commonly known as Kà Âchi United SC (é«ÂçÂ¥ã¦ãÂÂã¤ãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂSC, Kà Âchi Yunaiteddo Esushë) is a football club based in Kà Âchi, the capital city of Kà Âchi Prefecture in Japan. They currently play in the J3 League for the 2025 season, the third tier of Japanese professional football, after promotion from the JFL in 2024.
On 1 February 2016, two established Shikoku League clubs; Igosso Kochi FC (ã¢ã¤ã´ãÂÂã½é«ÂçÂÂ¥FC) and Kochi U Torastar FC (é«ÂçÂÂ¥UãÂÂã©ã¹ã¿ã¼FC) merged to form one club, whose aim was to be the first team from Kà Âchi Prefecture to play in the J.League. After officially changing the management company's name to Kà Âchi United Sports Club Ltd., Kochi United SC took Igosso Kà Âchi FC's place in the Shikoku League. For the many players at Kà Âchi U Torastar FC unable to join Kochi United SC, and wanting to continue playing as amateurs in the Shikoku League, Kochi Sports Club Ltd. and Kochi University established KUFC Nangoku on March 1, 2016, and this new club took Kà Âchi U Torastar FC's place in the Shikoku League.
The club badge depicts the ceremonial Keshà Â-mawashi (Ã¥ÂÂ粧廻ãÂÂ) of a Tosa Fighting Dog on the outside, with the dark red colors of Igosso Kochi FC and the green of Kà Âchi U Torastar inside it and an image of a leaping bonito or skipjack tuna drawn in the center (a popular fish in Kochi prefecture). The club's home shirt also reflects the colors of the amalgamated teams from which Kochi United SC was formed.
They played in the Shikoku Soccer League, one of the Japanese Regional Leagues from 2016 to 2019, winning it three times in a row from 2017 to 2019.
In 2019, they finished 2nd in the Japanese Regional Football League Competition, earning promotion to the Japan Football League for the first time in their history from the 2020 season.
In their first season in the JFL, Kochi United finished in 14th place.
On 24 September 2024, Kochi United announced they had been officially granted a J3 License after approval from the J. League Board of Directors.
On 7 December 2024, Kochi United secured promotion to J3 League for the first time in their history from the 2025 season after defeating YSCC Yokohama 0-2 in the 2nd leg of the J3/JFL play-offs thus winning 1-3 on aggregate, so ending five years in the fourth tier.
Kochi United officially played their first J3 League game away against newly relegated, Tochigi SC on 16 February 2025 which they lost 1-0. Their first home game was against Gainare Tottori on 23 February 2025, which ended in a 0-0 draw. In their 3rd match at home to FC Osaka, Kokoro Kobayashi scored their first ever J-League goal in a 1-2 loss. On March 9, 2025, Kochi United secured their first ever win in the J-League with a 2-1 away victory against Zweigen Kanazawa. It would take until August however for Kochi to record their first home win in J3, with a 3-2 victory over Nara Club. In a tumultuous first season, including claims of "power harassment" (resulting in both head-coach Akita Yutaka and CEO leaving the club), losing their star player Kokoro Kobayashi to Vegalta Sendai on a free transfer mid-season, and a terrible run of only 2 wins in 16 games, Kochi ended up 3rd from bottom of the league with 10 wins 8 draws and 20 defeats, thus surviving their first season in the J-League.
In their inaugural 2016 season, they finished runners-up in the Shikoku League (W12-D1-L1) to FC Imabari (FCä»Âæ²»). They also qualified for the All Japan Senior Football Championship (å ¨å½社ä¼Â人ãµãÂÂã«ã¼é¸æÂÂ権大传Zenkoku Shakaijin SakkàSenshuken Taikai), but lost 4âÂÂ3 in the first round to eventual winners Mitsubishi Mizushima FC (ä¸Âè±水島 FC). In addition, they represented Kà Âchi in the Emperor's Cup (天çÂÂæ¯ Tennà Âhai) breaking Kochi University's 13-year streak, but lost 2âÂÂ1 in the first round proper to V-Varen Nagasaki (VãÂȋÂÂã¡ã¼ã‹³é·å´Â) of the J2 League having taken a shock lead with a Kota Sugawara penalty. Takuya Kobayashi was the top goalscorer with 17 goals in all competitions.
In the 2017 season, they won the Shikoku League with a W12-D2-L0 record, thus qualifying for the Japanese Regional Football League Competition (å ¨å½å°åÂÂãµãÂÂã«ã¼ãÂÂã£ã³ãÂÂãªã³ãºãªã¼ã° Zenkoku Chiiki SakkàChampionzu Lëgu). They were drawn in Group B for the tournament alongside Amitie SC Kyoto (now Ococias Kyoto AC ãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂ京é½AC), FC TIAMO Hirakata (FCãÂÂã£ã¢ã¢æÂÂæ¹) of the Kansai Soccer League, and Mitsubishi Mizushima FC of the Chà «goku Soccer League. They lost 1âÂÂ0 against Kansai Champions Amitie SC Kyoto in their first match but won their second game 2âÂÂ1 against FC TIAMO Hirakata. In their final match, they thrashed Mitsubishi Mizushima (6 times Chugoku League champions) 5âÂÂ2, but it wasn't enough to win the group or qualify for the final stage as best runners-up. Still, it was a fine overall performance in their first appearance in the tournament. In the Emperor's Cup they represented Kochi again, but went out in the first round proper for the second consecutive season, losing 2âÂÂ1 to Verspah Oita (ã´ã§ã«ã¹ãÂÂ大åÂÂ) of the Japan Football League, after leading with a Tsubasa Yokotake goal. In the All Japan Senior Football Championship first round, they led at halftime but ended up losing 3âÂÂ1 to Vonds Ichihara (VONDSå¸ÂÃ¥ÂÂ). The top scorer for the season was Kota Sugawara with 23 goals in all competitions.
In the 2018 season, they retained their Shikoku League title despite one loss to FC Tokushima and won the Kochi Prefectural Football Championship again with a 3âÂÂ0 win against KUFC Nangoku in the final. In the first round proper of the Emperor's Cup, they defeated Mitsubishi Mizushima FC 2âÂÂ0 at home, then faced Albirex Niigata (ã¢ã«ãÂÂã‹ÂÂã¯ã¹æ°æ½Â) of the J2 League away in the second round. After a 0âÂÂ0 draw at Denka Big Swan Stadium, one of the venues for the 2002 World Cup, they lost 5âÂÂ3 on penalties in front of 2241 fans. In the All Japan Senior Football Championship, they lost 3âÂÂ0 away in the first round to Suzuka Unlimited FC (é´鹿ã¢ã³ãªãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂFC). Finally, in the season-ending Japanese Regional Football League Competition they disappointingly lost all three matches in the group stages against Blancdieu Hirosaki FC: 3âÂÂ2, Hokkaido Tokachi Sky Earth: 3-0 and FC Kariya: 2-1 respectively. The joint top scorers in all competitions were Kazuki Nakabayashi and Ryo Taguchi with 16 goals.
The 2019 season was a breakthrough season for Kochi United. They won the Shikoku League for the third straight season with a 100% record and retained the Kochi Prefectural Football Championship, though they needed an extra-time winner to beat KUFC Nangoku in the final. In the first round proper they defeated MD Nagasaki (MDé·å´Â) at home 1âÂÂ0 in front of over 400 fans but lost 2âÂÂ1 away after extra time to V-Varen Nagasaki of J2 in the second round. They failed to qualify for the first round proper of the All Japan Senior Football Championship after losing in the regional playoffs to FC Tokushima. However, in the Japanese Regional Football League Competition, their luck changed. With home advantage in the group stages, they beat Blancdieu Hirosaki FC 2âÂÂ1 in their opening group game. In their second match, they thrashed SRC Hiroshima 7âÂÂ0 and although they lost the final group game 2âÂÂ0 to Ococias Kyoto AC, they still qualified for the final round. Things didn't look good when they lost the first game of the final stage 3âÂÂ0 to Iwaki FC, but they responded well in the second match with a 3âÂÂ1 victory over Fukui United FC. That meant they went into a winner-takes-all final match against Ococias Kyoto who they had lost to earlier on in the competition. This time, they emerged victorious with a stunning 3âÂÂ1 win to get their revenge and finish second in the competition, thus earning promotion to the Japan Football League; the first time a team from Kochi had achieved that feat.
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As of 2024 season.
Updated end of 2025 Season
Updated to 2025 season