Vegalta
Sendai Overview
Vegalta
Sendai was originally formed in 1988, as the
soccer club of Tohoku Electric Power Company,
and it was a top team in the old Tohoku regional
league during the JSL days. In 1994, the team
entered the JFL under the name "Brummel
Sendai". The name was changed to "Vegalta"
in 1997. Though the team has always been a middle-of-the-table
club, its consistency qualified the team to
be one of the original members of the J2. It
is located in Sendai, which is about three hours
north of Tokyo by train and one of the largest
cities in northern Japan. Sendai boasts a strong
local football base, and has one of the nicest
stadiums in Japan. Miyagi Prefectural Stadium
will be one of the host sites for the 2002 World
Cup.
Vegalta
Sendai takes its name from the twin stars Vega
and Altair. The two stars feature in a popular
local legend about two "star-crossed"
lovers, and there is a festival to commemorate
the date when the two stars reach their apex,
in midsummer In addition to its strong local
grassroots base, the team features one of the
nicest home pages of any J2 club. Even those
who do not read Japanese should check it out,
if only for the splendid graphics.
Vegalta's
performance in the J2 during the first two seasons
was as steadily mediocre as its results in the
JFL. The team has finished in the middle of
the table every year. However, in 2001 Vegalta
coach Hidehiko Shimizu, a veteran campaigner
in who was a member of Japan's bronze medal
team in 1964 and formerly coached at Vissel
Kobe and Kyoto Purple Sanga, brought in a number
of journeymen J-leaguers who had paid their
dues as reserves in J1 but never had a real
taste of glory themselves. Players such as former
Verdy midfielders Takahiro Yamada and Teruo
Iwamoto; Nobuyuki Zaizen, a member of the 1996
olympic team which defeated Brazil; and former
Antlers defender Ricardo Riberiro, helped the
team vault up the rankings in the 2001 season.
This core, aided by the dazzling offensive skills
of veteran Brazilian Marcos Souza Ribeiro, helped
the team claim promotion to the J1 division
in 2002.
Vegalta
enjoys truly fanatical home crowd support, and
packs their 19,500 capacity stadium for every
home game. This surge of enthusiasm, as well
as the element of surprise, allowed Vegalta
to go undefeated in the first 7 matches of the
2002 season. But thereafter the team's performance
dropped off, and they finished towards the lower
end of the table. Nevertheless, Vegalta were
good enough to avoid relegation, and the addition
of players like midfielder Yuichi Nemoto and
goalkeeper Daijiro Takakuwa should make the
team even better in 2003. Vegalta do not look
like a title contender yet, but the team is
building its base, and will surely continue
to benefit from tremendous local support. A
mid-table finish in 2003 is quite possible.
|
|
|
Vegalta
Sendai Info
Stadium:
Sendai Stadium
QUICK
FACT
The
clubs original name was Tohoku Electric
Power Company.
|
|