Yasuhiko Okudera is a former Japanese football player and manager. He is currently the president of J2 League club Yokohama FC and was formerly the president of English club Plymouth Argyle. Okudera was the first Japanese footballer to play professionally in Europe, as well as being the first Asian football player to score in the European Cup, while playing for Köln in the 1979 semi-final match against Nottingham Forest and made 32 appearances – scoring nine goals – with the Japanese national team.
Club career
Okudera began his playing career in 1970 as an employee of Furukawa Electric, whose soccer team played in the corporate Japan Soccer League, the top flight league in Japan at the time. In 1976, the club won the champions at Japan Soccer League and Emperor's Cup and he was selected Best Eleven. In May 1977, the club also won 1977 JSL Cup. In the summer of 1977, during the team's trip to Germany, he was spotted by coach Hennes Weisweiler of Bundesliga club Köln. After being offered a contract by Köln he joined the club in July 1977. Okudera made his debut on 5 October 1977, becoming the first Japanese player to play top flight football in Europe, and Köln won the Bundesliga title that year. After Weisweiler left Cologne during the 1980–81 season, Okudera joined second division Hertha BSC. Hertha missed promotion to the first division losing a decisive match against Werder Bremen. He then joined the newly promoted Werder Bremen, whose coach Otto Rehhagel saw his play when the two sides met and offered a contract. Under Rehhagel, he started playing as an attacking full-back instead of as a winger and finished second in the league three times between 1981–82 and 1985–86 with Bremen. In the summer of 1986, Okudera returned to his old Japanese club, Furukuwa Electric and became one of the first recognized professional players in JSL. He ended his German career with 234 appearances and 26 goals. He retired as a player in 1988.
Okudera's return home spurred the professionalization of the Japanese game, which had been stuck in amateur play for decades. He was the first native-born professional player in his home league, as before only foreigners were paid strictly to play football by the companies. After the J1 League started play in 1993, he served as the president and manager of Furukawa, which had become JEF United Ichihara with limited success. In 1998, he joined his Köln teammate Pierre Littbarski and helped form Yokohama FC. With Okudera as president and Littbarski the manager, Yokohama climbed up the ranks from the lower-tier Japan Football League and promoted to the J1 League in December 2006. On 5 December 2003, Okudera and former South Korean star Cha Bum-kun were the Asian representatives at the preliminary draw, which determined the groupings for the qualifying matches for the 2006 World Cup. On 20 June 2008, Okudera was appointed President of the Football League Championship side Plymouth Argyle tasked with playing a global ambassador role and further strengthening the club's profile in Asia. Since this appointment Argyle have suffered a relegation and serious financial difficulties. Okudera was replaced in his role by former Fans Trust leader Chris Webb, who had played a key part in rescuing Argyle from liquidation. Okudera was selected Japan Football Hall of Fame in 2012 and Asian Football Hall of Fame in 2014. In October 2017, Yokohama FC manager Hitoshi Nakata was sacked, Okudera managed the club as caretaker.
