For the record label, see Avispa

Avispa

Avispa is a record label from Spain specializing in heavy metal; it is the largest Spanish company specializing in this type of music...

.
is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese professional football club, currently playing in the J. League Division 1 having been promoted from J. League Division 2

J. League Division 2

The or is the second division of and is the second-tier professional association football league in Japan. Currently, J. League Division 2 is the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The first tier is represented by J...

 in the 2010 season. The team is located in Hakata

Hakata-ku, Fukuoka

is one of the seven wards of Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is best known as the location of Fukuoka's main train station, Hakata Station.-Geography:...

, Fukuoka

Fukuoka, Fukuoka

is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...

. "Avispa" means "wasp

Wasp

The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...

" in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

.

In Fujieda

The club was founded as Chūō Bōhan F.C. in 1982 by the workers of security company Chuo Bohan in Fujieda, Shizuoka

Fujieda, Shizuoka

is a city located in Shizuoka, Japan. The modern city was founded on March 31, 1954. As of February 2009, the town has an estimated population of 142,023 and a density of 732 persons per km². The total area is 194.03 km².-Geography:...

. They were promoted to the Japan Soccer League

Japan Soccer League

, or JSL, was the top flight soccer league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J. League. JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professional Japanese Baseball League that was founded in 1936...

 Division 2 in 1991. They participated in the newly founded former Japan Football League

Japan Football League (former)

The former was an association football league that existed from 1992 to 1998. Also known as the JFL, it was the 2nd tier of the Japanese football hierarchy following J...

 Division 2 in 1992 and were promoted to Division 1 in 1993. They changed their name to Chūō Bōhan F.C. Fujieda Blux with intention to be a J. League member. However, with difficulties to have a stadium that met J. League requirements, and with local competition from Júbilo Iwata

Júbilo Iwata

is a professional Japanese association football team currently playing in the J. League Division 1 . The team name Júbilo means 'joy' in Portuguese and Spanish. The team's home town is Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture and they play at Yamaha Stadium...

 and Shimizu S-Pulse

Shimizu S-Pulse

is a professional Japanese association football club. Located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, S-Pulse currently competes in the J. League Division 1 . Formed as recently as 1991, S-Pulse are one of the youngest professional teams in Japan, but are among only five to have competed in...

, the football fan base in Shizuoka prefecture was already considered saturated. As a result, in 1994 they decided to move to Fukuoka where the community was eager to have a J. League club. They adopted new name Fukuoka Blux and became a J. League associate member. http://www.wldcup.com/Asia/j2/avispa.html

Note: Amateur club Chūō Bōhan F.C. was active in Fujieda until 2006.

1995 (JFL)

The first season in Fukuoka saw them win the JFL championship with help from Argentine Hugo Maradona

Hugo Maradona

Hugo Hernán Maradona , also known as El Turco, is an Argentine Association football coach and former player. He played for clubs in South America, Europe, Japan, and Canada, and was a member of the Argentine U-16 national team.-Career:...

 and they were promoted to J. League.

1996 - 1998 (J. League)

They decided to change their name to Avispa Fukuoka to avoid a potential trademark dispute with men's clothier Brooks Brothers. The club acquired experienced players such as former Japanese international Satoshi Tsunami

Satoshi Tsunami

is a former Japanese international football player. He was a left full back.-Playing career:Tsunami was a product of Yomiuri Club's youth system. He played for Japan Soccer League side Yomiuri Club, which was transformed to Verdy Kawasaki when J. League was founded, between 1980 and 1996...

 and defender Hideaki Mori but they finished lowly 15th in the 1996 season. They finished bottom of the league two seasons in a row from 1997 to 1998. At the end of the 1998 season, Avispa were involved in the play-offs but they narrowly escaped a relegation. Around this time, forward Yoshiteru Yamashita

Yoshiteru Yamashita

is a Japanese football player who was capped 3 times for the Japanese national team.After graduating from Higashi Fukuoka High School in 1996, he joined J. League Division 1 side Avispa Fukuoka. He made his professional debut on March 16, 1996...

 and midfielder Chikara Fujimoto

Chikara Fujimoto

Chikara Fujimoto is a Japanese footballer who plays for Omiya Ardija.In 2002, he was about to transfer to NAC Breda, but this movement failed....

 were chosen for the Japanese national team

Japan national football team

The Japan national football team represents Japan in association football and is operated by the Japan Football Association, the governing body for association football in Japan...

.

Note: No team was relegated from J. League until 1998. With a view to the foundation of J. League Division 2 in 1999, the relegation/promotion play-offs were held in 1998 for the first time.

1999 - 2001 (J1)

In 1999, they again reinforced the squad by acquiring experienced players such as former internationals Nobuyuki Kojima

Nobuyuki Kojima

Nobuyuki Kojima is a retired Japanese football goalkeeper. He played for several J-League clubs, including Bellmare Hiratsuka, Avispa Fukuoka and Thespa Kusatsu...

 and Yasutoshi Miura as well as Yugoslavian Nenad Maslovar. They won a fierce relegation battle and eventually stayed up. In 2000, Argentine David Bisconti

David Bisconti

David Bisconti is a retired Argentine football player who played 12 times for the Argentina national team.Bisconti played the majority of his football for Rosario Central and Yokohama Marinos in Japan...

 and Romanian Pavel Badea

Pavel Badea

Pavel Badea is a Romanian footballer who played as a midfielder.-Playing career:Badea began his professional football career with FC Universitatea Craiova, making his league debut in 1984. He left Romania to play for FC Lausanne-Sport of Switzerland in the summer of 1992, later moving to Korea...

 were transferred to Fukuoka and they finished club record 6th in the second stage. In 2001, the club acquired former Korean international Noh Jung-Yoon

Noh Jung-Yoon

Noh Jung-Yoon was a South Korean footballer who spent almost his whole career in the J. League Division 1, with a spell in the Dutch League. The midfielder was the first Korean player to play in the J. League Division 1 when he moved to Japan in 1992 when the J...

 and Yoshika Matsubara but they finished 15th and were relegated to J2.

2002 - 2005 (J2)

In 2002, they kept experienced players and released younger players such as Daisuke Nakaharai and Yoshiteru Yamashita but they finished 8th out of 10. In 2002, with new manager Hiroshi Matsuda, they decided to recruit and nurture young players who graduated from local high schools instead of acquiring experienced footballers from other clubs. They initially struggled but came back well and finished 4th. In 2004, they finished 3rd and qualified for the play-offs but Kashiwa Reysol

Kashiwa Reysol

is a J. League Division 1 team. Its home town is Kashiwa, Chiba, about an hour northeast of Tokyo.-History:Founded in 1940 as Hitachi, Ltd. Soccer Club in Koganei, Tokyo, the team was a founding member of the Japan Soccer League...

 dashed their promotion hope by beating them home and away (the scoreline was both 2-0). In 2005, they finished 2nd and gained an automatic promotion to J1. Avispa players Hokuto Nakamura and Tomokazu Nagira represented Japan for the 2005 World Youth Championship

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship

The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in The Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. The 2005 championship was the 15th contested.- Venues :- Qualification :The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship...

 in Holland.

2006 (J1)

They had been involved in a relegation battle from the beginning of the season. They finished 16th and were relegated to J2 after the promotion/relegation play-offs

J. League Promotion/Relegation Series

In 2004, J. League introduced a series of two test matches called League between the sixteenth-place J. Division 1 club and third-place J.league Division 2 club...

 against Vissel Kobe

Vissel Kobe

is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J. League Division 1. 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.-History:The club was...

, which they tied twice, 0-0 in Kobe, then 1-1 at their home game. Like many J2 teams this has led to financial issues. The Daily Yomiuri reported that in 2006 Avispa needed 535 million yen in loans from the local prefectural and municipal governments.

2007 - 2008 (J2)

With relegation came another new manager, the former German international Pierre Littbarski

Pierre Littbarski

Pierre Michael Littbarski is a German football manager and former player. He was mainly a winger or attacking midfielder and is best known for his brilliant dribbling abilities. He was a FIFA World Cup winner with West Germany in 1990. He was also runner–up twice in 1982 and 1986 with West Germany...

. "Litti" arrived from the Australian A-League, bringing with him several experienced players such as Mark Rudan

Mark Rudan

Mark Rudan is a former Australian football player who last played for Adelaide United in the A-League.-Club career:...

, Joel Griffiths

Joel Griffiths

Joel Griffiths is an Australian football player who currently plays for Beijing Guoan.-Club career:He played for Sydney United, Parramatta Power and Newcastle United in the now defunct National Soccer League...

 and Ufuk Talay

Ufuk Talay

Ufuk Talay is an Australian football player who plays for Sydney United FC. Talay is suited to play in central midfield and is known for his good distribution and on-field vision.-Club career:...

, but he was unable to steer Avispa to any notable success. Having finished 7th in 2007, an inability to compete near the top of the league led to Littbarski's sacking in mid-2008. He was replaced by former Avispa player Yoshiyuki Shinoda.

2009 (J2)

The departure of Littbarski coincided with the departure of the club's Australian players, who were largely replaced with youngsters from a number of Kyushu-based universities. After a reasonable start, Avispa's form has tailed off sharply, with a recent five-game losing streak including 6-0 and 5-0 thrashings away at Ventforet Kofu

Ventforet Kofu

are a Japanese football club from Kofu. They compete in the J. League Division 1, and their home ground is the Kose Sports Stadium.The word "Ventforet" is coined combining two French words Vent and Forêt...

 and Mito Hollyhock

Mito HollyHock

is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J. League Division 2. The team's hometown is located in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture....

 respectively. The club finished in the lower half of the J2 table with promotion hopes dashed for another year.

2010 (J2)

Yoshiyuki Shinoda bolstered his squad for the 2010 season by adding more players from local University teams, and picked up midfielders Kosuke Nakamachi

Kosuke Nakamachi

is a Japanese football player who currently plays for Avispa Fukuoka. After coming runner-up in the J2 player of the Year awards 2010 he was installed as Club Captain for the club as they returned to J1 in 2011.-Club career statistics:...

 and Genki Nagasato

Genki Nagasato

Genki Nagasato is a Japanese football player who is currently playing for Japanese club F.C. Tokyo.He primarily plays as a left-winger but is capable of switching flanks to play on the right...

 who had previously played together at Shonan Bellmare

Shonan Bellmare

are a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J. League Division 2. The team is located in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture; their home stadium is Hiratsuka Athletics Stadium in Hiratsuka. The name Bellmare is derived from the Latin "bellum" for "war" and "mare"...

.
The season started slowly with the team picking up only 1 point out of a possible 15 in March, but then saw a dramatic improvement in performance as they went on to win 17 of the next 25 games including a come from behind victory against promotion rivals JEF United. As JEF United went on to drop more points Avispa secured promotion back to J1 with 2 games of the season left to play.

Popular striker Tetsuya Okubo

Tetsuya Okubo

is a Japanese football player currently playing for Montedio Yamagata.Known by the nickname 'Jumbo' due to his size he plays primarily as a target man striker, getting the majority of his goals with his head...

 was released at the end of the season, along with 4 other players as the squad was prepared for J1.

Current players

As of July 17, 2011

Former players

Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

David Bisconti

David Bisconti

David Bisconti is a retired Argentine football player who played 12 times for the Argentina national team.Bisconti played the majority of his football for Rosario Central and Yokohama Marinos in Japan...

 Hugo Maradona

Hugo Maradona

Hugo Hernán Maradona , also known as El Turco, is an Argentine Association football coach and former player. He played for clubs in South America, Europe, Japan, and Canada, and was a member of the Argentine U-16 national team.-Career:...

 Julio Hernán Rossi

Julio Hernan Rossi

Julio Hernan Rossi is an Argentinian football striker. He most recently played for Neuchâtel Xamax.-Football career:...

 Pedro Troglio Sergio Vázquez

Sergio Vázquez

Sergio Fabián Vázquez is a retired Argentine footballer and a current football manager-Playing career:Vázquez played as a defender for a selection of club teams in Argentina and Chile....

Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

Alvin Ceccoli

Alvin Ceccoli

Alvin Warren Ceccoli is an Australian football player of Sammarinese heritage who played for three A-League clubs and was capped internationally for Australia.-Club career:Alvin started his National Soccer League career at Wollongong Wolves in 1995 as a 21 year old...

 Joel Griffiths

Joel Griffiths

Joel Griffiths is an Australian football player who currently plays for Beijing Guoan.-Club career:He played for Sydney United, Parramatta Power and Newcastle United in the now defunct National Soccer League...

 Ufuk Talay

Ufuk Talay

Ufuk Talay is an Australian football player who plays for Sydney United FC. Talay is suited to play in central midfield and is known for his good distribution and on-field vision.-Club career:...

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

Alen Avdić

Alen Avdic

Alen Avdić is a Bosnian international football player currently playing for FK Sarajevo.-Club career:Currently, Avdić plays for FK Sarajevo in Bosnian Premier League...

Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

Alex Gláucio

Gláucio de Jesus Carvalho

Gláucio de Jesus Carvalho is a Brazilian former footballer.-Netherlands and Brazil:Gláucio started his career at Portuguesa. He moved to Feyenoord in December 1994. He moved back to Flamengo for 1996 season. He moved back to Netherlands for Excelsior Rotterdam in November 1996. He played his last...

 Lincoln Roberto
Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

Tadahiro Akiba

Tadahiro Akiba

is a Japanese footballer and manager. He is currently the playing manager of Sagamihara.-International career:Akiba played for the Japan national football team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta....

 Nobuyuki Kojima

Nobuyuki Kojima

Nobuyuki Kojima is a retired Japanese football goalkeeper. He played for several J-League clubs, including Bellmare Hiratsuka, Avispa Fukuoka and Thespa Kusatsu...

 Wagner Lopes

Wagner Lopes

Wagner Lopes is a former Japanese footballer. The striker was born in Brazil, and is a naturalised Japanese citizen....

 Yoshika Matsubara Yasutoshi Miura Satoshi Tsunami

Satoshi Tsunami

is a former Japanese international football player. He was a left full back.-Playing career:Tsunami was a product of Yomiuri Club's youth system. He played for Japan Soccer League side Yomiuri Club, which was transformed to Verdy Kawasaki when J. League was founded, between 1980 and 1996...

 Yoshiteru Yamashita

Yoshiteru Yamashita

is a Japanese football player who was capped 3 times for the Japanese national team.After graduating from Higashi Fukuoka High School in 1996, he joined J. League Division 1 side Avispa Fukuoka. He made his professional debut on March 16, 1996...

Montenegro

Montenegro

Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

Nenad Maslovar
Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

Michael Obiku

Michael Obiku

Michael Edirin Obiku is a retired Nigerian football striker. He is assistant coach at Sparta Rotterdam's youth team.-Club career:...

Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

Richart Báez
Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

Pavel Badea

Pavel Badea

Pavel Badea is a Romanian footballer who played as a midfielder.-Playing career:Badea began his professional football career with FC Universitatea Craiova, making his league debut in 1984. He left Romania to play for FC Lausanne-Sport of Switzerland in the summer of 1992, later moving to Korea...

South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

Noh Jung-Yoon

Noh Jung-Yoon

Noh Jung-Yoon was a South Korean footballer who spent almost his whole career in the J. League Division 1, with a spell in the Dutch League. The midfielder was the first Korean player to play in the J. League Division 1 when he moved to Japan in 1992 when the J...

Record as J. League member

Season	Div.	Tms.	Pos.	Attendance/G	J. League Cup J. League Cup J. League Cup is a Japanese football competition organized by J. League. It is also known as Yamazaki Nabisco Cup or Nabisco Cup because confectionery/bakery company Yamazaki Nabisco have sponsored the competition since its inception in 1992.It is generally regarded as the Japanese equivalent to...	Emperor's Cup Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or , is a Japanese association football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J. League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, Japan Soccer League...
1996	J1	16	15	9,737	Group Stage	4th Round
1997	J1	17	17	8,653	Group Stage	4th Round
1998	J1	18	18	10,035	Group Stage	4th Round
1999	J1	16	14	11,467	2nd Round	4th Round
2000	J1	16	12	13,612	2nd Round	4th Round
2001	J1	16	15	13,822	2nd Round	3rd Round
2002	J2	12	8	6,491	-	4th Round
2003	J2	12	4	7,417	-	3rd Round
2004	J2	12	3	8,743	-	4th Round
2005	J2	12	2	10,786	-	4th Round
2006	J1	18	16	14,900	Group Stage	5th Round
2007	J2	13	7	9,529	-	4th Round
2008	J2	15	8	10,079	-	3rd Round
2009	J2	18	11	7,763	-	3rd Round
2010	J2	19	3	8,821	-	Qtr. Final

Key

• Tms. = Number of teams
• Pos. = Position in league
• Attendance/G = Average league attendance

External links

Avispa Fukuoka Official Site