Azul Claro Numazu
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| Full name | Football Club Azul Claro Numazu |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1977 (as Numazu Arsenal SC) 2006 (as Azul Claro Numazu) |
| Ground | Shizuoka Ashitaka Athletic Stadium |
| Capacity | 10,000 |
| Managing Organisation |
Azul Claro Suruga Corporation (NPO) |
| Chairman | Hiroyoshi Yamamoto |
| Manager | Ken Yoshida |
| League | J3 League |
| 2016 | 3rd (promoted from JFL) |
| Website | Club home page |
Azul Claro Numazu (アスルクラロ沼津 Azul Claro Numazu?) is a Japanese professional football team based in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture. They earned promotion for playing at the nationalwide third-tier J3 League starting in 2017.
The club has been established in 1977 as Numazu Arsenal and slowly progressed through the tiers of Shizuoka prefectural leagues. In 2006 the club began the process of transformation into a professional organization with the ultimate goal of joining J. League. Same year the club adopted its current name, Azul Claro (Meaning "bright blue" in Portuguese and Spanish).
In 2012 Azul Claro won promotion to Tōkai Adult Soccer League and quickly progressed through its ranks, spending only a season in each of its divisions. Though they have finished only fourth in 2013 Tōkai League, they were considered as serious contenders for admission to the newly created J3 League. On September 17, 2013 the club has been granted the J. League Associate Membership and passed all stages of licensing and inspection by the league. However, they were only the 3rd choice club for the only Regional League spot in J3 so eventually they had to give way to Grulla Morioka. The club have won the promotion anyway though—they were selected by Japan Football League board as one of the teams to play in 2014 season.
After a 3rd place in 2016 season, they've been welcomed to play professional football league from 2017, as they'll be the 14th original club in J3 League.
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