Kashima Antlers

Football club infobox
clubname = Kashima Antlers
鹿島アントラーズ


fullname = Kashima Antlers F.C.
nickname = Antlers
founded = 1947
ground = Kashima Stadium
Kashima, Ibaraki
capacity = 39,026 [ [http://www.fussballtempel.net/afc/listeafc.html www.fussballtempel.net] ]
chairman = Hiroshi Ushijima
manager = Oswaldo de Oliveira
league = J. League Div.1
season = 2007
position = Champions
pattern_la1=_black_hoops|pattern_b1=_blackhoops|pattern_ra1=_black_hoops
leftarm1=C80815|body1=C80815|rightarm1=C80815|shorts1=000000|socks1=C80815
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=dddddd|body2=dddddd|rightarm2=dddddd|shorts2=dddddd|socks2=dddddd

nihongo|Kashima Antlers|鹿島アントラーズ|Kashima Antorāzu is a professional football team playing in the Japanese J. League. "Antlers" is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island".

Since the J-League's creation in 1993, Kashima have proved by far Japan's most successful club team, having won the league title five times, the J. League Cup three times and the Emperor's Cup three times. Indeed, Antlers have finished in the top five of J1 for over 70% of all seasons played to date. By clinching the 2007 J. League title they became the first team in Japan to have won 10 domestic titles, and later the same year they completed their second league and cup double after claiming the Emperor's Cup title. Antlers are also one of only six teams to have competed in Japan's top flight of football every year since its inception.

Overview

Founded in 1947 as Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. in Osaka. It played in the semi-professional Japan Soccer League and moved to Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture in 1975. They were promoted to the JSL's top flight in 1984, but never made much of an impact, going down in 1985/86, returning in 1986/87 and going down again in 1988/89. Its last standing in the JSL was 2nd in the Second Division for 1991/92.

After the formation of the fully professional J. League, Sumitomo, like all other clubs, stripped the corporate brand from the team name and reformed as the Kashima Antlers. Kashima was essentially promoted to the new top flight, as many JSL First Division teams decided to relegate themselves being unprepared for professionalism.

Since the J. League's creation in 1993, Kashima Antlers have consistently been amongst the strongest teams in the country, holding several distinctions and records. Led by former Brazilian star and Japanese national team coach Zico, Kashima were the first team to win a J. League stage, claiming the 1st stage of the inaugural season in 1993, and in 2000 became the first J. League team to achieve the "treble", winning all three major titles: J. League, J. League Cup, and Emperor's Cup. This followed a near miss in 1997 when, after being the first team to win both cup competitions, they finished second in the league. In 2007 Antlers became only the second team to win a second league and cup double, and in doing so took their domestic trophy total to eleven; the highest in Japan, and the first team to reach double figures.

To this day, Kashima have maintained strong ties with the football community in Brazil, a fact borne out of Zico's past affiliation with the club. Kashima's Brazilian connection manifests itself in the club's transfer policy: Kashima have never signed a non-Brazilian foreign player since the inception of the J. League.

Its hometowns are Kashima, Itako, Hasaki and Kamisu, all in Ibaraki Prefecture. The team plays at Kashima Stadium.

Kashima is no longer primarily sponsored by Sumitomo, currently bearing the logo of Tostem, a glass window maker.

Players

Current squad

"As of July 6, 2008"

Notable players

;fb|JPN
* Yutaka Akita
* Yoshiyuki Hasegawa
* Tomoyuki Hirase
* Yasuto Honda
* Tatsuya Ishikawa
* Hisashi Kurosaki
* Koji Nakata
* Akira Narahashi
* Ryuzo Morioka
* Masashi Motoyama
* Mitsuo Ogasawara
* Shunzo Ono
* Hitoshi Sogahata
* Naoki Soma
* Takayuki Suzuki
* Daijiro Takakuwa
* Atsuto Uchida
* Atsushi Yanagisawa;fb|BRA
* Alcindo
* Alex Mineiro
* Bebeto
* Bismarck
* Fábio Júnior
* Jorginho
* Leonardo
* Milton da Cruz
* Mozer
* Santos
* Zico

Managers

Honours

*All Japan Vase
**Winners (1): 1972
*Japan Soccer League Division 2
**Champions (2): 1984, 1986/87
*J. League Championships:
**Champions (5): 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2007
**Runners-up (2): 1993, 1997
*Emperor's Cup:
**Winners (3): 1997, 2000, 2007
*J. League Cup:"'
**Winners (3): 1997, 2000, 2002
**Runners Up (3): 1999, 2003, 2006,
*Xerox Super Cup:"'
**Winners (3): 1997, 1998, 1999
**Runners Up (3): 2001, 2002, 2008
*A3 Mazda Champions Cup:
**Winners (1): 2003

References

External links

*jp icon [http://www.so-net.ne.jp/antlers/index.html Official Site]
*en icon [http://www.so-net.ne.jp/antlers/english/ Official Site]

Kashima Antlers Squad
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J. League
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Original J. League clubs
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AFC Champions League 2008