Full name | Tokyo Verdy 1969 Football Club |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Verdy |
Founded | 1969 | , as Yomiuri FC
Ground |
Ajinomoto Stadium Chōfu, Tokyo |
Capacity | 49,970 |
Owner | Tokyo Verdy Holdings |
Chairman | Yasuo Shimada |
Manager | Miguel Ángel Lotina |
League | J2 League |
2016 | 18th |
Website | Club home page |
Tokyo Verdy (東京ヴェルディ? Tōkyō Verudi), is a Japanese professional football club, based in Tokyo, Japan, that plays in J2 League.
Founded as Yomiuri FC in 1969, Tokyo Verdy is one of the most decorated teams in the J. League, with honours including 2 J. League titles, 5 Emperor's Cups, 6 JSL Cup / J. League Cups and an Asian Club Championship title, and the most successful team in Japanese football history with 25 titles.
Verdy's plays its home games at the 50,000 capacity Ajinomoto Stadium, which it shares with F.C. Tokyo, although many home matches are played in other stadiums in Tokyo, including Tokyo National Stadium.
In October 1968, following Japan's bronze medal triumph at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City and the massive interest in football that ensued,Japan Football Association president Ken Nozu visited Yomiuri Giants chairman Matsutaro Shoriki to ask him if Yomiuri was willing to ride on the wave of the game by establishing their own football club. Shoriki died a year later, in 1969, but not before signing his name to the plans to establish Yomiuri Football Club. Backed by the Yomiuri Group and NTV, Yomiuri Football Club firstly launched at Tokyo Local League B (5th tier) in 1969. They began gaining promotions from the Tokyo Local League to the Kanto Football League (3rd tier) in 1971. In 1971, Yomiuri marked 3rd place and promoted Japan Soccer League Second Division.