Team Data: Urawa Reds
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The mascot of the Urawa Reds is the only one that clearly predates the creation of the J.League. When the club was still known as Mitsubishi Urawa FC (deliberately employing the initials "MUFC"), their team mascot was a so-called "devil dog" which provided the basis for the slightly less vicious-looking character that is now Redia. Like many other clubs, Urawa added a female version of their mascot ("Frendia") a few years later, though the two still do not have any "offspring".
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The Urawa Red Diamonds, more commonly referred to as the "Reds", have a long and star-studded history as one of the most influential clubs in Japanese football, yet in the first decade following the launch of the J.League, the team struggled. Despite fanatical home town support and a decent record over the years, they repeatedly broke the hearts of loyal fans by failing to bring home a title. Even in more recent years, as the team has emerged as one of the J.League's "powers" and certainly the wealthiest club in Japan, the Reds have not achieved the sort of championship success that their big budgets might warrant.
The Urawa Reds make their home in Urawa, a gritty industrial city just north of Tokyo, and they boast the loudest and most boisterous fans in the league. Even when the team's performance on the pitch was less than convincing, Urawa fans have been loyal and vocal in their support (and occasionally in their anger, at lost matches). The Reds were formed in 1951, as the club team of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Even back then, they were referred to by their fans as the "Red Diamonds" in reference to the red diamond trademark of Mitsubishi that they wore on their uniforms. The Reds were a dominant team in the JSL during the1970s and early 80s, when the team was coached by Kenzo Yokoyama, who would later serve as national team coach. Under his guidance the team won the Japan Soccer League championship four times, in1969, 1973, 1978 and 1982, and finished second in 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977!
However, this impressive run ended just prior to the formation of the J.League, and by 1993 the Reds were already on a downward slide. Urawa managed to remain competitive for a few more years by bringing in two talented Germans -- Guido Buchwald and Uwe Bein -- but when Buchwald retired the team seemed to lack the necessary spark to win matches. The low point was reached in the1999 season, when Urawa suffered a great many misfortunes and injuries to key players, including the loss of star midfielder Shinji Ono for nearly two-thirds of the season. The team floundered, and went into their final match needing three points to avoid relegation to the second division. The team fought valiantly for a win, but it was only in overtime that they managed to get the victory goal. The team was demoted on mere goal difference, and was forced to spend a year in the second division.
Despite this disappointment, Urawa's fans remained as loyal and as loud as ever. Following the match that sealed their fate for relegation, fans stood for nearly an hour as the cold night closed in, chanting over and over: "We Are REDS! We Are REDS!". Despite being relegated to division 2, Urawa outdrew every other J.League team -- including the first-division clubs -- during the 2000 season, packing Komaba Stadium for nearly every home match. In 2001, the team opened Saitama Soccer Stadium, a new 63,000-seat state-of-the-art facility which served as one of the venues for the World Cup. The combination of a huge fan base and a large stadium ensured that even in Division 2, the Reds always had plenty of cash. Following their recovery to the J1, the team embarked on a program of player acquisitions that would elevate them into the upper ranks of J1 contenders.
Yet despite the team's huge bankroll, the Reds continue to break their fans' hearts on a regular basis. They did win the Nabisco (league) Cup in 2004, but missed out on a league championship title by the narrowest of margins for three consecutive years, in 2003, 04 and 05. Reds alumnus and fan favourite Guido Buchwald took over as head coach in 2004, and chose as his assistant Gert Engels, who took both the Yokohama Flugels and Kyoto Purple Sanga to Emperor's Cup titles. Together, the two Germans led the team to its first title, the 2004 Nabisco Cup, but that success was overshadowed by a loss to Yokohama Marinos in the championship series, later that year. In 2005, the Reds put together a team that looked like a formidable power, but the sudden departure of their scoring ace, Emerson, in midseason, sent the team into a slump at a key point in the season, and the team ended up falling just one point shy of the league title.
Naturally, Reds fans would never be fully satisfied until their team brought home the championship, and they certainly deserved the satisfaction of a title, given their tremendous support of the team over the years. So in 2006, Urawa again pulled out its money clip and signed several more stars such as the Brazilian striker Washington, and Shinji Ono, who had finally returned from Holland after a spate of injuries. The team made it clear that it would spare no expense to put together the most competitive team possible, and this time it finally paid off. Although the title chase went down to the final week of the season, a capacity crowd at Saitama Stadium watched as the Reds finally brought home the league trophy by defeating the reigning champions, Gamba Osaka, in the final match.
The Reds produced such a groundswell of enthusiasm in 2006 that their coffers filled to overflowing, and the team responded by padding their roster in the offseason with players like Yuki Abe. In the eyes of the domestic sports press they were almost universally expected to claim another title in 2007. They certainly started the season well, not only climbing to the top of the league table but also cruising through the qualification round of the Asian Champions League. With Holger Osieck taking Buchwald's place as coach, the team was less adventurous, but it seemed that they had plenty of talent to dominate the J.League for another year. But the ACL campaign proved to be a real drain on the team's energy, partiicularly since Osieck insisted on using his best players in almost every match. In mid-November the Reds stood at the pinnacle of success, lifting the ACL trophy for the first time ever. But over the subsequent month they went into a tailspin of unprecedented proportions, losing a 12-point lead to hand the League title to Kashima on the final day of the season, when all they had to do was beat the already relegated Yokohama FC. To top it off, the Reds closed out the season by losing an Emperor's Cup match to J2 minnows Ehime FC.
Following their humiliating performance at the end of the 2007 season, Urawa responded with the simplistic sop that all wealthy clubs have fallen victim to at one time or another -- they tried to throw money at the problem. But while the Reds' deep pockets made them the biggest "winners" in the off-season acquisition sweepstakes, picking up top-drawer talent like Naohiro Takahara, Edmilson and Tsukasa Umesaki, very little thought was expended on considering how each player would fit into the overall structure. As often happens in the J.League, the Reds found it impossible to fit all of the egos onto the same pitch. The season started off with a disastrous 0-3 loss to Yokohama Marinos, which cost coach Osieck his job before a full month was in the books. Gert Engels did his best to pick up the pieces, but the disarray was already unmistakable. Naturally their vast reserves of talent kept the Reds competitive, but internal dissension exacerbated by intense pressure from their suddenly impatient fans took its toll. The Reds were knockeed out of the ACL by Gamba Osaka, at the semifinal stage, and their hopes of a domestic title evaporated at about the same time, in late October. By the end of the season the Reds were floundering in seventh place, due to a combination of disappointment, internal dissent and foolish management decisions (the team brought in Engels' intended replacement to watch a match in mid-November without even mentioning to Engels or to the players that their coach would not be around the following season!).
Since they still possess one of the strongest cash flows in Japan, the Reds are sure to be a top competitor in 2009, and since they do not have the distraction of an ACL campaign to contend with, we suspect that they will be able to claim at least one of the domestic titles they contest. But it is clear that the team is in serious need of an "attitude adjustment". Players and fans alike seem to have grown complacent, and expect titles to fall into their lap based merely on the size oftheir bankrolls. As they discovered in both 2007 and 2008, the Reds will have to earn every piece of silverware they get. Just as importantly, the team management and coaching staff needs to do a much better job of carefully planning player acquisitions, and then using their personnel effectively. Buying a player just because you have the money to afford it is something that can often backfire, especially if the talented players languishing on your bench start to create an unhealthy friction in the locker room.
The Reds did rid themselves of several aging veterans at the end of 2008, and they have a clever and cool-headed coach at the helm, in the person of Volker Finke. It is too early to say whether the new boss will be able to patch up the internal rifts that were exposed last season, but if he does manage to get them playing effectively as a team, there is no question the Reds have the raw talent to win another championship.
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