Masato Saito
Japanese footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Masato Saito (斉藤 雅人, Saitō Masato; born December 1, 1975) is a former Japanese football player.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Masato Saito | ||
| Date of birth | December 1, 1975 | ||
| Place of birth | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1991–1993 | Bunan High School | ||
| 1994–1997 | Komazawa University | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–2009 | Omiya Ardija | 304 | (14) |
| Total | 304 | (14) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
Saito was born in Saitama on December 1, 1975. After graduating from Komazawa University, he joined Japan Football League club Omiya Ardija based in his local in 1998. He played many matches as defensive midfielder from first season. The club was promoted to J2 League from 1999 and J1 League from 2005. Although he played many matches for a long time, he could not play many matches in 2009 and retired end of 2009 season.
Post play career
Saito filled various coaching and directors roles at Omiya Ardija after retiring as a player. He finally retired as Academy director and Under-18 director in August 2024.[1]
Club statistics
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Japan | League | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | Total | ||||||
| 1998 | Omiya Ardija | Football League | 15 | 1 | 3 | 0 | - | 18 | 1 | |
| 1999 | J2 League | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 2 | ||
| 2001 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 1 | ||
| 2002 | 35 | 3 | 3 | 0 | - | 38 | 3 | |||
| 2003 | 36 | 2 | 3 | 0 | - | 39 | 2 | |||
| 2004 | 43 | 2 | 3 | 0 | - | 46 | 2 | |||
| 2005 | J1 League | 21 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 28 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 0 | ||
| 2007 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 30 | 1 | ||
| 2008 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 25 | 2 | ||
| 2009 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 304 | 14 | 23 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 348 | 14 | ||
