The club name is a portmanteau of the Japanese numeral for three, San and the Italian wordfrecce, which means 'arrows'. This is based on the story of the feudal lordMōri Motonari who told his three sons that while a single arrow might be easily snapped, three arrows held together would not be broken and urged them to work for the good of the clan and its retainers. A similar event occurred in The Secret History of the Mongols; "One day in spring, while she was cooking some dried lamb, she had her five sons Belgünütei, Bügünütei, Buqu Qatagi, Buqatu Salji and Bodončar Mungqaq sit in a row. She gave an arrow-shaft to each of them and said, ‘Break it!’ One by one they immediately broke the single arrowshafts and threw them away. Then she tied five arrowshafts into a bundle and gave it to them saying, ‘Break it!’ The five sons each took the five bound arrow-shafts in turn, but they were unable to break them.
1938–70: Toyo Kogyo Syukyu Club
* 1943–46: Play was suspended during this period due to the Pacific War.
The team was a former company team of Mazda in 1938 and played in the semi-professional Japan Soccer League. They dominated the JSL's early years, winning the title 4 times in a row – a feat that was later equaled by Yomiuri SC/Verdy Kawasaki. The name change was made at Mazda SC'' in 1981. When JSL disbanded and became the J.League in 1992, it dropped the company name and became "Sanfrecce Hiroshima". Alongside JEF United Ichihara Chiba and Urawa Red Diamonds they co-founded both leagues. During the 1969 season they participated in the Asian Club Cup, forerunner to today's AFC Champions League; at the time, the tournament was done in a single locale, and they ended up in third place, the first participation of a Japanese club in the continental tournament. This also cost them the league title to Mitsubishi/Urawa, and although they won another title in 1970, since then the club has been out of the running for the title, with exceptional seasons such as 1994 when they won runner-up.
The Toyo Industries team that became the first JSL champions also completed the first double by taking the Emperor's Cup. They were also the first of three "Invincibles", undefeated champion teams in Japan, although only Toyo completed a double. Matsumoto, Ogi, and Yasuyuki Kuwahara went on to win the 1968 Olympic bronze medal for the national team.
2000s
In 2002, Sanfrecce became the first former stage winner to be relegated to the lower division, J2. But it only spent a year there, finishing second the very next season to regain promotion back to J1. The club finished 16th in the 2007 season and were relegated to J.League Division 2 after they were beaten by Kyoto Sanga in the promotion/relegation play-off. In 2008 they nevertheless won the J2 title at the first attempt, having 84 points with six matches left. By virtue of earning fourth place in the 2009 season and Gamba Osaka retaining the Emperor's Cup, Sanfrecce qualified for the Asian Champions League, where they were knocked out in the group phase. On 24 November 2012, Sanfrecce defeated Cerezo Osaka 4–1 to seal their first ever J.League Division 1 title. On 7 December 2013, Sanfrecce defeated Kashima Antlers 2–0, securing their second J.League Division 1 title following a thrilling finish to the season which saw first-place Yokohama F. Marinos losing their final league game, handing Sanfrecce the title. With their second consecutive title win, Sanfrecce became the second team to successfully defend their crown since Kashima in 2009.
Record
;Key
Tms. = Number of teams
Pos. = Position in league
Attendance/G = Average league attendance
League history
Division 1 : 1965–83
Division 2 : 1984–85
Division 1 : 1986–87
Division 2 : 1988–90
Division 1 : 1991–92
Division 1 : 1993–02
Division 2 : 2003
Division 1 : 2004–07
Division 2 : 2008
Division 1 : 2009–present
Total : 45 seasons in the top tier and 7 seasons in the second tier.
