J-Lease FC


J-Lease FC are a Japanese football club based in Oita City, capital of Oita Prefecture. They are set to play in the Japan Football League from 2026–27, the fourth tier of Japanese football after promotion from Regional Leagues in 2025. Their main colors, reflected on their crest are blue, white and black.

History

Founded in April 2018, the club quickly won back-to-back promotions alongside league titles from the 3rd to the 1st division of the Oita Prefecture between 2018 and 2020.
In 2021, the club won their first regional-level trophy, after a 4–3 win against Liberty FC gave them the Kyushu Football Championship title. The club would have qualified to the All [Japan Senior Football Championship|Shakaijin Cup] with this win, if the 2021 competition was not cancelled because of COVID-19 extended measures. The club recorded a 3rd place in its Kyushu Soccer League's debut season, only finishing behind Okinawa SV and Veroskronos Tsuno.
In 2022, the club participated in the Oita Prefecture Soccer Championship, which serves as a qualifying tournament for the Emperor's Cup. The club won their matches from the Round of 16 to the semi-finals against SOL FC, Nakatsu FC, and Nippon Bunri University ASC. In the final against Verspah Oita, which determined who would qualify for the Emperor's Cup, COVID-19 struck the team. With multiple players testing positive for the virus, the final could not take place on the scheduled date. J-Lease decided to forfeit the match, giving the Oita Prefecture slot in the competition to their opponent.
In the same year, J-Lease qualified for the Shakaijin Cup for first time, a cup tournament for teams in any league below the Japan Football League that also serves as an alternative way to play in JFL's promotion series. The club qualified via the Kyushu Football Championship, which was a single match against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki. They won the match by 4–0. In their competition debut, they faced eventual semi-finalists of the Shakaijin Cup, Briobecca Urayasu, who were promoted to the Japan Football League in the same season. J-Lease lost the match by 2–0, exiting the competition in the first round.
Ending their season, the club finished in fourth place in the Kyushu Soccer League, having at one point won six matches in a row. Despite not earning a trophy at any competition, the club had high placements in Kyushu competitions and a decent performance against a JFL-tier club in an official competition during the season.
In 2024, Masaki Yanagawa was hired as the manager. In the Oita Prefectural Football Championship, they defeated Verspah Oita 2-0 in the final match to win the title for the first time and qualify for their first appearance in the 104th Emperor's Cup. In the Kyushu league, the team finished in second place, seven points behind Veroskronos Tsuno. In the 2024 [All Japan Senior Football Championship], in the first round, J-Lease beat Yokohama Takeru 4-2. In the second round they beat Fukui United FC 7-6 in a penalty shoot-out after drawing nil all draw. In the quarterfinals round the also won after a penalty shoot-out by 5-3 after a nil draw against Aries Tokyo FC. In the semi-final they lost to FC Tokushima by 1-0. In the third-place playoff game against FC Kariya, another nil all draw was followed by a penalty shoot-out and a victory by 5-4 to win the bronze medal and qualification for the 2024 Regional Champions League.

In the final tournament J-Lease were pitted in Group A against FC Ise-Shima from the Tōkai Adult Soccer League, FC Tokushima from the Shikoku Soccer League and their compatriots from Kyushu Soccer League, Veroskronos Tsuno. They topped Group A by beating FC Ise-Shima 3-2 with a come from behind win in their opening game and getting revenge against FC Tokushima by winning 1-0 in the second match, in the final Group A match they drew with Veroskronos Tsuno 1-1.

The Final round they were pitted against Fukui United from Hokushin'etsu, Vonds Ichihara from Kantō and the eventual champions, Asuka FC from Kansai. They opened with a 3-3 draw against Fukui United. In the second match the also drew with their opponents, Vonds Ichihara 0-0. In the final winner takes all game against FC Asuka, they lost by 2-1 and finished fourth in the group with two points from the three matches.
On 24 November 2025, J-Lease secure promotion to Japan Football League for the first time in their history from next season after defeat Tokyo United with narrowly 1–0 due to Vonds Ichihara defeat Veroskronos Tsuno 1–0 in 2025 Japanese Regional Football Champions League. With promotion from Kyushu League, Oita will be added second team in JFL from 2026–27.

Club record

SeasonLeaguePositionPWDLFAGDPtsEmperor's
Cup		Shakaijin
Cup
2018Oita Prefectural
League 		1st98101101125Did not qualifyDid not play
2019Oita Prefectural
League 		1st1010001221030Did not qualifyDid not play
2020Oita Prefectural
League 		1st108111321125Did not qualifyWas not held
2021Kyushu Soccer League3rd18130538191939Did not qualifyWas not held
2022Kyushu Soccer League4th20132545172841Did not qualify1st Round
2023Kyushu Soccer League3rd18133267135442Did not qualifyQuarter-final
2024Kyushu Soccer League2nd181332581642422nd round3rd
2025Kyushu Soccer League1st18152158154347Did not qualify2nd round
2026–27Japan Football LeagueTBD30TBDIneligible

;Key

Honours

Current squad

Coaching staff

For the 2025 season
PositionName
Manager