Team Data: Omiya Ardija
Team Name:
Team Logo & Mascot:  
Team Flag:
Home Uniform Away Uniform
 
Home StadiumOmiya Park Soccer Stadium
Seats 15,500
Team Data:
|
Management Corporation: | NTT Sports Community Co., Ltd. | |
Established: | 4 December, 1998
| |
President: | Kazuo Oki
| |
Investors: | Consortium of 19 NTT group companies, including NTT East Corp., NTT DoCoMo Inc. and NTT Data Corp. | |
Address: | Taiyoseimei Omiya Bldg. 6F,
3-42-5, Daimon-cho, Saitama City,
Saitama 330-0846 | |
Hometown Area: | Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture | |
Home Stadium: | Omiya Park Soccer Stadium (capacity: 15,500?) | |
Joined J. League: | 1999 | |
|
|
 |
 |
 | Ardi-kun
Ardija is the Spanish word for "squirrel. The tree squirrel was the official animal of Omiya city, and though Omiya has since merged with its neighbour, Urawa, to form Saitama City, the squirrel motif lives on in the name and mascot of Omiya Ardija. According to the team website, the name "Ardi" was also chosen for the mascot because of its silimarity to the word "ardent". This is supposed to indicate the character of the team's supporters. I suppose when you share a city with the Urawa Reds, your supporters would have to be pretty ardent.
| |
 |
|
Ardija takes its name from the Spanish word for "squirrel", which is the team's mascot and a part of its official emblem. Though the name may strike some as a bit odd (few opponents have ever cowered in terror at the though of facing "the Mighty Squirrels"), this doensnt necessarily indicate that the team is nuts. Though they may always struggle in the shadow of their much bigger and wealthier cross-town cousins, the Reds, Omiya has built a solid fan base and a competitive team which won promotion to the J1 in 2004 and has managed to stay there ever since.
Omiya Ardija traces its history to the formation of NTT Kanto Football Club, in 1969. The team was one of the more successful regional clubs in the North Kanto regional division for much of the 1960s and 1970s, and finally won promotion to the Second Division of the Japan Soccer League in 1987. Thereafter, however, the team's progress stagnated, and it remained in the middle to lower ranks of the JSL Second Division and later, the JFL
| 1969 | Founded |
| 1974 | Enters the Kanto Regional League |
| 1986 | Wins National Regional League Championship |
| 1987 | Promoted to Second Division of JSL |
| 1988 | JSL Second Div. - 7th Place (9W10D 9L) |
| 1989 | JSL Second Div. - 9th Place (13W 8D 9L) |
| 1990 | JSL Second Div. - 6th Place (16W 3D 11L) |
| 1991 | JSL Second Div. - 9th Place (9W 6D 15L) |
| 1992 | Enters the new Japan Football League |
| 1993 | JFL - 7th Place (6W 12L) |
| 1994 | JFL - 12th Place (10W 20L) |
| 1995 | JFL - 14th Place (9W 21L) |
| 1996 | JFL - 14th Place (7W 23L) |
| 1997 | JFL - 9th Place (14W 17L) |
| 1998 | JFL - 12th Place (11W 19L) |
Despite the mediocrity of its first two decades, the team got a surprising boost from the formation of the J.League Second Division. When the J2 was formed, The team's sponsor, NTT, felt that the sponsorship of a successful football franchise could be a positive source of publicity. The Urawa Reds, a cross-town rival, enjoyed tremendous fan support despite rather mediocre results in the J.League. With the financial support of NTT, the newly-formed Omiya Ardija was able to put together a high quality team for its first season in the J2, and finished in sixth place. It followed up this respectable result with an even better fourth place finish in 2000. The team continued to build steadily on this success, year by year, and by 2004 it finally had the competitive depth to achieve promotion to the J1.
The team's history since 2004 has been one of constant struggle and frequently troubled, though ultimately effective efforts to avoid relegation. Though the team is comparatively well-run (at least by J.League standards), and has avoided the self-inflicted errors that toppled other small-town clubs back into the second division, Omiya still do not have the necesary depth, either in personnel or in finances, to be a serious challenger in the J1. Their local rivalry with the Urawa Reds has been a positive influence on both clubs, though Ardija clearly benefits the most. The constant challenge of playing in the shadow of a much bigger team seems to energise the players, and that may be one factor in their ability to stay clear of the relegation zone. But simple financial realities have limited the team's roster ambitions to well-travelled veterans and the occasional promising youngster. Some may say that they have squandered some of their talent in the past, but the truth is, when a player such as Jader "Bare" Spindler or Leandro emerges from the Ardija squad, a wealthier club will eventually be able to lure them away.
The key to Ardija's longer-term success, therefore, lies in developing more talent through its youth program and making the most of the resources at hand, while trying to steadily build a fan base that -- even if it never manages to rival that of the Reds -- can at least lift the team clear of its current struggling existence. The re-opening of an expanded home stadium at Omiya Park in late 2007 seems to mark one step in the right direction. Crowds still are less than overwhelming, especially for matches against mediocre opposition, but the current trend is a positive one.
Ardija also could probably benefit from a change in the coaching staff, though their last attempt to change their fortunes was less than successful. Toshiya Miura, who led the team to promotion in 2004, was a very young and not particularly flashy individual. Because he was not a particularly impressive or outspoken character, he seems to have taken much of the blame when the team floundered through its first two seasons in the J1. But if fans were hoping that the selection of a foreign coach, in 2007, would allow them to become an overachiever like Oita Trinita, under Pericles Chamusca, or JEF United, under Ivica Osim, they were in for a big surprise. Robert Verbeek arrived from Holland in early 2007 to wild optimism, and promptly introduced one of the ugliest, most conservative and least effective brands of football the J.League had ever seen. After six months, the Squirrels were dangling from the end of the branch in relegation danger, and fans were holding their noses in disgust at the goalless-draw tactics.
Verbeek was sent packing in mid-2007 and replaced by Yasuhiro Higuchi, who most viewed as just an interim manager. After saving the team from relegation, Higuchi was rewarded with another year at the helm, and he remained in control after a difficult -- but at least not so nerve-wracking -- sesaon in 2008. If the team does hope to advance from their current level, Ardija clearly needs a more imaginative mind at the helm, but in light of the catastrophic events of 2007, Omiya management may be reluctant to take another gamble.
And so, fans in the orange half of Saitama are looking forward to what will probably be another year of struggle merely to maintain a spot in the top-flight division. There is some hope that the positive effect of a growing fan base and the associated financial gains will allow the team to start attracting more top-notch talent. But for the time being, the Mighty Squirrels of Saitama will have to limit their ambitions to the traditional upset that they usually manage to achieve in the local Saitama derby match. Any higher ambitions will simply have to wait for a future year.
|
