FC Ryukyu is a relative newcomer to the world of Japanese football, having been established in February 2003. Since its inception, the team has been a wildly popular and extremely successful club, starting off in the third division of the Okinawa Prefectural League in 2003 and advancing one level every year -- to the second division in 2004, to the Kyushu Regional League in 2005 and winning promotion to the JFL in 2006. There can be few Japanese clubs who have packed as much action into their short history as FC Ryukyu.

The squad can in some ways be considered the second incarnation of Okinawa's dream of having a club in the J.League. At the end of the 1990s, it breeifly looked as if Okinawa had a likely candidate for promotion, in Kariyushi FC. The club made headlines by asking former national team player and naturalised Brazilian-Japanese celebrity Ruy Ramos to act as their head coach and player-manager. Headlines in the sports dailies talked up the idea of this Okinawa-based club advancing to the J.League, and for a while, it seemed like this might become a reality

But the dream was, in fact, just a dream. The 44 year old Ramos had drawn all he could from the fountain of youth, and he proved to be as ineffective as a manager as he now was on the pitch. After he eventally came to terms with reality, and left the club, Kariyushi went into a tailspin from which it never recovered. It was disbanded after failing to win promotion to the JFL in 2002, with players all going their separate ways at the end of the year. Regardless of whether Kariyushi FC was just an example of inept management, or the victim of hostile fate, the dream of sending a team from Okinawa to the J.League was far from extinguished.

After the dramatic dissapointment of their failure to make it into the JFL, many of the players from Okinawa Kariyushi were determined to give it another shot, and together with a number of unsuccessful J.Leaguers, they took part in the creation of FC Ryukyu, in early 2003. Later that same year, FC Ryukyu made their first venture into the sea of competition, in the Okinawa Prefectural League, Division 3 (North). Remarkably, the team raced to the title, amassing a staggering ninety two (92) goals in their nine games, and conceding only two.

During the off-season, 30,000 signatures were added to a local petition expressing support for the establishment of a J-League club in the area, and FC Ryukyu were fast-tracked by the Okinawa Football Association, directly to the Prefectural League Division 1 -- the top division in Okinawa. Prior to the start of the 2004 campaign, however, FC Ryukyu appointed a new coach to oversee the next stage of the teamÕs on-the-pitch development. The man selected for tjhe job was the local sports hero Jorge Yonashiro .

Born in Sao Paulo in 1950, Yonashiro originally came to Japan in 1972 to play for the Yomiuri Club (which would later join the J.League as Verdy Kawasaki and now has metamorphosized into Tokyo Verdy 1969). In 1985, Yonashiro became a naturalised Japanese citizen, which enabled him to appear for the Japan National Team in the qualifying competition for the 1986 World Cup, in Mexico. A key figure in Japanese football during the days of the JSL, following his retirement as a player, Yonashiro coached at both Nagoya Grampus and Kyoto Purple Sanga.

After accepting the position at FC Ryukyu, Yonashiro oversaw the signing of several vital new players such as Shinji Fujiyoshi -- a forward who had represented Japan at the Barcelona Olympics and had picked up extensive J-League experience with Verdy Kawasaki, Kyoto and Vegalta Sendai -Š and ex-Albirex Niigata midfielder Ricardo Higa. Although they failed to maintain a perfect record, conceding a draw in one of their league matches, the club nevertheless cruised to the Okinawa Prefectural League championship and then swept aside all their three of their opponents in the playoffs for promotion to the Kyushu League, by a torrid aggregate score: 21-0. They also provided further evidence of their ability to compete at a high level in the EmperorÕs Cup competition, when they gave a strong Montedio Yamagata side all they could handle in a 3-2 extra-time defeat .

Thus, in 2005, just two years after its creation, the Okinawan club arrived at the Regional League level, and right from the start of the season there was little doubt in the minds of local fans that the Kyushu League title would be captured by either FC Ryukyu or their monied rivals Rosso Kumamoto. A 7-0 drubbing of their troubled neighbors, Kariyushi FC in round 2 had them charging out of the blocks, and apart from a 2-1 upset defeat at the hands of New Wave Kitakyushu, only Rosso caused YonashiroÕs men any serious difficulties. The team suffered consecutive 1-0 defeats home and away, considing the championship to Kumamoto, and finishing in second position.

Nevertheless, their solid performance earned FC Ryukyu a place in the Annual Nationwide Regional League Championship Tournament, allowing the Okinawans to vie for a chance to win promotion for the third time in as many years. With dominant contributions from Ricardo Higa, the team dismissed Luminozo Sayama and Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku in the First Round of the Tournament. Higa proved to be the hero in the opening match of the final round-robin, nicking a stoppage time gola on a free kick to earn a 1-1 draw against their regional nemisis Rosso Kumamoto, and then sensationally taking the victory 5-4 on penalty kicks. The following day, a late own goal gave Ryukyu a 1-0 win over JEF United Amateur, and FC Ryukyu's berth in the JFL was secure.

FC Ryukyu's ambitious original target was to earn membership in the J.League by 2007, and with no margin for error in meeting this timetable, the team will have no time to rest on their laurels, or adjust to the more competitive level of competition in the JFL. However, given the team's incredible advance, thus far, they may not to need it. The club's crest, alone, is worthy of a spot in the top-flight division, with its Okinawan lion-dogs, red eyes ablaze, and the boastful inscription "since 2003". The team's motto is a delightful bit of ersatz-English, declaring proudly: "They Began To Run". . . . And indeed they have. If the team can continue running at the tremendous pace it has maintained since its inception, FC Ryukyu may still be able to meet their date with destiny, and a spot in the J2 in 2007.