The Dying Era

The 2022 season in J1 League left some surprises. In the final matchday, what it seemed a done deal turned quickly into a nightmare. It’s not the first time that one of the two teams from the Shizuoka Prefecture won’t play in J1, but it’s indeed the first time ever – since the arrival of S-Pulse in the top-flight in 1993 – that the Prefecture won’t have any team competing in the first division. And there’s more, because 2023 will be the first time with three Shizuoka-based teams in J2.

In 1993, S-Pulse were ready to face their first J1 season, the inaugural one. They came third on the overall table, under the guide of Émerson Leão. In the same year, Júbilo Iwata were ready to go through their majestic campaign in the Japan Football League – when it was still a second division, with amateur teams. In that season, “Yamaha Motors” came second in the table, behind “Fujita” (now Shonan Bellmare), gaining the promotion to J1.

Going 10 years later, in 2003 Júbilo Iwata were dominating the J.League among a few clubs, being at the end of their golden cycle. On the other side of the Prefecture, S-Pulse had a young coach at his first big gig, called Takeshi Oki, and they played – for the first and only time – the AFC Champions League. The situation got worse in the Winter 2012-13, especially for Júbilo Iwata; S-Pulse were guided to mid-table seasons by Afshin Ghotbi, while Iwata were ready for their first relegation to J2 under Hitoshi Morishita.

We would have liked to give you a longer recap about Fujieda MYFC, but… they have been founded in 2009. And in 2013, they were actually still in the JFL, back then the third tier of Japanese football – the year after, JFA would have launched the J3 League. At that time, Toshihide Saito – another piece of history in Shizuoka, former S-Pulse and Japan player – was the player-manager for the club, who recorded less than 1,000 spectators in average and ended thirteenth in the JFL. Time flies!

The Prefecture of Football

To understand the importance of the Shizuoka Prefecture, you don’t even have to look at the professional world. Just go through the list of players produced by this zone of Japan – and we’re giving out a conservative number of names (excluding the current J.League chairman and the head coach of the national team):

• Toshiya Fujita
• Makoto Hasebe
• Daisuke Ichikawa
• Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi
• “King Kazu” Miura
• Masashi “Gon” Nakayama
• Hiroshi Nanami
• Shinji Ono
• Naohiro Takahara
• Atsuto Uchida

It’s embarrassing how crucial the Shizuoka Prefecture has been within the development of Japanese football. And we didn’t even mentioned high school, with environments like Fujieda Higashi Shizuoka, Shimizu Higashi and Shimizu Shogyo racking up 10 titles and other 10 finals. Shizuoka is the third most-successful Prefecture in the history of the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament. And even if the balance shifted towards other realities, Shizuoka remained the place to be in football.

That legacy was cemented by two J.League teams making history. Even if they haven’t won anything in the last 20 years of history, Shimizu S-Pulse lifted five trophies in their first J.League decade and solidified their place in the Japanese football movement with iconic jerseys, their stadium, and many players. On the other hand, Jùbilo Iwata have been more successful – lifting way more trophies, including three J1 titles (the 2002 season is still legendary to this day) – and they had a more “superteam” vibe, especially in the early 2000s.

The times are a-changin’

Of course, the three clubs are going through different paths. Signs were already concerning for Júbilo Iwata, after their relegation in 2019, the whole reshuffling under Masakazu Suzuki, a surprising promotion, and the lack of investment (and, we’d add, creativity in putting together the squad), we’re not surprised to see them back in J2. The real problem is that they’ve been blocked in their market operations by the whole Fabian Gonzalez problem, so they’re relying on what they have (yes, Yasuhito Endo is still there).

Different story for Shimizu S-Pulse, who were actually forecasted to have a decent season in 2022. Was that finally the year when they had everything needed for a safe, mid-table season? Theoretically, yes. Thiago Santana ended up being the top-scorer, although with the fewest goals ever (14). But even his efforts – who already saved S-Pulse the year before – were not enough. Mismanagement was mostly to blame, but they didn’t seem balance as a team despite having their moment under Zé Ricardo.

In all this mess, then emerged Fujieda MYFC. We already talked about them back in 2019, when they had a nice season and almost got promoted. Then they lost some track, but the work of Daisuke Sudo – who was hired in mid-2021 – brought some dividends. He was named twice “Coach of the Month” in 2022, while Kei Uchiyama and Tojiro Kubo won the “Monthly MVP” award once each. The team was fun to watch, always playing offensive football, and their run was stable enough to grant themselves the second place.

Tipping Point

Given these premises, the three seasons are looking extremely diverse in terms of goals to achieve. The hardest year will definitely await S-Pulse, who have to go back to J1 as soon as possible. They have to do that while having kept Zé Ricardo – debatable move –, but also every big piece (Shuichi Gonda, Thiago Santana, Daiki Matsuoka, and even Reon Yamahara!). We await them to have a season like Kashiwa Reysol in 2019 or FC Tokyo in 2011… but will they be able to pull that off?

Júbilo Iwata, instead, will only try to avoid a steep fall. If your best signing in the Winter is the permanent deal which kept Kenyu Sugimoto at the Yamaha Stadium – yes, Mr. Zero Goals (2017 looks far, far away) –, things are not going well. Mid-table would be already a success, especially if Hiroki Yamada will be healthy, Endo will keep cooking at a J2 level and Yuto Suzuki will perform at the same level we’ve seen in the last two seasons.

For Fujieda MYFC, the task is different. They might have a chance to avoid relegation, but their budget is small. They changed a lot of people upfront, but most of all they lost Kei Uchiyama – who moved to Sagan Tosu – and Jun Suzuki – who might be old, but he’s been fundamental in J3 (and moved to Lithuania). Just like Sagamihara in 2020 and Iwate Grulla Morioka in 2021, it’s not easy to be the second team to come up to J2 and survive. If they managed to reverse that, it’ll be already a major success.

In any case, Shizuoka Prefecture has a challenge in front of it: keep being relevant in football. And it’s not granted they’ll be able to win this one.