Ryo Shigaki

Ryo Shigaki (志垣 良) is a Japanese professional football manager who is the manager of club Renofa Yamaguchi.

Playing career
After graduating from Higashi Fukuoka High School in 1998, Shigaki moved to England. From 1999 to 2000, he played for Solihull Borough, then moved to Racing Club Warwick between 2000 and 2001.

Coaching career
Shigaki had a range of different coaching jobs in England, while studying Football Science at Liverpool John Moores University. Between 2001 and 2005, he worked as a coach for Southport FC and Tranmere Rovers, as well as being a soccer school coach at Manchester United.

In 2006, Shigaki moved back to Japan, initially working as an interpreter at Nagoya Grampus, and in 2007 he also became a coach at the club. Between 2008 and 2016, Shigaki worked as a coach for a number of clubs, including Avispa Fukuoka, Oita Trinita, JEF United Chiba, Gainare Tottori and Júbilo Iwata. During this time, he gained his A-Class coach general license in 2012.

After leaving Júbilo Iwata, Shigaki was named Singapore Sports School U-14 Coach in 2017, followed by becoming the national coach of Singapore national U-17 football team. He was managing the team for the 2017 Japan-ASEAN U-16 Youth Football Tournament, the 2018 Jockey Cup and the 2018 AFF U-16 Youth Championship. In 2018, he became a JFA certified S-class coach.

In January 2019, Shigaki returned to Gainare Tottori after six years away as head coach. Unable to help Tottori gain promotion to the J2 League, Shigaki left his role at the end of the 2020 season.

For the 2021 season, he was appointed as the U-18 coach of Kyoto Sanga.

Vanraure Hachinohe
In 2022, he was named as a coach at Thai club BG Pathum United, until midway through the season, he was appointed as the successor of Masahiro Kuzuno at Vanraure Hachinohe, Shigaki's first managerial role. In his first game, six days after his appointment, Vanraure lost 2–1 to AC Nagano Parceiro, however his first win was to follow in their next league game against Fukushima United. It was undoubtedly a difficult start for Shigaki, as his team lost nine of their first twelve games under his stewardship. The season did end on a high though, with the club winning eight of their last ten games of the season. It was decided at the end of the 2022 season that he would be leaving Vanraure Hachinohe.

FC Osaka
In December 2022, Shigaki was named as FC Osaka manager for the 2023 J3 League season – their first season in the J.League. It was another difficult start for Shigaki and his new club, finding themselves 19th in the table after the fifth match week, however they greatly improved as the season continued and were in second place in the league at the end of match week 26. FC Osaka finished the season in 11th place, with Shigaki having won 14 of his 38 games in charge.

Renofa Yamaguchi
Shigaki had impressed in his first full season as manager, and in December 2023, just before FC Osaka's final league game of the season, he was announced as manager of J2 League club Renofa Yamaguchi for the 2024 season.

Personal life
In 2004, Shigaki was a finalist in the British Council's International Student Award and received a silver award and a £1,000 prize for his contribution.