Fagiano Okayama U-18

2026 season

Currently 12th in the Premier League WEST with 5 points from 14 matches (1W 2D 11L, 11-35). Updated daily.

Playing style

The team trains at the Masada football ground in eastern Okayama, which the first team also uses. From 2026 it is coached by ABE Yuta, who led Vissel Kobe U-18 to the Premier League WEST title in 2025. The club has two under-15 teams, Masada and Yorishima, and most of the squad comes up through them; the rest is recruited mainly from around the Chugoku and Shikoku regions.

Honours

History

• 2013 school year — The first under-18 graduates are promoted to the first team.
• 2017 — The team enters the Prince League Chugoku, finishing third in its second season.
• 2023 — Prince League Chugoku champions, promotion through the play-off, and third place at the Club Youth Championship.
• 2024 — A first season in the Premier League WEST, finishing tenth.
• 2025 — In February, SUEMUNE Kanshiro and SENDA Ryo are promoted to the first team as second-year high-school students and sign professional contracts. The team again finishes tenth.
• 2026 — ABE Yuta becomes head coach. From February to May, SUEMUNE and SENDA spend three months on a short-term placement at Maringá FC in Brazil.

Development pathway

• An early route to the first team. SUEMUNE and SENDA signed professional contracts while still second-years at high school and stayed registered as academy players. Both were students at Okayama Gakugeikan High School.
• Links abroad. The Brazil placement was part of what the club calls strengthening its connections overseas and developing young players.
• Shared training ground. The under-18s train at Masada, alongside the first team.
• A regional recruiting base. Besides the club's own under-15 players, the 2026 squad includes players from Kagawa, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi and Shimane, and from the under-15 teams of Cerezo Osaka and FC Ryukyu.

Former players

• SUEMUNE Kanshiro (forward, Fagiano Okayama) — through the club's under-15 and under-18 teams, promoted in 2025 as a second-year. Has played for Japan at under-17 and under-18 level.
• SENDA Ryo (defender, Fagiano Okayama) — the same path and the same promotion in 2025; also a Japan under-17 and under-18 international.
• OTA Ryunosuke (forward, on loan at Jubilo Iwata) — from the Okayama under-18s to Meiji University and then Fagiano Okayama's first team; playing on loan at Jubilo Iwata in 2026/27.

Players to watch in 2026

Players worth knowing in the 2026 season:

• ANZAI Raiki (forward, third year, no. 10) — joined from a junior-high school team in Kagawa. Has played for Japan at under-16 level (Egypt tour, December 2025) and under-17 level (International Youth Soccer in Niigata, September 2025). Six league goals, the team's top scorer.
• MATSUMOTO Yuki (midfielder, third year, no. 4) — from FC Tsuneishi in Hiroshima; in Japan's under-17 squad in Niigata in September 2025.
• KIMACHI Yoshinobu (goalkeeper, third year, no. 1) — has played every minute of the league season.
• MOTOYAMA Shiguma (defender, second year, no. 15) — also ever-present in the league.
• MAKINO Kaito (defender, third year, no. 5), KIYONO Renshi (defender, second year, no. 25) and MORIMITSU Eito (defender, second year, no. 18) — regulars at the back.
• YUKUTOMO Kanon (midfielder, third year, no. 40), TSUTSUMI Seishiro (midfielder, second year, no. 14) and OKAZAKI Aoi (midfielder, second year, no. 43, joined from Cerezo Osaka U-18) — midfielders.
• MOTONO Sora (forward, second year, no. 19) — has played in all fourteen league games.
• NISHIMURA Atsuki (midfielder, no. 36), MANDAI Eito (midfielder, no. 38), KASHIMA Masashige (midfielder, no. 33) and OKADA Ryo (forward, no. 31) — first-years already playing in the Premier League.

Notes

Full profile in Japanese, with the current squad list and every result: ファジアーノ岡山U-18.

Where a player has no official English spelling published by the JFA or the J.League, the name is shown in Japanese.

See also: Premier League standings and how youth football works in Japan.