Daijiro Takakuwa

Yokohama F. Marinos

is a Japanese football team which participates in the professional J. League. Having won the J-League title three times and finished second twice, the team is one of the most successful J-League clubs. The team is based in Yokohama and was founded as the company team of Nissan Motors. It was originally the Yokohama Marinos but after merging with the Yokohama Flügels in 1999, it changed to its current name. The team name Marinos means 'sailors' in Spanish. Marinos are one of only six teams to have competed in Japan's top flight of football every year since its inception in 1993.

History

In 1973, the team started as the Nissan Motors F.C. based in Yokohama, and were promoted to the Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1976. It took necessary steps like building a friendly relationship with local high schools and universities and starting junior teams for school kids to be a winning team. Under the first paid or professional team manager in Japan Shu Kamo, the team won championships in 1988 and 1989 as well as the JSL Cup and Emperor's Cup winning all three major tournaments in Japan at that time.

In 1991, it was one of the founding members of the J. League. In 1998, after losing one of their primary sponsors, it was announced that crosstown rivals Yokohama Flügels would merge with Marinos. Since then, an F was added to the name to represent the Flügels half of the club. Many Flügels fans rejected the merger and instead created Yokohama F.C., F. Marinos' new crosstown rivals.

The team's home stadiums are Nissan Stadium, otherwise know as International Stadium Yokohama, and Mitsuzawa Stadium. It practices in the newly constructed Marinos Town in the Minato Mirai area of Yokohama.

Players

Current Squad

As of August 11, 2008 (captain)

Notable Players

World Cup Players

World Cup 1994

World Cup 1998

World Cup 2002

Naoki Matsuda

World Cup 2006

Yuji Nakazawa

Team Record

J.League

Season	League	Place	GP	Pts	Win	Draw	Lose	Average Crowd
1993	J1 1st stage	3 / 10	18	-	11	-	7	16,781
	J1 2nd stage	3 / 10	18	-	10	-	8
	J1 Total	4 / 10	36	-	21	-	15
1994	J1 1st stage	9 / 12	22	-	8	-	14	19,801
	J1 2nd stage	3 / 12	22	-	14	-	8
	J1 Total	6 / 12	44	-	22	-	22
1995	J1 1st stage	Champions / 14	26	52	17	-	9	18,326
	J1 2nd stage	3 / 14	26	46	15	-	11
	J1 Total	Champions / 14	52	98	32	-	20
1996	J1	3 / 16	30	63	21	-	9	14,589
1997	J1 1st stage	5 / 17	16	28	11	-	5	9,211
	J1 2nd stage	3 / 17	16	32	12	-	4
	J1 Total	3 / 17	32	60	23	-	9
1998	J1 1st stage	4 / 18	17	32	11	-	6	19,165
	J1 2nd stage	4 / 18	17	32	11	-	6
	J1 Total	4 / 18	34	64	22	-	12
1999	J1 1st stage	7 / 16	15	23	8	1	6	20,095
	J1 2nd stage	3 / 16	15	30	10	2	3
	J1 Total	5 / 16	30	53	18	3	9
2000	J1 1st stage	Champions / 16	15	30	10	0	5	16,644
	J1 2nd stage	5 / 16	15	24	8	1	6
	J1 Total	Runners-up / 16	30	54	18	1	11
2001	J1 1st stage	15 / 16	15	11	3	2	10	20,595
	J1 2nd stage	10 / 16	15	19	6	3	6
	J1 Total	13 / 16	30	30	9	5	16
2002	J1 1st stage	Runners-up / 16	15	33	11	3	1	24,108
	J1 2nd stage	6 / 16	15	22	8	1	6
	J1 Total	Runners-up / 16	30	55	19	4	7
2003	J1 1st stage	Champions / 16	15	32	10	2	3	24,957
	J1 2nd stage	Champions / 16	15	26	7	5	3
	J1 Total	Champions / 16	30	58	17	7	6
2004	J1 1st stage	Champions / 16	15	36	11	3	1	24,818
	J1 2nd stage	6 / 16	15	23	6	5	4
	J1 Total	Champions / 16	30	59	17	8	5
2005	J1	9 / 18	34	48	12	12	10	25,713
2006	J1	9 / 18	34	45	13	6	15	23,663
2007	J1	7 / 18	34	50	14	8	12	24,039
2008	J1	? / 18

Other Domestic Competitions

See other domestic competitions record

Major International Competitions

Season	Competition	Result	Average Crowd
1992-93	Asian Cup Winners Cup	Champions	?
1996-97	AFC Champions League	Quarter-finals	?
2004	A3 Champions Cup	Runners-up	-
2004	AFC Champions League	Round 1	?
2005	A3 Champions Cup	3rd	-
2005	AFC Champions League	Round 1	?

Honours

Nissan FC

All Japan Senior Cup: 1976
Japan Soccer League: (2) 1988/1989, 1989/1990
JSL Cup: (3) 1988, 1989, 1990
Emperor's Cup: (5) 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1991
Asian Cup Winners Cup: (1) 1991/1992

Yokohama Marinos

J. League 1st stage: (1) 1995
J. League championship: (1) 1995
Asian Cup Winners Cup: (1) 1992/1993

Yokohama F.Marinos

J. League 1st stage: (3) 2000, 2003, 2004
J. League 2nd stage: (1) 2003
J. League Championship: (2) 2003, 2004
J. League Cup: (1) 2001

Managers

Manager	Nat.	Tenure
Hidehiko Shimizu		1993-1994
Jorge Solari		1995
Hiroshi Hayano		1995-1996
Xabier Azkargorta		1997-1998
Antonio de la Cruz		1999
Osvaldo Ardiles		2000-2001
Yoshiaki Shimojo		2001
Sebastião Lazaroni		2001-2002
Yoshiaki Shimojo		2002
Takeshi Okada		2003-2006
Takashi Mizunuma		2006
Hiroshi Hayano		2007
Takashi Kuwahara		2008-