Team Data: Sagan Tosu
Team Name:
Team Logo & Mascot:  
Team Flag:
Home Uniform Away Uniform
 
Home StadiumTosu Stadium
Seats 24,490
Team Data:
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Management Corporation: | Sagan Tosu Co., Ltd. | |
Established: | 13 July 1998
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President: | Yasuaki Nakamura
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Investors: | Consortium consisting of Tosu City, individual citizens and local corporations | |
Address: | Sagan Tosu Satellite Shop 2F,
1-959-16 Hon-machi, Tosu City,
Saga 841-0037 | |
Hometown Area: | Tosu City, Saga Prefecture | |
Home Stadium: | Tosu Stadium (capacity: 24,490) | |
Joined J. League: | 1999 |
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Sagan Tosu is one of the youngest clubs in the J.League, depending on whether or not you view teams like Shonan Bellmare and Verdy Tokyo as "new" or just restructured versions of older teams. Sagan was founded in 1997, just two years before the creation of the J.League second division. It is a completely grassroots organisation, having been established by 5000 local soccer fans living in the Tosu area of Saga prefecture (in Kyushu, western Japan). Though the team is quite new, it managed to attract some large corporate sponsors in its first few years of existence, including Nike and Coca-Cola. This financial backing facilitated the team's inclusion in the J2 when the league was formed.
However, the sponsorship deals did not last, and though Sagan managed to finish near the middle of the table in both 1999 and 2000, the team soon found its finances dwindling as corporate sponsors bid the team farewell. Since then, the team has struggled, and between 2001 and 2004 it became one of the weaklings of the J2 in terms of performance both on-field and off. Sagan slipped to 10th place in 2001 and followed that with even weaker performances in 2003 and 2004. With low attendances and weak finances keeping the club on the edge of financial insolvency, Sagan was unable to build a competitive team, and without a competitive team the fans remained at home, or drifted away to one of the other north-Kyushu clubs (Oita Trinita and Avispa Fukuoka are both located within an hour's drive of Saga prefecture). By the end of 2004, Sagan Tosu was close to financial collapse, and was being watchjed closely by the J.League to see whether the team could continue to be a viable J.League club.
In 2005, Sagan Tosu received help from an unlikely source -- the professional magician "Princess Tenko", who two years earlier had offered similar financial support to Ventforet Kofu. Princess Tenko certainly seems to have a "magic touch", as Sagan got off to a fantastic start in 2005, temporarily rising as high as the second place spot. Over the course of the season, Sagan's competitiveness waned, as one might expect after looking at their roster. However, the team's eighth place finish was the best it had managed since the 2000 season, and this at least provided some hope among local fans. Over the past few years, Tosu has been working hard to establish a bit of a "Korean identity", drawing upon the abundance of talent that lies just across the Tsushima Strait. However, given the team's continued financial difficulties, they have been forced to rely on aging veterans like Yoon Jung-Hwan and unproven youngsters. Although the strong popularity of football in Kyushu may elevate attendances over the long run, and perhaps make the team more competitive, it probably will not happen any time soon.
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 | Wintos-kun
The Saga prefectural bird -- the magpie -- was chosen as mascot of Sagan Tosu. A good start, dont you think? Anyone who has encountered these huge, imposing and wickedly intelligent birds would naturally be impressed. But somewhere along the line, around early 2005, someone at the club must have had a bad dream about jr high school girls and prepubescent angst, and the result was one of the most disastrous design makeovers in human history. The pink-and-baby-blue motif for the uniforms was bad enough, but a masked pink magpie? You gotta be kidding! Oh, and in case you didnt catch it, his name is derived from "Win Tosu"
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