Montedio Yamagata
Japanese football club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Montedio Yamagata (モンテディオ山形, Montedio Yamagata) is a Japanese professional association football club based in Tendō, Yamagata in the Yamagata Prefecture. The club currently plays in J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football.
The Eagle Bees
(Tendō, Yamagata)
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| Full name | Montedio Yamagata | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Monte The Eagle Bees | ||
| Founded | 1984 | ||
| Stadium | ND Soft Stadium (Tendō, Yamagata) | ||
| Capacity | 20,315 | ||
| Chairman | Kentaro Aita | ||
| Manager | Akinobu Yokouchi | ||
| League | J2 League | ||
| 2025 | J2 League, 10th of 20 | ||
| Website | montedioyamagata | ||
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History
The club based in Tsuruoka was founded in 1984 as NEC Yamagata Soccer Club.[1] It gained the promotion to the Japan Football League (former) in 1994. After renaming itself as Montedio Yamagata in 1996, it has been playing in J. League Division 2 since its inaugural 1999 season.[1]
On 30 November 2008, they were promoted to J. League Division 1 for the first time. They achieved their highest league placing of 13th in 2010. However, in 2011, two strong loan players from Kashima Antlers were recalled. This weakened the squad which also suffered many injuries through the year and Montedio were relegated back to J.League Division 2 at the end of 2011. At the end of the season, the manager, Shinji Kobayashi, stepped down even though many fans praised his accomplishments over the past 4 years.[citation needed]
Yamagata returned to the J1 after spending three seasons in the J2 by winning the J1/J2 promotion playoff final in 2014. They returned to the J2 for the 2016 season, having spent only one season at the J1.[2] The club is currently playing their 10th consecutive season in the J2 in 2025.
Team image
Name origin
Montedio is a coined word combining the Italian word for "mountain" (Monte) and the word for "God" (Dio).
Rivalries
Ōu Honsen (Dewa derby)
NEC Yamagata and TDK first met in 1990 in old Tohoku regional football league. The two clubs have been based in former Dewa Province, and their rivalry is renamed as Ōu Honsen (奥羽本戦) after the Japan Railways Ōu Main Line (奥羽本線) in 2021.[3]
Stadium
Since joining the J.League, Montedio has been using the ND Soft Stadium Yamagata as their home stadium.
The new stadium, with a planned capacity of 21,292 spectators—similar to the current ND Stadium—will feature stands designed for cold regions and a full roof for spectators, in line with the J.League club license. Tendo Mayor Shinji Yamamoto has expressed plans to secure a new parking lot to replace the current one, which will serve as the construction site. Yamagata Prefecture Governor Mieko Yoshimura stated that the prefecture intends to cooperate with land use based on the mayor's plans.[4]
Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors
Kit evolution
| Home Kit 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          1999 |
     2000–2002 |
     2003–2004 |
     2005 - 2006 |
     2007 |
 2008–2009 |
     2010–2011 |
     2012–2013 |
     2014 |
     2015–2016 |
     2017 |
     2018 |
     2019 |
     2020 |
     2021 |
     2022 |
     2023 |
     2024 |
     2025 - | |
| Away Kit 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
     1999 |
     2000–2003 |
     2004 |
     2005–2006 |
 2007 |
     2008–2009 |
     2010–2011 |
     2012–2013 |
     2014 |
     2015 |
    2016 |
     2017 |
     2018 |
     2019 |
     2020 |
     2021 |
     2022 |
    2023 |
     2024 |
     2025 - |
| Other Kits - 3rd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
     2013 Summer 3rd |
2018 3rd |
   2018 New breed debut[5] |
   2019 Natsuni |
     2021 Natsuni |
     2022 Natsuuni |
 2023 3rd |
     2023 Natsuuni |
    2024 Natsuuni | |
Players
First-team squad
- As of 1 August 2026.[6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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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.
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Management and staff
Club officials for 2025 season [7]
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Akinobu Yokouchi |
| Coach | Jin Sato Ken Iwase Keisuke Kaizaki Ren Yumitani |
| Goalkeeper coach | Yusaburo Matsuoka |
| Physical coach | Kenta Hamabe |
| Analyst | Daito Kai Hinata Sakaguchi |
| Trainer | Tsukasa Sato Hiraku Toguri So Adachi Daigo Shigeoka |
| Team operations coordinator | Masahiro Sasaki |
| General affairs | Takuya Fukai Takaaki Sakai |
| Interpreters | Yuki Masuda Kei Yoshida |
Honours
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Yamagata Prefecture League | 1 | 1989 |
| Tohoku Soccer League | 4 | 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 |
Managerial history
| Manager | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | |
| Shoichi Kato | 1984 | 1989 |
| Masanobu Tashiro | 1990 | 1993 |
| Naoki Sugisawa | 1994 | |
| Nobuhiro Ishizaki | 1 February 1995 | 31 January 1999 |
| Shigeharu Ueki | 1 February 1999 | 31 January 2001 |
| Kōichi Hashiratani | 1 January 2001 | 31 December 2003 |
| Jun Suzuki | 1 February 2004 | 31 January 2006 |
| Yasuhiro Higuchi | 1 February 2006 | 31 January 2008 |
| Shinji Kobayashi | 1 February 2008 | 31 January 2012 |
| Ryōsuke Okuno | 1 February 2012 | 31 January 2014 |
| Nobuhiro Ishizaki (2) | 1 February 2014 | 31 January 2017 |
| Takashi Kiyama | 1 February 2017 | 31 January 2020 |
| Kiyotaka Ishimaru | 1 February 2020 | 21 April 2021 |
| Jin Satō | 22 April 2021 | 29 April 2021 |
 Peter Cklamovski | 30 April 2021 | 4 April 2023 |
| Susumu Watanabe | 4 April 2023 | 18 June 2025 [8] |
| Jin Satō (Interim) | 18 June 2025 | 25 June 2025 |
| Akinobu Yokouchi | 25 June 2025[9] | Current |
General managers
Season by season record
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Division | Teams | Pos | P | W | D | L | Pts | Attendance/G | ||
| 1999 | J2 | 10 | 7th | 36 | 15 | 4 | 17 | 48 | 2,980 | 1st round | Quarter-finals |
| 2000 | 11 | 10th | 40 | 11 | 2 | 27 | 33 | 3,468 | 1st round | 2nd round | |
| 2001 | 12 | 3rd | 44 | 27 | 6 | 14 | 80 | 4,391 | 1st round | 3rd round | |
| 2002 | 12 | 11th | 44 | 6 | 17 | 21 | 35 | 3,755 | Not eligible | 1st round | |
| 2003 | 12 | 8th | 44 | 15 | 10 | 19 | 55 | 4,370 | 3rd round | ||
| 2004 | 12 | 4th | 44 | 19 | 14 | 11 | 71 | 6,420 | 4th round | ||
| 2005 | 12 | 5th | 44 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 64 | 5,949 | 4th round | ||
| 2006 | 13 | 8th | 48 | 17 | 14 | 17 | 65 | 5,085 | 4th round | ||
| 2007 | 13 | 9th | 48 | 15 | 13 | 20 | 58 | 4,243 | 4th round | ||
| 2008 | 15 | 2nd | 42 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 78 | 6,273 | 4th round | ||
| 2009 | J1 | 18 | 15th | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 39 | 12,056 | Group stage | 3rd round |
| 2010 | 18 | 13th | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 42 | 11,710 | Group stage | Quarter finals | |
| 2011 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 5 | 23 | 6 | 21 | 9,325 | 1st round | 3rd round | |
| 2012 | J2 | 22 | 10th | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 61 | 7,355 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2013 | 22 | 10th | 42 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 59 | 7,020 | 4th round | ||
| 2014 | 22 | 6th | 42 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 64 | 6,348 | Runners up | ||
| 2015 | J1 | 18 | 18th | 34 | 4 | 18 | 12 | 24 | 10,005 | Group stage | 4th round |
| 2016 | J2 | 22 | 14th | 42 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 47 | 6,254 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2017 | 22 | 11th | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 59 | 6,582 | 3rd round | ||
| 2018 | 22 | 12th | 42 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 56 | 6,766 | Semi-finals | ||
| 2019 | 22 | 6th | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 70 | 8,289 | 2nd round | ||
| 2020 † | 22 | 7th | 42 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 62 | 2,944 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2021 † | 22 | 7th | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 68 | 5,082 | 2nd round | ||
| 2022 | 22 | 6th | 42 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 64 | 6,451 | 2nd round | ||
| 2023 | 22 | 5th | 42 | 21 | 4 | 17 | 67 | 8,318 | 3rd round | ||
| 2024 | 20 | 4th | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 66 | 10,264 | 1st round | 3rd round | |
| 2025 | 20 | 10th | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 53 | 11,067 | 2nd round | 4th round | |
| 2026 | 10 | TBD | 18 | N/A | N/A | ||||||
| 2026-27 | 20 | TBD | 38 | TBD | TBD | ||||||
- Key
- Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; 'Pts = Points gained
- Attendance/G = Average league home attendance
- † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
- Source: J.League Data Site