Mito HollyHock
ClubnameMito HollyHock
水戸ホーリーホック
Upright0.8
FullnameFootball Club Mito HollyHock Ibaraki
Founded1990 (age 36) as Prima Aseno
1994 (age 32) as Mito Hollyhock
StadiumK's denki Stadium Mito
Mito, Ibaraki
Capacity12,000
ChairmanKunio Numata
ManagerDaisuke Kimori
Current2025 Mito HollyHock season
Websitewww.mito-hollyhock.net
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Mito HollyHock (水戸ホーリーホック, Mito Hōrīhokku) is a Japanese professional association football club located in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. The club currently competes in the J1 League after clinching the 2025 J2 League title.

History

The club was founded in 1990 as Prima Aseno Football Club by the factory workers of Prima Ham (a food company) in Tsuchiura. It changed its name to Prima Ham Tsuchiura and gained promotion to the Japan Football League after finishing as runner-up in the 1996 Regional League play-off. It merged with FC Mito (founded in 1994) and re-branded itself as Mito HollyHock before the start of the 1997 season when Prima Ham decided to discontinue its financial support to the club.

Mito's application to play in the inaugural 1999 season of J. League Division 2 was initially turned down due to financial instability, and low home attendance at their stadium. However, after finishing 3rd in the Japan Football League in 1999, and having an increasing stadium attendance, the club was invited into the J. League in 2000. During their time in the J2 League, the club finished through the mid-table, with their highest placement being 7th in 2003 and 2019.

First ever piece of silverware and promotion to the top flight

Mito ended the 2025 J2 League season with high determination and flying colours after managing to win the league which is also the club first major honours in their history. Despite tying with league runners-up V-Varen Nagasaki with 70 points total, Mito won the league winning one game more then V-Varen Nagasaki. Mito were then promoted to the J1 League for the first time, after securing a 2−0 victory against Oita Trinita on the final gameweek of the season and also ending a 25-year season spell in the second division.

Team image

Name origin

Its nickname "HollyHock" derives from the family crest of the Tokugawa clan who governed from Mito in the Edo period.

Others

Mito HollyHock also fields teams in e-sports and in Ice Hockey[1] (Ibaraki Prefectural League).

Stadium

Mito currently resides at the K's denki Stadium Mito where it has been the club home ground since 2009. The stadium can hold up to 12,000 capacity.

Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

Kit evolution

Home Jersey
Away Jersey

Players

Current squad

.[2]

Management and staff

PositionName
Football directorNaoki Mori
ManagerDaisuke Kimori
Assistant managerYoshitaka Yasuda
Daisuke Kimori
Analyst & First-team coachRyosuke Sato
Development coachNaoki Mori
Goalkeeper coachTakahiro Kono
AnalystTsukasa Takahashi
Physical coachYuki Nakamura
Chief trainerTatsuya Doi
TrainerTakahiro Yamada
PhysiotherapistToru Yaguchi
Equipment managerShunki Iwata
Yoshifumi Yoshida
CompetentHiromitsu Nonaka

Honours

Mito HollyHock honours
HonourNo.YearsNotes
Ibaraki Prefecture Division 121992, 1993as Prima Ham Football Club
Ibaraki Prefecture Division 4 H Block11994as FC Mito
Ibaraki Prefecture Division 3 H Block11995as FC Mito
Kantō Soccer League11995as Prima Ham Football Club
Shakaijin Cup11995as Prima Ham Football Club
J2 League12025

Managerial history

As FC Mito, Prima Ham (amateur era)

ManagerPeriodHonours
Gert Engels1 July 199030 January 1993
Yuji Nakano1 January 199231 December 1997− 1995 Kantō Soccer League − 1995 Shakaijin Cup
Toshiya Miura1 February 199831 January 1999
Branko Babić1 January 200031 December 2000
Hiroshi Kobayashi1 February 200116. July 2001
Masaaki Kanno17 July 200131 January 2003
Hideki Maeda1 January 200331 December 2007
Takashi Kiyama1 February 200831 January 2011
Tetsuji Hashiratani1 February 20117 June 2015
Takayuki Nishigaya27 June 201531 January 2018
Shigetoshi Hasebe1 February 201831 January 2020
Tadahiro Akiba1 February 202031 January 2023
Yoshimi Hamasaki[3]1 February 20234 May 2024[4]
Naoki Mori9 May 2024current− 2025 J2 League

Season by season record

ChampionsRunners-upThird placePromotedRelegated
LeagueJ. League
Cup		Emperor's
Cup
SeasonDiv.TeamsPos.PW (OTW / PKW)DL (OTL / PKL)FAGDPtsAttendance/G
1997Old JFL1616th303 (1)-262469−4510Not eligible2nd round
19981614th307 (1)-223769−32233rd round
1999New JFL93rd2413 (3)08 (0)483216458913rd round
2000J2109th409 (6)419 (2)3761−24432,0211st round3rd round
20011211th445 (3)426 (6)4193−52251,5591st round3rd round
20021210th44117264573−28402,739Not eligible3rd round
2003127th441511183741−4563,0853rd round
2004129th44619193360−27373,7734th round
20051210th441313184157−16523,3344th round
20061310th48149254869−21513,0173rd round
20071312th48810303270−38342,4154th round
20081511th42138215270−18473,0444th round
2009188th512110207079−9732,6732nd round
20101916th36814142945−16383,6083rd round
20112017th38119184049−9423,3494th round
20122213th421511164749−2563,9733rd round
20132215th421413155058−8554,6303rd round
20142215th4212141646460504,7343rd round
20152219th421016164047−7464,8164th round
20162213th421018144549−4485,3652nd round
20172214th421412164548−3544,9312nd round
20182210th421691748462574,9383rd round
2019227th42191310563719706,0873rd round
2020†229th4216101668626582,018Did not qualify
2021†2210th4216111559509592,6962nd round
20222213th421412164746−1543,1402nd round
20232217th421114174966−17473,7263rd round
20242015th381111163951−12444,4061st round3rd round
2025201st3820108553421706,0052nd round1st round
2026J110TBD18N/AN/A
2026-2720TBD38TBDTBD
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 worldwide pandemic
  • Source: J.League Data Site

References

  1. ^ "水戸ホーリーホックアイスホッケー部". Archived 2022-07-11 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  2. ^ "トップチーム選手名鑑". 水戸ホーリーホック公式サイト. 14 August 2020. Archived 2 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  3. ^ "濱崎芳己ヘッドコーチ 監督就任のお知らせ" (in Japanese). mito-hollyhock.net. Mito HollyHock. 27 October 2022. Archived 27 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  4. ^ "濱崎芳己監督 解任のお知らせ" (in Japanese). mito-hollyhock.net. Mito HollyHock. 4 May 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.