FC Baleine Shimonoseki
| Full name | FC Baleine Shimonoseki |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 |
| Ground | Nogihama Park; Saving Athletic Stadium |
| Capacity | 5,000 (NP) 23,939 (SAS) |
| Chairman | Koki Harada |
| Manager | Kazuma Yamane |
| League | Chūgoku Soccer League |
| 2024 | 4th of 10 |
| Website | http://fcbaleine.jp/ |
FC Baleine Shimonoseki (FCバレイン下関, Efu Shi Barein Shimonoseki) are a Japanese football club based on Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture.[1][2] They play in the Chūgoku Soccer League, one of Japan's fifth tier leagues, which is part of Japanese Regional Leagues.[3]
Name origin
[edit]The name Baleine means whale in French. Whales are related with the club's hometown Shimonoseki, that was once a whaling base.[1]
History
[edit]The club was founded on 2006, starting from the 4th division of the Yamaguchi Prefecture League, one of the 10th-tier leagues of Japanese football. Baleine would only get out of prefectural football on 2018, after winning promotion to the Chugoku Soccer League, starting their journey on regional football. In their first season, on 2019, it finished on 4th place within 10 participating teams.[4]
Between 2020 and 2022, the club reached its peak so far, having finished two seasons as league runners-up, and qualified for the Emperor's Cup twice in the period. In the 2020 Emperor's Cup, the club made its debut at the second round, in a competition professional teams-shrunk due to the pandemic.[5] They ended up losing against fellow Chugoku region side Fukuyama City FC. In the following year, the club once again failed to win an Emperor's Cup match, losing against Mitsubishi Mizushima FC, also from the Chugoku region, on the first round of the competition.[6]
In 2023, Baleine qualified for the Emperor's Cup, winning their qualification as Yamaguchi representatives on 23 April, after beating Shunan University in the prefectural preliminaries' Final.[7] They were knocked out in the first round by Verspah Oita. In 2024, they repeated the feat of qualifying to the Emperor's Cup as Yamaguchi representatives over Shunan.[8] In the first round they defeated J3 League team Gainare Tottori in a tense penalty shoot-out by 4-3, with scores level at 1-1 after playing 120 minutes. In the second round of the competition, they lost heavily to Sanfrecce Hiroshima by 11–2. This is the first time Baleine have played official matches against professional sides.
League and cup record
[edit]| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | Emperor's Cup | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Division | Pos. | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
| 2006 | Yamaguchi 4th Division B Block | 2nd | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 39 | 7 | 32 | 18 | Did not qualify |
| 2007 | 1st | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 2 | 47 | 24 | ||
| 2008 | Yamaguchi 3rd Division B Block | 1st | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 23 | 21 | |
| 2009 | Yamaguchi 2nd Division | 1st | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 40 | 5 | 35 | 16 | |
| 2010 | Yamaguchi 1st Division | 3rd | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 32 | 18 | 14 | 16 | |
| 2011 | 1st | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 40 | 14 | 26 | 31 | ||
| 2012 | 5th | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 29 | 14 | 15 | 14 | ||
| 2013 | 5th | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 23 | 35 | -12 | 11 | ||
| 2014 | 2nd | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 33 | 21 | 12 | 16 | ||
| 2015 | 2nd | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 45 | 12 | 33 | 32 | ||
| 2016 | 1st | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 5 | 28 | 26 | ||
| 2017 | 1st | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 41 | 8 | 33 | 29 | ||
| 2018 | 1st | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 64 | 9 | 55 | 34 | ||
| 2019 | Chugoku Soccer League | 4th | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 45 | 23 | 22 | 32 | |
| 2020 | League season cancelled because of COVID-19 | 2nd round | |||||||||
| 2021 | 2nd | 16 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 35 | 16 | 19 | 35 | 1st round | |
| 2022 | 2nd | 18 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 41 | 22 | 19 | 42 | Did not qualify | |
| 2023 | 3rd | 18 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 47 | 26 | 21 | 37 | 1st round | |
| 2024 | 4th | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 45 | 24 | 21 | 32 | 2nd round | |
| 2025 | TBA | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | TBA | |
- Key
- Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points won
Honours
[edit]| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Yamaguchi 4th Division B Block | 1 | 2007 |
| Yamaguchi 3rd Division B Block | 1 | 2008 |
| Yamaguchi 2nd Division | 1 | 2009 |
| Yamaguchi Prefectural League 1st Division | 4 | 2011, 2016, 2017, 2018 |
| Nogami Cup | 1 | 2011 |
| Yamaguchi Football Championship (Emperor's Cup Prefectural Qualifying Tournament) |
4 | 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024 |
Players and staff
[edit]Current squad
[edit]- As of 30 April 2024. [9]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Current staff
[edit]| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Kazuma Yamane
|
| Assistant manager | Kaito Kurogi
|
| Staff manager | Shuto Kondo Akiko Matsumoto
|
| Representant | Kota Fukuhara
|
| Chairman | Koki Harada
|
References
[edit]- ^ a b "クラブガイド" (in Japanese). FC Baleine Shimonoseki. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ "goo 地図". Goo Map. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ "FCバレイン下関" (in Japanese). Spocale. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ "Japan 2019". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ "天皇杯 JFA 第100回全日本サッカー選手権大会 大会方式について" (in Japanese). Japan Football Association. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ "天皇杯 JFA 第101回全日本サッカー選手権大会 １回戦 【21】" (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Football Association. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ "天皇杯 JFA 第103回全日本サッカー選手権大会 山形県など8県で代表決まる". jfa.jp (in Japanese). 23 April 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ "天皇杯 JFA 第104回全日本サッカー選手権大会 鳥取県など5県で代表決まる". jfa.jp (in Japanese). 21 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
- ^ "選手・スタッフ一覧". fcbaleine.jp. FC Baleine Shimonoseki. Retrieved 30 April 2024.