Team Data: Shonan Bellmare
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Home Uniform Away Uniform
 
Home StadiumHiratsuka Stadium
Seats 18,500
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Management Corporation: | Shonan Bellmare Co., Ltd. | |
Established: | 2 October 1992
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President: | Kikuo Konagaya
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Investors: | Hiratsuka City and 324 local companies | |
Address: | 3489-1 Okami, Hiratsuka City,
Kanagawa 254-0012 | |
Hometown Area: | Atsugi City, Isehara City, Odawara City, Chigasaki City, Hadano City, Hiratsuka City, Fujisawa City, Oiso Town, Samukawa Town and Ninomiya Town | |
Home Stadium: | Hiratsuka Stadium (capacity: 18,500) | |
Joined J. League: | 1992 | |
Major Titles: | Emperor's Cup: 1994
Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 1995/96
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 | King Bell
For a seaside resort-based team that has already selected an ocean-oriented motif for its team name and color scheme, you cant go wrong by selecting a cartoon version of the Greek god of the sea as your mascot. Only the name -- "King Bell" -- comes off sounding a bit incongruous, but I suppose they wanted to follow the example of other J.League teams and select something that matched the name "Bellmare". Oddly enough, despite the trend at so many other clubs, there has never been any indication that the team might create a "Queen Belle", or even a royal consort for that matter. I guess thats what happens if you dont win enough matches to impress the ladies.
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Shonan Bellmare has a long and dignified history; the team's forerunner, Fujita Industries, was one of the powerhouses in the Japan Soccer League during the late 1960s and 1970s. However, you will find not a hint of information on this relationship if you visit the current Shonan Bellmare site. It seems that this team would prefer to forget its past. Perhaps that is not entirely surprising, since Fujita cut off all financial support in 1999, due to a financial crisis at the company, and no longer retains any sponsorship or shareholder ties to Bellmare whatsoever. It is a bit unfortunate, though, considering the historical importance and long record of success enjoyed by the team.
Fujita Industries FC was based on the Pacific coast of Japan just a short distance from Yokohama, making it a fierce rival of the other top JSL clubs in the area during the 1970s, such as Nissan FC (later Yokohama Marinos) and Yomiuri Club (later Verdy Kawasaki). When Japan was preparing to launch the J.League, Fujita had been on a recent run of success, and was one of the country's stronger clubs. However, while the team was offered an opportunity to set up an independent management structure and join the J.League as a founding member, the company decided to maintain control of management remain in the JFL. After winning the JFL title in 1993, however, the team apparently took note of the huge crowds and piles of money that J.League clubs were attracting and had a change of heart. A separate management company was established and the team joined the J.League under the name Bellmare Hiratsuka.
The name "Bellmare" is taken from the Italian words for "beautiful sea", and refers to the scenic seacoast in the Shonan area, southwest of Yokohama. Their mascot, King Bell, seems to be modeled on a cross between a Disney character and the Greek God Poseidon, in keeping with the team's "ocean-related" theme. While Bellmare was a fairly successful club during the first few years of the J.League, management was extraordinarily bad. As was the case with their decision to reject, and then accept J.League membership, most club decisions seemed to be based on monetary considerations. Every player who demonstrated any real talent was immediately sold to the highest bidder, in return for cash, and there are suggestions that this was used to reduce the financial burden on Fujita, rather than to develop the team.
Having sold off star players such as Akira Narahashi, Wagner Lopes, Kazuaki Tasaka and, of course, Hidetoshi Nakata, Bellmare began to descend through the rankings until it was relegated in 1999. At this point, Fujita Industries and the club parted company. After floundering for financial support and coming close to bankruptcy, Bellmare was eventually rescued by Nakata.net, an internet firm associated with the famed Japanese midfielder. The club changed its name to Shonan Bellmare, thus expanding its "home town" area to cover the entire area between the southern fringe of Yokohama and the border with Shizuoka. Though the change enhanced the team's association with the ocean (for Tokyoites of a certain age, "Shonan" is virtually synonymous with "beach"), it did not really do much to improve attendances.
Bellmare can be viewed as a case study in how to achieve successful mediocrity. The team has associations with many successful players, but has always traded them away just before they reach star status (they did this again in 2002, with defender Teruaki Moniwa). Bellmare has a fairly solid base of core fans, but it is relatively small, and has trouble expanding beyond the shadow of nearby teams like the Yokohama Marinos. Management has improved dramatically since the break with Fujita, and is now steadily profitable, but the front office does not seem to be particularly insightful when it comes to plotting a return to the top division.
Shonan Bellmare has shown signs of revival in recent years, though it has been a very slow and gradual process. The team finished squarely in the middle of the J2 ranks from the time it was relegated in 1999 until the 2006 season. In 2005, the former head coach of Japan women's national team, Eiji Ueda, took over the management reins and brought in some veterans such as former Kashiwa Reysol midfielder Nozomu Kato, which added some needed experience and talent. In the early months of the season it looked like Bellmare might challenge for a promotion spot, but the Sea Kings eventually faded, and slipped back to their accustomed place in the middle of the J2 pack. Coach Ueda departed as Bellmare dipped further in the standings, during 2006.
However, the strategies introduced by Ueda did seem to point in the direction of future success. While continuing to build an energetic core of youngsters from the youth program and local high schools, Bellmare went out searching for veterans with the same sort of influence and skill that Kato had provided. In 2007 S-Pulse veteran Toshihide Saito and FC Tokyo defender Jean Carlo Witte joined the squad. Once again, the team could not maintain their early momentum and thus fell well short of a promotion spot, but their sixth-place finish was the team's best result since 2002. Continued efforts to attract experience players who were at the end of their J1 careers allowed the team to advance further in 2008, to a fifth-place finish.
Since veteran players like the ones named above can only offer the team two or three years of truly effective contributions, there are still some questions about whether the team will be able to escape once and for all from its spot in the middle of the J2. On the other hand, based on their performance in 2008, it would not take much for Bellmare to move into contention for one of the promotion spots. The team retains a number of experienced yet still-talented veterans and just enough youth to provide energy and emotion. Bellmare also has been playing "smarter" football than they did in the past, and at least performing up to their potential. The key to sustained success, however, will lie it its financial and management acumen. The team needs to sign and retain at least 3 or 4 top-level players who are at the peak of their careers (aged 24-29) if they hope to not only make a bid for promotion, but also hang onto a J1 slot once they get there. Up to now, every indication suggests that Shonan is content to remain in comfortable mediocrity, as a second-rate club in the second division.
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