Read Part 1 here
Read Part 2 here
As the world financial crisis escalated, club owner Nippon Television announced its first deficit in 38 years, leaving the financial viability of a team that was already struggling to attract fans in doubt. As the end of the season approached and Jubilo edged Verdy only in goal differential, the team’s position became increasingly dire. Yet the team only had one win in the last three months of the season, and with a week to go a bombshell was dropped: Verdy announced that 11 players, many of whom were the same veteran players that the team expected to rely on, would be let go after the season ended. At this point, the leaders of TOKYO HEARTS, Verdy’s largest supporter group, began circulating an essay outlining all of the missteps Verdy’s front office had taken over the course of the season. This essay largely confirmed what everyone knew to be true, that the front office was grossly inept. Clearly, whether or not Verdy remained in J1, management would have to take a different path if Verdy were to ever become a competitive team again. Meanwhile, on December 3rd, it was announced that Tokyo Verdy was seeking a management partner, similar to how CyberAgent (the team’s uniform sponsor) and NTV co-owned the team in ‘06 and ‘07.
Though the final match of the year was played on Verdy’s home turf of Ajinomoto Stadium, Kawasaki Frontale supporters were a clear majority as they prepared to celebrate their team’s likely 2009 ACL berth. Over 24,000 fans, double Verdy’s average count, watched as Fukunishi ended his Verdy career with a questionable straight red called early in the match. Although the resulting PK was no good, Verdy still lost 0-2. This, combined with Jubilo’s 0-1 loss and JEF’s surprising 4-2 victory against FC Tpkyo, meant that Verdy fell to 17th place and a direct demotion to J2.
Immediately, long white banners were unfurled by supporters behind the goal declaring that the front office was inept, and that upper management was unfit to serve. Angry at the state that their team was now in, chants of “dette koi!” filled the Chofu night as fans demanded that the president of the team, Toshio Hagiwara, appear before them and fall on his metaphorical sword. When he failed to come out, fans waited. And waited. And waited some more. While the game ended at approximately 4PM, the sit-in lasted nearly eight hours as the team’s operational staff were unable to convince them to leave. Managing director Yoshifusa Kominato appeared at around 11:30PM to a smattering of boos, urging supporters to meet with the club on a more formal occasion. Around midnight, the fans finally began to disperse from the stadium. Later in the week, Verdy’s manager resigned from the squad.
Following the sit-in, TOKYO HEARTS announced that in conjunction with the upper management’s emergency meeting to be held on 12/8, protests would take place at the stadium. Their demands, consistent with their calls after the game, were two:
1. The appointment of somebody with the enthusiasm and actual power to strengthen the team (as opposed to a management puppet) The group suggested Ruy Ramos as a potential candidate and further urged the team to release itself from the leaders sent over from Nippon TV that were unskilled at running a sports franchise.
2. Reconsider the decision to not offer contracts to the 11 players released by the team in the final week.
Hagiwara promised to bring up the fan’s demands at the Board of Directors meeting and noted that while Ramos is already a managing director, they would consider how much power he has. Kominato, according to the supporter’s report, said little more than said he had heart their requests.
On December 10th, following newspaper reports that the board of directors had summarily dismissed the supporter’s demands, a second protest was held. Although the board of directors was not in session, the supporters met again with President Hagiwara. His answers, in list form:
- The team is currently looking for a management partner
- Once a management partner is found, they will start working on improving the organization
- Therefore, nothing can be changed yet
- The 0-yen offer (abbreviation for 11 players not having their contracts renewed) could not have taken place without Kominato’s approval
- Ruy Ramos was kept in the loop regarding the 11 players
- Nothing’s being discussed about the amount of money we’ll get from NTV next season
It was also requested by the fans that Ramos be present at the announced roundtable meetings between supporters and upper management, which was readily agreed to pending his availability. Because the supporters lack faith in the front office’s judgement, they have chosen to continue their protest, including urging fans to restrain from buying season tickets. Until then, supporter groups TOKYO HEARTS and VERDISTA are compiling questions to be asked at the roundtable to take place on 12/21, an event ostensibly open to the public.
This is, to be frank, a club in crisis and nothing less. Supporters being upset with management is nothing new in this sport, but Verdy’s front office has taken incompetence to arrogantly new highs – or lows, as may be the case. Through there were brief periods over the course of Verdy’s history where a nucleus of young players were formed, that was always cast aside in favor of giving big paychecks to big names and expecting results to match. It was a bad strategy in 1993 and is a bad strategy 15 years later – the only difference between now and then is that people know it. Change needs to take place, and it needs to take place soon. A quick return to J1 may be out of reach, but with a re-engineered plan to focus on youth programs and younger talent, Verdy could, possibly, find itself back in J1 in 2-3 years with the talent and discipline to stay there.
That said, should such changes not occur, Verdy is in danger of losing its fans. Expressions of disapproval via banners is nothing new in J.League, nor are sit-ins. But continued protests and season ticket boycotts strike at the heart of the squad. If Verdy continues to flounder, some fans may give up going to Ajisuta, while others may find themselves pulled towards FC Tokyo’s success and stability. While I’m certainly not opposed to new supporters joining us behind the goal, there’s an empty feeling to seeing your rival’s fans cross over to your side. The balance of things is upturned, and not for the better. Though I am but a simple American naive in the realities of this sport, coming from a country where every major sport has been priced out of the average fan’s budget, tainted with scandals, or elsewise ruined by greedy sponsors/ownership, I believe that football is the last bastion of sports fans. With their presence, their banners, and their cheers, provide the atmosphere that makes a match a match and not simply 22 guys on the field kicking a ball around for 90 minutes. Verdy’s supporters should continue to hold management accountable for failing to field a competitive team with long-term viability. Whether they will be successful or not largely depends on the result of the roundtable to be held in little over a week. Until then, fans across the country should take notice, and hope for a positive outcome for the sake of J.League, the sake of competition, and most importantly, the sake of their fellow supporters.
dokool
http://www.aishiteru-tokyo.com
END
* Special Reports are opinion pieces written by fans/journalists published as news, and later archived as historical reference pages. Because of the argumentative nature of the topics, some of the articles might contain harsh language and strong opinions.