is a Japanese football club based in Kumamoto, the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture. The club set to play in J3 League from 2026–27, Japanese third tier of professional league football after relegation from J2 League in 2025.
Name origin Roasso is a portmanteau of the Italian words rosso and asso, meaning "red ace".
History Early years (1969–2004)
The club was founded as the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (Den-Den Kōsha, current NTT) Kumamoto Soccer Club in 1969. The club was promoted to the Kyushu Soccer League in 1983.
According to the NTT's privatization in 1985, the club was renamed as NTT Kyushu Soccer Club in 1988. During the NTT Kyushu era, the club won five Kyushu Soccer League titles and one All Japan Senior Football Championship. The club changed their name again to NTT Kumamoto Football Club in 2000.
The club changed their name to NTT West Kumamoto Football Club in 2001 as the NTT was divided into NTT East and NTT West. The club was promoted to the JFL in 2000 after finishing 3rd in 24th JFL Promotion Tournament. The NTT relinquished the ownership of the club in 2002 and community oriented Alouette Kumamoto Football Club was born. Alouette is a French word meaning skylark, the bird of Kumamoto Prefecture. The club finished at the 17th in this season and was relegated to the Kyushu Soccer League.
Roasso Kumamoto (2005–) The club name was changed again to Rosso Kumamoto in 2005. Rosso means red in Italian. After they won the Kyushu Soccer League and finished at the 3rd in the Regional League play-off tournament, the club was promoted to the JFL.
The club was recently featured in J.League program to introduce the club to followers of the professional league. Rosso's second-place finish in the 2007 JFL season was enough to earn promotion into the J.League (J2 League) for the 2008 season.
The club changed their name to current Roasso Kumamoto in 2008. The previous name Rosso was a registered trademark of another company, so the club could not use it due to a risk of copyright infringement.
After 11 years spent in the J2 League, Kumamoto was relegated to the J3 League on 2018.
After three years at J3 League, Kumamoto returned to J2, after being promoted as the J3 champions in 2021, just a point ahead of Iwate Grulla Morioka in the league table.
In 2022, Kumamoto finished in 4th place with 67 points and advanced to J1 promotion/relegation playoffs after an arguably surprising performance in the 2022 J2 League. Roasso played against the 5th and 4th-placed teams of the J2 season, Oita Trinita and Montedio Yamagata, in matches that ended 1–1 and 2–2, respectively. As the league gave the advantage for the higher-placed team in the league standings to qualify for the next round, Roasso were able to qualify for the play-off finals, despite not winning any match. This time, Kyoto Sanga, as the J1 League team in question, earned the seeding advantage, meaning that Roasso needed to win this match in order to earn promotion. The match ended in a 1–1 draw and Roasso were not promoted for the J1. In 2025, Roasso Kumamoto were relegated to the J3 League for the next season after finishing 18th, with a draw in their final game of the season, ending their three-year stay in the second tier.
Rivalries The traditional rival of Roasso Kumamoto is Kagoshima United, the prefectural neighbours and former Kyushu Soccer League fellows since 1983 until 2005, except 2001–2002. Matches between the two clubs are labelled Hisatsu derby (肥薩ダービー, "Kumamoto-Kagoshima derby") and generate a lot of interest in both prefectures.
League & cup record ChampionsRunners-upThird placePromotedRelegated League J.LeagueCup Emperor'sCupSeason Div. Tier Teams Pos. P W (PK)D L (PK)F A GD Pts Attendance/Gas Alouette Kumamoto2002Japan Football League 3 18 17th 17 3 4 10 16 28 -12 13 672 Not eligible 3rd round2003Kyushu Soccer League 4 12 5th 22 11 (3) - 6 (2) 47 35 12 41 - 1st round200410 4th 18 10 (0) - 7 (1) 63 38 5 31 - 3rd roundas Rosso Kumamoto2005Kyushu Soccer League4 10 1st 18 15 (0) - 1 (2) 45 11 34 47 - Not eligible1st round2006Japan Football League 3 18 5th 34 20 6 8 64 39 25 66 3,765 3rd round200718 2nd 34 21 6 7 65 34 31 69 3,569 1st roundas Roasso Kumamoto2008J2 League 2 15 12th 42 10 13 19 46 72 −26 43 5,279 Not eligible3rd round200918 14th 51 12 11 25 66 82 −16 58 6,006 2nd round201019 7th 36 14 12 10 39 43 −4 54 6,907 3rd round201120 11th 38 13 12 13 33 44 −11 51 6,928 2nd round201222 14th 42 15 10 17 40 48 −8 55 5,855 4th round201322 19th 42 10 13 19 40 70 −30 43 6,228 3rd round201422 13th 42 13 15 14 45 53 −8 54 7,002 2nd round201522 13th 42 13 14 15 42 45 −3 53 7,037 3rd round201622 16th 42 12 10 20 38 53 −15 46 5,543 2nd round201722 21st 42 9 10 23 36 59 −23 37 6,557 3rd round201822 21st 42 9 7 26 50 79 −29 34 5,269 2nd round2019J3 League 3 18 5th 34 16 9 9 45 39 6 575,533 2nd round2020 †18 8th 34 16 6 12 56 47 9 541,422 Did not qualify2021 †15 1st 28 15 9 4 39 20 19 54 3,342 2nd round2022J2 League 2 22 4th 42 18 13 11 58 48 10 67 4,039 3rd round202322 14th 42 13 10 19 52 53 −1 49 6,278 Semi-finals202420 12th 38 13 7 18 53 62 -9 46 9,814 2nd round 2nd round202518th 38 9 10 19 41 57 -16 37 6,700 1st round 3rd round2026J3 3 10 TBD 18 N/A N/A2026-2720 TBD 38 TBD TBD Key
Honours +Roasso Kumamoto honoursHonour No. YearsKyushu Soccer League71991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2005All Japan Senior Football Championship21998, 2005 (shared)J3 League12021
League history Regional (Kyushu): 1983–2000 Division 3 (JFL): 2001–2002 Regional (Kyushu): 2003–2005 Division 3 (JFL): 2006–2007 Division 2 (J2): 2008–2018 Division 3 (J3): 2019–2021 Division 2 (J2): 2022–
Current squad
Out on loan
Coaching staff Name RoleManager Takeshi OkiAssistant manager Chikara FujimotoCoach Yasushi Takahashi Shinya MasushimaGoalkeeper coach Ryuichi ItoChief trainer Ryoichi YamamotoAthletic trainer Shumpei KawamuraPhysiotherapist Keigo ManabePhysical advisor Fumihiko NagasakiCompetent Satoshi SekigamiSide affairs Taichi Nakayama Kenta Shioikawa
Managerial history Manager Nationality Tenure Start Finish Tomoyoshi Ikeya 1 February 2005 31 January 2009Makoto Kitano 1 February 2009 31 January 2010Takuya Takagi 1 February 2010 31 January 2013Yasushi Yoshida 1 February 2013 10 July 2013Tomoyoshi Ikeya 10 July 2013 31 January 2014Takeshi Ono 1 February 2014 25 November 2015Hiroyuki Kiyokawa 28 November 2015 14 June 2017Tomoyoshi Ikeya 14 June 2017 31 January 2018Hiroki Shibuya 1 February 2018 31 January 2020Takeshi Ōki 1 February 2020 31 December 2026Tomohiro Katanosaka 1 January 2026 Current
Kit and colours Colour, sponsors and manufacturers Roasso Kumamoto's club colour is red, representing burning passion and desire for victory. Season(s)Main Shirt SponsorCollarbone SponsorAdditional Sponsor(s)Kit Manufacturer2018Hirata-MynaviShiratake (1st)Shiratake White (2nd)Kumamoto Electric Power-Puma2019サトウロジック2020Shiratake (1st)Shiratake White (2nd)--20212022RKKCSOut-Sourcing Technology2023Higo Bank-2024Hirata-Shiratake (1st)Shiratake White (2nd)- Admiral Sportswear2025
Kit evolution Home Kit- 1st
Away Kit - 2nd
Special - 3rd Kit
Past seasons Shota Aizawa (2020)
References
External links