary talismanic creatures in the area, and the crown of the kings of the former Ryukyu Kingdom.
Kit evolution
Home kits - 1st
Away kits - 2nd 3rd kits - Other
References
External links