Montedio Yamagata

Montedio Yamagata
モンテディオ山形
Full nameMontedio Yamagata
Nickname(s)Montedio, Monte, The Eagle Bees
Founded1984 (1984)
StadiumND Soft Stadium
Capacity20,315
ChairmanKentaro Aita
ManagerAkinobu Yokouchi
LeagueJ2 League
2024J2 League, 4th of 20
Websitemontedioyamagata.jp

Montedio Yamagata (モンテディオ山形, Montedio Yamagata) is a Japanese professional association football club based in Tendo, Yamagata. The club currently playing in J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football.

Name origin

Montedio is a coined word combining the Italian word for "mountain" (Monte) and the word for "God" (Dio).

History

The club based in Tsuruoka was founded in 1984 as NEC Yamagata Soccer Club.[1] It gained the promotion to the Japan Football League (former) in 1994. After renaming itself as Montedio Yamagata in 1996, it has been playing in J. League Division 2 since its inaugural 1999 season.[1]

On 30 November 2008, they were promoted to J. League Division 1 for the first time. They achieved their highest league placing of 13th in 2010. However, in 2011, two strong rental players from Kashima Antlers go back to their own team. This weakened the squad which also suffered many injuries through the year and Montedio were relegated back to J.League Division 2 at the end of 2011. At the end of the season, the manager, Shinji Kobayashi, stepped down even though many fans glorified his accomplishment for the past 4 years.

Yamagata returned to the J1 after spending three seasons in the J2 by winning the J1/J2 promotion playoff final in 2014. They returned to the J2 for the 2016 season, having spent only one season at the J1.[2] The club is currently playing their 8th consecutive season in the J2 on 2023.


Stadium

Since joining the J.League, Yamagata Prefectural Sports Park Athletics Stadium (currently known as for sponsorship reasons ND Soft Stadium Yamagata, ND Star) has been used as their home stadium.

The new stadium, with a planned capacity of 20,000 people—similar to the current ND Stadium—will feature stands designed for cold regions and a full roof for spectators, in line with the J.League club license. Tendo Mayor Shinji Yamamoto has expressed plans to secure a new parking lot to replace the current one, which will serve as the construction site. Yamagata Prefecture Governor Mieko Yoshimura stated that the prefecture intends to cooperate with land use based on the mayor's plans.[3]

Record as J.League member

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League J.League
Cup		 Emperor's
Cup
Season Division Teams Pos P W D L Pts Attendance/G
1999 J2 10 7th 36 15 4 17 48 2,980 1st round Quarter-finals
2000 11 10th 40 11 2 27 33 3,468 1st round 2nd round
2001 12 3rd 44 27 6 14 80 4,391 1st round 3rd round
2002 12 11th 44 6 17 21 35 3,755 Not eligible 1st round
2003 12 8th 44 15 10 19 55 4,370 3rd round
2004 12 4th 44 19 14 11 71 6,420 4th round
2005 12 5th 44 16 16 12 64 5,949 4th round
2006 13 8th 48 17 14 17 65 5,085 4th round
2007 13 9th 48 15 13 20 58 4,243 4th round
2008 15 2nd 42 23 9 10 78 6,273 4th round
2009 J1 18 15th 34 10 9 15 39 12,056 Group stage 3rd round
2010 18 13th 34 11 9 14 42 11,710 Group stage Quarter finals
2011 18 18th 34 5 23 6 21 9,325 1st round 3rd round
2012 J2 22 10th 42 16 13 13 61 7,355 Not eligible 3rd round
2013 22 10th 42 16 15 11 59 7,020 4th round
2014 22 6th 42 18 14 10 64 6,348 Runners up
2015 J1 18 18th 34 4 18 12 24 10,005 Group stage 4th round
2016 J2 22 14th 42 11 17 14 47 6,254 Not eligible 3rd round
2017 22 11th 42 14 11 17 59 6,582 3rd round
2018 22 12th 42 14 14 14 56 6,766 Semi-finals
2019 22 6th 42 20 12 10 70 8,289 2nd round
2020 † 22 7th 42 17 14 11 62 2,944 Did not qualify
2021 † 22 7th 42 20 8 14 68 5,082 2nd round
2022 22 6th 42 17 13 12 64 6,451 2nd round
2023 22 5th 42 21 4 17 67 8,318 3rd round
2024 20 4th 38 20 6 12 66 10,264 1st round 3rd round
2025 20 TBD 38 2nd round TBD
Key
  • Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; 'Pts = Points gained
  • Attendance/G = Average league home attendance
  • † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
  • Source: J.League Data Site

Current squad

As of 12 July 2025.[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  AUS Thomas Heward-Belle
2 DF  JPN Taiju Yoshida
3 DF  JPN Yuta Kumamoto
4 DF  JPN Keisuke Nishimura
5 DF  JPN Takashi Abe
6 DF  JPN Takumi Yamada
8 MF  JPN Yudai Konishi
9 FW  JPN Junya Takahashi
10 MF  JPN Ryoma Kida
11 FW  JPN Yoshiki Fujimoto
13 DF  JPN Hiroya Nodake
14 MF  JPN Koki Sakamoto
15 DF  JPN Ayumu Kawai
16 GK  JPN Ko Hasegawa
17 MF  JPN Chihiro Kato
18 MF  JPN Shuto Minami
19 DF  JPN Kazuma Okamoto
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF  JPN Kaina Yoshio
21 MF  JPN Wataru Tanaka
22 DF  JPN Hayate Shirowa
23 FW  JPN Shingo Omori (on loan from Consadole Sapporo)
25 MF  JPN Shintaro Kokubu
31 GK  JPN Riku Terakado
32 GK  JPN Taisei Kambayashi
33 DF  JPN Toraji Chiba
42 MF  JPN Zain Issaka
50 GK  JPN Rikuto Sato Type 2
51 DF  JPN Daichi Saito Type 2
55 FW  JPN Shummei Horikane
71 MF  JPN Ryotaro Nakamura
88 MF  JPN Shoma Doi
90 FW  JPN Akira Silvano Disaro
99 FW  GEO Beka Mikeltadze

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.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF  JPN Kiriya Sakamoto (at Giravanz Kitakyushu)
— DF  JPN Jo Soma (at Kagoshima United)
— DF  JPN Keita Yoshioka (at Blaublitz Akita)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  JPN Kaisei Kano (at Fukushima United)
— MF  JPN Rui Yokoyama (at Renofa Yamaguchi)
— FW  JPN Ryo Arita (at Renofa Yamaguchi)

Club officials

Club officials for 2025 season [5]

Position Name
Manager Akinobu Yokouchi
Coach Jin Sato
Ken Iwase
Keisuke Kaizaki
Ren Yumitani
Goalkeeper coach Yusaburo Matsuoka
Physical coach Kenta Hamabe
Analyst Daito Kai
Hinata Sakaguchi
Trainer Tsukasa Sato
Hiraku Toguri
So Adachi
Daigo Shigeoka
Team operations coordinator Masahiro Sasaki
General affairs Takuya Fukai
Takaaki Sakai
Interpreters Yuki Masuda
Kei Yoshida

Managerial history

Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Shoichi Kato Japan 1984 1989
Masanobu Tashiro Japan 1990 1993
Naoki Sugisawa Japan 1994
Nobuhiro Ishizaki  Japan 1 February 1995 31 January 1999
Shigeharu Ueki  Japan 1 February 1999 31 January 2001
Kōichi Hashiratani  Japan 1 January 2001 31 December 2003
Jun Suzuki  Japan 1 February 2004 31 January 2006
Yasuhiro Higuchi  Japan 1 February 2006 31 January 2008
Shinji Kobayashi  Japan 1 February 2008 31 January 2012
Ryōsuke Okuno  Japan 1 February 2012 31 January 2014
Nobuhiro Ishizaki  Japan 1 February 2014 31 January 2017
Takashi Kiyama  Japan 1 February 2017 31 January 2020
Kiyotaka Ishimaru  Japan 1 February 2020 21 April 2021
Jin Satō  Japan 22 April 2021 29 April 2021
Peter Cklamovski  Australia/ North Macedonia 30 April 2021 4 April 2023
Susumu Watanabe  Japan 4 April 2023 18 June 2025 [6]
Jin Sato (Interim)  Japan 18 June 2025 25 June 2025
Akinobu Yokouchi  Japan 25 June 2025[7] Current

General managers

  • Shigetoshi Nakaigawa – 1986–1997, 2007–2019 [8][9]

Honours

Montedio Yamagata honours
Honour No. Years
Yamagata Prefecture League 1 1989
Tohoku Soccer League 4 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993

Kit evolution

Home Kit 1st
1999
2000–2002
2003–2004
2005 - 2006
2007
2008–2009
2010–2011
2012–2013
2014
2015–2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025 -
Away Kit 2nd
1999
2000–2003
2004
2005–2006
2007
2008–2009
2010–2011
2012–2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025 -
Other Kits - 3rd
2013
Summer 3rd
2018 3rd
2018
New breed debut[10]
2019
Natsuni
2021
Natsuni
2022
Natsuuni
2023
3rd
2023
Natsuuni
2024
Natsuuni

Rivalries

Ōu Honsen (Dewa derby)

Main article: Ōu Honsen

NEC Yamagata and TDK first met in 1990 in old Tohoku regional football league. The two clubs have been based in former Dewa Province, and their rivalry is renamed as Ōu Honsen (奥羽本戦) after the Japan Railways Ōu Main Line (奥羽本線) in 2021.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b Ｊリーグ – モンテディオ山形 [J. League – Montedio Yamagata] (in Japanese). J. League. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  2. ^ FromOne co., Ltd (24 October 2015). "山形のJ2降格が決定、4年ぶりJ1もここまでわずか4勝…1年で逆戻り". サッカーキング.
  3. ^ "J2 Yamagata New Stadium Moves Forward to Start Operations in 2025". kahoku.news/. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  4. ^ "選手・スタッフ". モンテディオ山形 オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Club officials for 2025 season". www.montedioyamagata.jp. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  6. ^ "WATANABE Susumu Notice of Termination of Coach Contract". www.montedioyamagata.jp. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  7. ^ "Announcement of the appointment of Mr. Akinobu Yokouchi". www.montedioyamagata.jp. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  8. ^ "中井川茂敏｜株式会社フェザンレーヴ". www.faisunreve.co.jp.
  9. ^ "【山形】元ＧＭ・中井川取締役が退任 チーム愛語る「自分の子供のようなもの」". スポーツ報知. 1 May 2019.
  10. ^ "〜米どころ山形〜新品種本格デビュー記念ユニフォーム" (Press release). 公式サイト. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  11. ^ "東北日本海側の最強を決める戦い「奥羽本戦」". モンテディオ山形 オフィシャルサイト.
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