Kyoto Sanga F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Kyoto Sanga F.C.
京都サンガＦＣ


fullname = Kyoto Sanga F.C.
nickname = Sanga
founded = 1922,
"as Kyoto Shiko Club (京都紫郊クラブ)"
ground = Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium
Ukyo-ku, Kyoto
capacity = 20,389
chairman = Toru Umemoto
manager = Hisashi Kato
league = J. League Div.1
season = 2007
position = 3rd Place
(promoted to J1 via play-off)
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nihongo|Kyoto Sanga F.C.|京都サンガF.C.|Kyōto Sanga Efushī is a Japanese professional football (soccer) club based in Kyoto. The word "Sanga" is a Sanskrit term meaning "group" or "club", often used to denote Buddhist congregations. This reflects Kyoto's rich tradition of Buddhist temples (see sangha). The club was formerly known as Kyoto Purple Sanga with "purple", the colour of the team uniforms, an imperial colour reflecting Kyoto's status as Japan's ancient imperial capital city. It was decided however that, from 2007, the team will simply been known as "Kyoto Sanga".

History

The club was started as "Kyoto Shiko Club", one of the few proper Japanese football clubs in the sense of being strictly dedicated to football and not being part of a company. Like Ventforet Kofu, however, it could not rise to a Japan Soccer League First Division dominated by company teams; in 1993, after the J. League was created, Kyoto Shiko Club, aided by funds from local new sponsors Kyocera and Nintendo, professionalized (though some players broke away and formed their own clubs, see below) and joined the former Japan Football League under the new name "Kyoto Purple Sanga".

First joining the J. League in 1996, Kyoto Sanga hold the dubious distinction of being the League's most relegated side, having been demoted on three separate occasions. Relegation to J2 occurred at the end of the 2000, 2003 and 2006 seasons; more than any other team. The 2003 relegation happened despite having many national team players on its roster. Stars like Park Ji-Sung and Daisuke Matsui have since left for greener pastures. In December 2007 the club gained J1 status for the fourth time in their history via the promotion / relegation play off.

Players

Current squad

"As of July 6, 2008"

Notable players

* Paulo Silas
* André
* Daniel Sanabria
* Ned Zelic
* Park Ji-Sung
* Choi Yong-Soo
* Ko Jong-Su
* Shunzo Ono
* Nobuhiro Takeda
* Shigetatsu Matsunaga
* Takahiro Yamada
* Hajime Moriyasu
* Daisuke Matsui
* Yasuhito Endo
* Kazuyoshi Miura
* Ruy Ramos
* Shigeyoshi Mochizuki
* Naoto Otake
* Shigeki Tsujimoto
* Kazuki Teshima
* Teruaki Kurobe
* Yutaka Tahara
* Yutaka Akita
* Ryuzo Morioka
* Atsushi Yanagisawa

World Cup Players

"'World Cup 1998
*flagicon|South Korea Choi Yong-Soo"'World Cup 2002
*flagicon|South Korea Park Ji-Sung
*flagicon|South Korea Choi Yong-Soo
*flagicon|Japan Yutaka Akita
*flagicon|Japan Ryuzo Morioka"'World Cup 2006
*flagicon|Japan Atsushi Yanagisawa

Managers

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J. League Cup

Honours

;All Japan Senior Football Championship (as Kyoto Shiko): 1988;Emperor's Cup: 2002;J. League Division 2: 2001, 2005

Related clubs

*FC Kyoto BAMB 1993 (Kansai Soccer League Division 1) - broke away from the original Kyoto Shiko Club upon professionalization; amateur club
*Kyoto Shiko Club (Kansai Soccer League Division 2) - broke away from BAMB in 1998; amateur club
*Shiko Club women's (Kansai Women's Soccer League) - linked with today's Kyoto Shiko Club

Kyoto Sanga is considered the main continuation of the Kyoto Shiko Club that competed in the Japan Soccer League Second Division. "Shiko" (紫光) means "brilliant purple" and is the color that Shiko/Sanga have always worn.

External links

* [http://www.sanga-fc.jp/ Official website]

Kyoto Sanga F.C. Squad
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J. League