Renofa Yamaguchi FC
 | |||
| Full name | Renofa Yamaguchi Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Renofa | ||
| Founded | 1949 as Yamaguchi Teachers | ||
| Stadium | Ishin Me-Life Stadium (Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi) | ||
| Capacity | 15,115 | ||
| Managing Organisation | Renofa Yamaguchi Co,.Ltd. | ||
| Chairman | Fumihiko Koyama | ||
| Manager | Genki Nakayama | ||
| League | J3 League | ||
| 2025 | J2 League, 19th of 20 (relegated) | ||
| Website | renofa | ||
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Renofa Yamaguchi (レノファ山口, Renofa Yamaguchi Efu Shī) is a Japanese professional football club based in Yamaguchi, the capital of Yamaguchi Prefecture. They set to play in the J3 League from the 2026–27 onwards, the third tier of professional football in Japan's football league system after relegation from the J2 League in 2025.
Yamaguchi won their only major honours in which they won the J3 League title in the 2015 season
History
Foundation and early years (1949–2005)
The original football club consisted of a group of teaching staff who were based within Yamaguchi prefecture, a team called Yamaguchi Prefecture Teachers Football Club (山口県サッカー教員団, Yamaguchi-ken sakkā kyōin dan), often abbreviated to Yamaguchi Teachers or Yamaguchi KFC (compare Tochigi S.C. and Gainare Tottori, who started as teachers' clubs and are now members of the J.League). The club traces its origins back to 1949, when it was founded as a company team in Yamaguchi Prefecture. For decades, the club competed in regional and corporate leagues, gradually building its presence in the Chūgoku region.
Rebranding and rise (2006–2014)
In February 2006, the Yamaguchi Football Association eyed the placement of a team from Yamaguchi in the J.League. Setting its heart of operations at Yamaguchi Teachers, a new football club was established.[1] At the same time, a public appeal was made to rebranded the club as Renofa Yamaguchi, marking the beginning of a new era with ambitions of joining the professional ranks of the J.League.
Without a specified home ground, the team played Chūgoku league matches across a number of different venues within the prefecture, including Yamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium, Yamaguchi Kirara Expo Memorial Park, Onoda Football Park, Shunan City Athletic Stadium, and Yamaguchi Football Park. Now however, home games are played at Yamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium.
Though structured with a hometown manager and local players, sponsored by local business and enterprises, and local action plans within the local community, Renofa Yamaguchi is aiming for a national future in the J.League.[2]
In the days of Yamaguchi Teachers, the team frequently finished mid to low table in the Chūgoku league. However, since the establishing of the new club in 2006, the team has consistently improved their final league position. This culminated in the 2008 season where they achieved their first league win. In the All Japan Regional Football Promotion League Series of that year the team finished fourth in the final round, missing the opportunity for promotion to the Japan Football League. The 2009 season saw them win their first Emperor's Cup match, beating Mitsubishi Mizushima in a penalty shoot out.[3]
Since the team's formation it had operated as a private organisation, however when the Nonprofit organization Yamaguchi Athletics Club was established on 24 May 2011, managing control of the team changed hands putting the new NPO in charge.[4]
Establishment in the J.League (2015–present)
After finishing in 4th place in the 2014 Japan Football League and securing the necessary licensing, the J.League officially welcomed Renofa Yamaguchi to join the J3 League, starting from the 2015 season.[5] Their J.League debut came in 2015 season. On 23 November 2015, Renofa earned their first and successful promotion from the JFL after winning the J3 League. The club was promoted for the J2 League ahead of the 2016 season. The club was guaranteed promotion after a 2–2 draw against Gainare Tottori in the closing rounds of the season, as Renofa were working towards J2 licensing before the season ended, for the promotion to be actually earned.
On 26 September 2023, Renofa Yamaguchi announced that they had officially been granted a J1 License.[6]
In 2025, Renofa Yamaguchi were relegated to the J3 League for the next season after finishing 19th, marking their worst performance in the league and ending a nine-year run in the second tier.
Team image
Name origin
The word renofa is a wasei-eigo, a combination of three English words: ''renovation'', ''fight'', and ''fine'', symbolizing renewal and ambition.[7][8]
Changes in club name
- Yamaguchi Prefecture Teachers Football Club (山口県サッカー教員団, Yamaguchi-ken sakkā kyōin dan) (Yamaguchi Teachers, Yamaguchi KFC) (1949–2005)
- Renofa Yamaguchi (レノファ山口FC, Renofa Yamaguchi Efu Shī) (2006–present)
Supporters
The supporters of Renofa Yamaguchi are primarily based in Yamaguchi Prefecture, especially in and around the city of Yamaguchi. Since the club’s rise through the leagues, the fanbase has grown steadily and is known for its strong local identity.
On matchdays at Ishin Me-Life Stadium, supporters gather in organized sections behind the goals, creating a lively atmosphere with chants, flags, and coordinated displays. The fan culture reflects a close connection between the team and the community, with many supporters actively participating in local events and club activities.
Despite fluctuations in league performance, fans have remained loyal, consistently supporting the club in both the J3 League and J2 League.
Rivalries
Renofa Yamaguchi’s rivalries are mainly regional, particularly with clubs from the Chūgoku region.
One of the most notable is with Sanfrecce Hiroshima, representing a broader regional rivalry, although encounters have been limited due to differences in league levels. Matches against Giravanz Kitakyushu are also competitive, driven by geographical proximity and frequent meetings in lower divisions.
Additionally, fixtures against clubs in the J2 League often carry significance depending on league standings, contributing to evolving rivalries.
Overall, Renofa Yamaguchi’s rivalries are still developing, shaped largely by regional pride and competitive encounters within the J.League system.
Stadium
Renofa Yamaguchi plays its home matches at Ishin Me-Life Stadium, located in the city of Yamaguchi. The stadium is part of the Ishin Memorial Park complex and has a seating capacity of around 15,115 spectators.
It is a multi-purpose venue with a running track surrounding the pitch, featuring a main covered stand and additional seating sections. While not a football-specific stadium, it remains the central football ground in Yamaguchi Prefecture and meets the requirements for matches in the J.League.
The stadium regularly hosts fixtures in the J2 League and previously the J3 League, as well as domestic competitions such as the Emperor's Cup. Its relatively large capacity allows for bigger crowds during key matches
Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors
Kit evolution
| Home Kits - 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          2006 - 2007 |
     2008 - 2011 |
     2012 |
     2013 |
     2014 |
   2015 |
   2016 |
     2017 |
     2018 |
     2019 |
     2020 |
     2021 |
     2022 |
     2023 |
     2024 |
     2025 - | ||||
| Away Kits - 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
     2006 - 2007 |
     2008 - 2011 |
     2012 |
   2013 |
     2014 |
     2015 |
    2016 |
     2017 |
     2018 |
     2019 |
     2020 |
     2021 |
     2022 |
     2023 |
     2024 |
     2025 - | ||||
Players
Current squad
- As of 18 August 2025.[9]
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.
|
Management and staff
Club officials for 2025 season.[10]
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Genki Nakayama
|
| Head coach | Hideo Yoshizawa
|
| Coach | Ryo Yokotani
|
| Goalkeeper coach | Kenji Yamada
|
| Physical Coach | Tetsuya Sakamoto
|
| Assistant coaches | Kensuke Akasaka Kensuke Sato
|
| Doctor | Toru Moriwaki
|
| Fitness coach | Tomoyuki Sato
|
| Physical coach | Junichi Matsumoto
|
| Chief trainer | Tomoyuki Sato
|
| Trainers | Atsushi Noto Akihiko Masunari
|
| Physiotherapist | Takashi Sasaki
|
| Competent | Hiroki Fujikawa
|
| Deputy officers | Taiyo Kodama Rui Nagao
|
| Interpreter | Yuto Kabazawa
|
Honours
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Yamaguchi Prefectural Championship Emperor's Cup Yamaguchi Prefectural Qualifiers |
7 | 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010 |
| Yamaguchi Prefectural League | 1 | 2004 |
| Chūgoku League | 3 | 2008, 2010, 2013 |
| Noue Cup | 1 | 2008 |
| Shakaijin Cup | 1 | 2013 |
| J3 League | 1 | 2015 |
Managerial history
League matches only.Updated end of 2025 season
| Manager | Period | Honours | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Takashi Yamamoto |
1990 | 31 January 2006 | |
| Takashi Miyanari |
1 February 2006 | 31 January 2010 | – 2008 Chūgoku League |
| Takashi Kawamura |
1 February 2012 | 31 January 2013 | |
| Genki Nakayama |
1 February 2013 | 31 January 2014 | – 2013 Chūgoku League
– 2013 Shakaijin Cup |
| Nobuhiro Ueno |
1 February 2014 | 23 May 2017 | – 2015 J3 League |
| Shinji Sarusawa |
24 May 2017 | 5 June 2017 | |
 Carlos Mayor |
6 June 2017 | 31 December 2017 | |
| Masahiro Shimoda |
1 February 2018 | 31 January 2021 | |
| Susumu Watanabe |
1 February 2021 | 28 September 2021 | |
| Yoshihiro Natsuka |
29 September 2021 | 9 May 2023 | |
| Genki Nakayama (2) |
10 May 2023 | 7 June 2023 | |
| Juan Esnáider |
8 June 2023 | 13 November 2023 | |
| Ryo Shigaki |
1 December 2023 | 24 June 2025 | |
| Genki Nakayama[11] (3) |
24 June 2025 | present | |
- Key
- Source: J.League Data Site
Season by season record
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | J. League Cup | Emperor's Cup | Notes | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Division | Pos. | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | |||
| Yamaguchi Teachers | ||||||||||||||
| 1976 | Not eligible | 1st round | ||||||||||||
| 1980 | Chūgoku League |
6th | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 27 | 30 | −3 | 11 | ||||
| 1981 | 7th | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 29 | 31 | −2 | 10 | |||||
| 1982 | 2nd | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 34 | 21 | 13 | 19 | 1st round | ||||
| 1983 | 2nd | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 35 | 23 | 12 | 19 | |||||
| 1984 | 4th | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 38 | 27 | 11 | 17 | |||||
| 1985 | 5th | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 30 | 29 | 1 | 13 | |||||
| 1986 | 3rd | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 34 | 24 | 10 | 17 | |||||
| 1987 | 3rd | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 14 | |||||
| 1988 | 3rd | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 34 | 26 | 8 | 17 | |||||
| 1989 | 2nd | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 15 | 13 | 17 | |||||
| 1990 | 4th | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 32 | 25 | 7 | 17 | |||||
| 1991 | 4th | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 31 | 28 | 3 | 22 | |||||
| 1992 | 6th | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 19 | 28 | −9 | 13 | |||||
| 1993 | 3rd | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 23 | 18 | 5 | 22 | |||||
| 1994 | 6th | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 27 | 23 | 4 | 17 | |||||
| 1995 | 8th | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 26 | 30 | −4 | 11 | |||||
| 1996 | 6th | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 35 | −18 | 15 | |||||
| 1997 | 8th | 14 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 31 | −17 | 7 | 1 match won, 2 matches lost on penalties. Relegated to Yamaguchi Prefecture League. | ||||
| 1998 | Yamaguchi Prefecture League |
|||||||||||||
| 1999 | 1st round | Promoted to Chūgoku League. | ||||||||||||
| 2000 | Chūgoku League | 5th | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 34 | −14 | 20 | 1 match won on penalties. | |||
| 2001 | 7th | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 30 | −13 | 12 | 1st round | 1 match won, 1 match lost on penalties. | |||
| 2002 | 4th | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 31 | −14 | 12 | 1 match won, 1 match lost on penalties. Winners of the Chūgoku League fair play award. | ||||
| 2003 | 8th | 14 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 22 | −14 | 11 | 1st round | 3 matches won, 2 matches lost on penalties. Winners of the Chūgoku League fair play award. Relegated to Yamaguchi Prefecture League. | |||
| 2004 | Yamaguchi Prefecture League |
1st | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 1st round | Promoted to Chūgoku League. | |||||
| 2005 | Chūgoku League | 7th | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 23 | −12 | 9 | 2 matches won, 2 matches lost on penalties. | |||
| Renofa Yamaguchi FC | ||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Chūgoku League | 4th | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 28 | −3 | 25 | Not eligible | |||
| 2007 | 3rd | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 33 | 46 | −13 | 22 | 1st round | ||||
| 2008 | 1st | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 45 | 15 | 30 | 38 | Finalist in the Promotional Series | ||||
| 2009 | 2nd | 18 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 53 | 21 | 32 | 40 | 2nd round | ||||
| 2010 | 1st | 18 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 51 | 17 | 34 | 43 | 2nd round | ||||
| 2011 | 2nd | 18 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 54 | 17 | 37 | 41 | 2nd round | ||||
| 2012 | 4th | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 47 | 22 | 25 | 32 | |||||
| 2013 | 1st | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 53 | 13 | 40 | 42 | 1st round | Promoted to JFL | |||
| 2014 | JFL | 4th | 26 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 51 | 27 | 24 | 51 | 2,297 | Promoted to J3 | ||
| 2015 | J3 | 1st | 36 | 25 | 3 | 8 | 96 | 36 | 60 | 78 | 4,367 | 1st round | Promoted to J2 | |
| 2016 | J2 | 12th | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 55 | 63 | -8 | 53 | 6,654 | 3rd round | ||
| 2017 | 20th | 42 | 11 | 5 | 26 | 48 | 69 | -21 | 38 | 5,454 | 2nd round | |||
| 2018 | 8th | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 63 | 64 | -1 | 61 | 6,123 | 3rd round | |||
| 2019 | 15th | 42 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 54 | 70 | -16 | 47 | 5,630 | 3rd round | |||
| 2020 † | 22nd | 42 | 9 | 6 | 27 | 43 | 74 | -31 | 33 | 1,976 | Did not qualify | |||
| 2021 † | 15th | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 37 | 51 | -14 | 43 | 3,011 | 1st round | |||
| 2022 | 16th | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 51 | 54 | -3 | 50 | 3,661 | 3rd round | |||
| 2023 | 20th | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 37 | 67 | -30 | 44 | 4,407 | 2nd round | |||
| 2024 | 11th | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 43 | 44 | -1 | 53 | 6,089 | 1st round | TBC | ||
| 2025 | 19th | 38 | 7 | 15 | 16 | 36 | 47 | -11 | 36 | 5,767 | 3rd round | 2nd round | ||
| 2026 | J3 | TBD | 18 | N/A | N/A | |||||||||
| 2026-27 | 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 = Goals 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
References
- ^ Chugoku Shimbun. "出場チーム 第９０回天皇杯全日本サッカー選手権大会 (Participating teams – The 90th Emperor Cup All Japan Championship Series) (in Japanese)". Japan Football Association. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
- ^ "チーム概要 (Team Outline) (in Japanese)". Renofa Yamaguchi F.C. Archived from the original on 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
- ^ "Match No. 9 第８９回天皇杯全日本サッカー選手権大会 (Match 9 – The 89th Emperor Cup All Japan Championship Series) (in Japanese)". Japan Football Association. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
- ^ "ＮＰＯ法人「山口アスレチック・クラブ」誕生 プロスポーツチーム空白県からの脱却を (The Birth of the NPO "Yamaguchi Athletics Club" – Growing out of a Prefecture with no Pro-Sports Team) (in Japanese)". Sunday Yamaguchi. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ Ｊ３入会承認！ [Approval of J3 membership!] (in Japanese). Renofa Yamaguchi. 19 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- ^ "[レノファ山口FC OfficialSite] 2024シーズン J1クラブライセンスの交付について". レノファ山口FC岐 OfficialSite (in Japanese). 26 September 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- ^ "チーム概要 (Team Outline) (in Japanese)". Renofa Yamaguchi F.C. Archived from the original on 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
- ^ Chugoku Shimbun. "出場チーム 第９１回天皇杯全日本サッカー選手権大会 (Participating teams – The 91st Emperor Cup All Japan Championship Series) (in Japanese)". Japan Football Association. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
- ^ "PLAYER2024". RENOFA YAMAGUCHI FC. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ "2025 staff". www.renofa.com. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ "Genki Nakayama's Record 2025". data.j-league.or.jp. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Chūgoku League official site (in Japanese)