Cerezo Osaka

Cerezo Osaka (セレッソ大阪) is a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name Cerezo (Spanish for cherry blossom) is also the flower of the city of Osaka. The official hometowns of the club are Osaka and Sakai. They form a local rivalry with Suita-based Gamba Osaka.

Beginning of the club (1957–1992)
The club, originally called Yanmar Diesel, started in 1957 as the company team of Yanmar and was an original founder ("Original Eight") of the now-disbanded Japan Soccer League (JSL) in 1965. With four Japanese league titles to its credit, it was a mainstay of the JSL Division 1 until 1990 when it was first relegated, and joined the former Japan Football League (JFL) in 1992.

Privatised and registered under a new name (1993–present)
In 1993, the club incorporated as Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. and adopted the name Cerezo Osaka after a public contest. In 1994, they won the Japan Football League championship and was promoted to the J1 League in 1995. This also coincided with a run to the finals of the Emperor's Cup, which they lost to Bellmare Hiratsuka.

Cerezo has been relegated from J1 to J2 on three occasions, but are currently playing in the J1 league. The club had an impressive third-place finish in the 2017 season.

Taste of silverware
On 4 November 2017, Cerezo won the 2017 J.League Cup, the first major title in their club history, defeating Kawasaki Frontale 2–0.

On 1 January 2018, Cerezo won the 2017 Emperor's Cup, securing their second major title. The final match was against Yokohama F. Marinos, where Cerezo won 2–1 in extra time with Kota Mizunuma scoring the winner.

On 10 February 2018, Cerezo won the 2018 Japanese Super Cup winning 3–2 against Kawasaki Frontale.

In May 2018, the club changed its incorporated name from Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. to Cerezo Osaka Co., Ltd.

In 2022, the club got close to winning the J.League Cup for their second title, but blew a 1–0 lead to Sanfrecce Hiroshima in injury time after Hiroshima player Pieros Sotiriou scored two goals in the 96th and 101st minutes of the match to give the opponent the J.League Cup.

On 1 February 2023, Cerezo signed former Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United player, Shinji Kagawa on a two-years contract.

Stadiums
The hometowns of the club are Osaka and Sakai. The club plays at the Yodoko Sakura Stadium, with some bigger matches played at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai.

The club practices at Minami Tsumori Sakura Sports Park, Maishima Sports Island, and Amagasaki Yanmar Diesel Ground.

Mascots
The club's mascots are a wolf named Lobby (from Spanish lobo, meaning wolf) and Madame Lobina, Lobby's mother. On February 22, 2020, host and TV personality Roland was appointed Cerezo's "Official CereMan".

Rivalries
Cerezo's biggest rival is fellow Osaka club Gamba Osaka. The matches played between Cerezo and Gamba are referred to as the Osaka derby.

Kits and colours
Cerezo's club colour is pink, like the cherry blossoms that the club's name is based on. Combination colours have been navy blue and black. This year, the uniform colour is pink (home) and white (away) for the outfield players and black (home), pink (away) and green for the goalkeepers.

During the Yanmar Diesel days in the late 1970s to mid-1980s, the uniform was all-red reminiscent of Deportivo Toluca.

League and cup record

 * Key
 * Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points gained
 * Attendance/G = Average league home attendance
 * † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced due to COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
 * Source: J.League Data Site

Honours
As both Yanmar Diesel (1957–1993) and Cerezo Osaka (1993–present)

League history

 * Japan Soccer League Division 1: 1965–1990 (as Yanmar Diesel)
 * Japan Soccer League Division 2: 1991 (as Yanmar Diesel)
 * Japan Football League Division 1: 1992–94 (as Yanmar Diesel until 1993; Cerezo Osaka since 1994)
 * J1 League: 1995–2001
 * J2 League: 2002
 * J1 League: 2003–2006
 * J2 League: 2007–2009
 * J1 League: 2010–2014
 * J2 League: 2015–2016
 * J1 League: 2017–present

In popular culture
In the popular Captain Tsubasa manga, a character named Teppei Kisugi becomes a professional football player and joins Cerezo Osaka.