Urawa Red Diamonds

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Template:Short description Template:About Template:Force cite load Template:Infobox football club

The Template:Nihongo or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, Urawa Rezzu), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan, who play in the J1 League, the top tier of Japanese football. The Reds are one of the most successful clubs in the country, having won three AFC Champions League titles (most recently in 2022) and various domestic titles including a joint-record eight Emperor's Cups, as well as participating at three FIFA Club World Cups.

The club's name comes from the former city of Urawa, now part of Saitama, and pre-professional era parent company Mitsubishi, whose logo consists of three red diamonds, one of which remains within the current club badge.

History

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries established a football club in 1950<ref>浦和レッズ年表 Template:Webarchive, Urawa Red Diamonds</ref> in Kobe and moved the club to Tokyo in 1958. In 1965 it formed the Japan Soccer League (JSL) along with today's JEF United Chiba, Kashiwa Reysol, Cerezo Osaka, Sanfrecce Hiroshima and three other clubs who have since been relegated to regional leagues ("Original Eight"Template:Efn).

Mitsubishi first won the JSL championship in 1969, as a break in Mazda/Sanfrecce's dominance (and also with the fact that Toyo were in Bangkok, Thailand, competing in the Asian Club Cup); their runs up the first division were sporadic but steady until the 1980s when they fell into the Second Division. In 1990 they were promoted as JSL Division 2 champions, and thus were ready when the J-League implementation began in earnest. Urawa Red Diamonds was an original member ("Original Ten"Template:Efn) of the J.League in 1993.

Domestic treble

Mitsubishi were the first Japanese club to complete a domestic treble, when in 1978 they won the title, the Emperor's Cup and the Japan Soccer League Cup.

Name change

The club's name was then changed to ''Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club'' from in April 1992 where their nickname was "Red Diamonds". However, in February 1996, the club's name was changed to "Urawa Red Diamonds".

The club has experienced varying degrees of success since the inception of the J-League. The team finished at the bottom of the league for the first two seasons, with an average attendance of fewer than 15,000. In 1999, they were relegated to the second tier of Japanese football once again., the club's performance has improved in years, beginning with a victory in the 2003 Nabisco Cup.

In 2006, Urawa Reds clinched their first professional league title by defeating runners-up Gamba Osaka 3–2 on December 2 in front of 63,000 supporters. This after two close calls in the previous two years. In 2005, they finished second, just one point behind champions Gamba Osaka. In 2004, they finished third in the first stage and won the second stage and qualified for the two-match J.League Championship decider, they lost on penalty shootout to Yokohama F. Marinos.

Back to back cup champion

Urawa Reds were back to back Emperor's Cup winners in 2005 and 2006. Winning the title for the first time since their establishment as a professional club, they defeated Shimizu S-Pulse 2–1 on 1 January 2006, and retained the title in 2007 with a 1–0 win over Gamba Osaka. This win also completed a league-cup double. In the 2007 tournament they were defeated at the first hurdle by J2 League outfit Ehime FC.

In 2007, despite a seemingly unassailable lead of seven points with four games remaining, Urawa Reds picked up only two points from their final four games. This run included losing at home to Kashima Antlers; the club who would leapfrog Urawa on the final day of the season to claim their fifth J.League title. Following their capitulation in the fourth round of the Emperor's Cup to J2 League outfit Ehime FC, Urawa Reds had to be content with their 2007 AFC Champions League fixtures.

AFC Champions League winner

File:2007 AFC Champions League final, Urawa Reds 2-0 Sepahan (13).jpg
Urawa Reds players lifting the 2007 AFC Champions League trophy

Urawa Reds recorded their first prestigious cup overcoming Iranian club Sepahan 3–1 on aggregate to clinch the 2007 AFC Champions League trophy. The victory made them the first Japanese side to win the cup since the competition was reorganised from the Asian Champions Cup in 2003. In the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup of the same year, Urawa Reds became the first AFC club to finish in third place, beating Tunisian side Étoile Sportive du Sahel on penalty shootout in the third/fourth place play off.

Throughout the 2008 AFC Champions League edition, Urawa Reds attempted to win their second consecutive AFC Champions League title and progressed to the semi-finals where they were defeated by fellow J-League rivals, and eventual Champions League winners, Gamba Osaka 3–1 on aggregate.

On 8 March 2014, a banner which read "JAPANESE ONLY" was hung at one of the entrances to the stands.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As punishment for this racist behavior, the league match on 28 March was played behind closed doors.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In the 2017 AFC Champions League edition, Urawa Reds had a good run throughout the entire tournament which saw them face Saudi Arabia club, Al-Hilal in the final which saw Urawa Reds winning the 2017 AFC Champions League final 2–1 on aggregate to clinch their 2nd trophy.

Urawa Reds managed to make their way through all the way until the 2019 AFC Champions League final facing off against Al-Hilal once again. However, the club fell in a 3–0 aggregate loss to the Saudi Arabian club.

During the 2022 AFC Champions League, Urawa Reds had an easier run en route to the final where they faced three Southeast Asian club along the way, Singapore league champions Lion City Sailors in the group stage while they faced Malaysia league champions Johor Darul Ta'zim 5–0 in the Round of 16 and Thailand league champions BG Pathum United 4–0 in the Quarter-finals. Urawa Reds would then face Korea league champions, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the semi-finals which ended up with Urawa Reds advancing to the final after winning the penalty shootout. The club faced their tournament rivals Al-Hilal for the third time in the 2022 AFC Champions League final. Urawa Red won 2–1 on aggregate, clinching their 3rd trophy.

On 19 September 2023, it was announced by JFA that Urawa Reds will not be participating in 2024 edition of Emperor's Cup following supporters clash after 0–3 loss against Nagoya Grampus in the 4th round of 2023 edition.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

International affiliation

The club is also notable in that former Feyenoord midfielder Shinji Ono began his professional career playing for Urawa Reds. Ono returned for the 2006 season for a second stint with the club. Urawa Reds is affiliated with German club Bayern Munich, whose nickname is also "The Reds".<ref>J-League partner Urawa seal domestic double Template:Webarchive, FC Bayern</ref> Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the chairman of the Bayern Munich, announced that "We have been looking for clubs which have potential ability, management stability and cordial confidence. We could fulfill the desire to affiliate with this great club, Urawa Reds."<ref>06.01.18 FCバイエルン・ミュンヘン(ドイツ)とのパートナーシップ締結について Template:Webarchive, Urawa Red Diamonds</ref> Some other foreign clubs, such as Arsenal, Club Atlético Independiente, CR Flamengo, VfB Stuttgart, Manchester United, Feyenoord, Hamburger SV and Perth Glory, visited Japan and played friendly games at the Saitama Stadium.

In August 2004, Urawa Reds appeared in a pre-season four-club friendly tournament, the Vodafone Cup, at Old Trafford, the home ground of Manchester United. Urawa Reds missed a few key players, losing their first match 5–2 against the Argentinian side Boca Juniors. The second fixture against the hosts, Manchester United, was called off due to a massive electric storm. Some 800 Urawa Reds fans had travelled to the game and were later compensated.

Home stadium

File:Saitama stadium.jpg
Saitama stadium

Since the establishment of J.League in 1992, the club had used the Urawa Komaba Stadium as its home stadium. Due to the increasing popularity of the matches, Saitama City, owner of the stadium, expanded the seat capacity. During the renovation, the club used Ōmiya Park Soccer Stadium. In spite of the poor performance of the club, the stadium was filled with faithful supporters.

New home ground

In October 2001, Saitama Prefecture built new football-specific Saitama Stadium in Saitama city. This stadium was used as a venue for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. After the World Cup, the club gradually increased home games in Saitama Stadium and in 2003 the stadium was formally designated as the home stadium. In 2008, only two games were held at Komaba Stadium.

Facilities

Urawa Reds uses Ohara City Field for training. In addition to this facility, the club opened Redsland in 2005, which has three grass fields, one artificial turf field, one baseball field, futsal courts and tennis courts.<ref>レッズランド | 浦和レッズ Template:Webarchive, Urawa Red Diamonds</ref> Redsland is opened to the public and club members can use the facilities at relatively cheap fees.

Club identity and culture

Supporters

Urawa Red Diamonds are associated with right-wing and nationalistic supporters. Since the early 2000s, sections of their ultras (particularly the "Urawa Boys" and related groups) have drawn widespread criticism for xenophobic and confrontational behaviour. These include the display of the Rising Sun Flag, anti-Korean chants, and provocative banners, both at home and away fixtures.<ref name="Duerden"/> In 2008, violent clashes broke out between Urawa and Gamba Osaka supporters at Saitama Stadium, resulting in an hours-long standoff. This was, at the time, considered the most serious act of fan violence in Japanese football history.<ref name="Orlowitz"/> In 2010, Urawa Red Diamonds were fined $50,000 after a group of their supporters directed taunts at foreign players from rival club Vegalta Sendai.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The club’s most notorious incident occurred in March 2014, when a “Japanese Only” banner was hung at Saitama Stadium during a league fixture. The banner, widely condemned as racist, led the J.League to impose its first-ever closed-door match as punishment.<ref name="Duerden">Template:Cite news</ref> The incident sparked national and international backlash and prompted the formal dissolution of Urawa’s supporter groups in the "Curva Est" section, though the Urawa Boys later reformed in 2018.<ref name="Orlowitz"/>

Further problems persisted; In 2020–2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Urawa fans repeatedly defied public health regulations, including bans on singing, chanting, and mandatory mask-wearing. The club was fined ¥20 million and warned that future infractions could lead to match forfeitures or points deductions.<ref name="Orlowitz"/> In August 2023, after a 3-0 Emperor’s Cup loss to Nagoya Grampus, over 70 Urawa supporters invaded the pitch, tearing down barriers and clashing with security and rival fans. The Japan Football Association (JFA) described it as a collective riot and imposed a ban on Urawa from the 2024 Emperor’s Cup. Eighteen individuals were banned from matches, and the club was accused of failing to rein in supporters over many years.<ref name="Orlowitz">Template:Cite news</ref>

In total, since 2000, Urawa Red Diamonds have been sanctioned at least 11 times for serious supporter misconduct,<ref name="Orlowitz"/> including fines, official warnings, spectator bans, and competition suspensions. The club has been repeatedly criticised for tolerating and enabling its most fervent ultras, often portraying disciplinary action as an attack on fan culture rather than confronting extremist behaviour directly.<ref name="Orlowitz"/>

Rivalries

Saitama derby

Template:Main Urawa Red Diamonds has a local derby with Omiya Ardija, from Ōmiya-ku, Saitama city. They first met in the 1987 Emperor's Cup, with Mitsubishi defeating NTT Kanto by 5 to 0 at Nishigaoka National Stadium. The derby first took place in the JSL Second Division in the 1989–90 season, and it wouldn't take place until the 2000 season when Urawa was relegated to the second tier again. In 2003 the formerly separate Omiya and Urawa cities merged to become Saitama city, and since 2005 the derby became a top flight fixture after Omiya was promoted.

Marunouchi Gosanke

During the JSL years and into the 1990s, Urawa's main top flight rivals were JEF United Chiba and Kashiwa Reysol, both now based in Chiba Prefecture. Because of their former parent companies' headquarters being all based in Marunouchi, Tokyo, the three clubs were known as the Marunouchi Gosanke (丸の内御三家, "Marunouchi Big Three") and fixtures among them were known as the Marunouchi derbies, although the term is falling out of use as they are now based in different prefectures and rarely play home games in Tokyo stadiums.

Others

Rivals further afield include Kashima Antlers, FC Tokyo, Yokohama Marinos, Kawasaki Frontale, and, even farther away, Gamba Osaka. Old JSL championship rivalries with Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Cerezo Osaka and Shonan Bellmare have ebbed down as those clubs had nadirs in the second tier.

Friendships

The club's supporters also have an unofficial relationship with Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua, who are known as the "Blue Devils" (complementing the "Red Devils" nickname for Urawa). The clubs' supporters will support each other in continental competition. For example, Shenhua fans will support Urawa Reds when Urawa Reds play in Shanghai against Shanghai SIPG.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The connection began in 2007 following an AFC Champions League match in Shanghai, where the two groups met and developed a rapport. Since then, they have maintained contact through reciprocal visits and shared matchday gatherings. Support for Urawa from some Shenhua fans, particularly during matches involving other Chinese clubs such as Shanghai SIPG, has sparked criticism from portions of the domestic fanbase, who call Shanghai Shenhua fans "traitors" for supporting a Japanese team. Shanghai Shenhua supporters' actions have also attracted negative attention from media outlets and authorities. Nonetheless, members of the Blue Devils have continued to express support for Urawa, including by attending matches in Japan and displaying banners during local derbies. Reporters have suggested that Shanghai's support for Urawa comes from Shanghai fans wanting to reject the Beijing government and nationalistic politics in favour of regionalist pride.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Mascots

The Red Diamonds have four mascots: Redia, Friendia, Schale, and Diarra. However, Redia doesn't make much appearances at Saitama Stadium, due to the club's policy of the stadium being a "place for serious competition". When he does occasionally appear at the stadium, he does not participate in any fan activities. Because of this, Reds fans dubbed him as a NEET mascot (which is an acronym for "No education, employment, or training").<ref>Template:Citation</ref> According to the club profile, Redia and Friendia were married during a Reds fan festival in 1997. The younger twin mascots, Schale and Diarra, were born on the day the Red Diamonds won their first J. League Championship in 2006.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Women's team

The club also has a women's football team, currently playing in the WE League as Urawa Reds Ladies.<ref>URAWA REDS LADIES Template:Webarchive, Urawa Red Diamonds</ref>

Kit and colours

Colours

The main colours of the Urawa Red Diamonds are red, black and white.

Kit evolution

Players

Current squad

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Out on loan

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Club officials

For the 2024 J1 League season.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Position Name
Sporting director Template:Flagicon Hisashi Tsuchida
Manager Template:Flagicon Maciej Skorża
Coach Template:Flagicon Rafal Janas
Template:Flagicon Wojciech Makowski
Template:Flagicon Nobuyasu Ikeda
Template:Flagicon Masato Maesako
Physical coach Template:Flagicon Tatsuru Ishiguri
Template:Flagicon Wojciech Ignatiuk
Goalkeeper coach Template:Flagicon Juan Miret
Assistant goalkeeper coach Template:Flagicon Tomoyasu Ando
Coach & analyst Template:Flagicon Maiki Hayashi

Honours

As both Mitsubishi Motors (amateur era) and Urawa Red Diamonds (professional era)

Urawa Red Diamonds honours
Honour No. Years
Japan Soccer League Division 1/J1 League 5 1969, 1973, 1978, 1982, 2006
Japan Soccer League Division 2 1 1989–90
Emperor's Cup 8 1971, 1973, 1978, 1980, 2005, 2006, 2018, 2021
JSL Cup/J.League Cup 4 1978, 1981, 2003, 2016
Japanese Super Cup 5 1979, 1980, 1983, 2006, 2022
AFC Champions League Elite 3 2007, 2017, 2022
J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship 1 2017

Individual awards

Template:Further

World Cup players

The following players have represented their country at the World Cup whilst playing for Urawa Red Diamonds:

World Cup 1998

World Cup 2006

World Cup 2010

World Cup 2014

World Cup 2018

World Cup 2022

Club captains

Former players

Template:See also

International capped players

JFA.
AFC/ CAF/ OFC.
UEFA.
CONMEBOL.

Manager history

Manager Nationality Tenure
Start Finish
Hiroshi Ninomiya Template:Flagu 1 February 1967 31 January 1975
Kenzo Yokoyama 1 February 1975 31 January 1984
Kuniya Daini 1 February 1984 30 June 1989
Kazuo Saito 1 July 1989 30 June 1992
Takaji Mori 1 July 1993 31 January 1994
Kenzo Yokoyama (2) 1 February 1994 31 January 1995
Holger Osieck Template:Flagu 1 February 1995 31 December 1996
Horst Köppel 1 February 1997 31 December 1998
Hiromi Hara Template:Flagu 1 February 1998 30 June 1999
Aad de Mos Template:Flagu 1 July 1999 3 December 1999
Yasushi Yoshida Template:Flagu 4 December 1999 31 January 2000
Kazuo Saito (2) 2 February 2000 2 October 2000
Kenzo Yokoyama (3) 3 October 2000 31 January 2001
Tita Template:Flagu 1 February 2001 27 August 2001
Pita 28 August 2001 31 January 2001
Hans Ooft Template:Flagu 1 February 2002 31 January 2004
Guido Buchwald Template:Flagu 1 February 2004 31 January 2007
Holger Osieck (2) 1 February 2007 16 March 2008
Gert Engels 16 March 2008 27 November 2008
Volker Finke 1 February 2009 31 January 2011
Željko Petrović Template:Flagu 1 February 2011 20 October 2011
Takafumi Hori (caretaker) Template:Flagu 20 October 2011 31 January 2012
Mihailo Petrović Template:Flagu 1 February 2012 30 July 2017
Takafumi Hori Template:Flagu 31 July 2017 2 April 2018
Tsuyoshi Otsuki 3 April 2018 24 April 2018
Oswaldo de Oliveira Template:Flagu 25 April 2018 28 May 2019
Tsuyoshi Otsuki (2) Template:Flagu 29 May 2019 22 December 2020
Ricardo Rodríguez Template:Flagu 22 December 2020 30 October 2022
Maciej Skorża Template:Flagu 10 November 2022 30 December 2023
Per-Mathias Høgmo Template:Flagu 1 January 2024 27 August 2024
Nobuyasu Ikeda (interim) Template:Flagu 27 August 2024 1 September 2024
Maciej Skorża (2) Template:Flagu 1 September 2024 Current

League & cup record

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
Season Template:Tooltip Teams Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip J.League Cup Emperor's Cup Super Cup AFC CL Others
1992 Group stage Semi-final
1993 J1 10 10th 11,459 2nd round
1994 12 12th 18,475 3rd round
1995 14 4th 19,560 Quarter-final
1996 16 6th 24,329 Semi-final
1997 17 10th 20,504 Round of 16
1998 18 6th 22,706 Group stage Quarter-final
1999 16 15th 21,206 Round of 16
2000 J2 11 2nd 16,923
2001 J1 16 10th 26,720 Quarter-final Semi-final
2002 11th 26,296 Runners-up 3rd round
2003 6th 28,855 Winners
2004 2nd 36,660 Runners-up Semi-final
2005 18 39,357 Semi-final Winners
2006 1st 45,573 Quarter-final Winners
2007 2nd 46,667 Round of 16 Runners-up Winners A3 3rd place
FIFA CWC
2008 7th 47,609 Group stage 5th round Semi-finals
2009 6th 44,210 Quarter-final 2nd round
2010 10th 39,941 Group stage Quarter-final
2011 15th 33,910 Runners-up
2012 3rd 36,634 Group stage Round of 16
2013 6th 37,100 Runners-up 3rd round Group stage
2014 2nd 35,516 Quarter-final
2015 3rd 38,745 Runners-up Group stage
2016 2nd 36,935 Winners Round of 16 Round of 16
2017 7th 33,542 Quarter-final Runners-up Winners Suruga Winners
FIFA CWC 5th place
2018 5th 34,798 Play-off stage Winners
2019 14th 34,184 Quarter-final Round of 16 Runners-up
2020 10th 7,869 Group stage Did not qualify
2021 20 6th 8,244 Semi-final Winners
2022 18 9th 23,617 3rd round Winners
2023 4th 30,509 Runners-up Round of 16 Group stage FIFA CWC 4th Place
2024 20 13th 37,519 Group stage (3) Banned<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2025 TBD TBD FIFA CWC Group stage
Key

Template:Smalldiv

League history

Excepting two seasons in which they were in the second tier, Mitsubishi/Urawa has always competed in the top flight, thereby being the club with the most top flight seasons total.

  • Mitsubishi (Amateur era)
    • Division 1 (JSL and JSL Div.1): 1965–66, 1988–89
    • Division 2 (JSL Div.2): 1989–90
    • Division 1 (JSL Div.1): 1990–91, 1991–92
  • Urawa Red Diamonds (Professional era)
  • Top scorer: Masahiro Fukuda with 152 goals

Notes

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References

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