Cerezo Osaka


Cerezo Osaka are a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team name Cerezo is also the flower of the city of Osaka. The official hometowns for the team are Osaka and Sakai.

History

The team, originally called Yanmar Diesel, started in 1957 as the company team of Yanmar and was an original founder of the now-disbanded Japan Soccer League. With four Japanese league titles to its credit, it was a mainstay of the JSL First Division until 1990 when it was first relegated, and joined the former Japan Football League in 1992.
In 1993, the club incorporated as Osaka Football Club Ltd., and adopted the name Cerezo after a public contest. In 1994, they won the JFL championship and was promoted to the J1 League in 1995. This also coincided with a run to the finals of the Emperor's Cup, which they lost to Bellmare Hiratsuka.
Cerezo has relegated from J1 to J2 three times, but are currently playing in the J1 league. The team had an impressive third-place finish in the 2017 season.
On 4 November 2017 they won the J.League YBC Levain Cup, the first major title for Cerezo Osaka. The final match was against Kawasaki Frontale.
On 1 January 2018, Cerezo Osaka won the Emperor's Cup, securing their second major title. The final match was against Yokohama F. Marinos.
On 10 February 2018, they won the Xerox Super Cup, playing against Kawasaki Frontale.
In May 2018, the club changed its incorporated name from Osaka Soccer Club, Co. Ltd. to Cerezo Osaka Co., Ltd.

Colors

Cerezo's team colour is pink, like the cherry blossom flowers that the name is based on. Combination colours have been navy blue and black. This year, the uniform colour is pink and white for the field players, black and pink or green for the goal keepers.
During the Yanmar Diesel days in the late 1970s to mid-1980s, the uniform was all-red reminiscent of Deportivo Toluca.

Colour, sponsors and manufacturers

Grounds

The hometown for the team are Osaka and Sakai Japan. The team plays at Kincho Stadium, with some bigger games played at Yanmar Stadium Nagai.
The team practices at Minami Tsumori Sakura Sports Park, Maishima Sports Island, and Amagasaki Yanmar Diesel Ground.

Team mascots

The main team mascot is a wolf, named Lobby. The other team mascot is Madame Lobina, Lobby's mother.

Rivalries

Cerezo's biggest rival is fellow Osaka team Gamba Osaka. The matches played against Gamba are referred to as the Osaka derby.

Record as J.League member

;Key

Current squad

As of 23 February 2020.

Out on loan

Last updated 11 July 2019.

Under-23 Squad

Honours

Yanmar Osaka Soccer Club

Managers

ManagerNationalityTenure
Paulo Emilio1 January 1994 – 31 December 1995
Hiroshi Sowa1 January 1996 – 31 December 1996
Levir Culpi1 February 1997 – 31 December 1997
Yasutaro Matsuki1 January 1998 – 31 December 1999
René Desaeyere1 February 1999 – 31 January 2000
Hiroshi Soejima1 February 2000 – 19 August 2001
João Carlos20 August 2001 – 4 November 2001
Akihiro Nishimura5 November 2001 – 6 October 2003
Yuji Tsukada7 October 2003 – 1 January 2004
Petar Nadoveza2 January 2004 – 1 February 2004
Fuad Muzurović1 February 2004 – 22 March 2004
Albert Pobor23 March 2004 – 28 June 2004
Shinji Kobayashi1 July 2004 – 17 April 2006
Yuji Tsukada18 April 2006 – 31 December 2006
Satoshi Tsunami1 January 2007 – 7 May 2007
Levir Culpi8 May 2007 – 31 December 2011
Sérgio Soares1 January 2012 – 26 August 2012
Levir Culpi27 August 2012 – 11 December 2013
Ranko Popović1 January 2014 – 9 June 2014
Marco Pezzaiuoli16 June 2014 – 8 September 2014
Yuji Okuma8 September 2014 – 16 December 2014
Paulo Autuori1 January 2015 – 17 November 2015
Kiyoshi Okuma17 November 2015 – 31 January 2017
Yoon Jong-hwan1 February 2017 – 31 December 2018
Miguel Ángel Lotina1 February 2019 – present

In popular culture

In the popular Captain Tsubasa manga, a character named Teppei Kisugi becomes a professional football player and joins Cerezo Osaka.

Former players