Team Data: Jubilo Iwata
Team Name:
Team Logo & Mascot:  
Team Flag:
Home Uniform Away Uniform
 
Home StadiumJubilo Soccer Stadium
Seats 17,343 Shizuoka Stadium "Ecopa"
Seats 50,000 (WC 2002 venue)
Team Data:
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Management Corporation: | Yamaha Football Co., Ltd. | |
Established: | 21 August 1992
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President: | Takanori Matsuzaki
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Investors: | Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. The Shizuoka Shimbun, Shizuoka Broadcasting System, etc. | |
Address: | 2500 Shingai, Iwata City,
Shizuoka 438-0025 | |
Hometown Area: | Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture | |
Home Stadium: | Jubilo Iwata Stadium (capacity: 17,343) | |
Joined J. League: | 1994 | |
Major Titles: | J.League Champions: 1997,1999, 2002
Nabisco Cup : 1998
Emperor's Cup:2004
Xerox Super Cup: 2000, 2004
Asian Club Championship: 1998/99
Asian Super Cup Champ: 1999
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 | Jubilo-kun
The mascot chosen by Jubilo Iwata is the prefectural bird of Shizuoka Prefecture, the black-tailed flycatcher. The English name seems inappropriate, since farmers throughout Japan view them as a fruit poacher which will peck holes in just about any variety of ripe fruit around. However, they are very energetic birds with a loud and raucous call, making them an ideal symbol for the fans in Iwata Stadium
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During the 1990s, Jubilo Iwata established itself as one of the top teams in the J.League, with a collection of titles that rivals even the Kashima Antlers. Particularly in the stretch between 1996 and 1999, the two played some brilliant matches for both league and cup titles, and came to be viewed as the two predominant teams in the League. However, while the Antlers have had a bit of a lull since the start of the J.League's second decade, Jubilo has suffered an even more serious collapse, reflected in the team's disappointing performances in both 2004 and 2005
Jubilo Iwata got its start as the club team of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., established in 1972. This makes Jubilo about two decades younger than the other predominant J.League clubs -- Yokohama Marinos, Kashima Antlers, Gamba Osaka and Tokyo Verdy. But the team's climb to prominence was very rapid. In 1978, Yamaha entered the JSL second division, and opened its current home stadium at Higashiyama, Shizuoka (which continues to be known as "Yamaha Stadium"). The very next year the team was promoted to the first division. Between 1982 and 1989 the club won several league or league cup titles, yet a poor season in 1991 meant that Yamaha failed to be included in the ten teams preparing to form the new J.League. Despite this disappointment, the team established itself as a separate organisation -- Yamaha Football Club Ltd., and changed its name to Jubilo Iwata, selecting a name which means "delight" in Spanish. The team logo and mascot feature the black paradise flycatcher, a bird viewed in Japan as representing light, and good luck.
In 1994, following a second-place finish in the JFL, Jubilo was promoted to the J.League. Jubilo's development as one of the most successful J.League franchises owes a great deal to two individual -- Dutchman Hans Ooft and Brazil midfielder Carlos Dunga. Ooft, a former coach of the Japanese national team, took over the reins at Jubilo in 1994. The following year Ooft signed Dunga, a former captain of Brazil, to act as his on-field general and the core of the new team. Between them, Ooft and Dunga were able to mold a group of players into into one of the most well-coordinated teams in the league. Even after the two left, Jubilo has continued to perform at a very high level despite the fact that some commentators are less than impressed by the skills of individual players. Jubilo's record in league and cup championships pretty much speaks for itself.
| 1982 | Championship of the JSL 2nd Division |
| 1987 |
Championship of JSL 1st Division |
| 1989 | Runner-up in JSL Cup | | Runner-up in 69th Emperor's Cup |
| 1990 | Runner-up in Konica Cup Challenge '92 |
| 1992 | Championship of the JFL's 1st season |
| 1993 | 2nd in JFL (promoted to J.League) |
| 1994 | Runner-up in Yamazaki Nabisco Cup |
| 1997 | Champion of J.League 2nd Stage |
| Runner-up in Yamazaki Nabisco Cup |
| Winner of J.League Championship |
| 1998 | Champion of Yamazaki Nabisco Cup |
| Champion of J.League 1st Stage |
| Runner-up in J.League Championship |
| 1999 | Winner of Asian Club Championship 1998-99 |
| Champion of J.League 1st Stage |
| Winner of 5th Asian Super Cup |
| Winner of J.League Championship |
| 2000 | Runner-up, Asian Club Championship |
| 2001 | Runner-up, Asian Club Championship |
| Champion of J.League 1st Stage |
| 2002 | Champion of J.League 1st Stage |
| Champion of J.League 2nd Stage | | Uncontested J.League Champions |
Jubilo has generated a number of talented midfielders, including not only Dunga but also such national team members as Hiroshi Nanami, Daisuke Oku and Toshiya Fujita. However, the team has also been notable for its deadly forwards. Masashi "Gon" Nakayama has often been criticised for his poor ball skills, and it is true that his first touch of the ball is still rather suspect. However, he has an uncanny ability to find open space and get off a shot. This skill, and his excellent control in the air, have won him the J.League scoring title on two occasions. Following in Nakayama's footsteps is Naohiro Takahara, who scored six goals in Japan's 2000 Asian Cup campaign emerged as one of the country's best strikers, though he subsequently moved overseas, first to Argentina and then to the Bundesliga.
Following the departure of Takakara at the end of 2002, Jubilo began to fade as the veterans who brought the team championships in the 1990s started to age and decline in abilities. Unlike the Antlers, who proactively sold off their aging veterans and started to rebuild in the early 00s, the Jubilo "old boy network" remained entrenched, preventing the younger and arguably more talented players from stepping into the lineup. Jubilo's collapse in the second half of 2004 was of truly catastrophic proportions, and when former Olympic Team coach Masakuni Yamamoto was brought in, there was some hope that he would clean house and set Jubilo on the path to renewed glory.
Unfortunately, Yamamoto spent the entire 2005 season and half of 2006 trying to ease Jubilo's veteran players out of the lineup without ever achieving full success. Despite the presence of impressive youngsters like Robert Cullen, Ryoichi Maeda, Yoshiaki Ota, Naoya Kikuchi, Kota Ueda and Sho Naruoka, the old guard were allowed to continue muddling along, and this clearly held the team back. In the middle of the 2006 season the team turned to an "old boy" who was not beholden to the "old-boy network -- former Jubilo player and Brazil NT defender Adilson. Finally, the team was able to make the transition to a new generation, and Jubilo put on a late run of fine form. Though he failed to produce quite the same success in 2007, and eventually took the fall for declining attendances, there were signs that the team has made the transition.
But 2008 proved to be a near disaster for the once-proud club. Not only did attendances continue to spiral downward; the team's performance out on the pitch did so as well. The head office must take the majority of the blame, though fickle fans also deserve their share, since they seem more interested in gawking at aging former-pinup boys than in seeing their team regain its competitiveness. After the modest success of an outsider, Adilson, Jubilo started the 2008 season by installig the ultimate of old-boy apparatchiks to run the coaching staff. Atsuchi Uchiyama, a relatively untested individual whose main claim to fame was the fact that he had spent almost every day of his 48 years in Shizuoka Prefecture. To make matters worse a former Jubilo head coach, Masaaki Yanagishita, was installed as his "assistant". Despite all the difficulties the old-boy network had caused in the past, Jubilo reclaimed veteran Hiroshi Nanami, and offered "Grandpa Gon" Nakayama another year on his contract. Though it was bad enough having players like this on the roster, coach Uchiyama actually insisted on giving them playing time!
By midseason Jubilo were in relegation territory, and management started to panic. Tossing both Uchiyama and Yanagishita overboard, they called in yet another Jubilo "Old Boy", the team's former Dutch coach Hans Ooft. While he failed to really alter the chemistry of this increasingly neurotic team, at least Ooft turned over most of the playing duties to younger stars who had the fitness required to hold their own at the J1 level. Jubilo narrowly escaped the axe at the end of the 2008 season, by overcoming Vegalta Sendai in the promotion/relegation playoff..
As we look ahead to 2009, it is hard to say what will happen to what was once the J.League's most "elite" team. The narrow escape from relegation did seem to have a positive impact in terms of attendances. The thought of being consigned to a year in the J2 seems to have woken up the fans and instilled a bit more enthusiasm and "spirit", as well as reviving total attendance numbers. Though only time will tell whether this trend continues, we do think that Jubilo has made it past the most dangerous phase of their slump.
Now that it has pulled back from the brink, the team needs to set its sights on building a new and more truly competitive football team. Although we may not view Hans Ooft as the ideal person for this job, at least he should be an improvement over some of the recent folks who have guided the team into pusillanimity. We still firmly believe that the younger players (though some are now in their mid-20s and no longer deserve to be viewed as "youngsters") have the basic talent to be a lot more competitive. The key, however, lies in developing a more coherent team concept -- not only on the pitch, but throughout every phase of team activity -- to start making efficient use of the resources available. We will be watching closely to see whether coach Ooft can help push the team in a positive direction, in 2009.
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