Where we were you a decade ago? I remember very well where I was. I was still in Rome, with the hope of becoming a football journalist, trying desperately to balance my dreams and my need of making it somehow in life. I think I wasn’t alone – even if I look just at Japanese football, I can find a lot of examples of how things turned out to be very different.
Take 2016: back at the time, the J.League was still meddling with the two stage-experiment for the championship, an experiment that was almost universally hated (in fact, the league got rid of it after that season). Yoshito Okubo became the top-scorer all-time, Kashima Antlers won the title and then almost beat Real Madrid. But there’s more – because if you look at individual stories, there are a lot of them which changed a lot.
To throw in there some names: Yuta Toyokawa was a young and flashy striker making his name at Fagiano Okayama, who almost won the J2 playoffs. Kenyu Sugimoto had his first season with double digits of goals in J2, before making the same impact in J1 and feature a few times for the national team. A young Gabriel Costa França debuted at Atlético Mineiro, where he would have then won the Copa Libertadores a few years down the line.
Finally, Omiya Ardija were just back in J1, and had their best season ever in the top-flight, coming tantalizingly close to book a spot in the AFC Champions League. It’s funny then how all these things came together in a Sunday morning with rain and clouds in Leipzig, Germany. Because that’s where I was to interview some players from the RB Omiya Ardija, the rebranded club who visited Europe for their pre-season training camp.
It’s a Long Way to the Top
It’s funny. I never imagined to see a Japanese club taking a pre-season camp in Europe, although Sanfrecce Hiroshima tried a few years ago by doing one in Turkey and now some clubs are doing the same this Summer. Nonetheless, seeing a Japanese club in the middle of Europe impressed me, and I was lucky enough to be in Leipzig for working reasons. Therefore, asking for an interview felt natural, given the passion for Japanese football and previous encounters in other environments.
Furthermore, I was curious to see how things changed for RB Omiya Ardija. From perennial struggler in J1, the club descended into the hellfire of the third division, and not many clubs have this record. Oita Trinita managed to come back to the top-flight from there, but it took them four years and a magic touch by Tomohiro Katanosaka. This time, the recipe might be different, but there are signs that this might happen again.
RB Omiya Ardija changed their brand identity once Red Bull took over the club in February 2024 – something that was right to happen. I still remember the loud boos for the former owners, NTT, once the club was relegated in J3. Omiya bounced back by dominating the J3 League in 2024, and last year they almost achieved the back-to-back promotion – being 3-0 up in the play-off semifinal, before conceding four and losing to JEF United Chiba. Nonetheless, it was a positive curve of growth.
The present looks very bright. The manager changed, with former Stoke City head coach Narcís Pèlach as the new trainer, but the acquisitions this Summer speak volumes. Carlinhos Jr. has been announced from JEF United Chiba (spoiler: I actually spotted him the day before the announcement) and the arrival of Suphanat Mueanta from Burinam United, in the hope of keeping alive the Thai trend in the J.League, kickstarted by Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo with Chanathip Songkrasin.
That’s why I needed to talk with someone at the club and understand how this progress was perceived, since it happened so fast. Thankfully, RB Omiya Ardija gave us the chance of interviewing two players who have a different status in the squad, but both have joined six months ago and they’re eager to leave their mark on the club: goalkeeper Tom Glover and promising forward Jelani McGhee. Enjoy their interviews!
Tom, I’m very curious about your arrival to Japan. I mean, Japanese football isn’t new to Australian keepers joining – from Mitchell Langerak to Tom Heward-Belle. But I think you’re one of the few cases among Australian players who joined not from the A-League, but rather from England. How did the opportunity come around? And how was the settlement for you in Japan, given you had already the chance of playing in the country for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games with your national team?
Well, I was at Middlesbrough and I decided to leave the club. And then, one day, I got a phone call from Stuart (Webber, the sporting director of the club). Once I had that first conversation with him, to be honest, it was kind of a no-brainer. I came and had a look at the place for two weeks, did a bit of training. And as soon as I walked into the club, I kind of knew that that was the right decision for me.
To be honest, I’ve always wanted to play in Japan. I had an offer or a bit of interest maybe about two years ago, but it just never happened for whatever reason. When this came up, I knew I had to go through with it. Knowing Stuart was there as well helped; you know, he wouldn’t leave England to Japan for no reason with the CV he’s had. It was always a dream of mine to go play in Japan. When this opportunity came up, I knew it was something that I wanted to grab with both hands.
Jelani, you’ve been a very interesting talent to watch. You’re born in Okinawa and you’ve been through the youth ranks of FC Ryukyu, but now you had six months to experience this new reality and work alongside players like Kenyu Sugimoto or Yuta Toyokawa, who played a lot in J1. How did your integration in the team go throughout these first six months?
Well, at first, I expected to get a lot of playing time, but it was completely different. And for the first couple of months, I was going out and in because of my national team duties. And then after I came back, I got injured, and then I went playing for the youth ranks. But I came back to the top team and I practiced with them.
I was able to interact with Toyokawa and Kenyu, talking with them and being able to learn a lot because their experience. And Kenyu also played in the national team, in the top-flight, while Toyokawa played in Europe. Therefore, I was able to absorb a lot from them, and it was a good experience.
Tom, you’ve been to England twice, Sweden, and won the A-League in your country with Melbourne City. Australia just had a strong FIFA World Cup. Which goals are you setting for yourself with your stint with RB Omiya Ardija? Is it just club-wise or maybe there’s the hope to have a breakthrough for the national team as well, given you’ve been called up before the FIFA World Cup?
For me, my main goal was to be promoted to J1. Obviously, though, there’s a process behind that. The team has got clear ambitions – J1 is a must. And for myself, it’s just playing week in, week out, playing well. My dream obviously is to get back into the national team, but I have to focus on club first. And if I do well with club, then I’ll give myself the best chance to be recalled back into the team. If I play constantly, then the rest will follow after that.
Jelani, you’ve been a part of the Japanese national team at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, scoring against North Korea. You featured as well with the first team in an away against FC Gifu, becoming the youngest player ever to feature in club’s history. What’s your personal goal for this season?
My personal goal is to get more playing minutes. And also, right now, I’m focusing on putting my name on the stat sheet. Last year, I said 10 goals, which was too high. But this year, I’m probably going to say, like, every chance I get, I want to at least get a shot for assist.
Tom, 2025 was a great success for RB Omiya Ardija. It’s rare to see a newly-promoted team in J2 immediately challenging for a double promotion. Unfortunately, the play-off game against JEF United Chiba didn’t go your way, but which positives would you take from the 100 Year-Vision League you had in the last six months?
Yeah, for me personally, it was a good six months to just kind of get used to Japanese football. Obviously, it’s different to what I’m used to. For me, it was perfect in terms of just getting games and knowing the style and kind of how each team operates, and how our team operates. We’ve got a new coach coming in, which has been great for the team. We’re here in Leipzig at the moment for the preseason, which has been tough. But under this new manager, I can see us achieving our goals.
For us, the first six months was kind of good to get games under our belt… but now it’s business time. And there’s plenty of learning from last year that we can take into this season. I always feel like you need to get close to try again. So, I dare say a lot of those boys would have that feeling inside, but they want to move forward. And it just adds more motivation and more fuel to the fire to reach that goal.
For both of you: 2026-27 sees you probably as one of the favourites to go up, given the support of the Red Bull, the positive season you had last year, and a strong roster. How’s the vibe within the squad in terms of achieving this long-awaited return to J1?
JMG: The vibe of the team is completely fantastic. I mean, with even the Brazilians and everybody else that’s not from Japan, we all vibe together. We have fun. And we’re able to communicate. Even our coaches, staffs, they’re all great. So, it’s a good vibe.
TG: Yeah, I think we obviously set goals when we first come in. But for us, we don’t really talk about it too much. It’s more about focusing day in, day out and just focusing on what we need to, what we can control. And that’s working hard every day. We just have to follow the process, trust the staff and the hard work that we do on the pitch. And I have no doubt that we will achieve our goals. Ultimately, it’s step by step and day by day.
I wanna thank the staff at RB Omiya Ardija for granting us the chance of interviewing the players. In the end, this project is done of small milestones: the first J.League player ever interviewed (Takuto Hayashi), the first foreign player (Emil Salomonsson), the first head coach (Ricardo Rodriguez), and now a squad being seen live on European soil. This is just the beginning – we wish good luck as well to RB Omiya Ardija for their 2026-27 campaign.
