Kashima Antlers

Kashima Antlers (鹿島アントラーズ, Kashima Antorāzu) are a Japanese professional football club based in Kashima, Ibaraki, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country.

Kashima Antlers
Full nameKashima Antlers F.C. Co., Ltd.
Founded1947 (1947) (as Sumitomo Metals FC)
GroundKashima Soccer Stadium
Capacity40,728[1]
OwnerMercari
ChairmanFumiaki Koizumi
ManagerAntônio Carlos Zago
LeagueJ1 League
2019J1 League, 3rd of 18
WebsiteClub website

Antlers is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has financial backing from Mercari, a Japanese e-commerce company.

Since the J.League's creation and introduction of professional Japanese football in 1993, Kashima have proved by far Japan's most successful club team, having won the J.League title a record eight times, the J.League Cup a record six times and the Emperor's Cup five times for an unprecedented total of nineteen major domestic titles. Kashima also won their first AFC Champions League title in 2018. Kashima have finished in the top five of the league for over seventy percent of all seasons played to date, recorded an average end of season league placing of third and captured a major domestic title in over sixty percent of all seasons played to date.

Kashima are also one of only two teams to have competed in Japan's top flight of professional football every year since its inception (the other being Yokohama F. Marinos).

History

The name ‘Antlers’ is derived from the city of Kashima, which literally translates to ‘Deer Island’. The club crest not only resembles deer antlers but it also reflects the image of rose thorn as it is the official flower of Ibaraki, the home prefecture of the club. Deer are amiable animals and are viewed in some religions as spiritual messengers. In fact, Kashima Shrine, one of the most famous shrines in Japan and located in close proximity to the club headquarters, have kept and raised deer for more than 1,300 years as spiritual symbol. Deer are affectionate animals but are also known for their courageous character as they battle each other head to head with lethal antlers.

Leonardo Araújo, played for Kashima from 1994 to 1996

Founded in 1947 as Sumitomo Metal Industries Factory Football Club in Osaka and moved to Kashima, Ibaraki in 1975. It played in the semi-professional Japan Soccer League. They were promoted to the JSL's top flight in 1984, but never made much of an impact, going down in 1985/86, returning in 1986/87 and going down again in 1988/89. Its last standing in the JSL was 2nd in the Second Division for 1991/92.

After the formation of the fully professional J.League, Sumitomo, like all other clubs, stripped the corporate brand from the team name and reformed as the Kashima Antlers. Kashima was essentially promoted to the new top flight, as many JSL First Division teams decided to relegate themselves being unprepared for professionalism. (Of the original 10 J.League founding member clubs, Kashima and Shimizu S-Pulse were newly promoted. Ironically, Kashima had defeated a forerunner of Shimizu's, Nippon Light Metal/Hagoromo Club, to earn its JSL Second Division place back in 1974).

Since the J.League's creation and introduction of professional Japanese football in 1993, Kashima have consistently been amongst the strongest teams in the country, holding several distinctions and records. Led by former Brazilian star and Japanese national team coach Zico in the team's formative years, Kashima were the first team to win a J.League stage, claiming the 1st stage of the inaugural season in 1993. This laid a platform for continuous greatness and long after the Kashima icon had departed, in 2000 Kashima became the first J.League team to achieve the "treble", by winning all three major titles: J.League, J.League Cup, and Emperor's Cup in the same year.

In recent times, by clinching the 2007 J.League title they became the first and only team in Japan to have won ten domestic titles in the professional era. In 2008 they became the first and only club to successfully defend the J.League title on two separate occasions. In 2009 they became the first and only club to win three consecutive J.League titles. With victories in back to back J.League Cups in 2011, 2012 and most recently followed by their 2015 victory, Kashima extended their unmatched record of major domestic titles in the professional era to seventeen.

Outside the Kashima Soccer Stadium

To this day, Kashima has maintained strong ties with the football community in Brazil, a fact borne out of Zico's past affiliation with the club. Kashima's Brazilian connection has manifested itself in both the club's player transfer and coaching policy resulting in only three non-Brazilian foreign players and predominantly Brazilian managers signing for Kashima since the inception of the J.League.

The population of Kashima city is a mere 60,000 and for that reason club has also adopted the surrounding cities of Itako, Kamisu, Namegata and Hokota as its official hometowns, all in Ibaraki Prefecture. The combined population of five cities is 280,000. Antlers home games are played at Kashima Soccer Stadium, one of the 2002 FIFA World Cup venues with capacity of 40,000.

In 2016, they became the first Asian team to reach the FIFA Club World Cup final following a 3–0 victory over South American champions Atlético Nacional.[2] In the final, after a 2–2 draw against European champions Real Madrid after 90 minutes, they were beaten 4–2 after extra time.[3]

Colour, sponsors and manufacturers
Season(s)Main Shirt SponsorCollarbone SponsorAdditional Sponsor(s)Kit Manufacturer
2018LIXILMercari (Left)Mercari (Right)Yellow HatRISONIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METALアイフルホームNIKE
2019NIPPON STEEL
2020

Kit History

Slogans
YearSlogan
1998CHALLENGE
1999NEXT
2000Glory Again – 原点からの挑戦 –
2001- 勝利主義 Antlersism – FOR NEXT 10 YEARS
2002- 進化 Antlersism – STAIRWAY TO THE WORLD
2003OVER'03 – カシマからアジア、そして世界へ –
2004FOOTBALL DREAM 2004 – 奪冠10 –
2005FOOTBALL DREAM 2005 – 反撃宣言 –
2006FOOTBALL DREAM 2006 – 一新制覇 –
2007FOOTBALL DREAM'07 – 魂 Spirits –
2008FOOTBALL DREAM 2008 – DESAFIO 挑戦 –
2009FOOTBALL DREAM 2009 – PROGRESSO 飛躍 –
2010FOOTBALL DREAM 2010 – Evolução 新化 –
2011FOOTBALL DREAM NEXT
2012SMILE AGAIN with PRIDE
2013RENASCIMENTO – 誇りを胸に –
2014SPECTACLE – 戦 –
2015RISE TO THE CHALLENGE – 覚悟 –
2016FOOTBALL DREAM ともに
2017FOOTBALL DREAM つなぐ
2018FOOTBALL DREAM こえる
2019FOOTBALL DREAM かわる

Sponsors

List of Sponsors[4]

Players

Current squad
Kashima players training at Azadi Stadium

The Kashima Antlers squad for the 2020 season.

As of 19 July 2020.[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  KOR Kwoun Sun-tae
2 DF  JPN Atsuto Uchida (captain)
3 DF  JPN Tatsuki Nara
4 MF  BRA Léo Silva
5 DF  JPN Daiki Sugioka
6 MF  JPN Ryota Nagaki
7 MF  BRA Juan Alano
8 MF  JPN Shoma Doi
9 FW  BRA Everaldo
11 MF  JPN Ryuji Izumi
14 DF  JPN Katsuya Nagato
15 FW  JPN Sho Ito
16 DF  JPN Shuto Yamamoto
19 FW  JPN Itsuki Someno
20 MF  JPN Kento Misao
21 GK  JPN Hitoshi Sogahata
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 DF  JPN Rikuto Hirose
24 DF  JPN Yukitoshi Ito
25 MF  JPN Yasushi Endo
26 DF  JPN Ryotaro Araki
27 MF  JPN Yuta Matsumura
28 DF  JPN Koki Machida
30 MF  JPN Shintaro Nago
31 GK  JPN Yuya Oki
33 DF  JPN Ikuma Sekigawa
34 MF  JPN Kotaro Arima
35 DF  JPN Shogo Sasaki
36 FW  JPN Ayase Ueda
37 MF  JPN Kei Koizumi
38 GK  JPN Taiki Yamada
39 DF  JPN Tomoya Inukai (df)
41 MF  JPN Ryōhei Shirasaki

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF  BRA Bueno (at Atlético Mineiro)
— MF  JPN Kazune Kubota (at Fagiano Okayama)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— FW  JPN Yuki Kakita (at Zweigen Kanazawa)

Technical staff
As of June 2020
Position Name
Technical Director Zico
Manager Antônio Carlos Zago
Assistant coach Carlos Pacheco
Assistant coach Naoki Soma
Goalkeeping Coach Yohei Sato

Managers
ManagerNationalityTenure
Masakatsu Miyamoto JapanJanuary 1992 – June 1994
Edu BrazilJune 1994 – December 1995
João Carlos BrazilJanuary 1996 – July 1998
Takashi Sekizuka (interim) JapanJuly 1998
Zé Mário BrazilJuly 1998 – August 1999
Takashi Sekizuka (interim) JapanAugust 1999
Zico (interim) Brazil20 August 1999 – 31 December 1999
Toninho Cerezo Brazil1 January 2000 – 30 December 2005
Paulo Autuori Brazil31 December 2005 – 29 November 2006
Oswaldo de Oliveira Brazil1 January 2007 – 31 December 2011
Jorginho Brazil1 January 2012 – 31 December 2012
Toninho Cerezo Brazil1 January 2013 – 22 July 2015
Masatada Ishii Japan23 July 2015 – 31 May 2017
Go Oiwa Japan31 May 2017 – 1 January 2020
Antônio Carlos Zago Brazil2 January 2020 –

Record
Season Div. Tms. Pos. Avg. Attd. Emperor's Cup J.League Cup Super Cup Asia Others
1992 – – – – Quarterfinal Semifinal – – – – –
1993 J1 10 2 14,016 Runners-up Group Stage – – – – –
1994 J1 12 3 16,812 1st round 1st round – – – – –
1995 J1 14 7 19,141 Semifinal – – – – – –
1996 J1 16 1 15,386 Quarterfinal Group Stage – – – – –
1997 J1 17 2 16,985 Winner Winner Winner – – – –
1998 J1 18 1 15,345 Semifinal Semifinal Winner CC Quarterfinal – –
1999 J1 16 9 17,049 4th round Runners-up Winner CWC 3rd Place – –
2000 J1 16 1 17,507 Winner Winner – CC Quarterfinal – –
2001 J1 16 1 22,425 Quarterfinal Semifinal Runners-up – – – –
2002 J1 16 4 21,590 Runners-up Winner Runners-up CC Quarterfinal – –
2003 J1 16 5 21,204 Semifinal Runners-up – CL Group Stage A3 Winner
2004 J1 16 6 17,585 Quarterfinal Quarterfinal – – – – –
2005 J1 18 3 18,641 Quarterfinal Group Stage – – – – –
2006 J1 18 6 15,433 Semifinal Runners-up – – – – –
2007 J1 18 1 16,239 Winner Semifinal – – – – –
2008 J1 18 1 19,714 5th round Quarterfinal Runners-up CL Quarterfinal – –
2009 J1 18 1 21,617 Quarterfinal Quarterfinal Winner CL Round of 16 – –
2010 J1 18 4 20,966 Winner Quarterfinal Winner CL Round of 16 – –
2011 J1 18 6 16,156 4th round Winner Runners-up CL Round of 16 – –
2012 J1 18 11 15,381 Semifinal Winner – – – Suruga Winner
2013 J1 18 5 16,419 4th round Quarterfinal – – – Suruga Winner
2014 J1 18 3 17,665 2nd round Group Stage – – – – –
2015 J1 18 5 16,423 3rd round Winner – CL Group Stage – –
2016 J1 18 1 19,103 Winner Group Stage – – – Suruga Runners-up
FIFA Runners-up
2017 J1 18 2 20,467 Quarterfinal Quarterfinal Winner CL Round of 16 – –
2018 J1 18 3 20,547 Semifinal Semifinal – CL Winner FIFA 4th place
2019 J1 18 3 20,571 Runners-up Semifinal – CL Quarterfinal – –

Attendance

Financials

Revenue & Expenditure

Assets & Net Worth

Honours
Kashima Antlers celebrate after winning the 2018 AFC Champions League.

Sumitomo Soccer Club (Amateur Era – 1947 to 1991)

Kashima Antlers (Professional Era – 1992 to present) Domestic

International

Personnel awards

World Cup players

The following players have been selected by their country in the World Cup, while playing for Kashima Antlers:

Olympic players

The following players have represented their country at the Summer Olympic Games whilst playing for Kashima Antlers:

Former players

International capped players

In the Captain Tsubasa manga series, two characters were players of Kashima Antlers. The Brazilian midfielders Luciano Leo (himself loosely based on Leonardo) and Pepe were colleagues of Flamengo's Carlos Santana and São Paulo FC's Tsubasa Ozora.

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References
  1. "Kashima Soccer Stadium". so-net.ne.jp. Archived from the original on 1 November 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  2. "Kashima beats Nacional to become first Asian team to reach Club World Cup final". 14 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  3. "Real Madrid win Club World Cup". BBC. 18 December 2016.
  4. "Sponsor". Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  5. "Players" (in Japanese). Kashima Antlers Official Website. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
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