Introduction
Greetings. It has been sometime since I’ve written anything concerning football on the island of Okinawa. Dismayed by poor performances by FC Ryukyu, strange decisions by the management, and just the general direction the club was headed really took its toll on me and my willingness to write about a club I love dearly. But, I’ve been rejuvenated as of late. Though it has nothing to do with FC Ryukyu, but rather another club on Okinawa that I’ve grown very found of the last three years. Okinawa SV.
Bottom Line Up Front
20,000 spectators by seasons end, possibly averaging 2,000 fans per home game to secure promotion to J3 if OSV finds themselves in a place to be promoted.
OSV are a long way away from being promoted as the 2024 campaign has just recently started, but the statement above is pretty much factual in that despite any success on the pitch from Okinawa SV this year, promotion is not guaranteed without the above threshold set forth by the J-league.
So what do they, we, require? Simply put, you. You the citizens of Okinawa and Japan, you the lovers of football, and you the potential supporters from around the globe to help usher in what could be a historic moment for the island of Okinawa: two (2) Okinawa based football clubs plying their trade within the top three tiers of Japanese football. This means we need to attend as many OSV home games as possible (there are 14 left this season), and purchasing goods from their website or at those home matches.
I realize this is no easy task for OSV, or even an ask from all of you since many of us that support (or did support) FC Ryukyu went through these same growing pains starting eleven (11) or even longer (20) years ago. But this is the reality facing OSV and similar to why I started this blog about FC Ryukyu five years ago (strangely after their third ever game in J2 like OSV this year) I want to do my part to increase the exposure of Okinawa SV.
A Very Brief History about Okinawa SV
Founded in 2015 by Naohiro Takahara, OSV played their first competitive matches starting in 2016. The club truly has experienced some great runs of success finishing at, or near the top of many of the leagues they’ve featured in. 2021 saw Okinawa SV make it to the regional playoffs where they fell just short of promotion to the JFL. 2022 saw OSV advance through those playoffs and into the JFL for the first time.
The 2023 JFL campaign was an interesting one for sure. Okinawa SV struggled for goals and results, and despite a late season resurgence, found themselves in the promotion/relegation battle with Vonds Ichihara from the Japanese Regional League.
Though FC Ryukyu have played some meaningful games the past five seasons, and one could argue their bid to stave of relegation in 2022 had plenty of meaningful games, the match versus Vonds Ichihara for Okinawa SV had a totally different feeling and atmosphere than many games I’ve watched for Ryukyu. The weather was terrible, the result was not. Okinawa SV managed to avoid relegation and remain in the JFL for at least one more season.
One side note about the 2023 season was being able to witness the first ever (I say that knowing that FC Ryukyu had faced OSV and Kaiho Bank in previous Emperors Cup/friendly matches before) derby between two Okinawa Clubs in the top 4 tiers of Japanese football. That was a great day and one in which, as a fan of Okinawa football, you came out a winner no matter what.
The end of the 2023 season also saw the official retirement of two players who regularly featured for Okinawa SV: Naohiro Takahara & Naoya Okane. To be fair, I’ve only recently started following Okinawa SV and there is much more information about the club on their official web site as well as transfermarkt.
What’s Next?
I hope to write about Okinawa SV as much as I can and hope that in no small way I may influence others to support the club. I am definitely not the head supporter of Okinawa SV. That distinction belongs to a woman, who I do not know personally, but have seen at every home game, and whom I’ve heard travels from Tokyo to attend every (I mean every) Okinawa SV match. That is the type of support and dedication from a supporter that most Football clubs could only dream about.
I am not sure if/when I’ll write about FC Ryukyu as for now my focus is on the cause of Okinawa SV. A worthy cause as well since they look so much better this season and are having some early season success. Perhaps it is the fact that I never supported FC Ryukyu during their early days in the lower tiers, or the overall approach to growing a football club that Okinawa SV seems to portray that FC Ryukyu has seemingly lost these past few years.
I am not giving up on FC Ryukyu, or at the very least, wishing to have my loyalties tested if these two clubs were to be direct competitors in the J3. Though that is a good problem to have later on down the line. Instead, I will continue to support both clubs with the hope that each achieves levels of success that would be unprecedented for Okinawa. And therefore I will provide as much pre/post match information as I can for Okinawa SV.
Luckily we can all watch Okinawa SV on the JFL YouTube channel without a paid subscription. Granted, there is no commentary, replays, or highlights but that seems Ok for the moment. At least we have the ability to watch Okinawa SV in their early days compared to that of FC Ryukyu in the years prior to DAZN where we were left refreshing the screen every couple of minutes for updates on scores.
Thank you for your time and support.
ryukyuarmy.com 