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A ndre Zadorozny ,

April 7, 2015 Email

Andre Zadarozny

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Driving into the suburbs of Utsunomiya City, located in the southern part of Tochigi Prefecture, or two hours north from Tokyo, there is a definite industrial atmosphere. Tochigi Green Stadium is nestled between car manufacturers like Honda, and companies like Calbee, trees and grass separated by concrete. As most of Japan at this point of the season is being covered by plum and cherry blossoms, natural beauty seems late in coming around the stadium. Not all parking lots are created equal. Compared to trying to find parking around BMO Field, parking around Tochigi Green Stadium is easy; just park on any empty piece of grass you can find, and it’s free. The cloudiness of the day didn’t detract from the bright yellow fluorescence of the home jerseys entering the stadium mimicking the sun. Tochigi SC is a fairly new team, having only received J League status in 2007. The team has competed in the second division of Japanese football (J2) since 2009. The J2 season has just begun, starting on March 8th, but Tochigi needed a win having only taken 2 points from the past 3 games. Their opponents were the team from Shikoku island, Tokushima Vortis. Tokushima has been a J League member since 2004, according to its website, and have been competing mostly in J2. Although they did compete in J1 in the 2014 season, finishing last.

Tochigi Green Stadium is small and holds 15,589 people but the games attendance was only clocked in at 2,846. We stood in the home section and from where we stood it definitely looked like there were more people. To the right of us were the season ticket holders, an entire swath of the stadium which you needed a pass card to get into. Here the majority of the fans were sitting. Directly across from them was another wall of seating where non season ticket holders could enjoy the game. On the opposite end is the away section where a die hard contingent of Tokushima supporters chanted. Tokushima City is almost 9 hours by car from Tochigi Green Stadium.

Japanese soccer fans have one of the most vocal and loud fan bases in the world. Sitting in the home section the bright yellow jerseys, scarves and massive flags waved. The home fans yelled and chanted for their team practically the entire time. It rarely stopped. In such a small market like southern Tochigi the fact that such a small turn out of home fans could make it so loud and obnoxious for the visiting team is a testament to the power of this game. We were welcomed by the locals and many high fives were had when Tochigi scored. This was the first J2 game I have ever seen and one of the smallest markets I’ve ever been to. I have seen smaller teams compete against FC Tokyo but as they were J1 games more people attended since the competition was of a higher grade. Passion doesn’t stop at what division your team is in or where they are playing. I was impressed by the amount of loyalty and support both teams were getting. It is not uncommon to see travelling sections filled with away supporters even in the smallest of stadiums like this one. Tokushima supporters had their tifo’s out and made themselves heard. It was great to watch.

The game play was generally even and Tochigi were lucky to score early on. Tokushima pressed much more diligently than their opponents with the Tochigi defence being stretched a lot. Tokushima squandered their chances and Tochigi led 1-0 after the first half. Both teams defenders needed a lot of help and I’m surprised that the game was so low scoring. A couple of players stood out for me during the game, one of which was the Tokushima goalkeeper Toru Hasegawa who made some stunning saves in the second half to keep it 1-0. Sadly it was his error in a punch attempt to clear the ball late in the second half that cost Tokushima the second goal. The other Tokushima player who stood out was ex Colombian National team member Estevin, who has been a bit of a journeyman in Asia when he first started playing in Korea for Ulsun Hyundai in 2010. His pace on the ball was impressive and he had a great physical presence all day. The one thing which was lacking this day was a player who could change the game. Both teams relied much too heavily on the opposing teams individual errors. Tokushima’s late goal into injury time was just such an error, with the Tochigi defence finally making one too many mistakes letting Tomoyasu Hirose - super sub, pop in an open netter. Those final few minutes of extra time were nervy ones but Tochigi ended up winning the game 2-1. This win shoots them up to the middle of the table on 5 points in 11th, with Tokushima dropping down to 18th on 4 points.

Going to a Tochigi SC game as a tourist is not something I would recommend as it’s supremely difficult to get to the stadium unless you have a car. Although it is worth it if you happen to live in the upper Kanto or are coming from any of the surrounding prefectures such as Ibaraki, Saitama, or Tochigi Prefecture itself. You are spoiled for choice in Japan if you are a neutral supporter as there are now three divisions to pick and choose from so you can go anywhere in Japan to see a game. This was a great way to spend an early Sunday afternoon and is a beautiful part of the country to visit. The links below, except for the J League main website, are all in Japanese but Google Translate can help a bit. Vortis.jp Tochigisc.jp Tochigi Stadium

