Yoshio Kato


Yoshio Kato is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team.

Club career

Kato was born in Saitama on August 1, 1957. After graduating from Osaka University of Commerce, he joined Furukawa Electric in 1980. The club won the league champions in 1985–86. The club also won 1982 and 1986 JSL Cup. However, he could not play in the game much, as he was the team's reserve goalkeeper behind Choei Sato. Kato became a regular goalkeeper in later 1980s. He retired in 1993. He played 87 games in the league.

National team career

On June 9, 1980, Kato debuted for Japan national team against Hong Kong. He played 8 games for Japan until 1981.

Coaching career

After retirement, Kato started coaching career at JEF United Ichihara from 1994. In 2000s, he became a goalkeeper coach for youth team in Japan national team. In 2006, he became a goalkeeper coach for Japan national team. He coached Japan until 2010 World Cup under manager Ivica Osim and Takeshi Okada. In 2011, Kato moved to Thailand and became a goalkeeper coach for Chonburi. In 2013, he also became a goalkeeper coach for Thailand football team. He returned to Japan in 2015 and coached at JFA Academy.

Club statistics

National team statistics