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Albirex Niigata (アルビレックス新潟, Arubirekkusu Nīgata) is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. They currently play in J1 League after being promoted from J2 League as champions in 2022.
 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (February 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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| Full name | Albirex Niigata | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Albi | ||
| Founded | 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC | ||
| Ground | Denka Big Swan Stadium, Niigata | ||
| Capacity | 42,300 | ||
| Chairman | Daisuke Korenaga | ||
| Manager | Daisuke Kimori [1] | ||
| League | J1 League | ||
| 2024 | J1 League, 16th of 20 | ||
| Website | www | ||
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For many years it had been a local autonomous amateur club, Niigata 11, that could never hope to see the light of day in an old Japan Soccer League dominated almost entirely by company teams. The creation of the J. League spurred the club to rise, and in the 1990s it began climbing fast through the divisions.[2]
In 1998, Albirex Niigata joined the Japan Football League, and was merged into the J2 League after its creation in 1999. The team gradually became competitive and in 2001 and 2002 it came close to getting promoted to J1 and in 2003,[3] it became the champion of J2 and finally joined the top flight.
Name changed
The team name is made from combining the star Albireo of the constellation Cygnus (the Swan) and the Latin word Rex meaning 'king'.[4] In 1997, due to copyright issues, the team name was changed from Albireo Niigata to the current Albirex Niigata.
Team name transition
- Niigata Eleven SC (Soccer Club) (1955)
- Albireo Niigata FC (1995)
- Albirex Niigata (1997)
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Joining the J. League in 1999, its hometowns are Niigata and Seiro. Until 2003, it used Niigata Perfectural Sport Ground as the home ground but since 2004, the team began using Niigata Stadium Big Swan as well and now plays most of its games there. In 2003,[5] it set a record for highest attendance in the J. League with the cumulative total of around 660,000.[6] Its practice grounds are Albirex's training facilities in Seiro Albillage and the Ijimino Sports Park (五十公野運動公園, Ijimino Undō Kōen) in Shibata.
The club plays its home games in the Niigata Stadium "Big Swan", which is currently called Denka Big Swan Stadium through a sponsorship deal. The stadium was opened in 2001 and has a capacity of 42,300. Prior to this the club had played its matches in the Niigata City Athletic Stadium constructed in 1938 with a capacity of 18,000.
The stadium was the site of two first round matches and one Round of 16 match in the past 2002 FIFA World Cup. It was also the venue for the 2009 National Sports Festival.
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- As of 30 July 2024.[7]
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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Notable players
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| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Daisuke Kimori |
| Head coach | Yusuke Ogura |
| Coaches | Toru Irie Motoharu Watanabe |
| Assistant coach | Tatsuya Tanaka |
| Technical coach | Mirai Morita Namito Ikezawa |
| Physical coach | Tsutomu Anno |
| Goalkeeping coach | Ryuji Ishizue |
| Assistant goalkeeping coach | Yasuhiro Watanabe |
| Chief doctor | Satoshi Watanabe |
| Chief trainer | Seiichi Narahara |
| Training coaches | Tetsuo Hasegawa Koji Okamoto |
| Physiotherapist | Takeshi Iokawa |
| Interpreter | Yu Kusayanagi  Yoshio Silvio Kanashiro Cantao |
| Competent | Takaaki Onozaki |
| Deputy officer | Ryo Doi |
| Equipment manager | Kota Tamakawa |
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Correct as of 23 October 2022
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | Managerial Record League | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | P | W | D | L | W % | ||
| Frans van Balkom |  Netherlands | 1 February 1995 | 31 January 1998 [8] | 36 | 28 | 3 | 5 | 77.78 |
| Yoshikazu Nagai | Japan | 1 February 1998 | 31 December 2000 [8] | 76 | 35 | 7 | 34 | 46.05 |
| Yasuharu Sorimachi | Japan | 1 February 2001 | 31 January 2006 [8] | 196 | 97 | 40 | 59 | 49.49 |
| Jun Suzuki | Japan | 1 February 2006 | 31 January 2010 [8][9][10][11] | 136 | 51 | 32 | 53 | 37.50 |
| Hisashi Kurosaki | Japan | 1 February 2010 | 21 May 2012 [12][13][14][15] | 80 | 24 | 25 | 31 | 30.00 |
| Nobuhiro Ueno (caretaker) | Japan | 22 May 2012 | 10 June 2012 [15][16] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Masaaki Yanagishita | Japan | 11 June 2012 | 31 January 2016 [14][15][17] | 68 | 20 | 18 | 30 | 29.41 |
| Tatsuma Yoshida | Japan | 1 February 2016 | 27 September 2016 [18] | 30 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 23.33 |
| Koichiro Katafuchi (caretaker) | Japan | 27 September 2016 | 31 January 2017 [18] | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25.00 |
| Fumitake Miura | Japan | 1 February 2017 | 7 May 2017 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10.00 |
| Koichiro Katafuchi (caretaker) | Japan | 8 May 2017 | 10 May 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Wagner Lopes | Japan | 11 May 2017 | 31 December 2017 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 26.09 |
| Masakazu Suzuki | Japan | 1 February 2018 | 7 August 2018 | 27 | 8 | 5 | 14 | 29.63 |
| Koichiro Katafuchi | Japan | 8 August 2018 | 13 April 2019 | 24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 41.67 |
| Kazuaki Yoshinaga | Japan | 14 April 2019 | 31 January 2020 | 33 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 42.42 |
| Albert Puig Ortoneda |  Spain | 1 February 2020 | 31 January 2022 | 84 | 32 | 29 | 23 | 38.10 |
| Rikizo Matsuhashi | Japan | 1 February 2022 | 31 January 2025 [19] | 43 | 25 | 9 | 9 | 58.14 |
| Daisuke Kimori | Japan | 1 February 2025 | Current | — | − | − | − | — |
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| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | J.League Cup | Emperor's Cup | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | P | W (OTW) | D | L (OTL) | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | ||
| 1999 | J2 | 10 | 4th | 36 | 16 (4) | 2 | 13 (1) | 46 | 40 | 6 | 58 | 4,211 | 1st round | 3rd round |
| 2000 | 11 | 7th | 40 | 11 (4) | 5 | 18 (2) | 54 | 63 | 9 | 46 | 4,007 | 1st round | Round of 16 | |
| 2001 | 12 | 4th | 44 | 22 (4) | 4 | 7 (7) | 79 | 47 | 32 | 78 | 16,659 | 1st round | Round of 16 | |
| 2002 | 12 | 7th | 44 | 23 | 13 | 8 | 75 | 47 | 28 | 82 | 21,478 | Not eligible | 3rd round | |
| 2003 | 12 | 1st | 44 | 27 | 7 | 10 | 80 | 40 | 40 | 88 | 30,339 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2004 | J1 | 16 | 10th | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 47 | 58 | -11 | 37 | 37,689 | Group stage | 4th round |
| 2005 | 18 | 12th | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 47 | 62 | -15 | 42 | 40,114 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 2006 | 18 | 14th | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 46 | 65 | -19 | 42 | 38,709 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 2007 | 18 | 6th | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 48 | 47 | 1 | 51 | 38,276 | Group stage | 4th round | |
| 2008 | 18 | 13th | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 32 | 46 | -14 | 37 | 34,490 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 2009 | 18 | 8th | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 42 | 31 | 11 | 50 | 33,446 | Group stage | Quarter-finals | |
| 2010 | 18 | 9th | 34 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 48 | 45 | 3 | 49 | 30,542 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 2011 | 18 | 14th | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 38 | 46 | -8 | 39 | 26,049 | Quarter-finals | 3rd round | |
| 2012 | 18 | 15th | 34 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 29 | 34 | -5 | 40 | 25,018 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 2013 | 18 | 7th | 34 | 17 | 4 | 13 | 48 | 42 | 6 | 55 | 26,112 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 2014 | 18 | 12th | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 30 | 36 | -6 | 44 | 22,979 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 2015 | 18 | 15th | 34 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 41 | 58 | -17 | 34 | 21,936 | Semi-finals | 3rd round | |
| 2016 | 18 | 15th | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 33 | 49 | -16 | 30 | 21,181 | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 2017 | 18 | 17th | 34 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 28 | 60 | -32 | 28 | 22,034 | Group stage | 3rd round | |
| 2018 | J2 | 22 | 16th | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 48 | 56 | -8 | 53 | 14,913 | Group stage | 3rd round |
| 2019 | 22 | 10th | 42 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 71 | 52 | -19 | 62 | 14,497 | Not eligible | 2nd round | |
| 2020 † | 22 | 11th | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 55 | 55 | 0 | 57 | 5,361 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2021 † | 22 | 6th | 42 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 61 | 40 | 21 | 68 | 10,879 | 3rd round | ||
| 2022 | 22 | 1st | 42 | 25 | 9 | 8 | 73 | 35 | 38 | 84 | 14,954 | 2nd round | ||
| 2023 | J1 | 18 | 10th | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 36 | 40 | -4 | 45 | 21,731 | Group stage | Quarter-finals |
| 2024 | 20 | 16th | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 44 | 59 | -15 | 42 | 22,430 | Runners-up | 3rd round | |
| 2025 | 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 = Goals difference; Pts = Points gained
- Attendance/G = Average league home attendance
- † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
- Source: J.League Data Site
Colours
Orange represents the sunset of Niigata, and blue represents the Sea of Japan.[20]
Kit evolution
| Home kits - 1st | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
          1999 - 2000 |
     2001 - 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 kits - 2nd | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
     1999 - 2000 |
     2001 - 2002 |
     2003 - 2004 |
    2005 - 2007 |
     2008 - 2009 |
     2010 - 2011 |
    2012 - 2013 |
     2014 - 2015 |
     2016 |
    2017 |
     2018 |
    2019 |
     2020 |
     2021 |
     2022 |
     2023 |
     2024 |
     2025 - | ||
| 3rd kits - Other | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
    2015 Cup |
   2016 3rd |
2016 Cup |
2017 3rd |
     2017 Summer |
    2018 Isao Honma retirement match |
     2020 ONE NIIGATA Memorial Blue | |||
Since 2004, Albirex Niigata has selected a number of players for its satellite team in the Singapore Premier League. Albirex also has a women's team and joined L2 league (an equivalent of J2) in 2004. Albirex Ladies won the L2 title in 2006,[21] and went on to join L1 in 2007.
The following clubs are affiliated with Albirex Niigata
Former affiliated club
In addition to the J1 Albirex Niigata football team, there is a Niigata Albirex basketball club in the B.League, as well as a ski, snowboard, baseball, and track and field team. Even though the teams share the same name, the management and finances are completely separate for each team.
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