Coach Kiyama to Step Down

Mito chose to wait until after the Kashiwa match to announce the departure of Kiyama as the team's leader following the end of the season.

He led Mito to be promotion contenders last year for half the season, and otherwise vastly improved the quality of play. But whether his fault or not, Mito is ready to finish in the lower half of the table as was historically the case.

Coincidentally, Shimizu's manager Kobayashi was also announced as finishing his tenure on the same day. This is likely just a coincidence, though. Kiyama would most likely go on to coach a team in the lower levels, a university squad as he did before, or perhaps even Kobe if they are relegated, as he previously successfully worked as part of that team's coaching staff.

Mito 1 - 4 Kashiwa

Mito fought bravely and took the lead after 2 minutes through a Katayama goal. Kashiwa equalized soon after, but both sides played as equals until about the 70th minute, when J1-bound Kashiwa's strength showed through.

In the bigger story, Mito's efforts to host a match for 10,000 fans finally succeeded as the final tally for the day was 10,181. The story of the match will be shown on NHK in early January.

Mito 0 - 0 Kusatsu

Despite Mito losing 2 players to red cards, Mito fought to hold on to the draw.

A win or a draw at Tochigi this month will assure Mito of winning the North Kanto Derby trophy for the second year in a row. A loss means Kusatsu will take it this time around.

Mito 0 - 1 Chiba