is a Japanese professional football club based in Nagasaki, Capital of Nagasaki Prefecture. They will be competing in the J1 League, Japan’s top-tier professional football league, starting in the 2026–27 season after securing promotion from J2 in 2025.
History The club was established in 1985 as Ariake SC until the club decided to merge with Kunimi FC in 2004. The merger led the club to adopt the new name V-Varen Nagasaki in 2005, which has been used ever since.
V-Varen Nagasaki, since 2006, had been contending for the Kyūshū Soccer League championship and thus a place in the Japan Football League, but they only won it in November 2008, as second place in the Regional League promotion series.
In January 2009, they applied for J. League Associate Membership and their application was accepted at the J. League board meeting in February. In 2012, they won the Japan Football League title and thus promotion to the J. League Division 2. Five years later they won promotion to the J1 League for the first time after finishing runners-up in the 2017 season.
J. League: 2013 – In preparation for the club's first season in the J. League Division 2 the club hired local-born Takuya Takagi as their coach for the season. On 3 March 2013 V-Varen Nagasaki played in their first ever J. League Division 2 match against Fagiano Okayama at the Kanko Stadium in Okayama in which the club drew the match 1–1 with Kōichi Satō scoring the first J. League Division 2 goal for V-Varen Nagasaki in the 25th minute. The club then played their first home match in the J. League Division 2 on 10 March 2013 at the Nagasaki Athletic Stadium against former J. League champions Gamba Osaka in which V-Varen Nagasaki lost 3–1 in front of a huge crowd of 18,153.
The club gained promotion into the J. League Division 2 in 2012 for the first time in their history after finishing as the champions in the 2012 Japan Football League and hired Nagasaki native Takuya Takagi to coach the club for the 2013 season.
On 11 November 2017, the club clinched promotion to the J1 League for the first time in their history after a 3–1 home win over Kamatamare Sanuki.
On 29 November 2025, the club secure promotion to J1 League after draw 1–1 against Tokushima Vortis in final matchweek at away game and return to top tier after six years absence.
Financial troubles After facing dire financial difficulties, on 8 March 2017 the club was purchased by Japanet Holdings, the parent company of Japanese television shopping giant Japanet Takata Co., Ltd., becoming a fully owned subsidiary. Japanet have invested significant sums into the club, securing promotion to the top tier of Japanese football and publishing plans to build a new football-specific stadium on the former site of Mitsubishi's Nagasaki shipbuilding operations, which opened in 2024.
Club name The "V" in the club's name comes from the Portuguese word vitória (meaning 'victory') as well as the Dutch word vrede (meaning 'peace'), while varen is the Dutch verb meaning 'to sail', relating to Nagasaki's heritage as port of call of Portuguese and Dutch traders during the Sakoku period in the Tokugawa shogunate (see Dejima).
V-Varen Nagasaki unveiled a new club logo ahead of the 2025 season.
Stadium Their stadium, the Peace Stadium Connected by SoftBank, started construction in downtown Nagasaki in June 2022, and was completed in September 2024. The club played the first competitive match in the new stadium on October 6, 2024, beating Oita Trinita 4-1. SoftBank signed a partnership with V-Varen for 4 years.
V-Varen Nagasaki previously used the Transcosmos Stadium Nagasaki as its home stadium until the end of September 2024.
League and cup record ChampionsRunners-upThird placePromotedRelegated League J LeagueCup Emperor'sCupSeason Div Teams Pos. P W D L F A GD Pts Attendance/G 2008Kyushu 18 2nd 18 14 1 (1) 2 76 10 66 46 Not eligible Did not qualify2009JFL 11th 34 12 8 14 38 43 –5 44 2,763 Second round20105th 34 15 8 11 50 38 12 53 2,525 Second round201133 15 11 7 61 44 17 56 1,513 Second round201217 1st 34 20 7 5 57 24 33 67 3,656 Second round2013J2 22 6th 42 19 9 14 48 40 8 66 6,167 Second round201414th 42 12 16 14 45 42 3 52 4,839 Round of 1620156th 42 15 15 12 42 33 9 60 4,931 Second round201615th42 10 17 15 39 51 –12 47 5,225 Second round20172nd 42 24 8 10 59 41 18 80 5,941 Second round2018J1 18 18th 34 8 6 20 39 59 –20 30 11,225 Group stage Third round2019J2 22 12th 42 17 5 20 57 61 –4 56 7,737 Not eligible Semi-finals2020 †3rd 42 23 11 8 66 39 27 80 3,714 Did not qualify2021 †4th 42 23 9 10 69 44 25 78 4,956 Fourth round202211th 42 15 11 16 50 54 –4 56 5,061 Round of 1620237th 42 18 11 13 70 56 14 65 7,300 Second round202420 3rd 38 2112 5 74 39 36 759,814 Playoff roundRound of 1620252nd 38 19 13 6 63 44 19 70 15,877 Second roundThird round2026J1 10 TBD18 N/A N/A2026–2720 TBD 38 TBD TBD Key Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points gained Attendance/G = Average home league attendance † 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced by COVID-19 pandemic
Honours +V-Varen Nagasaki honoursHonour No. YearsJapan Football League12012Kyushu Soccer League12006Nagasaki Prefectural Football Championship Emperor's Cup Nagasaki Prefectural Qualifiers62006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Current squad
Out on loan
Coaching staff 2025 Official club staff.
Notice of Coach Yusuke Murakami's retirement. Position Staff nameManager Takuya TakagiHead coach Ryotaro TanakaCoaches Akira Ito Naoyuki SaitoGoalkeeper coach Takanori MiyoshiAnalytic coach Yukimura YoshizawaChief physical coach Daiki MakinoPhysical coach Keita KikuchiInterpreter Jefferson Youei Tonaki Tetsuya OzawaChief trainer Takeshi MochizukiTrainers Akira Migitaka Yujiro Sakae Hiroaki ShibataChief manager Takashi YonetaniGeneral manager Toshiya WadaKit man Keita Kusunoki
Managerial history Manager Nationality Tenure Start Finish Fumiaki Iwamoto 1 February 2005 31 January 2008Yoshinori Higashikawa 1 February 2008 13 June 2009Takeshi Okubo 4 June 2009 30 June 2009Fumiaki Iwamoto 1 July 2009 31 January 2010Tōru Sano 1 February 2010 31 January 2013Takuya Takagi 1 February 2013 31 January 2019Makoto Teguramori 1 February 2019 31 January 2021Takayuki Yoshida 1 February 2021 3 May 2021Kazuki Satō 4 May 2021 6 May 2021Hiroshi Matsuda 4 May 2021 12 June 2022Takeo Harada (caretaker)13 June 2022 30 June 2022Fábio Carille 1 July 2022 31 December 2023Takahiro Shimotaira 1 February 202417 June 2025 Takuya Takagi 22 June 2025present
Kit evolution Home kits - 1st Away kits - 2nd Alternative kits - 3rd
References
External links