Vissel Kobe

Beginnings in Chugoku (1966–2003)

The club was founded in 1966 as the semi-professional Kawasaki Steel Soccer Club in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture.[3] It was first promoted to the Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1986, and stayed there until the JSL folded in 1992.[3] As their performance in the old second tier had been in the bottom nine clubs, they were put into the Japan Football League Division 2 (new third tier overall in the Japanese football league system) and stayed there until the tiers were reunited into a single second tier for 1994.

Move to Kansai and professionalism

In 1995, the city of Kobe reached an agreement with Kawasaki Steel, the parent company, to move the club to Kobe and compete for a spot in the professional J.League as Vissel Kobe. Vissel is a combination of the words "victory" and "vessel", in recognition of Kobe's history as a port city.[3] (Owing to its importance to the city of Kobe, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, parent company of former team patron Kawasaki Steel, remains a Vissel Kobe sponsor. Kawasaki Steel was eventually sold off to become part of JFE Holdings.)

Vissel Kobe began play in 1994 in the Japan Football League, a league below J.League, and the supermarket chain Daiei was slated as the club's primary investor. However, the economic downturn following the Great Hanshin earthquake forced Daiei to pull out and the city of Kobe became responsible for operating the club.

Despite finishing 2nd in the JFL in 1996, Vissel was promoted to the J.League (the champions, Honda FC, refused to abandon their corporate ownership and become a professional club) and began play in the top division of Japanese football in 1997. However, due to mismanagement, including the inability to secure investors and sponsors, Vissel was unable to contend for the league title. In December, 2003, mounting financial losses forced the club to file for bankruptcy protection.

Crimson Group years (2004–2013)

In January 2004, Vissel was sold to Crimson Group, parent company of online merchant Rakuten, whose president is Kobe native Hiroshi Mikitani. Vissel's first signing under the Mikitani regime, İlhan Mansız, who was acquired partly to capitalize on his popularity during the 2002 FIFA World Cup hosted in Korea and Japan, but the Turkish forward played just three matches before leaving the team because of a knee injury. At the time of the purchase, Mikitani alienated supporters by changing the team uniform colours from black and white stripes to crimson, after his Crimson Group and the colour of his alma mater, Harvard Business School. The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, a baseball team also owned by Rakuten but based in Sendai and Rakuten Monkeys, a baseball team in Taoyuan, Taiwan, wear the same colours.

Vissel finished 11th in the league in 2004, the same position as the previous year, and finished 18th and last place in 2005, resulting in relegation from J.League Division 1, or J1, to J2. During the two-year span, Vissel had five different head coaches. 2006 was Vissel's first season in J2 after nine years in the top division of soccer in Japan. They finished 3rd in the 2006 season and returned to J1 after beating Avispa Fukuoka in the promotion/relegation play-offs.

During the period of 2007 to 2011 Vissel finished in the bottom half of the table each year. In 2012 they finished 16th, third from last, and were again relegated to J2. In 2013, Vissel finished in second place, 4 points behind Gamba Osaka, which secured their return to J1 for the 2014 season.

Rakuten ownership and global attention (2014–2019)

On 6 December 2014, a major turning point in the club’s history came when the Japanese technology company Rakuten became the club’s primary owner and sponsor. The investment significantly increased the club’s financial resources and ambitions..<[4]

In 2017, Vissel signed 2014 FIFA World Cup winner Lukas Podolski. He was the first prominent international player Vissel had been able to sign since Michael Laudrup in 1996. Shortly after, in May 2018, Vissel signed another World Cup winner, Andrés Iniesta, from FC Barcelona.<[5] In December 2018 Vissel Kobe managed to sign also David Villa from New York City. The Spanish striker scored 13 goals in 28 games. Alongside Sergi Samper and Andrés Iniesta, Villa was the third Spaniard in the team in that season in which they guided Vissel Kobe to win the 2019 Emperor's Cup.

Domestic success and recent achievements (2020–present)

On 1 January 2020, first time finalist Vissel defeated Kashima Antlers 2–0 in the 2019 Emperor's Cup final at the recently opened Japan National Stadium to win the first title in the club history. The furthest Kobe had been in the Emperor's Cup was the semi-finals of 2000 and 2017.<[6] This was also Spanish forward David Villa's last professional match as a footballer.<[7] Vissel also qualified for the 2020 AFC Champions League for the first time. On 8 February 2020, Vissel beat Yokohama F. Marinos in which the scoreline was 3–3. Vissel Kobe eventually won 3–2 on penalties to win their first Japanese Super Cup title and their second national title ever.<[8]

AFC Champions League debut

On 12 February 2020, Vissel played their first AFC Champions League match against Malaysian club, Johor Darul Ta'zim at home winning them 5–1 in which Keijiro Ogawa scored a hat-trick in the match. Vissel manage to top the group as leaders thus qualifying to the knockout stage. Vissel defeated Chinese club Shanghai Port 2–0 in the round of 16 before overcoming a 7–6 win on penalties against Korean club Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the quarter-finals. The victories allowed the club to reach the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in their debut season. Vissel than managed to have a good run in the competition all the way until the semi-finals facing against eventual winners Ulsan Hyundai however, Vissel was knocked out by the Korean club losing 2–1 in extra time after conceding an unfortunate penalty kick.

In 2021, Vissel achieved an historic third place in the table of the 2021 J1 League season, thus qualifying for the 2022 AFC Champions League yet again in which the club had another good run in the campaign before losing to Korean Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 3–1 in the quarter-finals.

Takayuki Yoshida reigns (2022–2025)

On 3 September 2023, Vissel signed former Spanish international midfielder, Juan Mata but, while the players and the fans benefited from his presence (players said he was amazing to train with, fans loved seeing him, he again raised the profile of the club) injuries kept him from playing much at all in meaningful games. On 25 November 2023, Vissel Kobe was confirmed as the 2023 J1 League champions for the first time in history, following a 2–1 win over Nagoya Grampus in the second last week of the season. Kobe thus became the first Japanese football champions to be promoted to the top tier after the J.League era started, as well as the first to play third division football (the old Japan Football League Division 2) before winning the title. On 17 February 2024, Vissel played their second Japanese Super Cup appearance against 2023 Emperor's Cup winner, Kawasaki Frontale but lost 1–0. Vissel also qualified directly to the newly revamp 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite tournament. On 23 November 2024, Vissel won the second Emperor's Cup of the club history, after a victory over they regional rivals Gamba Osaka in the Kansai Derby.

After becoming the 2024 J1 League champions and 2024 Emperor's Cup winners, Vissel saw themselves qualified to the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite. Vissel manage to grab 5 wins, 1 draw and 2 lost in the league phase thus qualifying to the knockout phase. In the round of 16, the club manage to defeat Korean club FC Seoul 3–1 on aggerate which saw Vissel advance to the quarter-finals held in Jeddah. In the quarter-final on 17 April 2026, the club faced off against Qatari club Al Sadd. As the Vissel was on the verge of crashing out from the tournament, Yoshinori Muto scored a stoppage time header to equalise the match to 3–3 which then saw the match advanced to penalties. Vissel manage to won 5–4 on penalties to advance to their first semi-finals since the 2020 edition.

Home ground

Vissel firstly settled at the Kobe Central Football Stadium which was opened in 1970 with a capacity of 13,000 seats. it was built on the site of the former Kobe Keirin Stadium and was the first stadium in Japan that was custom-built with floodlights, allowing any sports related activities to play at night. In 1999, the stadium was demolished to make way to a new stadium with modern features. In 2001, Vissel moved to their new stadium, Noevir Stadium Kobe which seats on the former stadium.<[9] Located in Misaki Park, Kobe, Japan, the stadium has a capacity of 30,132 seats and features a retractable roof, making it one of the most modern football venues in Japan.

Sponsors

Kit evolution

Former

This partnership will further deepen the relationship between FC Barcelona and Vissel Kobe. The Japanese club currently features three players who have been part of the Barelona family, namely Andrés Iniesta, David Villa and Sergi Samper. Besides, Vissel is also working on fostering the next generation of young talent by introducing new training methods to its academy and going on trips to Barcelona.

• 🇪🇸 FC Barcelona (2019–2025)<[12]

First-team squad

<[13]

Out on loan