Team Data: Gamba Osaka
Team Name:
Team Logo & Mascot:  
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Home Uniform Away Uniform
 
Home StadiumOsaka Expo '70 ("Banpaku") Stadium
Seats 23,000
Team Data:
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Management Corporation: | Gamba Osaka Co., Ltd. | |
Established: | 1 October 1991
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President: | Isao Inui
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Investors: | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | |
Address: | Banpaku Koen Sports Hiroba,
3-3 Senri-Banpaku-Koen,
Suita City, Osaka 565-0826 | |
Hometown Area: | Suita City, Osaka | |
Home Stadium: | Expo'70 Stadium (capacity: 23,000) | |
Joined J. League: | 1992 | |
Major Titles: | J.League Champions: 2006
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 | Gamba Boy
Yup, thats just what it is -- a Gamba Boy. Some observers have noticed a vague similarity to one of the characters in the "Dragonball" manga series, but then young blue-haired comic characters all tend to look pretty similar to us. One detail, however, has always bothered us -- what is with the "loose socks"? Isnt that supposed to be a fashion statement for Gamba GIRLS?
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Gamba Osaka was one of the original teams that founded the J.League, but for the first decade of its history, the team was not a real contender. Since the turn of the century, though, Gamba has become one of the J.League"s elite, and in 2005, they finally captured their first title under coach Akira Nishino, who has estqablished himself as one of the icons of the North Osaka-based club. It took several attempts to finally claim the first title for a team from the Kansai area, and Gamba almost missed out on this milestone. It took a last-minute goal on the final day of the 2005 season to pip their cross-town rivals Cerezo at the post.
Gamba got its start in 1980 as the company team of Matsushita Electric. By 1986, Matsushita football club had worked its way up into the first division of the JSL, and by the end of the 1980s the team had reached a plateau of success, winning the Emperor's Cup and finishing high in the league rankings for several years in a row. The consistent run of form over the final decade of the JSL's existence earned Matsushita Electric a spot in the J.League for its inagural season, in 1993.
When it entered the J.League, the club adopted the name "Gamba", which is a shortened version of the Japanese word "Gambare" or "fight!" -- a word often shouted at players from the bench for encouragement, which could be equated to "Vamos" in Spanish or "Forza" in Italian. In the first few years of J.League play, Gamba languished near the bottom of the table. However, in 1997 the team received a huge and rather unexpected boost when the athletically talented Patrick Mboma arrived to become Japan's first, and clearly its most well-known African player. Mboma's blazing speed and scoring prowess gave the team a huge boost, carrying Gamba to second place in the 1997 second stage. Unfortunately, Mboma did not have enough of a supporting cast to carry the team over the final hurdle, and Gamba watched in despair as Jubilo Iwata snatched the second stage title from their grasp. The big Cameroonian's departure in 1998 sent the team back into the lower reaches of the league table.
One problem that Gamba faced from the start -- and still suffers even now thaat it is winning titles -- has been a relatively weak local fan base. Gamba never managed to develop the level of fan support enjoyed by most of the top league contenders. This is partly due to the fact that football has been slow to "catch on" in the Kansai region. To make matters worse, Gamba have to share the same, relatively limited pool of football fans with local rivals Cerezo. Prior to the 2005 season, when Cerezo and Gamba battled it out for the league championship, both teams struggled just to draw an average of 10,000 fans per home match. And though the situation has improved considerably in the past year or two, Gamba still lacks the fan support to match its successes on the pitch.
Apart from the breif interlude when Mboma was providing the offence, Gamba earned a reputation for having a formidable defence, but languished because of its lack of scoring punch. In 2005, however, Coach Akira Nishino reorganized the team around his own highly ambitious football philosophy. The team adopted a three-pronged attack (in the initial year it featured Masashi Oguro and Brazilians Araujo and Fernandinho), and a more fluid, counterattacking style. The change of strategy cost them their reputation for defensive solidity, as the team gave up more goals than any of the top ten teams. However, their high-powered offence carried them through to their first J.League title.
Unfortunately, the success of that season has been difficult to replicate. Perhaps in part due to the highly offensive strategy, Gamba has produced a number of high-scoring strikers in recent seasons. While this might seem like a good thing, many of the players have used their statistics as a tool to launch a career move to another club. While Gamba has done a good job of bringing in replacements, the turnover has affected the team's balance. In both 2006 and 2007, the strike force has not scored enough goals to offset the team's defensive weakness, and as a result, Gamba fell short of another league title. In 2008, Bare's departure at mid-season ruined the team's carefully considered strategy for contesting both the league title and the Asia Champions League. Though Gamba did manage to claim the Asian crown, they tumbled to eighth place in the league table.
While the heavy turnover and lack of a good stream of ticket revenues, relative to the other top contenders, still seems to be holding the team back, Gamba can always depend on a steady strema of talented newcomers, thanks to one of the league's best youth programmes. The Gamba youth system has turned out dozens of top J.League stars and new faces continue to appear every year. This young talent, combined with the savvy coaching skills of Mr. Nishino, should keep Gamba in the race again in 2009. However, as was the case in 2008, the club seems to be better suited for cup play than a long title chase, and we think that Gamba may opt to focus on Asian glory once again, in 2009. It may be a while before the Osaka Boys revisit the domestic successes of 2005, but you can rest assured that they will remain among the top challengers again, this season.
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