is a Japanese professional football club based in Tosu, Saga Prefecture. The club plays in the J2 League, the second tier of Japanese football, since 2025 following relegation from the J1 League in 2024.
Sagan is a coined word with various suggested ideas behind where the name came from. One of its homophones is in Japanese. This symbolises many small elements uniting to form one formidable object, for example as a metaphor for a team. Also, Sagan Tosu can be interpreted as in the area's dialect.
History In February 1997, Sagan was established as a new club which virtually took over Tosu Futures, which became insolvent in the previous month. They were admitted to participate in the Japan Football League from 1997 to 1998, as well as the J. League Cup in 1997 as a preferential measure, although J. League Associate Membership status was not awarded to Sagan. In 1999, they were admitted to the new J. League Division 2 (J2) as one of the "Original Ten," which were the ten first members of the J2. They remained at that league until their promotion to J1 at the end of the 2011 season. Little by little, Sagan Tosu started to establish itself as one of the top clubs in the country with the new President & Chief Operating Officer Minoru Takehara, who is also part owner of the club.[サガン、竹原氏が社長就任 「J1昇格と健全な経営」 http://www1.saga-s.co.jp/news/saga.0.1913106.article.html ]
In their first season at the J1 League in 2012, confounding the prediction of many critics about their immediate relegation to J2, they maintained their position between 5th and 11th place all the way through the season, except on matchweek 2, in which they were ranked 13th. They were ranked third after the 33rd week, having a chance to qualify for the 2013 AFC Champions League if they hadn't lost to Yokohama F. Marinos in the last match of the season. However, they only lost to Yokohama by 0–1, wrapping up the season in 5th place, while Urawa Red Diamonds defeated Nagoya Grampus and were ranked 3rd. They also became the first club in Asia to sign a partnership with Warrior Sports,Warrior Football – Sagan Tosu who sponsor many overseas clubs, including English side Liverpool.
In 2013, they made it to the semi-finals of the Emperor's Cup for the first time in the club's history, becoming the first club based in Kyushu to make it to the semi-finals of the Emperor's Cup since Nippon Steel Yawata had done so in the 1981 edition. In 2013, they invited the A-League team Sydney FC along with the former Italian international player Alessandro Del Piero for a Japan Tour for the first time.Sagan Tosu outlast Sydney FC in J-League friendly
In 2014, the club had their most successful season in the J1 League, being ranked on the top of the 2014 J1 League on the 1st, 2nd, 13th, and 18th matchweek. However, the club suddenly made an announcement on the 8th of August which announced the termination of the contract with the head coach Yoon Jung-Hwan, despite the apparently good season. During the course of the year, they continued on their international expansion and started a partnership with the Italian side Juventus for its Juventus Under-16 Japan Tour 2014.The Bianconeri Allievi fly to Japan On 10 July 2018, the club reached an agreement with former FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League winner, Fernando Torres. The aging star would play 35 games for the side, netting 5 goals before finally hanging up his boots on his star-studded career.
On 19 October 2024, Sagan Tosu officially relegated to J2 League after defeat from Kyoto Sanga 2-0 and return to second tier after 13 years absence with four games left, ended in top tier at 13 years stint.
Kit and colours
Kit evolution Home kits Away kits Alternative kits
Current squad
Out on loan
Retired number 17 Sakata Michitaka – A former professor of Saga University and the person which backed up in both the establishment of Tosu Futures and the team's revival as Sagan Tosu. He died due to kidney cancer on 7 January 2000. The number 17 indicates his day of death.
Club officials Club official for 2025 season. RoleName Manager Akio Kogiku Assistant manager Naoya Kikuchi Coaches Yuzuru Suwabe Naoyuki Iwata Yoshizumi Ogawa Cho Dong-geon Goalkeeping coach Takuya Muro Physical coach Tadashi Noda Analyst Shota Tamaki Yutaro Hamada Chief trainer Toru Kawaguchi Athletic trainer Atsushi Shiga Trainer Daisuke Adachi Masahiro Hirano Masashi Maeda Interpreter Alesso Mariani Lee Kang-haeng Naoto Muramatsu Ryuki Yamamoto Competent Yoshito Tsuichihara Deputy officer Naoki Egawa Ayaki Goto Equipment manager Yoshiki Sugimoto Chief doctor Kyota Nishifuru
Managerial history Manager Nationality TenureStart Finish Takashi Kuwahara 1 February 199331 January 1995 Hiroshi Sowa 1 February 199731 January 2000 Kazuhiro Kōso 1 February 200031 January 2002 Hiroshi Soejima 1 February 200231 January 2003 Yoshinori Sembiki 1 February 200331 January 2004 Ikuo Matsumoto 1 February 200431 January 2007 Yasuyuki Kishino 1 February 200731 January 2010 Ikuo Matsumoto 1 February 201031 January 2011 Yun Jeong-hwan 1 February 20117 August 2014 Megumu Yoshida 8 August 201431 January 2015 Hitoshi Morishita 1 February 201531 January 2016 Massimo Ficcadenti 1 February 201618 October 2018 Kim Myung-hwi 19 October 201831 January 2019 Luis Carreras 1 February 20194 May 2019 Kim Myung-hwi 4 May 2019 20 December 2021 Kenta Kawai 1 February 2022 8 August 2024 Kosuke Kitani 9 August 2024 present
League & cup record ChampionsRunners-upThird placePromotedRelegated League J. League Cup Emperor's CupSeason Division Teams Position P W (OTW/PKW)D L (OTL/PKL)F A GD Pts Attendance/G 1997JFL 16 11th 30 12 (1/0) – 17 38 54–16 38 — Not eligible3rd round19988th 30 11 (3) 16 40 55 –15 39 3rd round1999J2 10 8th 36 11 (1) 2 20 (2) 52 64 –12 37 3,385 1st round 3rd round200011 6th 40 13 (2) 5 15 (5) 41 52 –11 48 3,714 1st round 3rd round200112 10th 44 8 (2) 4 28 (2) 45 82 –37 32 3,479 1st round Round of 1620029th 44 9 14 21 41 64 –23 41 3,890 Not eligible 3rd round200312th 44 3 11 30 40 89 –49 20 3,172 1st round200411th 44 8 11 25 32 66 –34 35 3,610 4th round20058th 44 14 10 20 58 58 0 52 7,855 4th round200613 4th 48 22 13 13 64 49 15 79 7,465 20078th 48 21 9 18 63 66 –3 72 6,114 Round of 16200815 6th 42 19 7 16 50 51 –1 64 7,261 Quarter-finals200918 5th 51 25 13 13 71 51 20 88 5,939 Round of 16201019 9th 36 13 12 11 42 41 1 51 6,633 3rd round201120 2nd 38 19 12 7 68 34 34 69 7,731 2nd round2012J1 18 5th 34 15 8 11 48 399 53 11,991 Group stage 2nd round201312th 34 13 7 14 54 63 –9 46 11,515 Group stage Semi-finals20145th 34 19 3 12 41 33 8 60 14,137 Group stage Round of 16201511th 34 9 13 12 37 54 –17 40 13,450 Group stage Quarter-finals201634 12 10 12 36 37 –1 46 12,636 Group stage Round of 1620178th 34 13 8 13 41 44 –3 47 14,194 Group stage 3rd round201814th 34 10 11 13 29 34 –5 41 15,000 Group stage Quarter-finals201915th 34 10 6 18 32 53 –21 36 15,050 Group stage Quarter-finals2020 †13th 34 7 15 12 37 43 –6 36 4,675 Group stage Did not qualify2021 † 7th38 16 11 11 53 35 8 59 7,276 Group stage Round of 162022 11th34 9 15 10 45 44 1 42 9,358 Group stage Round of 162023 14th34 9 11 14 43 47 –4 38 10,230 Group stage 3rd round202420 20th38 10 5 23 48 68 –20 35 9,800 Group stage Round of 162025J2 8th38 16 10 12 46 43 3 58 9,382 1st round 3rd round202610 TBD 18 N/A N/A2026-2720 TBD38 TBD TBD Key
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