Vissel Kobe

Vissel Kobe (ヴィッセル神戸, Visseru Kōbe) is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. They are currently the J1 League champions. The club's home stadium is Noevir Stadium Kobe, in Hyōgo-ku, though some home matches are played at Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium in Suma-ku.

Vissel have won two J1 League title, two Emperor's Cup and one Japanese Super Cup in the club history. The club also has recruited former FIFA World Cup champions with the like of Andrés Iniesta, David Villa, Juan Mata and Lukas Podolski.

The club was founded in 1966 as the semi-professional Kawasaki Steel Soccer Club in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture.^[3] It was first promoted to the Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1986, and stayed there until the JSL folded in 1992.^[3] As their performance in the old second tier had been in the bottom nine clubs, they were put into the Japan Football League Division 2 (new third tier overall in the Japanese football league system) and stayed there until the tiers were reunited into a single second tier for 1994.

In 1995, the city of Kobe reached an agreement with Kawasaki Steel, the parent company, to move the club to Kobe and compete for a spot in the professional J.League as Vissel Kobe. Vissel is a combination of the words "victory" and "vessel", in recognition of Kobe's history as a port city.^[3] (Owing to its importance to the city of Kobe, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, parent company of former team patron Kawasaki Steel, remains a Vissel Kobe sponsor. Kawasaki Steel was eventually sold off to become part of JFE Holdings.)

Vissel Kobe began play in 1994 in the Japan Football League, a league below J.League, and the supermarket chain Daiei was slated as the club's primary investor. However, the economic downturn following the Great Hanshin earthquake forced Daiei to pull out and the city of Kobe became responsible for operating the club.

Despite finishing 2nd in the JFL in 1996, Vissel was promoted to the J.League (the champions, Honda FC, refused to abandon their corporate ownership and become a professional club) and began play in the top division of Japanese football in 1997. However, due to mismanagement, including the inability to secure investors and sponsors, Vissel was unable to contend for the league title. In December, 2003, mounting financial losses forced the club to file for bankruptcy protection.

In January 2004, Vissel was sold to Crimson Group, parent company of online merchant Rakuten, whose president is Kobe native Hiroshi Mikitani. Vissel's first signing under the Mikitani regime, İlhan Mansız, who was acquired partly to capitalize on his popularity during the 2002 FIFA World Cup hosted in Korea and Japan, but the Turkish forward played just three matches before leaving the team because of a knee injury. At the time of the purchase, Mikitani alienated supporters by changing the team uniform colours from black and white stripes to crimson, after his Crimson Group and the colour of his alma mater, Harvard Business School. The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, a baseball team also owned by Rakuten but based in Sendai and Rakuten Monkeys, a baseball team in Taoyuan, Taiwan, wear the same colours.

Vissel finished 11th in the league in 2004, the same position as the previous year, and finished 18th and last place in 2005, resulting in relegation from J.League Division 1, or J1, to J2. During the two-year span, Vissel had five different head coaches. 2006 was Vissel's first season in J2 after nine years in the top division of soccer in Japan. They finished 3rd in the 2006 season and returned to J1 after beating Avispa Fukuoka in the promotion/relegation play-offs.

During the period of 2007 to 2011 Vissel finished in the bottom half of the table each year. In 2012 they finished 16th, third from last, and were again relegated to J2. In 2013, Vissel finished in second place, 4 points behind Gamba Osaka, which secured their return to J1 for the 2014 season.

On 6 December 2014, Rakuten Inc. bought the team from the Crimson Group.^[4]

In 2017, Vissel signed 2014 FIFA World Cup winner Lukas Podolski. He was the first prominent international player Vissel had been able to sign since Michael Laudrup in 1996. Shortly after, in May 2018, Vissel signed another World Cup winner, Andrés Iniesta, from FC Barcelona.^[5] In December 2018 Vissel Kobe managed to sign also David Villa from New York City. The Spanish striker scored 13 goals in 28 games. Alongside Sergi Samper and Andrés Iniesta, Villa was the third Spaniard in the team in that season in which they guided Vissel Kobe to win the 2019 Emperor's Cup.

On 1 January 2020, first time finalist Vissel beat Kashima Antlers in the 2019 Emperor's Cup final at the recently opened New National Stadium to win the first title in the club history. The furthest Kobe had been in the Emperor's Cup was the semi-finals of 2000 and 2017.^[6] This was also Spanish forward David Villa's last professional match as a footballer.^[7] Vissel also qualified for the 2020 AFC Champions League for the first time. On 8 February 2020, Vissel beat Yokohama F. Marinos in which the scoreline was 3–3. Vissel Kobe eventually won 3-2 on penalties to win their first Japanese Super Cup title and their second national title ever.^[8] On 12 February 2020, Vissel played their first AFC Champions League match against Malaysian league champions, Johor Darul Ta'zim at home winning them 5–1 in which Keijiro Ogawa scored a hat-trick in the match. The club than managed to have a good run in the competition all the way until the semi-finals facing against eventual winners Korean Ulsan Hyundai however, Vissel was knocked out by the Korean club losing 2–1 in extra time after conceding an unfortunate penalty kick.

In 2021, Vissel achieved an historic third place in the table of the 2021 J1 League season, thus qualifying for the 2022 AFC Champions League yet again in which the club had another good run in the campaign before losing to Korean Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 3–1 in the quarter-finals.

On 3 September 2023, Vissel signed former Spanish international midfielder, Juan Mata but, while the players and the fans benefited from his presence (players said he was amazing to train with, fans loved seeing him, he again raised the profile of the club) injuries kept him from playing much at all in meaningful games. On 25 November 2023, Vissel Kobe was confirmed as the 2023 J1 League champions for the first time in history, following a 2–1 win over Nagoya Grampus in the second last week of the season. Kobe thus became the first Japanese football champions to be promoted to the top tier after the J.League era started, as well as the first to play third division football (the old Japan Football League Division 2) before winning the title. On 17 February 2024, Vissel played their second Japanese Super Cup appearance against 2023 Emperor's Cup winner, Kawasaki Frontale but lost 1–0. Vissel also qualified directly to the newly revamp 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite tournament. On 23 November 2024, Vissel won the second Emperor's Cup of the club history, after a victory over they regional rivals Gamba Osaka in the Kansai Derby.

Vissel firstly settled at the Kobe Central Football Stadium which was opened in 1970 with a capacity of 13,000 seats. it was built on the site of the former Kobe Keirin Stadium and was the first stadium in Japan that was custom-built with floodlights, allowing any sports related activities to play at night. In 1999, the stadium was demolished to make way to a new stadium with modern features. In 2001, Vissel moved to their new stadium, Noevir Stadium Kobe which seats on the former stadium.^[9] Located in Misaki Park, Kobe, Japan, the stadium has a capacity of 30,132 seats and features a retractable roof, making it one of the most modern football venues in Japan.

• Aston Villa: 2023–present

On 19 October 2023, English Premier League club, Aston Villa announced a collaborative partnership with Vissel Kobe - so said the press release: "further strengthening the international network and player development pipeline which is part of this exciting step forward for both clubs, Villa and Vissel are working to create a bilateral development framework for players and staff which will enhance youth development, alongside the cooperative sharing of ideas, techniques and best practice. The partnership looks to further open up pathways for talented Japanese players to play in Europe and, ultimately, at Aston Villa. This synergy between the clubs will also extend to first team level, with the exchange of technical knowledge and coaching methodology together with collaboration in the areas of performance, scouting & recruitment, data analysis and overall squad management."

• Górnik Zabrze: 2024–present

Both clubs are tied with an agreement signed in December 2024. Vissel Kobe and Górnik Zabrze will work on making the path between Asia and Europe to promote both teams in case of sporting performance and scouting.^[10]

• Seattle Sounders: 1995–1996, 2025–present

Shortly after moving to Kobe in 1995, Vissel partnered with the Sounders (who, at the time, were newly members of the second-division American Professional Soccer League), as Seattle and Kobe are sister cities. The agreement lasted from 1995 to 1996, and during this time, the teams played a home and away exhibition series to fundraise for the relief efforts following the 1995 earthquake in Kobe. In 2025, on the thirtieth anniversary of the original partnership on 17 January, Vissel and the Sounders (now a member of top-division Major League Soccer) announced the re-establishment of their partnership. This agreement began with a loan of Kobe player Kaito Yamada to Seattle's reserve squad, the Tacoma Defiance.^[11]

As of 24 February 2026.^[12]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Club officials for 2026.

Bold is for those competition that are currently active.

Key

• Chugoku Soccer League: 1978–85 (as Kawasaki Steel Mizushima)
• Division 2 (Japan Soccer League Div. 2): 1986–91 (Kawasaki Steel Mizushima until 1987; Kawasaki Steel afterwards)
• Division 3 (Old JFL Div. 2): 1992–93 (as Kawasaki Steel)
• Division 2 (Old JFL): 1994–96 (Kawasaki Steel 1994; Vissel Kobe since 1995)
• Division 1 (J.League): 1997–2005
• Division 2 (J.League Division 2): 2006
• Division 1 (J.League Division 1): 2007–12
• Division 2 (J.League Division 2): 2013
• Division 1 (J1 League): 2014–present

Total (as of 2024): 26 seasons in the top tier, 11 seasons in the second tier, 2 seasons in the third tier and 8 seasons in the Regional Leagues.

• Official website