Alive

Just a quick post to announce that after some dormancy, things will be picking up again here soon.

2013 Mito Squad

Back after a while!

Here is the 2013 squad as officially announced. While there may be one or two new players signed, especially as there are currently 4 fewer players than last year, this is the final announcement. This form has the player position, name, birthdate, current age, previous club if new, and year with the club ("1" showing the player is a new acquisition).

GK	Koji Honma	4/27/1977	35	Ibaraki		15
GK	Nao Iwadate	8/171988	24	Kanagawa		2
GK	Takashi Kasahara	11/21/1988	24	Saitama		3
GK	Akihisa Okada	9/28/1994	18	Ibaraki	Kashima Antlers Youth (Mito school)	1
DF	Daisuke Tomita	4/24/1977	35	Yamaguchi	Ventforet Kofu	1
DF	Gakuto Kondo	2/10/1981	31	Aichi	Vissel Kobe	1
DF	Junya Hosokawa	6/24/1984	28	Saitama		2
DF	Kei Omoto	7/21/1984	28	Chiba		3
DF	Hiroki Kato	7/13/1986	26	Kanagawa		5
DF	Yong-Gi Kim	8/1/1989	23	South Korea		2
DF	Naoki Wako	1989年11月26日	23	茨城県		2
DF	Kosei Ishigami	1/11/1990	23	Shizuoka		2
DF	Ryo Shinzato	7/2/1990	22	Aichi	Chukyo University	1
MF	Koji Hashimoto	4/22/1986	26	Ishikawa		2
MF	Yuki Shimada	11/18/1986	26	Saitama		5
MF	Kenta Nishioka	1987年4月15日	25	Ehime		4
MF	Tsukasa Ozawa	5/8/1988	24	Kanagawa		3
MF	Fumiya Kogura	6/28/1989	23	Tokyo	Albirex Niigata	1
MF	Yuji Iida	7/7/1992	20	Ibaraki		3
MF	Kohei Uchida	5/19/1993	19	Saitama		2
MF	Yuto Suzuki	12/7/1993	19	Kanagawa		2
MF	Tsubasa Nihei	9/10/1994	18	Chiba	FC Tokyo Under 18	1
FW	Takayuki Suzuki	6/5/1976	36	Ibaraki		3
FW	Hiroaki Nanba	12/9/1982	30	Okayama	Yokohama FC	1
FW	Kohei Mishima	4/15/1987	25	Saitama		2
FW	Yuki Namamura	8/1/1990	22	Kanagawa	Meiji University (played summer 2012 with Mito)	1

Mito Not Permitted to Promote

The JFA granted licenses for 41 teams today, allowing for play in J. League next year if performing appropriately.

33 teams were given J1 license, meaning any division play is allowed. Mito was one of the few teams  not granted a J1 license but only J2, meaning even if reaching promotion this year, it will not be allowed. Mito's stumbling block is stadium capacity. From this year standing room only areas cannot count toward the required 15000, and K's is less than 11000 in that case. With no other option the club will officially register larger former home stadium Kasamatsu as the home stadium in future years, until K's can be upgraded.

All current clubs in J1 and J2 have a license and one other team was granted a J2 license: JFL powers V-Varen Nagasaki. If they finish with promotion, one J2 team must be relegated to the 3rd division in 2013. Mito is already mathematically cleared of any risk of relegation this season.

Tsubasa Nihei to Mito HollyHock

Tsubasa Nihei, a standout midfielder in FC Tokyo's youth team, has agreed to join Mito from next season.

Junya Hosokawa and Yuuki Yamamura to Mito HollyHock

Since the last day of updates, Mito signed free agent Junya Hosokawa. He is a veteran of Vegalta Sendai and was released at the end of last season due to injury.

Yuuki Yamamura, who recently played with Mito for a month as a JFA special assignment and was the first such player to score a goal in this capacity, has signed to join the club next season after graduation.

Mito 1 - 4 Kyoto

Mito 2 - 1 Tokushima

Mito 2 - 0 Kumamoto

Emperor's Cup: Mito 2 - 2 Oita (5 - 4 on Penalties)

Mito 2 - 0 Tottori

Mito 0 - 3 Chiba

Mito 1 - 2 Yokohama FC

Mito 2 - 1 Oita

Mito 0 - 1 Kofu

Mito 2 - 2 Yamagata

Mito 0 - 1 Tochigi

Mito 4 - 2 Fukuoka

Mito 1 - 1 Ehime

Mito 1 - 1 Shonan

Mito 0 - 2 Tokyo

Mito 3 - 1 Kyoto

Mito 0 - 1 Oita

Mito 1 - 3 Kofu

Mito 1 - 2 Kumamoto

Mito 1 - 2 Kumamoto

Mito 3 - 1 Tochigi

Mito 0 - 0 Machida

Mito 0 - 2 Ehime

Mito 1 - 2 Tottori

Mito 0 - 2 Tokyo