Zweigen Kanazawa (ツエーゲン金沢, Tsuēgen Kanazawa) is a Japanese football club based in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. They currently play in the J3 League, Japan's third tier of professional league football after being relegated at the end of 2023 of J2 League.
History The club was formed in 1956 under the simple name Kanazawa Soccer Club and adopted its current identity in 2006. The Hokushinetsu region, long sleepy in football terms and whose potential only arose with Albirex Niigata leading the way, provided few opportunities for Kanazawa to rise in Japan's football ranks until the late 2000s. On 19 December 2009 they were promoted to the JFL after beating FC Kariya at the promotion/relegation playoff with 2–1 aggregate score, following a third-place finish in the 2009 All Japan Regional Football Promotion League Series.
On December 15, 2010, a new management company called Zweigen, Inc. was established in order to apply to the J-League associate membership.
On January 7, 2011, the team applied for J-League associate membership.
On 16 November 2014, Zweigen became the inaugural J3 League champions, and gained a licence to compete in J2 League from 2015.
On 22 October 2023, Zweigen officially relegated to J3 League for the 2024 season after a narrow by Montedio Yamagata 0–1, thus ending their 9 years stay in J2.
Name and symbolism The name "Zweigen" is a portmanteau of the German zwei, for the number 2, and gen, to advance. In Kanazawa dialect, the phrase tsuyoi noda! (We're strong!) became tsuee gen! by double entendre. In German, the word Zweigen means branches (dative—nominative: Zweige), and owing to this, a fleur-de-lis is a key part of the club's crest.
Stadium From 1974 to 2024, their home stadium was the 20,261 capacity general-purpose Ishikawa Kanazawa Stadium.
Since 18 February 2024, Zweigen Kanazawa have played at the 10,444 capacity Kanazawa Stadium.
League & cup record ChampionsRunners-upThird placePromotedRelegated League J. LeagueCup Emperor's CupSeason Div. Tier Teams Pos. P W D L F A GD Pts Attendance/G 2010JFL 3 18 9th 34 13 9 12 46 41 5 48 1,548 Not eligible2nd round201118 7th 33 13 8 12 49 40 9 47 2,504 2nd round201217 14th 32 812 12 33 41-8 36 2,313 1st round201318 7th 34 14 8 12 60 48 12 50 2,063 3rd round2014J3 12 1st 33 23 6 4 56 20 36 75 3,440 2nd round2015J2 2 22 12th 42 12 18 12 46 43 3 54 4,910 2nd round201622 21st 42 8 15 19 36 60 -24 39 4,179 2nd round201722 17th 42 13 10 19 49 67 -18 49 4,397 3rd round201822 13th 42 14 13 15 52 48 4 55 4,528 3rd round201922 11th 42 15 16 11 58 46 12 61 5,209 3rd round2020 †22 18th 42 12 13 17 57 67 -10 49 1,866 Did not qualify2021 †22 17th 42 10 11 21 39 60 -21 41 2,533 2nd round202222 14th 42 13 13 16 56 69 -13 52 3,421 3rd round202322 22nd 42 9 7 25 40 69 -29 34 4,239 2nd round2024J3 3 20 12th 38 13 11 14 50 52 -2 50 5,435 1st round 1st round202520 6th 38 18 5 15 53 45 8 59 5,564 1st round 2nd round202610 TBD 18 N/A N/A2026-2720 TBD 38 TBD TBD Key
Honours
+Zweigen Kanazawa HonoursHonour No. YearsHokushinetsu Division 112004Ishikawa Prefectural Football Championship Emperor's Cup Ishikawa Prefectural Qualifiers102007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2024, 2025J3 League12014
Current squad
Out on loan
Coaching staff Position Name Head coach Maki Tsujita Assistant head coach Kiyokazu Kudo Hiroki Shibuya Goalkeeper coach Noriyuki Yamagishi Physical coach Tetsuya Sakamoto Analytical coach Wataru Kuriwaki Chief trainer Chikashi Masui Trainer Seiya Motooka Takahiro Yagi Interpreter Rafael Rayden Igarashi Equipment manager Tomoya Araki Team manager Tatsuya Hirano
Managerial history Manager Nationality Tenure Managerial RecordStart Finish P W D L Win %Nobuhiro Ueno 1 February 2009 31 January 2012Hitoshi Morishita 1 February 2012 31 January 2017Masaaki Yanagishita 1 February 2017 5 November 2023Akira Ito 11 December 2023 1 June 2025 Maki Tsujita 3 June 2025present Key
Kit evolution The club colours are red, black and yellow. Home Kit - 1st
Away Kit - 2nd
Special Kits - 3rd
References
External links