Yasuhiko Okudera
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Yasuhiko Okudera | ||
| Date of birth | 12 March 1952 | ||
| Place of birth | Kazuno, Akita, Japan | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1970–1977 | Furukawa Electric | 100 | (36) |
| 1977–1980 | Köln | 75 | (15) |
| 1980–1981 | Hertha | 25 | (8) |
| 1981–1986 | Werder Bremen | 159 | (11) |
| 1986–1988 | Furukawa Electric | 43 | (3) |
| Total | 402 | (73) | |
| National team | |||
| 1972–1987 | Japan | 32 | (9) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1996 | JEF United Ichihara | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Yasuhiko Okudera (奥寺 康彦 Okudera Yasuhiko?, born 12 March 1952) is a former Japanese footballer who is currently the president of J2 League club Yokohama FC and was formerly the president of English club Plymouth Argyle. Okudera was the first Japanese footballer to play professionally in Europe, as well as being the first Asian football player to score in the European Cup, while playing for 1. FC Köln in the 1979 semi-final match against Nottingham Forest F.C. and made 32 appearances – scoring nine goals – with the Japanese national team.
Okudera began his playing career in 1970 as an employee of Furukawa Electric, whose soccer team played in the corporate Japan Soccer League, the top flight league in Japan at the time.
In the summer of 1977, during the team's trip to Germany, he was spotted by coach Hennes Weisweiler of Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln. After being offered a contract by Köln he joined the club in July 1977. Okudera made his debut on 5 October 1977, becoming the first Japanese player to play top flight football in Europe, and Köln won the Bundesliga title that year.
After Weisweiler left Cologne during the 1980–81 season, Okudera joined second division Hertha BSC. Hertha missed promotion to the first division losing a decisive match against Werder Bremen. He then joined the newly promoted Werder Bremen, whose coach Otto Rehhagel saw his play when the two sides met and offered a contract. Under Rehhagel, he started playing as an attacking full-back instead of as a winger and finished second in the league three times between 1981–82 and 1985–86 with Bremen.
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