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AFP News
From non-league to top of the league for Japan upstarts Machida
Andrew MCKIRDY
Tue, 4 June 2024 at 3:46 am GMT+1
4-min read
Newly promoted Machida Zelvia top the J. League table heading towards the half-way point of the season (Richard A. Brooks)
Newly promoted Machida Zelvia top the J. League table heading towards the half-way point of the season (Richard A. Brooks)
Led by a former high-school coach and playing in a picturesque stadium surrounded by trees, Machida Zelvia are taking the J. League by storm in their debut season in Japan’s first division.
The team from Tokyo’s suburbs top the table approaching the halfway point of the season, just over a decade after being in nobles the — semiprofessional — football.
At the helm is Go Kuroda, who was hired in late 2022 after almost three decades coaching one of the top high-school sides in a country where student football draws big crowds.
