Mito HollyHock (水戸ホーリーホック, Mito Hōrīhokku) is a Japanese professional football (soccer) club located in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. The team currently playing in the J2 League, Japanese second tier of professional football.
 | |||
| Full name | Football Club Mito HollyHock Ibaraki | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | HollyHock, FC Mito, Mitochan | ||
| Founded | 1994; 30 years ago (1994) | ||
| Stadium | K's denki Stadium Mito Mito, Ibaraki | ||
| Capacity | 12,000 | ||
| Chairman | Kunio Numata | ||
| Manager | Naoki Mori | ||
| League | J2 League | ||
| 2023 | J2 League, 17th of 22 | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
| |||
 Current season | |||
Its nickname "HollyHock" derives from the family crest of the Tokugawa clan who governed from Mito in the Edo period.
The club was founded in 1990 as Prima Aseno FC by the factory workers of Prima Ham (a food company) in Tsuchiura. It changed its name to Prima Ham FC Tsuchiura and gained promotion to the Japan Football League after finishing as runner-up in the 1996 Regional League play-off. It merged with FC Mito (founded in 1994) and re-branded itself as Mito HollyHock before the start of the 1997 season when Prima Ham decided to discontinue its financial support to the club.
Mito's application to play in the inaugural 1999 season of J. League Division 2 was initially turned down due to financial unstability, and low home attendance at their stadium. However, after finishing 3rd in the Japan Football League in 1999, and having an increasing stadium attendance, the club was invited into the J. League in 2000.
Mito HollyHock also fields teams in e-sports and in Ice Hockey[1] (Ibaraki Prefectural League).
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
| League | J. League Cup |
Emperor's Cup | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Div. | Teams | Pos. | P | W(OTW / PKW) | D | L(OTL / PKL) | F | A | GD | Pts | Attendance/G | ||
| 1997 | Old JFL | 16 | 16th | 30 | 3(1) | - | 26 | 24 | 69 | -45 | 10 | Not eligible | 2nd round | |
| 1998 | 16 | 14th | 30 | 7(1) | - | 22 | 37 | 69 | -32 | 23 | 3rd round | |||
| 1999 | New JFL | 9 | 3rd | 24 | 13(3) | 0 | 8(0) | 48 | 32 | 16 | 45 | 891 | 3rd round | |
| 2000 | J2 | 10 | 9th | 40 | 9(6) | 4 | 19(2) | 37 | 61 | -24 | 43 | 2,021 | 1st round | 3rd round |
| 2001 | 12 | 11th | 44 | 5(3) | 4 | 26(6) | 41 | 93 | -52 | 25 | 1,559 | 1st round | 3rd round | |
| 2002 | 12 | 10th | 44 | 11 | 7 | 26 | 45 | 73 | -28 | 40 | 2,739 | Not eligible | 3rd round | |
| 2003 | 12 | 7th | 44 | 15 | 11 | 18 | 37 | 41 | -4 | 56 | 3,085 | 3rd round | ||
| 2004 | 12 | 9th | 44 | 6 | 19 | 19 | 33 | 60 | -27 | 37 | 3,773 | 4th round | ||
| 2005 | 12 | 10th | 44 | 13 | 13 | 18 | 41 | 57 | -16 | 52 | 3,334 | 4th round | ||
| 2006 | 13 | 10th | 48 | 14 | 9 | 25 | 48 | 69 | -21 | 51 | 3,017 | 3rd round | ||
| 2007 | 13 | 12th | 48 | 8 | 10 | 30 | 32 | 70 | -38 | 34 | 2,415 | 4th round | ||
| 2008 | 15 | 11th | 42 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 52 | 70 | -18 | 47 | 3,044 | 4th round | ||
| 2009 | 18 | 8th | 51 | 21 | 10 | 20 | 70 | 79 | -9 | 73 | 2,673 | 2nd round | ||
| 2010 | 19 | 16th | 36 | 8 | 14 | 14 | 29 | 45 | -16 | 38 | 3,608 | 3rd round | ||
| 2011 | 20 | 17th | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 40 | 49 | -9 | 42 | 3,349 | 4th round | ||
| 2012 | 22 | 13th | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 47 | 49 | -2 | 56 | 3,973 | 3rd round | ||
| 2013 | 22 | 15th | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 50 | 58 | -8 | 55 | 4,630 | 3rd round | ||
| 2014 | 22 | 15th | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 50 | 4,734 | 3rd round | ||
| 2015 | 22 | 19th | 42 | 10 | 16 | 16 | 40 | 47 | -7 | 46 | 4,816 | 4th round | ||
| 2016 | 22 | 13th | 42 | 10 | 18 | 14 | 45 | 49 | -4 | 48 | 5,365 | 2nd round | ||
| 2017 | 22 | 14th | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 45 | 48 | -3 | 54 | 4,931 | 2nd round | ||
| 2018 | 22 | 10th | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 48 | 46 | 2 | 57 | 4,938 | 3rd round | ||
| 2019 | 22 | 7th | 42 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 56 | 37 | 19 | 70 | 6,087 | 3rd round | ||
| 2020 † | 22 | 9th | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 68 | 62 | 6 | 58 | 2,018 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2021 † | 22 | 10th | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 59 | 50 | 9 | 59 | 2,696 | 2nd round | ||
| 2022 | 22 | 13th | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 47 | 46 | -1 | 54 | 3,140 | 2nd round | ||
| 2023 | 22 | 17th | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 49 | 66 | -17 | 47 | 3,726 | 3rd round | ||
| 2024 | 20 | TBA | 38 | First round | 3rd round | |||||||||
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Kantō Soccer League | 1 | 1995 |
| Shakaijin Cup | 1 | 1995 |
As of 2 July 2024.[2] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Naoki Mori
|
| Assistant manager | Yoshitaka Yasuda Daisuke Kimori
|
| Analyst & First-team coach | Ryosuke Sato
|
| Development coach | Naoki Mori
|
| Goalkeeper coach | Takahiro Kono
|
| Analyst | Tsukasa Takahashi
|
| Physical coach | Yuki Nakamura
|
| Chief trainer | Tatsuya Doi
|
| Trainer | Takahiro Yamada
|
| Physiotherapist | Toru Yaguchi
|
| Equipment manager | Shunki Iwata Yoshifumi Yoshida
|
| Competent | Hiromitsu Nonaka
|
| Manager | Nationality | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | ||
| Gert Engels |  Germany |
1 July 1990 | 30 January 1993 |
| Yuji Nakano | Japan |
1 January 1992 | 31 December 1997 |
| Toshiya Miura | Japan |
1 February 1998 | 31 January 1999 |
| Branko Babić |  Serbia |
1 January 2000 | 31 December 2000 |
| Hiroshi Kobayashi | Japan |
1 February 2001 | 16. July 2001 |
| Masaaki Kanno | Japan |
17 July 2001 | 31 January 2003 |
| Hideki Maeda | Japan |
1 January 2003 | 31 December 2007 |
| Takashi Kiyama | Japan |
1 February 2008 | 31 January 2011 |
| Tetsuji Hashiratani | Japan |
1 February 2011 | 7 June 2015 |
| Takayuki Nishigaya | Japan |
27 June 2015 | 31 January 2018 |
| Shigetoshi Hasebe | Japan |
1 February 2018 | 31 January 2020 |
| Tadahiro Akiba | Japan |
1 February 2020 | 31 January 2023 |
| Yoshimi Hamasaki[3] | Japan |
1 February 2023 | 4 May 2024[4] |
| Naoki Mori | Japan |
9 May 2024 | current |
| Home Jersey | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 - 2002 |
2003 - 2004 |
2005 |
2006 - 2007 |
2008 - 2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 - |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 - |
| Away Jersey | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 - 2002 |
2003 - 2005 |
2006 - 2007 |
2008 - 2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 - | |
