is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. The club plays in the J1 League, the top tier of football in the country. Its name "Sanga" comes from the Sanskrit word sangha, a term meaning "group" or "club" and often used to denote the Buddhist priesthood, associating the club with Kyoto's many Buddhist temples.
The club was formerly known as Kyoto Purple Sanga with "purple", the colour of the team uniforms, an imperial colour reflecting Kyoto's status as Japan's ancient imperial capital city. It was decided that, from 2007, the team will simply be known as "Kyoto Sanga". They are the oldest club competing in the J.League.
Kyoto Sanga have won two J2 League titles and one Emperor's Cup.
History The club was started as Kyoto Shiko Club, one of the few proper Japanese football clubs in the sense of being strictly dedicated to football and not being part of a company. Like Ventforet Kofu, it could not rise to a Japan Soccer League First Division dominated by company teams; in 1993, after the J.League was created, Kyoto Shiko Club, aided by funds from local new sponsors Kyocera and Nintendo, professionalized (though some players broke away and formed their own clubs, see below) and joined the former Japan Football League under the new name Kyoto Purple Sanga.
First joining the J.League in 1996, Kyoto Purple Sanga hold the dubious distinction of being the League's most relegated side, having been demoted on three occasions. Relegation to J2 League occurred at the end of the 2000, 2003 and 2006 seasons; more than any other team. The 2003 relegation happened despite having many national team players such as Park Ji-sung and Daisuke Matsui on its roster, and they eventually left for European clubs.
In December 2007, Sanga gained J1 League status for the fourth time in their history via the promotion/relegation playoff and therefore shorten its club name to Kyoto Sanga. A 0–2 home defeat to Urawa Reds on 14 November 2010 confirmed Sanga's relegation back to J2, bringing an end to their three-season spell in the top flight.
In the 2021 season, Sanga returned to J1 League after an 11-year absence and finished as runner-up. In 2022, Kyoto Sanga remained in J1 League after draw 1–1 against Roasso Kumamoto in Promotion Relegation play-offs.
AFC Champions League Elite debut In the 2025 season, Sanga achieved their highest league placement ever finishing third in J1 League thus seeing the club qualifying to the 2026–27 AFC Champions League Elite campaign which is their first continental tournament.
Stadium
Takebishi Stadium Kyoto Kyoto Sanga played most of their home matches at the Takebishi Stadium Kyoto since their interception. The stadium holds up to 20,588 capacity and was built in 1942. In 2019, Kyoto Sanga announced plans to move to Sanga Stadium by Kyocera, a new, football-specific stadium being built in Kameoka, in time for the 2020 season .
Sanga Stadium by Kyocera On 11 January 2020, Kyoto Sanga moved to their new stadium, the Sanga Stadium by Kyocera which is the first professional football-specific stadium in Kyoto. The naming rights were purchased by ceramic company Kyocera having signed a 20-years deal worth ¥2 billion.
Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors
Sponsors +YearKit manufacturerMain sponsor1980–1992 PumaNo sponsor1993–1995 Kyocera1996 Mizuno1997–2002 Umbro2003–2006 Mizuno2007–2018 Wacoal2019–present Puma
Colours Kyoto Sanga is considered the main continuation of the Kyoto Shiko Club that competed in the Japan Soccer League Second Division. "Shiko" (紫光) means "brilliant purple" and is the colour that Shiko/Sanga have always worn.
Kit evolution Home Kit - 1st
Away Kit - 2nd
3rd choice
Affiliated clubs
Worldwide
Bournemouth (2024–present)
On 15 October 2024, Kyoto Sanga announced a strategic partnership with Premier League club Bournemouth. AFC Bournemouth announced a strategic partnership with Japanese J1 League club Kyoto Sanga in October 2024 to enhance global talent identification and scouting. The collaboration focuses on sharing best practices in youth development and coaching, including training opportunities for players.
Local
Amitie SC (Kansai Soccer League Division 1) – broke away from the original Kyoto Shiko Club upon professionalization; amateur club Kyoto Shiko Club (Kansai Soccer League Division 2) – broke away from Kyoto BAMB 1993 (now Kyoto Amitie) in 1998; amateur club Shiko Club women's (Kansai Women's Soccer League) – linked with today's Kyoto Shiko Club
Players
First-team squad
Out on loan
Management and staff As of the 2026 season. PositionNameManager Cho Kwi-jaeAssistant manager Koichi Sugiyama Tatsuma YoshidaGoalkeeping coach Yasuhiro TominagaPhysical coach Hirokazu NishigataChief Trainer Minoru KimotoTrainer Yoshiaki Shirai Masaki Dozono Takuya KawadaInterpreter Taketo Okamoto Hiroki KimuraCompetent Naoya OmaeSide Affairs Ryusei IshikuraKit man Noriyuki Matsuura
Honours +TypeHonoursTitlesSeasonLeagueJ2 League22001, 2005Kansai Soccer League41969, 1971, 1979, 1988CupEmperor's Cup12002Shakaijin Cup11988
Records and statistics As of 25 March 2026. +Top 10 all-time appearancesRankPlayerYearsClub appearance1 Takumi Miyayoshi2008–2015, 2019–20242722 Kazuki Teshima1999–20092713 Jun Ando2014–2015, 2019–20202594 Hiroki Nakayama2004–20152555 Shimpei Fukuoka2018–present2546 Naohito Hirai1997–20102487 Yōsuke Ishibitsu2014–20202368 Yuki Honda2016–20222289 Daisuke Saito1999–200822710 Makoto Kakuda2001–2003, 2006–2010225 +Top 10 all-time goalscorerRankPlayerYearsClub appearance1 Paulinho2005–2009682 Teruaki Kurobe2000–2004663 Takumi Miyayoshi2008–2015, 2019–2024554 Peter Utaka2020–2022525 Masashi Oguro2014–2017496 Yutaka Tahara2002–2008377 Rafael Elias2025–present348 Atsushi Yanagisawa2008–20102710 Hiroki Nakayama2004–201524 Kazuyoshi Miura1999–2000
Biggest wins: 10–0 vs Osaka Gas SC (26 September 1992) Heaviest defeats: 1–13 vs Kashiwa Reysol (23 November 2019) Youngest goal scorers: Takumi Miyayoshi ~ 17 years 2 months 3 days old (On 10 October 2009 vs Vertfee Yaita) Oldest goal scorers: Takahiro Masukawa ~ 38 years 8 months 17 days old (On 25 May 2018 vs Ventforet Kofu) Youngest ever debutant: Takumi Miyayoshi ~ 16 years 1 months 14 days old (On 21 September 2008 vs Gamba Osaka) Oldest ever player: Yukio Tsuchiya ~ 43 years 1 months 9 days old (On 9 September 2017 vs Montedio Yamagata)
Club captains
Naohiko Minobe 1994 Makoto Sugiyama 1995 Satoru Mochizuki 1996 Ruy Ramos 1997 Yuji Okuma 1997 Hajime Moriyasu 1998 Hisashi Kurosaki 1999 Kazuyoshi Miura 2000 Naoto Otake 2001 Hiroshi Noguchi 2002 Kiyotaka Ishimaru 2003–2004 Daisuke Nakaharai 2005–2006 Daisuke Saito 2007 Yūto Satō 2008–2009 Atsushi Yanagisawa 2010 Diego Souza 2011 Hiroki Nakayama 2012 Jun Ando 2013 Koji Yamase 2014 Satoshi Yamaguchi 2015 Takanori Sugeno 2016–2017 Yuta Someya 2018 Takumi Miyayoshi 2019 Jun Ando (2) 2020 Temma Matsuda 2021–2022 Sota Kawasaki 2023–present
Managerial history ManagerPeriodHonours Bunji Kimura1 January 1983–30 June 1990– 1988 Shakaijin Cup – 1988 Kansai Soccer League George Yonashiro1 February 1994–31 January 1995 Oscar1 February 1995–10 June 1996 George Yonashiro (2)11 June 1996–31 January 1997 Pedro Rocha1 January 1997–31 December 1997 Hans Ooft1 February 1998–1 June 1998 Hidehiko Shimizu2 June 1998–30 June 1999 Shū Kamo1 July 1999–31 May 2000 Gert Engels1 June 2000–31 May 2003– 2001 J2 League – 2002 Emperor's Cup Bunji Kimura1 June 2003–30 June 2003 Pim Verbeek1 July 2003–31 December 2003 Akihiro Nishimura1 February 2004–13 June 2004 Kōichi Hashiratani14 June 2004–4 October 2006– 2005 J2 League Naohiko Minobe5 October 2006–11 October 2007 Hisashi Katō12 October 2007–27 July 2010 Yutaka Akita27 July 2010–31 January 2011 Takeshi Ōki1 February 2011–31 January 2014 Valdeir Vieira1 January 2014–18 June 2014 Ryōichi Kawakatsu29 June 2014–31 January 2015 Masahiro Wada1 February 2015–10 July 2015 Kiyotaka Ishimaru11 July 2015–6 December 2016 Takanori Nunobe1 January 2017–10 May 2018 Boško Gjurovski11 May 2018–31 January 2019 Ichizō Nakata1 February 2019–31 January 2020 Noritada Saneyoshi1 February 2020–31 January 2021 Cho Kwi-jae1 February 2021–21 May 2026 Tatsuma Yoshida (interim)21 May 2026–7 June 2026 Ranko Popović8 June 2026–present
Season by season record ChampionsRunners-upThird placePromotedRelegated Season Div. Teams Pos. P W (OTW / PKW) D L (OTL / PKL) F A GD Pts Attendance/G J.LeagueCup Emperor'sCupKyoto Purple Sanga1996J1 16 16th 30 8 0 22 22 54 -32 24 9,404 Group stage Quarter-finals199717 14th 32 9 (0 / 0) - 18 (3 / 2) 40 70 -30 27 7,881 Group stage Round of 16199818 13th 34 10 (4 / 1) - 16 (3 / 0) 47 63 -16 39 8,015 Group stage 3rd round199916 12th 30 9 (2) 0 15 (4) 38 58 -20 31 8,859 2nd round Round of 16200016 15th 30 7 (1) 2 15 (5) 39 66 -27 25 7,253 Semi-final 3rd round2001J2 12 1st 44 23 (5) 5 11 (0) 79 48 31 84 3,808 1st round Round of 162002J1 16 5th 30 11 (6) 1 12 44 42 2 46 10,352 Group stage Winner200316 16th 30 6 5 19 28 60 -32 23 10,850 Group stage 3rd round2004J2 12 5th 44 19 12 13 65 53 12 69 7,807 Not eligible 4th round200512 1st 44 30 7 7 89 40 49 97 7,857 4th round2006J1 18 18th 34 4 10 20 38 74 -36 22 9,781 Group stage 4th roundKyoto Sanga2007J2 13 3rd 48 24 14 10 80 59 21 86 6,629 Not eligible 3rd round2008J1 18 14th 34 11 8 15 37 46 -9 41 13,687 Group stage Round of 16200918 12th 34 11 8 15 35 47 -12 41 11,126 Group stage 3rd round 201018 17th 34 4 7 23 30 60 -30 19 10,510 Group stage 3rd round2011J2 20 7th 38 17 7 14 50 45 5 58 6,294 Not eligible Runners-up201222 3rd 42 23 5 14 61 45 16 74 7,273 3rd round201322 3rd 42 20 10 12 68 46 22 70 7,891 3rd round201422 9th 42 14 18 10 57 52 5 60 7,520 3rd round201522 17th 42 12 14 16 45 51 -6 50 7,491 3rd round201622 5th 42 18 15 9 50 37 13 69 6,524 2nd round201722 12th 42 14 15 13 55 47 8 57 6,748 2nd round201822 19th 42 12 7 23 40 58 -18 43 5,663 3rd round201922 8th 42 19 11 12 59 56 3 68 7,850 2nd round2020 †22 8th 42 16 11 15 47 45 2 59 2,924 Did not qualify2021 †22 2nd 42 24 12 6 59 31 28 84 5,207 Round of 162022J1 18 16th 34 8 12 14 30 38 -8 36 11,692 Play-off stage Semi-finals202318 13th 34 12 4 18 40 45 -5 40 12,141 Group stage 2nd round202420 14th38 12 11 15 43 55 -12 47 13,535 2nd round Semi-finals202520 3rd 38 19 11 8 62 40 22 68 16,475 3rd round 4th round202610 TBD18 N/A N/A2026–2720 TBD 38 TBD TBD Key
Continental record Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate2026–27AFC Champions League Elite League stage Daejeon Hana Citizen 1–0 Ratchaburi Newcastle Jets Công An Hà Nội Pohang Steelers Buriram United Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Port
League history Kansai Soccer League: 1966–1971 (as Kyoto Shiko Club) Division 2 (JSL Division 2): 1972–1978 (as Kyoto Shiko Club) Kansai Soccer League: 1979–1988 (as Kyoto Shiko Club) Division 2 (JSL Division 2): 1989–1991 (as Kyoto Shiko Club) Division 3 (Old JFL Division 2): 1992 (as Kyoto Shiko Club) Division 2 (Old JFL Division 1): 1993–1995 (as Kyoto Shiko Club 1993; Kyoto Purple Sanga afterwards) Division 1 (J1 League): 1996–2000 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga) Division 2 (J2 League): 2001 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga) Division 1 (J1 League): 2002–2003 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga) Division 2 (J2 League): 2004–2005 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga) Division 1 (J1 League): 2006 (as Kyoto Purple Sanga) Division 2 (J2 League): 2007 Division 1 (J1 League): 2008–2010 Division 2 (J2 League): 2011–2021 Division 1 (J1 League): 2022–present
(As of 2025): 15 seasons in the top tier, 28 seasons in the second tier, 1 season in the third tier and 16 seasons in the Regional Leagues.
References
External links