Vissel Kobe
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| Full name | Vissel Kobe |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Ushi (cows) |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Ground | Noevir Stadium Kobe |
| Capacity | 30,132 |
| Owner | Rakuten |
| Chairman | Katsuhiro Shimizu |
| Manager | Nelsinho Baptista |
| League | J1 League |
| 2016 | J1 League, 7th |
| Website | Club home page |
Vissel Kobe (ヴィッセル神戸 Visseru Kōbe?) is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J1 League. The team is located in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The home stadium is Kobe Wing Stadium, in Hyōgo-ku, though some home matches are played at Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium in Suma-ku.
The club was founded in 1966 as the semi-professional Kawasaki Steel Soccer Club in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. It was first promoted to the Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1986, and stayed there until the JSL's folding in 1992.
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. (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 1995 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.
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