Team Data: FC Tokyo
Team Name:
Team Logo & Mascot:  
Team Flag:
Home Uniform Away Uniform
 
Home StadiumAjinomoto Stadium
Seats 50,100
Team Data:
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Management Corporation: | Tokyo Football Club Co., Ltd. | |
Established: | 1 October 1998
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President: | Masahiro Tsubahara
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Investors: | Consortium of 223 companies and 11 groups, including Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., Tokyo Electric Power Co., Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Corp., Shimizu Corp.,Mitsubishi Corp., Television Tokyo Ltd., am/pm Japan, The Fuji Bank Ltd., Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. and Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co., Ltd. | |
Address: | 2-15-10 Sarue, Koto-ku,
Tokyo 135-0003 | |
Hometown Area: | Tokyo | |
Home Stadium: | Tokyo (Ajinomoto) Soccer Stadium (capacity: 50,100) | |
Joined J. League: | 1999 | |
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 | Dorompa-kun
After resolutely avoiding the entire concept of "mascots" for the first ten years of its existence, FC Tokyo finally decided to jump on the bandwagon, in 2009, and adopt their own childish, blatantly commercial excuse to bilk fans of their hard-earned money cute, cuddly character to provide a focus for the pride and enthusiasm of the fans.
Perhaps the delay in choosing a mascot was useful in allowing Tokyo to learn from the success and failure of other clubs (Though Yokohama FC's example might suggest otherwise). In any event the mascot, Dorompa, is a very engaging tanuki (raccoon dog) who manages to look both innocent and naughty at the same time, in a Keeanu Reeves-sort of way. Perhaps that is no surprise, since the tanuki is reputed to have large, oversized... ermm... chestnuts.
Welcome to the club, Dorompa-kun. But watch out for those squirrels.
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FC Tokyo is an unusual example of a club that missed the original creation of the J.League and subsequent expansion phase, yet which has not experienced much of a history in the J2. It has spent all but one year of its professional existence in the J1. The club, based in western Tokyo, became a professional club with the creation of the J2, in 1999, and earned promotion in the J2's inaugural season. Nevertheless, the team from which FC Tokyo was born has been around for quite a while. It originated as the club team of Tokyo Gas, and was located in the western suburbs of Tokyo. When the J.League was formed, Tokyo Gas opted to remain in the JFL, where it was one of the most successful club teams. When the league was reconstituted for a second time, in 1998, Tokyo Gas FC decided it was time to make the jump to professional status. The club convinced Tokyo Gas to grant it corporate independence, and it assumed the name FC Tokyo.
The Capitol City Blues finished second in the J2 in 1999, and advanced to the first division in grand style, with a victory over Yokohama Marinos in their first-ever J1 match. Although FC Tokyo faded later in the season, it nevertheless managed to achieve one of the highest rankings ever for a newly-promoted club. Traditionally, the team relied on veteran, lunchpail players picked up from other clubs, such as former Antlers Naruyuki Naito and Tadatoshi Masuda, former S-Pulse defender Yukihiko Sato and journeyman midfielder Fumitake Miura. Although these players demonstrated a good work ethic, they were obviously released from their former clubs for a reason. Thus, in its first few years as a J.League club, FC Tokyo acquired the nickname "The island of lost boys", to reflect the tremendous number of players that were picked up as castoffs from other teams.
But this moniker did not last long, once the team moved into the top division. FC Tokyo quickly refuted the myth that "big-city teams cannot draw faithful fans", rising to second place in terms of total attendance in 2001. The magnificent "Ajinomoto Stadium" in Western Tokyo, which both FC Tokyo and Tokyo Verdy call home, helps to ensure large crowds, but FC Tokyo also worked hard to build its fan base. Though Verdy had a decade-long head start as a J.League team, and a record of past glory, FC Tokyo has always claimed first place in the hearts of most Tokyo fans. Moreover, the team is certainly not lacking in financial support. Its lineup of corporate sponsors reads like the Gold Card guest list at the Tokyo Business Convention. The trend towards corporate sponsorship has been so strong, in fact, that the team's home stadium even followed the unfortunate trend that has become ubiquitous overseas, selling its name to a corpoarate sponsor. Thus, Tokyo Soccer Stadium is now known as "Ajinomoto Stadium", or for those with their tongue in cheek, "The Soup Bowl"
The main element that FC Tokyo lacked, prior to 2002, was a group of young players who "grew up" with the team and gave it a character of its own. But the "lost boys" image that dogged FC Tokyo at the start was gradually relegated to the history books, and by the mid-00s the team had established one of the best youth programmes in the League. Apart from foreigners, and two or three veterans, most of the FC Tokyo starting lineup were acquired eithr directly from high shool or university, or from the FC Tokyo Youth ranks.
As the character of the team has changed, its competitiveness began to increase as well. Under the tutelage of coach Hiromi Hara, FC Tokyo moved into the top half of the league table in both 2002 and 2003, claiming their first piece of silverware by winning the Nabisco (league) Cup in 2004 . But Tokyo has not always demonstrated the best instincts in terms of player selection, and this would prove to be a critical problem for the team during the middle of the decade. As it started to make the transition from the veterans who carried the team into the J1 to a crop of younger individuals, Tokyo made some highly questionable decisions. For example, in 2005 they released national team wing back Akira Kaji to make room for the flashy speedster Naohiro Ishikawa and university star Yuhei Tokunaga. Kaji went on to make key contributions to Gamba Osaka, who won he league in 2005 and the ACL title in 2008. Ishikawa, on the other hand, immediately injured his knee and missed large chunks of the next three seasons, and Tokunaga never managed to fulfil his early promise. Similarly, at the end of 2004 Tokyo decided that they had no room on the squad for a 19-year-old Japan-born Korean named Lee Chun-Soo. Lee moved to Kashiwa Reysol in 2005, took Japanese citizenship the following year, and emerged as an Olympic team star under his new name, Tadanari Lee.
Mishaps such as these contributed to a gradual decline in quality, while injuries to several key players sent Tokyo spinning to the bottom of the league table in 2005. Though they recovered in the latter half of the season, to finish tenth, the poor performance cost coach Hara his job. The following year brought a similar slump and another coaching change, which did not do anything to develop continuity on this relatively young team. Though FC Tokyo still seemed to have a great deal of energy and flair, the players lacked the ability to channel all that energy into an effective game of football.
The team tried to revive their prospects at the beginning of 2007 by acquiring a "big name" foreigner. They signed Paulo Wanchope, who had a very successful career in the English Premier League but was definitely on the final leg of his football career. With young players like Sota Hirayama, Yohei Kajiyama and Yuta Baba starting to mature, a lot of pundits (including the Rising Sun News) thought that TOkyo could be a dark horse candidate for a title in 2007. But Wanchope turned out to be a major bomb (playing just five matches before being dropped unceremoniously at midseason), and the Tokyo youth contingent were just slightly less disappointing. Hiromi Hara, who was called back to the coaching chair after his replacement had produced even worse results, seemed determined to prove every criticism ever leveled against him in the past. The result was a depressing 12th place finish. It seemed that the Capitol City Blues were in danger of becoming another Sanfrecce Hiroshima -- packed with "promising" youngsters but never able to help them mature, and fulfil that promise.
But in 2008, the team made a very clever management decision which seems to have put the team on a more positive course. FC Tokyo handed over the coaching reins to Hiroshi Jofuku, who had earned a reputation for excellent youth development skills as coach of the U-17 and U-18 national team but was still untested at the helm of a professional club. This turned out to be an inspired choice, as Jofuku immediately instilled a work ethic and a sense of focus that the young players on this team had always seemed to lack, in the past. Tokyo roared out to a strong start in 2008, even managing to move atop the table for a week in the late spring. Though they faded as the long title chase moved into its final stretch, Tokyo not only recorded their best finish since 2003 -- sixth place -- they also got some very impressive individual contributions from youngsters that many thought might never fulfil their potential. Teruyuki Moniwa and Naohiro Ishikawa managed to make it through the season without serious injury for the first time since 2004, striker Shingo Akamine emerged as one of the most prolific Japanese strikers, and rookie Yuto Nagatomo leapt immediately into a national team starting berth, and probably would have won rookie of the year honours if not for an injury in July that sidelined him for several months.
Perhaps FC Tokyo is finally on the brink of moving into the ranks of true title contenders. Due to the team's relative youth and past inconsistency, most people are hesitant to tap them as a potential league champion in 2009, but they definitely are starting to live up to their status as the main club team in Japan's largest city. Those familiar with the Capitol City Blues are well aware of the old saying -- "in order to play the blues, you have to live the blues". But sometimes even an old bluesman gets to see his name at the top of the marquee. Fans in the capital city are hoping that 2009 will be their year.
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