Kochi United SC
Kōchi United Sports Club, commonly known as Kōchi United SC is a football club based in Kōchi, the capital city of Kōchi Prefecture in Japan. They currently play in the J3 League for the 2025 season, the third tier of Japanese professional football, after promotion from the JFL in 2024.
History
Merger into current club
On 1 February 2016, two established Shikoku League clubs; Igosso Kochi FC and Kochi U Torastar FC merged to form one club, whose aim was to be the first team from Kōchi Prefecture to play in the J.League.After officially changing the management company's name to Kōchi United Sports Club Ltd., Kochi United SC took Igosso Kōchi FC's place in the Shikoku League. For the many players at Kōchi U Torastar FC unable to join Kochi United SC, and wanting to continue playing as amateurs in the Shikoku League, Kochi Sports Club Ltd. and Kochi University established KUFC Nangoku on March 1, 2016, and this new club took Kōchi U Torastar FC's place in the Shikoku League.
The club badge depicts the ceremonial Keshō-mawashi of a Tosa Fighting Dog on the outside, with the dark red colors of Igosso Kochi FC and the green of Kōchi U Torastar inside it and an image of a leaping bonito or skipjack tuna drawn in the center. The club's home shirt also reflects the colors of the amalgamated teams from which Kochi United SC was formed.
Shikoku League (2016–2019)
They played in the Shikoku Soccer League, one of the Japanese Regional Leagues from 2016 to 2019, winning it three times in a row from 2017 to 2019.In 2019, they finished 2nd in the Japanese [Regional Football League Competition], earning promotion to the Japan Football League for the first time in their history from the 2020 season.
JFL (2020–2024)
In their first season in the JFL, Kochi United finished in 14th place.On 24 September 2024, Kochi United announced they had been officially granted a J3 License after approval from the J. League Board of Directors.
On 7 December 2024, Kochi United secured promotion to J3 League for the first time in their history from the 2025 season after defeating YSCC Yokohama 0-2 in the 2nd leg of the J3/JFL play-offs thus winning 1-3 on aggregate, so ending five years in the fourth tier.
J. League (2025–)
Kochi United officially played their first J3 League game away against newly relegated, Tochigi SC on 16 February 2025 which they lost 1-0. Their first home game was against Gainare Tottori on 23 February 2025, which ended in a 0-0 draw. In their 3rd match at home to FC Osaka, Kokoro Kobayashi scored their first ever J-League goal in a 1-2 loss. On March 9, 2025, Kochi United secured their first ever win in the J-League with a 2-1 away victory against Zweigen Kanazawa. It would take until August however for Kochi to record their first home win in J3, with a 3-2 victory over Nara Club.In a tumultuous first season, including claims of "power harassment", losing their star player Kokoro Kobayashi to Vegalta Sendai on a free transfer mid-season, and a terrible run of only 2 wins in 16 games, Kochi ended up 3rd from bottom of the league with 10 wins 8 draws and 20 defeats, thus surviving their first season in the J-League.
Club seasons (Pre-JFL)
2016
In their inaugural 2016 season, they finished runners-up in the Shikoku League to FC Imabari. They also qualified for the All Japan [Senior Football Championship], but lost 4–3 in the first round to eventual winners Mitsubishi Mizushima FC. In addition, they represented Kōchi in the Emperor's Cup breaking Kochi University's 13-year streak, but lost 2–1 in the first round proper to V-Varen Nagasaki of the J2 League having taken a shock lead with a Kota Sugawara penalty. Takuya Kobayashi was the top goalscorer with 17 goals in all competitions.2017
In the 2017 season, they won the Shikoku League with a W12-D2-L0 record, thus qualifying for the Japanese Regional Football League Competition. They were drawn in Group B for the tournament alongside Amitie SC Kyoto, FC TIAMO Hirakata of the Kansai Soccer League, and Mitsubishi Mizushima FC of the Chūgoku Soccer League. They lost 1–0 against Kansai Champions Amitie SC Kyoto in their first match but won their second game 2–1 against FC TIAMO Hirakata. In their final match, they thrashed Mitsubishi Mizushima 5–2, but it wasn't enough to win the group or qualify for the final stage as best runners-up. Still, it was a fine overall performance in their first appearance in the tournament. In the Emperor's Cup they represented Kochi again, but went out in the first round proper for the second consecutive season, losing 2–1 to Verspah Oita of the Japan Football League, after leading with a Tsubasa Yokotake goal. In the All Japan Senior Football Championship first round, they led at halftime but ended up losing 3–1 to Vonds Ichihara. The top scorer for the season was Kota Sugawara with 23 goals in all competitions.2018
In the 2018 season, they retained their Shikoku League title despite one loss to FC Tokushima and won the Kochi Prefectural Football Championship again with a 3–0 win against KUFC Nangoku in the final. In the first round proper of the Emperor's Cup, they defeated Mitsubishi Mizushima FC 2–0 at home, then faced Albirex Niigata of the J2 League away in the second round. After a 0–0 draw at Denka Big Swan Stadium, one of the venues for the 2002 World Cup, they lost 5–3 on penalties in front of 2241 fans. In the All Japan Senior Football Championship, they lost 3–0 away in the first round to Suzuka Unlimited FC. Finally, in the season-ending Japanese Regional Football League Competition they disappointingly lost all three matches in the group stages against Blancdieu Hirosaki FC: 3–2, Hokkaido Tokachi Sky Earth: 3-0 and FC Kariya: 2-1 respectively. The joint top scorers in all competitions were Kazuki Nakabayashi and Ryo Taguchi with 16 goals.2019
The 2019 season was a breakthrough season for Kochi United. They won the Shikoku League for the third straight season with a 100% record and retained the Kochi Prefectural Football Championship, though they needed an extra-time winner to beat KUFC Nangoku in the final. In the first round proper they defeated MD Nagasaki at home 1–0 in front of over 400 fans but lost 2–1 away after extra time to V-Varen Nagasaki of J2 in the second round. They failed to qualify for the first round proper of the All Japan Senior Football Championship after losing in the regional playoffs to FC Tokushima. However, in the Japanese Regional Football League Competition, their luck changed. With home advantage in the group stages, they beat Blancdieu Hirosaki FC 2–1 in their opening group game. In their second match, they thrashed SRC Hiroshima 7–0 and although they lost the final group game 2–0 to Ococias Kyoto AC, they still qualified for the final round. Things didn't look good when they lost the first game of the final stage 3–0 to Iwaki FC, but they responded well in the second match with a 3–1 victory over Fukui United FC. That meant they went into a winner-takes-all final match against Ococias Kyoto who they had lost to earlier on in the competition. This time, they emerged victorious with a stunning 3–1 win to get their revenge and finish second in the competition, thus earning promotion to the Japan Football League; the first time a team from Kochi had achieved that feat.League and Cup record
;KeyCoaching staff
As of 2024 season.| Position | Staff | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager |  StatisticsAll-time competitive record tableUpdated end of 2025 SeasonAll-time top ten record goalscorersUpdated to 2025 season
Records
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