Giravanz Kitakyushu
Japanese football club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Giravanz Kitakyushu (ギラヴァンツ北九州, Giravantsu Kitakyūshū) is a Japanese football club based in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. They currently play in J3 League, Japanese third tier of professional league football.
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| Full name | Giravanz Kitakyushu | ||
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| Nicknames | Giravanz, Kita-Q | ||
| Founded | 1947[1] | ||
| Stadium | Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture | ||
| Capacity | 15,300 | ||
| Chairman | Yukito Tamai | ||
| Manager | Kohei Masumoto | ||
| League | J3 League | ||
| 2025 | J3 League, 8th of 20 | ||
| Website | giravanz | ||
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History
Mitsubishi Chemical SC (1947–2000)
The club was formed in 1947 as part of Mitsubishi Chemical's Kurosaki factory. The club was a founding member of Kyushu regional league since 1973. Most of its career was spent in the regional and prefectural leagues, as Kitakyushu was represented in the Japan Soccer League by Yahata Steel F.C. Yahata was a founding member of the JSL in 1965, and finished as runner-up in its first two seasons in that league. Yahata was renamed New Nippon Steel F.C. in 1970, when Yahata Steel merged with Fuji Steel to form (New) Nippon Steel. It ultimately was relegated to the Second Division in 1982, then relegated from the Second Division to Kyushu regional league after 1990–91 season, and closed in 1999.
New Wave Kitakyushu (2001–2009)
In 2001, the club became a community-oriented club (New Wave) Kitakyushu F.C.
In 2007 New Wave took second place in the Regional League promotion series, and was promoted to the JFL for the 2008 season.
The club applied for J. League Associate Membership in January 2008, and the application was accepted at the J. League board meeting on February 19, 2008.
On 1 April 2009, the club made an announcement that they would be accepting suggestions for a new name. This was because the name "New Wave" may cause trademark or tradename disputes.[2] Therefore, the new name had to be something not yet registered as a trademark.
Giravanz Kitakyushu (2010–present)
On 2 October 2009, they announced that the new club name for the 2010 season would be Giravanz Kitakyushu (ギラヴァンツ北九州, Giravantsu Kitakyūshū). According to the official news release, the name "Giravanz" is coined from two Italian words: "Girasole", which means "sunflower", and "Avanzare", which means "moving forward".[3] (The sunflower is one of Kitakyushu's symbol flowers.)
On 23 November 2009, after a 2–1 win away against Arte Takasaki, Kitakyushu secured a top four position in the JFL for the 2009 season. They played in J. League Division 2 from 2010-2016.[4][5][6]
In its inaugural year in the pro ranks, despite attaining a large number of draw matches, Kitakyushu set new records for fewest wins and points in the season standings. After coming in last in the 2018 J3 League season, they named Shinji Kobayashi as the new manager and Sports Director. In 2019, Kobayashi led a turnaround; the club became league champions and were promoted to the 2020 J2 League. They finished 5th in 2020. At the end of the 2021 season, they were relegated to the J3 League, becoming the first J.League club relegated to the J3 League a second time. They finished 13th in 2022, and finished last in 2023. The 2023 season was the first J3 season to have relegation to the JFL, but Kitakyushu avoided it because both Honda FC and Briobecca Urayasu, the respective champions and runners-up of the JFL that season, did not have the necessary license for promotion. In 2024, Kitakyushu finished seventh, missing qualification to the playoffs by two points. The 2025 J3 season was the last season played on a calendar year format.
Stadium
Giravanz played in the Honjo Athletic Stadium from 2010 until 2016.
Giravanz moved to the Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu, for the 2017 season.
League and cup record
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | J. League Cup | Emperor's Cup | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Div. | Tier | Teams | Pos. | P | W (PKW) | D | L (PKL) | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | ||
| New Wave Kitakyushu | |||||||||||||||
| 2003 | Kyushu Soccer League | 4 | 12 | 4th | 22 | 12 (1) | - | 5 (4) | 65 | 46 | 19 | 42 | - | Not eligible | – |
| 2004 | 10 | 6th | 18 | 9 (0) | - | 8 (1) | 41 | 39 | 2 | 28 | - | Did not qualify | |||
| 2005 | 10 | 6th | 18 | 10 (0) | - | 5 (3) | 51 | 30 | 21 | 33 | - | ||||
| 2006 | 9 | 3rd | 16 | 11 (1) | - | 3 (1) | 45 | 23 | 22 | 36 | - | ||||
| 2007 | 11 | 1st | 20 | 17 (1) | - | 1 (1) | 53 | 7 | 46 | 54 | - | ||||
| 2008 | JFL | 3 | 18 | 10th | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 49 | 48 | 1 | 49 | 1,149 | 3rd round | |
| 2009 | 18 | 4th | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 49 | 31 | 18 | 58 | 3,411 | 1st round | |||
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | |||||||||||||||
| 2010 | J2 | 2 | 19 | 19th | 36 | 1 | 12 | 28 | 20 | 65 | -45 | 15 | 4,189 | Not eligible | 3rd round |
| 2011 | 20 | 8th | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 45 | 46 | -1 | 58 | 4,051 | 3rd round | |||
| 2012 | 22 | 9th | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 53 | 47 | 6 | 64 | 3,346 | 2nd round | |||
| 2013 | 22 | 16th | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 50 | 60 | -10 | 49 | 3,175 | 3rd round | |||
| 2014 | 22 | 5th | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 65 | 3,622 | Quarter final | |||
| 2015 | 22 | 7th | 42 | 18 | 5 | 19 | 59 | 58 | 1 | 59 | 3,488 | 2nd round | |||
| 2016 | 22 | 22nd | 42 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 43 | 64 | -21 | 38 | 3,224 | 2nd round | |||
| 2017 | J3 | 3 | 17 | 9th | 32 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 44 | 37 | 7 | 46 | 5,939 | 2nd round | |
| 2018 | 17 | 17th | 32 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 22 | 42 | -20 | 27 | 4,501 | Did not qualify | |||
| 2019 | 18 | 1st | 34 | 19 | 9 | 6 | 51 | 27 | 24 | 66 | 6,049 | 2nd round | |||
| 2020 † | J2 | 2 | 22 | 5th | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 59 | 51 | 8 | 65 | 3,352 | Did not qualify | |
| 2021 † | 22 | 21st | 42 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 66 | -31 | 35 | 2,974 | 2nd round | |||
| 2022 | J3 | 3 | 18 | 13th | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 41 | 45 | -4 | 40 | 3,613 | 1st round | |
| 2023 | 20 | 20th | 38 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 33 | 45 | -12 | 31 | 3,857 | 2nd round | |||
| 2024 | 20 | 7th | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 41 | 39 | 2 | 56 | 4,649 | 2nd round | 2nd round | ||
| 2025 | 20 | 8th | 38 | 17 | 5 | 16 | 46 | 41 | 5 | 56 | 5,563 | 2nd round | 3rd 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; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goal Difference; Pts = Points gained
- Attendance/G = Average home league attendance.
- † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.
- Source: J. League Data Site.[7]
Honours
Players
Current squad
As of 29 August 2025.[8]
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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Coaching staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Kohei Masumoto |
| Assistant manager | Norichika Kanemura |
| First-team coach | Yusuke Sudo |
| Goalkeeper coach | Shuto Yoshikawa |
| Physical coach | Gakuya Tatsuta |
| Trainer | Tatsuya Murakoshi Shinichi Todake Yuji Nakamura |
| Side managers | Tetsuya Tsuda Riku Namihira |
Managerial history
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | ||
| Yoshinori Sembiki | Japan | 1 February 2005 | 31 January 2007 |
| George Yonashiro | Japan | 1 February 2007 | 31 January 2011 |
| Yasutoshi Miura | Japan | 1 February 2011 | 31 January 2013 |
| Kōichi Hashiratani | Japan | 1 February 2013 | 31 January 2017 |
| Takeo Harada | Japan | 1 February 2017 | 31 January 2018 |
| Hitoshi Morishita | Japan | 1 February 2018 | 17 June 2018 |
| Tetsuji Hashiratani | Japan | 20 June 2018 | 31 January 2019 |
| Shinji Kobayashi | Japan | 1 February 2019 | 31 January 2022 |
| Kenichi Amano | Japan | 1 February 2022 | 31 January 2023 |
| Kazuaki Tasaka | Japan | 1 February 2023 | 5 September 2023 |
| Shinji Kobayashi | Japan | 6 September 2023 | Current |
Colour, sponsors and manufacturers
Kit evolution
| Home kit - 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          2010 - 2012 |
     2013 |
   2014 |
   2015 |
     2016 |
     2017 |
     2018 |
     2019 |
     2020 |
     2021 |
     2022 |
   2023 |
     2024 |
     2025 |
     2026 - |
| Away kit - 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
     2010 - 2012 |
     2013 |
   2014 |
   2015 |
     2016 |
     2017 |
     2018 |
     2019 |
     2020 |
     2021 |
     2022 |
   2023 |
     2024 |
     2025 |
     2026 - |