is a Japanese professional football club based in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. They will play in the 2025 J2 League, the second tier league of Japanese football, after relegation from the J1 League at conclusion of the 2024 season.

Their main home ground is the indoor Sapporo Dome, which was shared with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters baseball team until 2022. Some matches are also played at the outdoor Sapporo Atsubetsu Stadium.

Name origin

The club's name "Consadole" is a combination of consado, a reverse of the Japanese word and the Spanish expression Olé.

History

Toshiba S.C. (1935–1995)

Consadole's club tradition dates back to 1935 when Toshiba Horikawa-cho Soccer Club was founded in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. They were promoted to the now-defunct Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1978. They adopted new name Toshiba Soccer Club in 1980 and were promoted to the JSL Division 1 in 1989. The colours were an idea from then-player Nobuhiro Ishizaki (who played when the team was still based in Kawasaki and later coached them in Sapporo) who was a fan of A.C. Milan. It also became the symbol of Toshiba's sports teams such as Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo.

Consadole Sapporo (1996–2015)

thumb|[[Daiwa House Premist Dome, Consa's home ground]]

Consadole Sapporo inherited the JFL status from Toshiba S.C.. Their debut season in 1996 was not overly successful as they finished 5th and missed promotion. However, they won the JFL championship in 1997 and were promoted to J.League.

In 1999, Takeshi Okada, the former Japan national team coach, was appointed as head coach in an effort to make an immediate comeback to J1, but this attempt failed as they finished 5th. Their heavy investment on players counted against them and, at this point, the debt owed by the club exceeded three billion yen (US$33 million). The bankruptcy looked a near-certainty.

In 2000, they cut costs dramatically. As a result, the team often included as many as eight on-loan players in the starting line-up. However, this strategy paid off and the club won the J2 championship as well as promotion to J1. The club posted a single-year profit for the first time in their history this year.

In 2001, they finished 11th in J1. However, at the end of the season, the club failed to persuade Okada to renew the contract and several leading players also left the club. In 2002, they finished bottom and were relegated to J2 for a second time.　From the 2016 season, the club has adopted the new name as "Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo".

<!-- Deleted image removed: 200px|logo|thumb|This emblem was used until 2015 -->

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo (2016–present)

In 2016, the club changed its name to Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. After four years spent at the J2, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo returned to the J1 ahead of the 2017 season, having been promoted as 2016 J2 League champions.

On 9 February 2018, the team won the inaugural Pacific Rim Cup tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii, defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps 1–0. 2018 was the season they reached their highest placing in the J.League era and in Sapporo – 4th, 27 years after achieving the same place in Kawasaki.

In January 2022, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo's Thai player Chanathip Songkrasin who was part of the 2018 J.League Best XI joined Kawasaki Frontale with a transfer fee of around $3.8 million, breaking the J.League record for the highest domestic transfer.

On 1 December 2024, after seven years in the top flight, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo got relegated to the J2 League.

In the Captain Tsubasa manga series, two characters were from Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, midfielder Hikaru Matsuyama (himself a Hokkaido native) and forward Kazumasa Oda. In 2017, Matsuyama became an Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo player, given a squad number, 36, and is also an official ambassador of the team from Hokkaido.

Mascot

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo's mascot is Dole Kun, an anthropomorphic Shima Fukurou (or Blakiston's fish owl). The owl was chosen as not only was it on Consa's crest, but also because it is the largest owl in Japan, and it also lives in Hokkaido. He also enjoys having hot baths sometimes. He also is friends with Frep the Fox and Polly Polaris, the mascots of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, which can be attributed because the Fighters and Consa share the same stadium.

Current players

<!----------------------------- READ THIS NOTICE FIRST BEFORE EDITING ----------------------------------

– Remember that for the clubs, the season and its activities, as well as the transfer window only starts OFFICIALLY in JANUARY of the new season. Do NOT make any player additions or removals before the due date.

– Do NOT add new players before their signing is officially announced by the club through their website, including medical and signing the contract. A transfer fee agreed doesn't mean the player will sign.

– Do NOT remove players before their exit is officially announced by the club.

– Do NOT add or change squad numbers until it is official on the Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo website

– Only add numberless players that are likely to become part of the first team

– Pre-season numbers can be added temporarily with A REFERENCE

– This is Wikipedia, not a football newspaper. Anything unconfirmed and unsourced will be removed on sight

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Out on loan

  • Past (and present) players who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles can be found here

Coaching staff

For the 2025 season.

{| class="wikitable"

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!Position !!Staff

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| Manager || Kenta Kawai

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| Assistant managers || Yasuyuki Akaike

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| Assistant coaches || Kenta Togawa <br /> Makoto Sunakawa

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|Goalkeeping coaches || Osamu Sasaki <br /> Yuya Hikichi

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|Performance coordinator || Yosuke Kuotani

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|Physical coach || Osamu Yamada

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|Set-piece coach & analyst || Watabiki Daimu

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|Analyst || Kentaro Nakanishi

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|Trainer || Kazuhiro Sagawa

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|Athletic trainer || Seiichi Iwasa <br /> Takuma Morinaga

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|Sub-manager & equipe || Ren Sato

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|Equipe || Yuta Aikawa

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|Sub-manager & interpreter || Lee Sung-ju

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|Interpreter || Nakajima Farang Issei <br/> Narit Jampalee

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|}

Record as J.League member

{|class="wikitable"

|bgcolor=gold|<small>Champions</small>

|bgcolor=silver|<small>Runners-up</small>

|bgcolor=ff6600|<small>Third place</small>

|bgcolor=palegreen|<small>Promoted</small>

|bgcolor=pink|<small>Relegated</small>

|}

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!colspan="5"|League !!rowspan="2"|J.League Cup !!rowspan="2"|Emperor's Cup

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!Season !!Div. !!Teams !!Pos. !!Attendance/G

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|1998

|J1 ||18 ||bgcolor=pink|14th ||11,953 ||Group stage ||4th round

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|1999

|rowspan="2"|J2 ||10 ||5th ||10,986 ||1st round ||3rd round

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|2000

|11 ||bgcolor=gold|1st ||12,910 ||1st round ||4th round

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|2001

|rowspan="2"|J1 ||16 ||11th ||22,228 ||Group stage ||3rd round

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|2002

|16 ||bgcolor=pink|16th ||19,140 ||Group stage ||3rd round

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|2003

|rowspan="5"|J2 ||12 ||9th ||10,766 ||rowspan="5"|Not eligible ||3rd round

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|2004

|12 ||12th ||9,466 ||Quarterfinal

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|2005

|12 ||6th ||11,133 ||3rd round

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|2006

|13 ||6th ||10,478 ||Semifinal

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|2007

|13 ||bgcolor=gold|1st ||12,112 ||3rd round

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|2008

|J1 ||18 ||bgcolor=pink|18th ||14,547 ||Group stage ||4th round

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|2009

|rowspan="3"|J2 ||18 ||6th ||10,207 ||rowspan="3"|Not eligible ||3rd round

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|2010

|19 ||13th ||10,738 ||3rd round

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|2011

|20 ||bgcolor=ff6600|3rd ||10,482 ||2nd round

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|2012

|J1 ||18 ||bgcolor=pink|18th ||12,008 ||Group stage ||2nd round

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|2013

|rowspan="4"|J2 ||22 ||8th ||10,075 ||rowspan="4"|Not eligible ||4th round

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|2014

|22 ||10th ||11,060 ||3rd round

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|2015

|22 ||10th ||11,960 ||3rd round

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|2016

|22 ||bgcolor=gold|1st ||14,559 ||2nd round

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|2017

|rowspan="8"|J1 ||18 ||11th ||18,418 ||Play-off stage ||2nd round

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|2018

|18 ||4th ||17,222 ||Group stage ||4th round

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|2019

|18 ||10th ||18,768 ||bgcolor="silver"|Runners-up ||2nd round

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|2020 †

|18 ||12th ||4,303 ||Quarter-finals ||Did not qualify

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|2021 †

|20 ||10th ||6,816 ||Quarter-finals ||3rd round

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|2022

|18 ||10th ||12,215 ||Play-off stage ||3rd round

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|2023

|18 ||12th ||14,254 ||Quarter-finals ||Round of 16

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|2024

|rowspan="2"|20||bgcolor=pink|19th ||17,086 ||Quarter-finals ||Round of 16

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|2025

|rowspan="3"|J2 ||12th ||14,469 ||1st round ||2nd round

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|2026

|10 ||TBD || ||N/A ||N/A

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|2026-27

|20 ||TBD || ||TBD ||TBD

|}

;Key

Honours

{|class="wikitable"

|+Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo honours

!scope=col|Honour !!scope=col|No. !!scope=col|Years

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<!--! In chronological order-->

!scope=row|All Japan Senior Football Championship

|align="center"|1

|1977

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!scope=row|Japan Soccer League (Second tier)

|align="center"|2

|1979, 1988–89,

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!scope=row|JSL Cup

|align="center"|1

|1981 (shared with Mitsubishi Motors)

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!scope=row|Japan Football League

|align="center"|1

|1997

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!scope=row|J2 League

|align="center"|3

|2000, 2007, 2016

|}

Managerial history

{|class="wikitable"

!rowspan="2"|Manager !!rowspan="2"|Nationality !! colspan="2" |Tenure<!--!colspan="5"|Managerial Record-->

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!Start !!Finish<!--!-->

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| Tadao Onishi || || 1 February 1981 ||31 January 1986

<!--!-->

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| Takeo Takahashi || ||1 February 1987 ||1 February 1997

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| Hugo Fernández ||||1 February 1997 ||18 October 1998

<!--!-->

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| Hajime Ishii || ||19 October 1998 ||31 January 1999

<!--!-->

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| Takeshi Okada || ||1 February 1999 ||31 January 2002

<!--!-->

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| Tetsuji Hashiratani || ||1 February 2002 ||31 May 2002

<!--!-->

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| Radmilo Ivančević ||||1 June 2002 ||16 September 2002

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| Chang Woe-ryong || ||16 September 2002 ||31 January 2003

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| João Carlos || ||1 February 2003 ||4 August 2003

<!--!-->

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| Chang Woe-ryong || ||5 August 2003 ||31 January 2004

<!--!-->

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| Masaaki Yanagishita || ||1 February 2004 ||31 January 2007

<!--!-->

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| Toshiya Miura || ||1 February 2007 ||31 January 2009

<!--!-->

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| Nobuhiro Ishizaki || ||1 February 2009 ||31 January 2013

<!--!-->

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| Keiichi Zaizen || ||1 February 2013 ||27 August 2014

<!--!-->

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| Yoshihiro Natsuka || ||28 August 2014 ||6 September 2014

<!--!-->

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| Ivica Barbarić || ||7 September 2014 ||24 July 2015

<!--!-->

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| Shuhei Yomoda || ||24 July 2015 ||31 January 2018

<!--!-->

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| Mihailo Petrović || || 1 February 2018 || 31 January 2025

<!--!-->

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| Daiki Iwamasa || || 1 February 2025 || 10 August 2025

<!--!-->

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| Shingo Shibata || || 11 August 2025 ||

<!--!-->

|}

Kit evolution

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Affiliated clubs

  • Khon Kaen (March 2013−)
  • Long An (March 2013−)
  • Johor Darul Ta'zim (April 2016−)
  • Sint-Truidense VV (April 2019−)
  • Buriram United (June 2022−)
  • Persipura Jayapura (June 2023−)
  • AC Milan (March 2024−)

References