Tokyo
Verdy Overview
The
story of Tokyo Verdy is one of those dramas
that could only happen in Japan, though some
of the elements of the team's travails were
quite un"Japanese". Greed and mismanagement
turned the team from a dominant powerhouse into
the whipping boy of the league, and despite
a bold effort to try to rebuild itself, the
team has basically opted to try to relive past
glories rather than really focusing on the future.
Originally named Yomiuri Club, the team was
extremely successful in the JSL, winning a number
of league titles and Emperor's Cup championships
in the late 1970s and 1980s. By the end of the
1980s the team rivalled Nissan Motor FC for
the status of most successful team in Japanese
football. At the time the J.League was founded,
Yomiuri Club boasted some of the top players
in the country, including core members of the
national team like Tetsuji Hashiratani, Kazu
Miura and Ruy Ramos. With a strong collection
of talent and the financial backing of Yomiuri,
the team swept into the J.League with a roar.
Verdy Yomiuri -- a deliberate misspelling of
the Italian word for "green" to match
the color of their uniforms -- captured the
first two J.League championships, in 1993 and
1994. The team seemed to be almost synonyous
with success.
But
the facade of success was very thin, as would
soon be revealed. Despite the J.League's objective
of developing strong local franchises with ties
to their home town community, Verdy (or rather,
Yomiuri) wanted to set itself up as "Japan's
team", much as the Yomiuri Giants are in
baseball. The team used its influence to coerce
broadcasters to carry its games as opposed to
those of rival teams, and neglected its local
fans in an effort to build a nationwide base.
As the club soon discovered, football fans are
a different breed from baseball fans. The local
character and grassroots efforts of teams like
Kashima Antlers, Yokohama Marinos and Flugels,
Urawa Reds and Shimizu S-Pulse won them fanatically
loyal followings. Although Verdy did succeed
in attracting a huge number of "visitors"
during the first few years, its base of true
"fans" turned out to be very small.
When the fad success of the J.League passed,
the crowds evaporated, and Verdy's ticket sales
plummetted faster than those of any other team.
Verdy
faced other problems as well. Although the team
spent lavishly on talent, it generally picked
up mature players with strong reputations, high
salaries and huge egos. As the league started
to retrench, Verdy found itself with a lot of
aging stars whose performance no longer matched
their high salaries, and who seemed to want
to party and preen for photographers more than
play football. By 1996, the team was faltering
under the weight of serious debt, yet failing
to hold its own in the standings with teams
like Antlers, S-Pulse and Marinos. Clearly,
the situation was dire.
In
1998 the collapse finally came. Verdy finished
the second stage in 17th place out of 18 teams,
and racked up astronomical losses. The club
was forced to do a thorough housecleaning. All
of the high-priced veterans were given their
walking papers and the club started rebuilding
around a group of rookies and young transfers
from the JFL.
In
1999, Verdy surprised many by performing quite
well despite having no household names in the
lineup. More importantly, the team returned
to an exciting, aggressive style of football
that was more appealing to fans. To try to attract
more support, and distance itself from nearby
Yokohama, the team applied to the J.League to
change its home town from Kawasaki to Tokyo.
In late 1999, the team won approval for its
move, and at the end of the 2000 season the
team changed its name from Verdy Kawasaki to
"Tokyo Verdy 1969" (the 1969 refers
to the date of the original team's founding,
perhaps in an effort to recall "the glory
years").
Although
Verdy had moved to a new town, and took up residence
at a magnificent new stadium in western Tokyo
for the 2001 season, there were still questions
about how completely the team has reformed.
FC Tokyo had already built a strong following
in western Tokyo, so Verdy can not escape the
problem of having a popular competitor right
on its doorstep. The impression of a team "living
in the past' was not helped by coach Yasutaro
Matsuki's efforts to bring back "the old
gang", which led the team to its past championships
rather than developing the talented youngsters
who were starting to emerge from the team's
youth program..
|
|
|
Tokyo
Verdy Info
Stadium:
Tokyo Soccer Stadium
Honours:
J.
League Champions:
1993,
1994
Nabisco
Cup Champions:
1992,
1993, 1994
Emperors
Cup Champions:
1996
Super
Cup Champions:
1994,
1995
QUICK
FACT
The
club was founded by Yomiuri, the newspaper
and media company that also owns the Yomiuri
Giants baseball team.
|
|