It’s been a decade since certain historical realities of J1 League have descended in the second tier to never come back. Just look at three seasons between ’08 and 2010: three pillars like Tokyo Verdy, JEF United Chiba (Ichihara) and Kyoto Sanga got relegated – one of them each season – and they never faced another J1-game in their recent history.
But these three cases are different from each other: if Chiba put resources and lingered with the chance of getting promoted (playing the play-offs) and Verdy almost got back to J1 in 2018 (losing the relegation/promotion play-offs against Jubilo Iwata), for Sanga it’s another matter. If the first teams have won championships and cups, Sanga played only 10 seasons in J1, winning an Emperor’s Cup in 2002.
Yet, you would have expected a team from Kyoto featuring constantly in the Japanese top tier. This didn’t happen though, because Sanga haven’t performed at their best in the last 10 years: they featured in the play-off in 2012 after coming third in the league by just one point (Shonan got promoted), only to lose the semi-final at home against Oita Trinita (with Yasuhito Morishima scoring a poker).
Kyoto-based fans have watched two more play-offs runs, but in 2013 Sanga slipped at the finish line by losing the play-offs final against one-wonderers Tokushima Vortis by 2-0. And in 2016, Sanga drew against Cerezo Osaka to be knocked-out due to worst position in the table during the regular season. In all three play-offs runs, whoever defeated Sanga got promoted.
The last season was especially dreadful, since Kyoto lingered with the relegation danger for a long time. In the first part of the season, Sanga spent a lot of time in the threatening zone, being on the last three places of the table from Matchday 7 to Matchday 22. Only a few signings in the Summer – Yoshihiro Shoji (a cult hero of J2-fans), Kaio and Juninho –, the goals of Renzo Lopez and the change of manager – Takanori Nunobe left his spot for Boško Gjurovski – drove Sanga out of relegation.
After coming 19th in the last season, no one expected Sanga to do particularly well. Especially because Gjurovski left and the club hired Ichizo Nakata, whose previous experiences featured him as the manager of Ise Yamato FC (a small club in the Mie Prefecture), and a solid work with FC Ise-Shima (who have gone from lower divisions to the Tōkai Adult Soccer League).
When he was hired as the new manager of Kyoto Sanga, we were all pretty perplexed. At the same time, during last Winter, the club rejuvenated the roster by bringing back Takumi Miyayoshi, signing Kazunari Ichimi on loan and counting on some senators (Nobuhiro Kato, Kyohei Kuroki, Jun Ando), beyond the confirms of Shoji and Juninho. By losing though Yuto Iwasaki and Kaio, the counts didn’t sum up.
Instead, everything is working pretty well. Sanga are one of the most interesting team of the league, they’re in full contention to go back to J1 – at least through play-offs – and their brand new stadium is ready to welcome their fans, apparently from the next season, which might be the first top tier-year in a decade.
To talk about their recovery, we asked Nick Bolton – a.k.a. @UKSangaUltra – how this rebirth was possible under Nakata and how the vibe around the club is developing in the city. He was already interviewed on this development by the valuable J-Talk Pod, but we gave it another shot, since Sanga’s 2019 season is becoming more and more interesting.
- Last two seasons were pretty dreadful and Sanga even risked relegation in 2018. Which elements change in order to give a new direction?
I think the biggest change has been the quality of the players introduced to the attack and midfield. Alongside a change in philosophy, this has resulted in much more attractive and effective football than the previous two years.
- One of them must be Ichizo Nakata, yet his personal resume doesn’t list any prestigious experience. But his work on the team has definitely changed Sanga: how he impacted the everyday-reality of the club?
Ichizo Nakata has had a positive impact of the style of Sanga’s football, and has introduced more attacking play. It seems that he does have some issues managing certain players at the club, however he is popular with Sanga fans.
- Sanga will also have a new stadium soon. How this change is felt in Kyoto?
The stadium is very exciting and will hopefully be a base for challenging for J1. I think Sanga could become an established J1 team if promoted soon.
- Last but not least, Kyoto Sanga have been missing in J1 from 2010. After a decade, they might come back. What are the chances for this promotion?
Promotion will be difficult this season. Although Sanga are currently in 3rd, there are other teams that are probably superior to Sanga. Also Sanga’s recent form has been poor, whilst some other teams near the top have continued to win. I think a playoff place is realistic for Sanga, however it would be extremely difficult to achieve promotion through the playoffs.
The depth in the goalkeeping position (promising Tomoya Wakahara has played just once this season), the growth of players like Sento and Koyamatsu, the regista-mindset of Shoji and the sudden goals of a former J3-prodigy like Ichimi are pushing Sanga to think big, maybe bigger than everyone anticipated in the pre-season.
This is a real deal both for the club and for Japanese football. The club would benefit from playing back to J1, but the league would benefit from seeing a town like Kyoto – a historical site for the world, let alone the country itself – back in the contention to play top tier-games. And doing that in a brand-new stadium – as some Japanese clubs have taught us – might even give us an extra-push to look out for a dark horse in the next season.
