There are a few times in the world of sport where one must sit back and admire the achievements of sports franchises even if they are not the one you support. There are all sorts of remarkable achievements such as winning the most titles in the history of a particular sport, winning multiple titles in consecutive seasons and pulling off some ridiculous winning streaks. The latter is the one I want to focus on for today’s entry because it should be near and dear to all FCR fan’s hearts. FCR has now positioned itself to once again to etch its name into the J League history books for the second consecutive week.
FCR currently sits atop of the J2 table with a 24-game J League home unbeaten streak dating back to the 2017 J3 League season. Some may argue that a majority of those games were against lesser competition but I would counter that by saying you can only play the competition in front of you. As a side note, this streak is only for the J League since FCR has lost their initial Emperor’s Cup match at home the past 2 seasons but that discussion is for a later time, for now, let’s focus on the achievement and special moments to date for this record.
The Start: September 30th 2017, special moment indeed as this is my birthday, but seriously FCR faced off against the Under-23 Cerezo Osaka side. The match ended 1-0 after and absolutely top drawer take by # 10 Tomidokoro in the 48’ where he received the ball near the top of the box and sent a beautiful curler around the left side of the keeper. A familiar face was in the lineup that day besides Tomidokoro as Keita Tanaka made his return to FCR on loan from Mito-Hollyhock.
FCR would then go on to earn consecutive draws against Morioka and FC Tokyo Under-23s, a win against YSCC, draw with Tochigi and finally a win against Kattaler Toyoma on the final match day of the season. Streak started out with 3 wins and 2 draws for 2017.
2018: The streak continued in the opening match of the season with a 4-3 win against Kattaler Toyoma and this was a great match. FCR were up 3-0 at halftime with goals by Yu Togashi, Nakagawa and Uejo and they were cruising. However, the game took an interesting turn at the end as Toyoma made a serious push with 2 late goals to bring the score to 4-3 but it was Uejo’s second goal of the day that proved to be the difference.
Okinawa Ozzy Loses His Cool: There were two matches early on in this streak that really struck a nerve with me as a massive fan of the club because I viewed those matches as must wins. First, FCR squared off against Gainare Tottori, who at the time looked to be one of the stronger teams in the early part of the 2018 J3 League season. I viewed this as a “statement” game that if FCR were serious about doing anything for the season (apparently there were as history has shown) then they needed to assert themselves in this match. FCR twice took the lead against Tottori but it was a goal in the 2nd minute of stoppage time that ended the match in a draw. Now, I wasn’t that upset but slightly disappointed. It was the following match were I kind of had a momentary lapse in judgement due to circumstances beyond my control.
Match Day 6 of 2018 saw FCR taking on the Under-23 Cerezo Osaka team. I viewed this match, along with all under-23 matches that season, as must wins and surely FCR with their players should get the job done against some youngsters. Well the Bengara Boys were done in by another late goal in the 88’ and thus the game ended in a draw. I couldn’t believe that we had only taken 2 points, out of a possible 6, from games that I thought we should’ve won. Had we won the game against U23 Cerezo Osaka I probably wouldn’t have lost it like I did when the team came over to the supporter section after the match to say thanks. I am not proud of my antics, but as passionate fans, we can get very emotional at times. Once the team was in ear shot, I yelled out “that’s not good enough” (there may have been some profanity in there as well), followed by a resounding, “you better fix that crap (not the exact word I used) at the back!” Of course, the team kindly smiled and ignored those remarks and went about their business.
Now, maybe my motivational speech at the end of the match sparked something or likelier the squad just got better and began to assert their dominance in the J3. Starting with the next home match against U23 Gamba Osaka on Match Day 9, FCR went on a serious unbeaten streak (home and away) that saw them shoot up to the top of the table. FCR would win or draw 13 matches in a row and didn’t lose again until September 15th to of all squads, the U23 Gamba Osaka squad who started them on the streak. From there FCR went on to win or draw another 7 games in a row with the 7th being the most memorable.
History: Match Day 30, November 3rd 2018. A date that will forever be etched into the history of FCR. The boys squared off against Thespakusatsu Gunma with a chance to lift the J3 title in front of crowd of around 8,000. This was the best atmosphere the boys played in all season at home, and you know what, they responded magnificently (HINT, HINT! FANS = MOTIVATION FOR FCR). It was dream start for FCR as they quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead with goals by who other than Nakagawa and Togashi with a third by Wada by the 50th minute. At this point I just wanted the ref to blow that final whistle but things of course got a little interesting near the end. Gunma pegged one back in the 66th minute to make it 3-1 but FCR quickly responded with a goal in the 66th minute by Nakagawa (miss that dude so much, what a player). Despite Gunma adding a late goal in the 86th minute the game was out of reach and the boys lifted the shield in very dramatic fashion.
The remainder of the 2018 season saw FCR losing 2 of their 3 matches but that’s to be expected of teams who have already won the title and are giving other players on the squad their chance at some playing time. However, what was so vital to this home game winning streak was the 5-1 drubbing of SC Sagamihara on FCRs final home match of the 2018 season. Tomidokoro had a brace and of course Nakagawa scored his 16th goal of the season which would prove to be his last in an FCR uniform. 2018 Home Record: 12 Wins and 4 Draws. Streak at 21
A New Era: FCR has started off with a serious bang in the 2019 J2 season. They are currently riding a 5-game unbeaten streak and face off against a Yamaguchi this weekend who have conceded a lot of goals so far and find themselves near the bottom of the table. If FCR wins or draws, I believe they set a new J League record for games unbeaten at home with 25. 2019 Season to date; 3 wins. Steak at 24.
I must give a lot of credit to Tobias (@ConDrei) for doing the research on this streak. Tobias pointed out that the J2 record is held by Kawasaki Frontale from 2003-2004 as well as Shonan Bellmare from 2012 to 2014 in which the 2013 season they played in J1.
Let us now put the FCR home unbeaten streak in perspective against other records in Football as well as other sports. The longest unbeaten streak in Football stands at 119 for Steaua Bucharest from 1986-1989 that saw them lift 5 consecutive titles. That’s just ridiculous. The Cleveland Indians of the MLB won 22 consecutive games in 2017. In Boxing, Julio Cesar Chavez won 87 fights in a row from 1980-1993, whoa! The Pittsburgh Penguins – my home town – won 17 straight games in the NHL in 1993, Mario Lemieux anyone? Wilhelm Steinitz from Austria won 25 straight chess matches from 1873 to 1882 and I’m willing to bet that wasn’t against friends and family. And then there is ZeRo from Chili who won 53 consecutive Super Smash Bros. Wii U tournaments from 2014 to 2015.
Well that was fun, but I should bring this back to the FCR streak with some nice stats: 1.) FCR has won 10 consecutive home matches in the J Leagues dating back to August 25th 2018. 2.) FCRs last draw at home was July 21st 2018. 3.) FCRs last home loss was on September 16th 2017, that’s over 18.5 months ago, let that sink in for a moment. 4.) FCRs losses each season starting in 2014 have gone down by one (6-5-4-3) and of course there were 0 home losses in 2018. 5.) Since 2014 FCR has played 79 home matches with a winning percentage of 49.3%, while drawing 28% of the time and 22% for a loss, so if wins and draws are combined that means FCR has achieved a favorable outcome in matches 78% of the time at home.
For me, it was humbling to extrapolate these stats for FCR. Its humbling because the team is displaying a penchant for winning at home and the number of fans that show up each week pale in comparison to the results FCR achieves on the home pitch. This is a very good ascending club that requires the support of this community in the form of large crowds. We can no longer argue that the performance on the pitch by FCR keeps people away as we have seen this is categorically false. FCR needs Okinawa as much as Okinawa needs FCR. Okinawa is far removed from the “mainland” and therefore could be considered an afterthought at times. What better way to really draw attention to the Okinawa prefecture from those in the mainland, and stick it to them if you wish, than by having a major sports franchise supported by the entire Okinawa community that just consistently lifts trophies.
In closing, lets get out there this Saturday to cheer on the boys, who we know will be giving it their all, and witness a bit of history for Okinawa sports. It would be the third such occasion in a short period of time for this club.
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