Team Data: Kashima Antlers
Team Name:
Team Logo & Mascot:  
Team Flag:
Home Uniform Away Uniform
 
Home StadiumKashima Soccer Stadium
Seats 41,800 (World Cup Venue)
Team Data:
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Management Corporation: | Kashima Antlers FC Co., Ltd. | |
Established: | 1 October 1991
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President: | Hiroshi Ushijima
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Investors: | Funded by local government, local companies, Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd., and other members of the Sumitomo Metals family | |
Address: | 2887 Aou Higashiyama,
Kashima City, Ibaraki 314-0021 | |
Hometown Area: | Kashima City, Kamisu-machi, Hasaki-machi and Itako-City, Ibaraki Prefecture | |
Home Stadium: | Kashima Soccer Stadium (capacity:41,800) | |
Joined J. League: | 1992 | |
Major Titles: | J.League Champions:
1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2008
Nabisco Cup Champions:
1997, 2000, 2002
Emperor's Cup Champions:
1997, 2000, 2007
Xerox Super Cup Champions:
1997, 1998, 1999
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 | Shikao, Shikako & Anton
Considering the source of the team's name, the choice of a mascot was always pretty obvious. "Shikao" was officially selected as the team mascot in 1991. The name is sort of a pun, using the character for "deer" and a common character found at the end of a man's name (An English equivalent would be something like "John Deer"). According to the team website, Shikao married Shikako on March 2, 1997 and their son "Anton" was born on August 1, 1999 (dont ask. I would prefer not to know). The three appear at every home game, and are apparently a big hit with the U-10 demographic.
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The Kashima Antlers have established themselves as the most successful team in J.League history, with six league titles and an equal number of cup conquests to their name. The team has experienced three periods of success: the first began just before the J.League was launched and culminated in their league title, in 1996. The second period of dominance peaked during the 2000 season, when Kashima won an unrecedented treble (the league championship, the Nabisco Cup and the Emperor's Cup). The team is now in the midst of the third "golden era", having won back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008. Yet despite the team's success, no one could have foreseen in 1992, when the J.League was formed, that the Antlers would dominate the league's first two decades of existence.
The team traces its history back to the formation of the Sumitomo Metal Industries club team, in 1947. The team remained an informal club, taking part in inter-company competitions until1974, when it entered the second division of the Japan Soccer League (JSL), and relocated its home field to Kashima Town, in Ibaraki Prevecture, which was home to one of Sumitomo Metal's main factories. It wasnt until 1986 that the team managed to win promotion to the first division, and even after that, Sumitomo Metal Industries was a relative weakling compared to such JSL powerhouses as Nissan Motor (later Yokohama Marinos) and Yomiuri Club (later Verdy Kawasaki).
Kashima's climb to the pinnacle of Japanese football can be traced to 1991, when the leading members of the JSL decided to form a full professional football league, and the man whose career inextricably linked top the Antlers success was Brazilian sensation Zico. In March 1991, the team approached Zico and asked if he would be willing to close out his career in Japan. As most football fans know, Zico was a superstar in his heyday, but in 1991 he was in his late 30s, and contemplating retirement. Kashima convinced Zico to join the team for its 1992 season -- the final year of JSL play -- to help it win a position in the soon-to-be-created J.League. The rest, as they say, is history.
The team changed its name in 1992 to Kashima Antlers. The team's name is derived from the name of its home town -- the literal meaning of "Kashima" is "deer island". Led by Zico and his Brazilian teammates Alcindo and Santos, the Antlers finished high in the JSL rankings in 1992. But the greatest surprise was yet to come. In the very first stage of J.League competition, Kashima bested the league powerhouses, Yokohama Marinos, Verdy Kawasaki and others, securing the first-ever stage victory. Unfortunately, Kashima was beaten by Verdy in the championship series, and the 41-year-old Zico was unable to carry his team to victory the following year. Zico retired without a championship,. but with the undying respect and gratitude of Antlers fans.
The bond between Zico and the Kashima Antlers was so strong, in fact, that the team prevailed upon him to accept the job of technical director in 1995. Under his guidance, Kashima has built the league's most successful franchise, featuring a great many former and current national team stars, as well as popular foreign players such as Jorginho, Leonardo, Mazinho and others. Though Zico moved on to take over the national team coaching position in 2002, and left Japan following that experience to coach in Europe, the tradition that he founded continues today.
One tribute to the strength of the Kashima Antlers organisation is the large number of former Antlers who are now starting players at other teams in the league. Kashima has a very strong youth program, supported in part by Zico's keen eye for talented young players. A great many J.League stars have come up through the Antlers organisation, and when they failed to find a starting position, moved on to first-string spots on other league clubs. The continuing influx of top players has kept Kashima in the top ranks of the league since 1996, when they captured their first league title. Since then, Kashima have had their ups and downs, but it is rare for them to be completely out of the title picture.
Kashima Stadium received a facelift in 2000 and 2001, to expand capacity and prepare it for the World Cup. The improved facility opened in May 2001, and remains one of the largest football-only facilities in the country. It was used as a Confederations Cup venue in the summer of 2001, as well as a World Cup venue in 2002, and it continues to be used on occasion for international matches despite the fact that it is a good two-hour train ride from Tokyo. You might say that Antlers fans are a bit spoiled, with one of the league's perrennial contenders as well as one of Japan's best stadiums.
After their Nabisco Cup triumph in 2002, the team went through a period of adjustment. Though most other teams would not view it as a particularly poor run, for the Antlers this could be described as a "slump". For five years, there were no additions to the trophy room underneath Kashima Stadium. A variety of factors hurt the team, not least of which was the fact that several of the team's top players parlayed their success into an international career, and moved to overseas clubs. At the end of 2005, Toninho Cerezo stepped down after five years as head coach, and the team made some personnel adjustments. It is hard to say which factor -- the coaching strategy of coach Paulo Autori, the departure of Mitsuo Ogasawara to Italy, in midseason, or the difficulties the team had in making a transition to a younger group of players -- was the biggest factor. However, the team fell a bit short of its usual position, among the championship candidates.
But Kashima's underlying success has always been founded on its fine recruiting and youth development programmes. Even as the top stars of Kashima's "Golden Era" left the team, they were replaced by younger players who show just as much promise. The Antlers' dramatic late run in 2007, to overtake Urawa Reds and win the championship on the final day of the season, was led by the inspirational play of Mitsuo Ogasawara. But a new generation of player made key contributions to the effort, and in 2008, this younger generation started to come into their own. When Ogasawara was sidelined at midseason with a serious knee injury, a new crop of "stars" such as Atsuto Uchida, Daiki Iwamasa and Shinzo Koroki took over the central roles and carried the Antlers to their sixth league title.
As the J.League moves into an era of greater parity, it is unlikely that Kashima will ever regain the dominance that they enjoyed in the late 1990s. However, they certainly have demonstrated their resilience as a club, and their ability to remain consistently among the front-runners for the better part of two decades. The fine coaching of Oswaldo Oliveira, a former World Club Championship winner with Corinthians, has solidified the new base of players who are just now reaching their prime, and put Kashima back among the title contenders. The competitive picture in the J.League may change from year to year, but when trying to decide which teams will vie for the title, it is always a good bet that the Antlers will be one of the candidates.
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