North Kyushu is starting to get seriously crowded with J-League clubs, especially seeing as their 'natural' level is probably all in J2. Giravanz, Avispa, Trinita, Roasso, V-Varen, Tosu, all within a couple hours drive. Add to that the Kagoshima connection with Kyoto, and the couple of decent sized actual clubs in Kagoshima. Surely there are areas which must be crying out for a club. I go to Avispa every game, but if they didn't exist and I wanted to still watch some football it wouldn't be that unreasonable to get on the train for 25 minutes to Kitakyushu or Saga.
When I read the japanese boards, nobody including (Nagano) themselves believing is get promoted before 2016. I am not so sure about Kamatamare, rumours are saying many fans are really discontent with the front office, and economy doesnt seem so good, and people not showing up (However they can do as Nagasaki). No ou learn about Sagamihara the more unrealistic it seems to be for an immediate promotion, it has a rumour as being one of the 2 most secluded clubs in japan (the other being Volca kagoshima) and therefore people really questions what that club is capable of.
i think people aren't showing up at Kamatamare simply because this year the team was crap... and then (BIG OT)... Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler why Volca is rumored to be secluded when they have an official twitter,a blog,a hell of a website and a online shop selling stickers with the potentially controverse (from a "western" perspective) club logo?! http://volca-kagoshima.jp/shop/products/detail.php?product_id=17[/spoiler] sorry for the ot but that's just curious...
Oh, Shimazu clan crest? I don't know but they feel some kind of affection from history and they're using it now even though it doesn't have any linking to the prefecture itself aside from history. I'm not the citizen of the preferecture either so I can't tell.
I'm definitely rooting for Oita. Btw, the play-off are regular also in Serie B (second level of italian football), but they don't have this enthusiasm.. i like more this way than the italian one. It's similar to the english way (with the final in Wembley).
Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler Well I dont know if you know about the history between Volca Kagoshima and FC Kagoshima, but FC Kagoshima has been created mainly from Kagoshima people living in Tokyo disagreeing in the methods of the old Kagoshima way of thinking. FC Kagoshima's main fan groupings is basically the younger generations not understanding why Things in Kagoshima is done behind closed doors. Volcas ethics is the old Kagoshima way and thats to work behind closed doors. Take for example FCK have strong appeal amongst online people with strong face at blogs, twitter etc and has a J-League worthy youth system, while Volca Kagoshima has a huuuuge Budget (100 million Yen annualy) but nothing else. I personally prefers Volca because it seems as FCK purely has been made out of hatred to Volca. But if you listen to Kagoshima peoples about the 2 football clubs they would say Volca doing as the old Satsuma way and thats secluded.
Meanwhile the relegation of Zelvia seems to have spurred discussion over J3 -or Challenge League,as it seems...- Hope to see some official resolution and some actual timeplan as soon as possible... http://www.nikkansports.com/soccer/news/p-sc-tp0-20121114-1046561.html
Thats great that was the plan all along after all. To have at least 3 professional leagues and JFL as a fourth one
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20121115-00000314-tospoweb-socc Yokohama FC offered Kazu a 'limitless' contract until he'll finally finish his career.
No, but imagine IF YFC would win play-off.. Kazu in J1 at the age of 46. It's an affair for the club, i assume.
As it seems now the so-called new 3rd. tier league will be a development league sanctioned by the J-League but will not be J-League. Everybody in japan already calling it J-Challenge. Since the league will be composed by J-League associate members, if big budgets they will have 300 million (Half of Tottori) at least 5 A-Contracts (5 players earning at least 4.8 million yen) and around 3000 in average gates to be considered eligible to promotion. It would be close to pro but not completely but at least no amateur teams. Dont bet too much on JFL as 4th. division somebody already talking about closing it down.
This is not good news. I understand that Kazu has big PR value but as long as he dominates, no new can build en equal value for the future and thats also why they keep giving him contract, because what will happen when he is not there.
That's ... news. Not bad, not good. Kazu doesn't play anymore, the fans are starting to live without him, and the team has build enough momentum to keep the excitement going. They may be in J1 next year, that's some value, and even if they fail they'll still be a big contender for next year. If he gets the sponsors going during that time, I don't see how it is bad. Of course you gotta wonder what will happen after it's over. But it will eventually happen so ... enjoy.