FC Machida Zelvia

Formation and election to the Prefectural League (1989–2002)

FC Machida is known as the "Brazil of Tokyo" due to the popularity of football in the city; in fact, it has produced the second-largest number of J. League players through its football school. Originally formed in 1977, this school is well known for its development of young talents into professional players. In 1989, in order to retain talent, Machida founded its own top team, which at that time played in the Tokyo Prefectural League.

From non-League to Japan Football League (2002–2011)

In 2003, they became a multi-sport club under the name Athletic Club Machida, and in 2005 were promoted to the Kanto League, having won the Tokyo Prefectural League (First Division). They came first in the Kanto league (Second Division) the following year and were promoted to First Division, where they stayed until promotion to the Japan Football League as champions of the Regional Promotion Playoff Series in 2008.

In 2009, they adopted the current nickname "Zelvia", a portmanteau of the Portuguese words zelkova (Machida city's official tree) and salvia (Machida city's official flower) thus renaming themselves as Machida Zelvia.

The same year, the club declared its intent to be promoted to J. League's 2nd division, and its status of semi-affiliate was officially approved by the J. League. However, its home stadium capacity and light specifications did not meet the J. League's requirements, average attendance did not reach 3,000, and the team's final position of 6th place did not allow for Zelvia's promotion to the J. League.

In 2010, Machida appointed Naoki Soma, a former star player who played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as its new head coach. The stadium's lighting was renewed, and the club added several J. League players to its roster. Machida also announced its partnership with Major League Soccer's D.C. United, which became the first historic partnership between a Japanese and American club.^[2] The reborn team beat Tokyo Verdy, its arch-rival from the J. League, in the 2010 Emperor's Cup, but was knocked out by Albirex Niigata in the third round. Soma left at the end of the season and was replaced by Serbian Ranko Popović, former coach of Oita Trinita.

Yo-yo years (2012–2022)

The stadium's capacity and conditions were still short of fulfilling J. League criteria, so the club completed another renovation between the end of the 2010 and the start of the 2011 seasons. Machida finished the 2011 season in third place after beating Kamatamare Sanuki in the final match of that season, thereby granting them promotion to J. League (Second Division),^[3] but were relegated after a bottom-placed finish. They became one of the original J3 clubs after finishing in 4th place in the 2014 JFL season and returned to J2 as 2015 runners-up by beating Oita Trinita in the promotion/relegation play-off. In the first return to J2 in the 2016 season, Machida were able to finish in 7th position, only four points short of the play-offs spot.

In 2017, Machida fell off more than a half place down to 15th with fifty points, twelve points up of relegation zone. In the 2018 season, while Machida culminated a great campaign by finishing inside the promotion play-offs zone of 4th place, Machida were unable to participate in the phase because they did not have a J1 League-level license. The 2019 season also saw the club fell down far on the table as they finished in 18th position, three points up from relegation places occupied by Kagoshima United and FC Gifu. At the end of this season the club acquired a J1 license. ^{[citation needed]}

In 2020, Machida finished in 19th. While they were able to conclude their 2021 campaign by finishing in 5th position, no promotion play-offs were held in this season, mainly because no relegation in the previous season due to COVID-19 pandemic, so Machida remain in J2. In 2022 season, Machida once again fell far below their position of the previous campaign by finishing in the 15th position.

Go Kuroda's era, First silverware of professional era and J1 League debut (2023–present)

On 22 October 2023, after a seven-year run in J2 League, Machida eventually achieved promotion to the J1 League for the first time in the club history with manager Go Kuroda guiding Machida to the 2023 J2 League title with 87 points following their 3–0 away win against Roasso Kumamoto in matchweek 39.^[4] The club also confirmed their status as champions of second division on 28 October 2023 after Kumamoto defeated Shimizu S-Pulse 3–1.^[5]

Sponsors

More information Year, Kit Manufacturer ...

Year	Kit Manufacturer	Main Sponsor
2004–2006	Dell'erba	No main sponsor
2007–2008	Hummel	Pherrow's Sportswear
2009	In house production	No main sponsor
2010–2011	SVOLME	Odakyu
2012–2018		Eagle Kenso
2019–2022		Abema
2023–present	Adidas	CyberAgent

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Kit evolution

More information Home kit - 1st ...

Home kit - 1st
2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
2025	2026 -

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More information Away kit - 2nd ...

Away kit - 2nd
2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
2025

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More information Special kit - 3rd ...

Special kit - 3rd
2014 25th anniv.	2019 30th anniv.	2022 - 3rd	2024 35th anniv.	ACLE 2025/26 1st
ACLE 2025/26 2nd

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First-team squad

As of 25 March 2026.^[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

More information No., Pos. ...

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  JPN Kosei Tani 2 DF  JPN Tomoki Imai 3 DF  JPN Gen Shoji (captain) 4 DF  JPN Ryuho Kikuchi 5 DF  KOS Ibrahim Drešević 6 DF  JPN Henry Heroki Mochizuki 7 FW  JPN Yūki Sōma 8 MF  JPN Keiya Sento 9 FW  JPN Shōta Fujio 10 FW  KOR Na Sang-ho 11 MF  JPN Asahi Masuyama 13 GK  JPN Tatsuya Morita 16 MF  JPN Hiroyuki Mae 17 GK  JPN Kaung Zan Mara 18 MF  JPN Hokuto Shimoda (vice-captain) 19 DF  JPN Yuta Nakayama (vice-captain)

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 FW  JPN Takuma Nishimura 22 FW  JPN Takaya Numata 23 MF  JPN Ryohei Shirasaki 24 DF  KOR Kim Min-tae 26 DF  JPN Kotaro Hayashi 27 FW  BRA Erik 28 MF  KOR Cha Je-hoon 31 MF  ISR Neta Lavi 34 FW  JPN Futa Tokumura 39 MF  CHI Byron Vásquez 44 GK  JPN Yoshiaki Arai 49 FW  JPN Kanji Kuwayama 50 DF  JPN Daihachi Okamura 60 MF  JPN Chui Hiromu Mayaka 88 DF  JPN Hotaka Nakamura 99 FW  AUS Tete Yengi

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Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

More information No., Pos. ...

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 GK  USA Anton Burns (at Gainare Tottori) 29 DF  JPN Takumi Narasaka (at Giravanz Kitakyushu) 32 MF  JPN Atsushi Kurokawa (at FK Tukums 2000) 37 MF  JPN Kosei Ashibe (at Fukushima United)

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Continental record

More information Season, Competition ...

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2025–26	AFC Champions League Elite	League stage	FC Seoul	1–1	—N/a	1st out of 12
			Johor Darul Ta'zim	—N/a	0–0
			Shanghai Port	—N/a	2–0
			Melbourne City	1–2	—N/a
			Gangwon	—N/a	3–1
			Ulsan HD	3–1	—N/a
			Shanghai Shenhua	—N/a	2–0
			Chengdu Rongcheng	3–2	—N/a
		Round of 16	Gangwon	1–0	0–0	1–0
		Quarter-final	Al-Ittihad Jeddah	1–0
		Semi-final	Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai	1–0
		Final	Al-Ahli Saudi	0–1 (a.e.t.)

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