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 a top contender, and in 2005, they finally captured their first title. It took several attempts to finally claim the first title for a team from the Kansai area. Gamba fell just short in both 2000 and 2002, so when they began to fade, in the final stretch, in 2005, many thought that it would be another case of "close but no cigar". However, on the final day of the season, Gamba pipped their cross-town rivals Cerezo at the post, and were league champions at last.
Gamba originated 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 at the end of the 1980s the team reached a plateau of success, winning the Emperor's Cup and finishing high in the league rankings for several years in a row. This performance won the club 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 presence of the athletically talented Patrick Mboma gave the team a huge boost. Unfortunately, Mboma did not have enough of a supporting cast to carry the team into contention for a title, and his departure in 1998 sent the team back into the lower reaches of the league table.
One problem that the team faced was its relatively weak local fan base. Gamba have 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. Until last season, both teams struggle to draw even 10,000 fans per home match. And though the situation has improved considerably in the past year or two, Gamba is still arguably the weaker of the two Osaka teams in terms of fan support. Without a strong cash flow from ticket receipts, Gamba have always found themselves just a few players short of what is needed to win a title
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. Pewrhaps 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, 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 (most recently Ryuji Bando, "Bare" Spindler and Lucas Severino), 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 has fallen short of another league title. An excellent youth programme and many veteran players should keep them in the race, but once again the departure of players in the offseason will force Gamba to restructure their offence over the winter. We can only wait and see whether the team will be able to reproduce the form of 2005, but you can rest assured that they will remain among the top challengers again, this season.
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