We are inching ever so closer to the restart of the J2 with kickoff scheduled for the June 27/28 weekend. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the newly revamped schedule for FC Ryukyu. Also, in case you do not know, the J-League will not allow any fans inside the J2 grounds until after the July 11th set of fixtures (think that is right) and then there will be the hard limits of 5,000, or 50% of the stadium capacity moving forward. But that is still being debated among the powers to be in the J-League.
FC Ryukyu have 41 games left to play to close out the 2020 season (aka meet the sponsorship demands), provide a brief off-season for the players, and head into the 2021 campaign with training camps set to start in January 2021. It is hard to believe they haven’t played a competitive fixture in well over 120 days by the time they kick off against Avispa Fukuoka on 28 June, but that is the case.
“The Big Picture”
- FC Ryukyu will play 41 matches inside of 176 days for an average of 1 game every 4.3 days.
2. Since they played the opening fixture away to JEF Chiba UTD back in February, FC Ryukyu have 21 home games and 20 road matches remaining in 2020.
3. Those 41 matches broken down per month with the home and away splits indicated (H/A) are as follows: June-1 (1H), July-6 (3H/3A), August-7 (3H/4A), September-8 (4H/4A), October-6 (3H/3A), November-8 (3H/5A) and December-5 (4H/1A).
4. FC Ryukyu will play 13 of their 21 home matches on a weekend (roughly a 7/6 split between Saturday and Sunday depending on the flexible scheduling by the league near the end of the year) with the remaining 8 falling on a Wednesday evening.
5. FC Ryukyu will also play an even 7/6 split for their 13 weekend road games with only 7 road games occurring on a Wednesday night.
“The Long Winding Road”
6. FC Ryukyu’s Road fixtures that fall on a Wednesday night in order of farthest expected distance to be traveled: (1) Zweigen Kanazawa September 2nd , (2) Matsumoto Yamaga FC September 23rd , (3) Tochigi SC October 21st , (4) Mito Hollyhock December 16th , (5) Ventforet Kofu November 4th , (6) Jubilo Iwata November 25th and (7) Avispa Fukuoka November 11th.
7. FC Ryukyu have 6 instances where they play back-to-back road games; 2 of which occur in the month of November. Of those 6 instances, 3 have a break of only 3 days between games; Zweigen/Machida in September, Omiya/Kofu in November as well as Fukuoka/Nagasaki that same month.
“The Comforts of Home”
8. FC Ryukyu’s Home fixtures that fall on a Wednesday night in order of farthest distance traveled by their opponents: (1) Albirex Niigata September 30th, (2) Zweigen Kanazawa December 2nd, (3) Ventforet Kofu August 12th, (4) Tochigi SC August 19th, (5) Thespakusatsu Gunma October 14th, (6) Omiya Ardija September 9th, (7) Jubilo Iwata July 29th and (8) V-Varen Nagasaki on July 15th.
9. FC Ryukyu have 5 instances of back-to-back home games this year with two of those occurring in succession for an outstanding 4 home matches in a row between November 28th to December 13th (roughly 2 weeks).
“Of Note”
10. Out of FC Ryukyu’s 8 Wednesday Night opponents they face at home, only 1 (Kofu) has an away match the weekend prior. Jubilo and Nagasaki each have one after their mid-week match up against FC Ryukyu. Compared to their Wednesday opponents they face at home; FC Ryukyu have 2 instances of back to back away-away matches with the first match of the series falling on a weekend.
11. FC Ryukyu will play Jubilo Iwata, Ventforet Kofu, Zweigen Kanazawa and Tochigi SC only on Wednesday’s this year.
12. FC Ryukyu play 6 out of their final 8 fixtures at home in 2020.
“Estimated Toughest Stretch of Games based on last season’s finish and expected finish in 2020”
1. 09/09/2020-10/11/2020 (8 games in 4.5 weeks): Omiya (H), Kyoto (A), Mito (H), Matsumoto (A), JEF (H), Niigata (H), Tokushima (A) and Montedio (A).
2. 10/24/2020-11/04/2020 (3 games in 10 days): Kyoto (H), Omiya (A) and Kofu (A)
“Estimated Easiest Stretch of Games based on last season’s finish and expected finish in 2020”
1. 08/16/2020-08/19/2020: Gunma (A) and Tochigi (H)
My Thoughts
We should all be glad there is no relegation this season as these fixtures will certainly test the depth of the FC Ryukyu squad. The squad currently has 2 healthy strikers on the team. That means we will likely see some of our MFs playing the role of a “false-9” to spell the 2 strikers. Hopefully there are some loan signings the team can make throughout the season as we are approaching the summer transfer window because injuries and suspensions will crush this team. But you have to wonder if the larger J1 clubs, that usually loan players, may decide to hold onto them in the event they face the same situation in addition to the real possibility of players contracting COVID-19 and being forced to stay away from the team for an extended period of time.
Easing into the season is nice but the 15 games in August and September, in this Okinawa heat, may become a factor as far as fatigue for the players. On that note, the worst part of the schedule has to be November based on the 8 fixtures, of which 3 are road trips during the mid-week. Again, good thing relegation is off the table for 2020.
There are some limited opportunities for the club to cost costs during their road schedule if they opt to stay on mainland Japan between matches. There normal cost of lodging, transportation and food for the traveling element will increase based on the extra days spent on mainland but it may result in reduced injuries and fatigue to the players who have to board a plane every other day. This would also require some coordination with local municipalities for the use of a training ground while they are away from Okinawa. Professional NFL teams who travel from either coast of the U.S., and have consecutive games in those time zones, often due this to mitigate much of what is stated above (in addition for the players to adjust their internal clocks to times zones that are 3 hours apart).
The end of November and December sets up nicely for us to enjoy a run of 4 home games in a row as well as to close out the season in 2020 at home. If, and that is a huge IF at this point, FC Ryukyu somehow found their way into a promotion spot, that schedule would prove massive for the club.
In closing, I am looking forward to the restart of the season as I expect many of you are as well. Who knows what the future holds for the league, and whether or not COVID-19 will let us complete the 2020 season? In the meantime, enjoy the football we do have and I cannot wait to see how FC Ryukyu navigate this schedule in 2020.
Link to the new FC Ryukyu Schedule: http://fcryukyu.com/result/
ryukyuarmy.com 