Though the club has been around for quite some time, fans may look back on 2006 as a "starting point" for Tochigi SC. At the end of 2005, the club announced that they have asked the Tochigi prefectural government to offer administrative support, and encourage local businesses to support the team in a push for J.League membership. Following a positive response from local political and business leaders, Tochigi SC established a public corporation to oversee operations, thus meeting one of the requirements that will enable them to earn J.League status. The club has set itself the ambitious goal of earning promotion in 2007, and thus declared war against such rivals as Rosso Kumamoto, FC Ryukyu and Arte Takasaki, in the battle to be the next club admitted to the J2.

In many ways, Tochigi can be seen as a test case for similar regional clubs seeking to take their place in of the professional ranks: The corporate infrastructure and fan support are reasonably good, and they have an excellent home venue in the beautiful Tochigi Green Stadium, though the team acknowledges that further work will be needed to bring it up to J-League standards. (One hopes that the beautiful grass terraces, which provide all of the seating available apart from the main grandstand, will not be completely destroyed. They provide an atmosphere that is truly unique to Tochigi). Tochigi SC also is fortunate to have no legitimate rivals for local support. The only other club in Tochigi prefecture that is even close to their level is Hitachi Tochigi, a company team playing in the Kanto League. This means that all of the local fan support can be focused on just one team.

The team is also getting its act together on the pitch, having gradually improved its results from year to year since being promoted to the JFL in 2000. In 2005, Tochigi SC briefly emerged from the pack to lead the leage at midseason. But after the JFL's top scorer, striker Manabu Wakabayashi ,was poached by Omiya Ardija, performances dropped off slightly. The team eventually finished in fourth place, and failed to sustain the momentum in the following year. For the time being, the team's focus seems to be on completing the paperwork needed to satisfy J.League officials. Tochigi SC may eventually be able to reach its goal.

This would be the culmination of a long climb for the club, which was originally formed in 1953, as "Tochigi Teachers Soccer Group", in the lower levels of the old JSL. Though the team had no major corporate sponsor, they performed well enough to move gradually up the ranks. When the JSL was reorganised, and the J.League formed in 1992, Tochigi Teachers Soccer Group entered the Kanto League. In 1994, following a relegation to the Tochigi Prefectural League, the team changed its name to Tochigi SC. By 1999, Tochigi SC had revived its fortunes, and managed to win the Kanto League title in nail-biting fashion, with a superior goal difference to Saitama Prefecture's Luminozo Sayama. The timing of this title run was fortunate, since the JFL was being reorganised in the same year, with the creation of the J2. Though it was Tochigi's first season back in the Regional League, they nevertheless were included in the playoff round and earned promotion to the reorganised JFL.

The question now is, can Tochigi SC bring professional football to the only prefecture in the Kanto area that is still without a J.League team? If they hope to do so, the biggest challenge will probably be an administrative one. The J.League has decreed that in the future, all clubs aiming for promotion will need to meet all the financial, organizational and technical requirements first, and be identified as promotion candidates, with a status that could be described as "associate membership". Once they have passed this hurdle, a first- or second-place finish in the JFL will earn the team promotion. At present, Tochigi SC is viewed as a candidate for this recognition (along with Alo's Hokuriku, Arte Takasaki, FC Ryukyu and Rosso Kumamoto), but their submission was rejected last year with instructions from the league to address several financial and stadium-related issues. While the action down on the pitch will naturally be the main focus for fans, we will also be watching the administrative action closely, to see which teams recieve J.League approval this season (an announcement will probably be made around August or September). Tochigi SC needs to quickly address the issues raised by the League last season, thus ensuring that their fate will be decided where it ought to be: on the pitch.