Who do you support?

Ask any self-respecting football/soccer fan the question 'Who do you support?' and without the slightest hesitation they will proudly respond with the name of their chosen team.

It's a question that can have many consequences, from fierce argume-nts to lifelong friendships. A football fan chooses his or her team at an early age, usually by town or city of birth and they'll stick to that team through thick and thin. Betraying your team to support another is akin to adultery in many a football fan's mind.

Unfortunately, with very little international league football screened on Japanese television there is no choice but for us starved followers to take a mistress in the form of a J1 or J2 team. Luckily, Kansai offers great incentives to support a Japanese team. Kyoto Purple Sanga finished last season as J2 champions whilst Gamba Osaka took the J1 title with fellow Osaka team Cerezo close behind.

Kyoto Purple Sanga can trace their routes back to 1922 when the team was established as the Kyoto University Teachers Football team. As to the name, purple is the Japanese Imperial colour and as Kyoto is the old Imperial city it makes sense to incorporate it. The word 'sanga' comes from the classical language of India and means 'a group' or 'club'. So you could translate it as Kyoto Imperial Football Club!

Their record in the last eleven years as a professional outfit has been for the most part average. They've spent the larger proportion of their history in the lower half of Division 1 but after winning the Emperor's Cup in 2003 they unexpectedly crashed down the following season into Division 2.

Unfortunately, they've never had the amount of support that it takes to keep good players at a club (or the accountant happy) and the Nishikyogoku Stadium in Kyoto with a capacity for just over twenty thousand spectators can be a very lonely place to play or watch when average attendance figures are less than five thousand.

Last season though Kyoto looked like a different team and finished the campaign as J2 champions holding a nineteen point lead over the runners-up, winning 30 of their 44 games. They actually won the division with a few games to spare and it was surprising that as soon as they were confirmed champions their attendance figures shot up by 10,000. Just goes to show the truth behind the old phrase 'everyone loves a winner'.

Gamba Osaka last season, for the first time in their fourteen-year history, found them- selves sitting pretty at the top of J1. Although they did eventually finish as champions, they came so close to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, only securing the title by winn-ing their final game.

Prior to last season they'd never won a thing, so their recent change of fortune was somewhat of a pleasant surprise. Established professionally in 1991, having previously been Matsushita Electric Football Club from 1980, they have some notable players from the Japan national team in captain Miyamoto and midfielder Endo. Also, one of Gamba's past famous names is Inamoto who is currently signed to English Premiership team West Bromwich Albion.

The name Gamba is an abbreviation of the Japanese word 'Gambare!' And it's a word that they need to keep shouting as loud as they can because, like Purple Sanga, Gamba also has a low fan base. Attendance figures at the Expo 70 Commemorative Stadium are double that of Sanga, but for a J1 team, ten thousand fans at a game is quite poor. So, as with Kyoto, gaijin bums on seats will be warmly received.

Osaka Cerezo finished last season in 5th place in the J1 league (finishing on the same points as the three teams above them but having a lower goal difference) after narrowly missing out on the title. Originally founded in 1965 as Yanmar Diesel the team was made up of employees from the company. During the 1970s they won the Japan Soccer League four times, the League Cup three times and the Emperor's Cup twice. This was before Japanese soccer got serious and in the J-League they have no silverware to show for all their efforts. The club changed their name to Osaka FC Ltd. in 1993 and also took the name Cerezo, which is Spanish for 'cherry blossom'. This reference to cherry blossoms explains why they have pink shirts. An unusual choice of 'nickname' for a football team and it definitely takes a brave man to wear a pink shirt with pride.

Unlike their fellow Kansai teams Kobe Vissel had an absolutely dire 2005. Finishing bottom of J1 and winning only 4 of their 34 games they were relegated to J2. The name 'Vissel' certainly doesn't match the clubs on field performances. Combining the words 'victory' and 'vessel', the idea is that the team will be a vessel to bring victory to Kobe. They would do well to scrap the name and choose a new one.

Formed in 1994 as Kobe Orange Soccer Club, they've never really impressed. But unfortunately they've had little luck behind the scenes. Company sponsors have changed on numerous occasions, as well as following the idea of buying star players past their sell-by date (a plan used by many teams the world over that always fails). Basically if you're the kind of person that supports the underdog then Kobe Vissel is the team for you.

Text: Phillip Jackson • Photos: John Russell, Naheen Madarbakus