The Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Football League Premier League 2015, which will decide the best high school team, will be held from Saturday 11 April. Two matches of the EAST group will be held at the West Field of AJINOMOTO STADIUM on both 11 and 12 April, and one match will be at the Aminovital Field on 12 April. This will be the first season with the centralised system, in which all the matches are held in the same site.

This season’s EAST group has 10 teams and six of them are from Kanto, including three teams from Chiba. The previous EAST champions, Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba), aim to become back-to-back champions, showing off their possession skill. Although many players, including NAKAYAMA Yuta and OHSHIMA Yasuki, have left the team, the team’s tactics stay the same as last year and the players can focus on showing what they have learned since then. On the other hand, Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa and Ichiritsu Funabashi High School are intending to improve their teams through this season. Honda Yuichiro, the head coach of Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa, commented: ‘I expect my players to improve themselves in each match.’ and Asaoka Ryuzo, the head coach of Ichiritsu Funabashi noted: ‘we’d like to become stronger throughout year.’ Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa usually makes significant changes to the team after summer, while many of the first and the second year students at Ichiritsu Funabashi High School are on the pitch. The players will stay competitive to improve their own teams.

Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) are eager to beat other teams from Chiba. Last year they came in third, conceding the second fewest goals next to Kashiwa. They will aim to get a good result again this year with their movement and solid defence. Consadole Sapporo U-18 (Hokkaido) represent Hokkaido and Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori) play for Tohoku. Both teams did not start well last year and ended up playing for a place to remain in the league. Will they get themselves ready in time despite the snow. Each player’s condition will be the key to playing better at the beginning of the season.

The match between two teams from Tokai, Shimizu S-pulse Youth (Shizuoka) and JFA Academy Fukushima (Shizuoka) will attract attention. Shimizu, who gloriously came in second last year, are keen on getting a better result with their teamwork, after transferring some very skilled players to their top team, including KITAGAWA Koya and MIZUTANI Takuma. HIRAOKA Hiroaki commented: ‘this year we haven’t got one single player who stands out from all the others.’ It has been 10 years since JFA Academy Fukushima was built. We cannot take our eyes off how they will play under the new leadership of Manaka Mikio.

Just like Kashiwa, who won the EAST championship last year just after being promoted to the Premier League, we can also expect ‘new faces’ to play well. Please give great attention to Omiya Ardija Youth (Saitama), who will join the Premier League for the first time, and F.C. Tokyo (Tokyo), who will come back after three-year break.

The Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Football League Premier League 2015

Saturday 11 April to Sunday 6 December 2015
Round-robin tournament at both home and away pitches with 20 teams from around the country, divided into groups of 10 teams.

EAST (10 teams):
Consadole SapporoU-18 (Hokkaido), Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori), Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki), Omiya Ardija Youth (Saitama), Ichiritsu Funabashi High School (Chiba), Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba), Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa (Chiba), F.C. Tokyo U-18 (Tokyo), JFA Academy Fukushima (Shizuoka), Shimizu S-pulse Youth (Shizuoka)

WEST (10 teams):
Nagoya Grampus U18 (Aichi), Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 (Kyoto), Kyoto Tachibana High School (Kyoto), Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka), Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka), Riseisha High School (Osaka), Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo), Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth (Hiroshima), Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka), Oita Trinita U-18 (Oita)

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