Team Data: Ehime FC
Team Name:
Team Logo & Mascot:  
Team Flag:
Home Uniform Away Uniform
 
Home StadiumComprehensive Movement Park
(Seats 15,000)
Team Data:
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Management Corporation: | Ehime FC Co., Ltd. | |
Established: | 2004
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President: | Fumio Kamei
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Investors: | Funded by local government, local companies and Nankai Broadcasting Co. | |
Address: | 3-20-14 Takewara,
Matsuyama City, Ehime 790-0053 | |
Hometown Area: | Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture | |
Home Stadium: | Matsuyama Comprehensive Movement Park (capacity: 20,000) | |
Joined J. League: | 1992 |
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 | Oran-jay, Mikan-chan & Iyo Kahn
Ehime has put more effort into developing its mascots than any other J.League team. The tangerine-growing region had no difficulty deciding on an appropriate character, but the magnificent designs of Oran-jay and his friends are admired even by fans of rival teams. What could be more daunting for an opponent than to find themselves staring face to face with a slightly deranged-looking fruit.
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Ehime FC was founded in 1970 under the name Matsuyama Football Club. However, the team was just a small, local club with little serious support or competitive ability until 1995, when it was reorganised as an independent club, with support from the prefectural government, and adopted the name "Ehime FC". The team quickly became a top competitor in its region, and won the Shikoku regional league championship several times during the 1990s. In 2001, after having won the regional championship for three years in a row, Ehime FC won promotion to the JFL.
Thereafter, the club began to attract more and more local support, and though it did not have the corporate backing required to hire top players, the tremendous local support helped carry the team to a third-place finish in the JFL, in 2003. The team began to set its sights on promotion to the J.League, in earnest. The team established a management corporation -- Ehime FC Co., Ltd. -- and included as one of its corporate goals the aim of achieving quick promotion to the J.League. For the 2004 season, the team adopted a new mascot and team colours, and the local government began to put its efforts behind the team to help it in its bid for a J.League spot. Though the team fell short in 2004, it is gaining strength financially, in terms of player skill, and most of all, in terms of local fan support. And why not? iIt is hard to find anything about this club NOT to like, whether it be the team mascot -- a delightfully deranged tangerine named "Oran-jay" -- or the even MORE delightful official English name for the team's home stadium -- (I SWEAR, I am not making this up!) "Ehime Comprehensive Movement Park".
In 2005, Ehime FC petitioned the J.League for permission to advance to the J2. The League had approved two applications in 2004, and some of those who have seen the details on team finances and facilities indicate that the application was at least as convincing as those offered by Tokushima Vortis and Thespa Kusatsu, in the previous year. However, Thespa has struggled since being admitted to the J2, and finished dead last in 2005 with one of the worst records in history. As a result, the league rejected all three applications submitted by JFL teams over the summer. The other two proposals were rejected for what seemed to be legitimate reasons. Financial and organizational standards were just borderline, and the league had good justification for telling the teams in question to wait a year. But for Ehime, the decision seemed to be unfair, given the fact that the league approved a much weaker bid from Thespa, a year earlier.
Just days after the application of Ehime FC was rejected, the J.League front office was stunned to have a large delegation of politicians and business leaders -- led by Ehime governor Moriyuki Kato -- suddenly show up on their doorstep demanding that the League reconsider its stance. The club has become wildly popular in its home region, and with their next-door neighbours Tokushima Vortis already in the J2, it seems that everyone in the prefecture has jumped on the bandwagon and is looking forward to having their own J.League team. The delegation from Ehime prefecture assured the League that Ehime FC would have whatever financial, organizational and infrastructure support it needed, and there was no excuse for the league to reject the petition. Taken aback by this forceful statement, the League began to bend, but refused to grant approval immediately. They agreed to "reconsider the application", and promised to make a final decision after the final match of the JFL season.
The delegates from the club and the Ehime government returned home and set about organizing efforts to force the J.League's hand. Fan club members hit the streets with petitions for locals to sign, asking the J.League to approve Ehime FC's promotion. Within a month, the team had gathered a mountain of petitions -- reportedly over 350,000! One Japanese blogger in Matsuyama City cheekily suggested that Oran-Jay (the team mascot) should run for a seat in the Diet, since the team had received more votes of confidence from people in the prefecture than ALL CANDIDATES COMBINED in the previous month's election.
This tremendous show of support by the local community, business leaders and of course, the local fans, won over the sceptical J.League brass, and they agreed that if Ehime could finish in the top two of the JFL this season, they would earn a spot in the J2. With a burst of euphoria and fan elation carrying them along, Ehime FC made a late charge and managed to win the JFL title outright, leaving no doubt in anyone's mind what the J.League's decision would be. Sure enough, a day later the League officially welcomed its newest member.
Although Ehime faced the same hurdles in 2006 that any league newcomer usually faces, the team put on an impressive run and managed to finish in eighth place. We were not surprised to see them slip down-table a bit in 2007, since the second year is often more difficult than the first (just ask Ehime FC's Shikoku neighbours, Tokushima Vortis). However, the great local support that the team enjoys should provide a solid base on which to build the team, over the longer term. We are looking forward to seeing the Terrible Tangerines in action again in 2008, and perhaps this time they can even slip into the top half of the expanded league table.
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