The 15th All Japan Seniors (over 50) football tournament will kick off on 25 June in Akita City. As in the tournament for players of 60 years old or older that was held in earlier the same month, the championship is meant to give the participants a chance to enjoy football as a life-time sport as well as spreading out the game among the senior generation.

In the 14th edition of the tourney in Fujieda, Shizuoka Prefecture, last year, a total of 16 teams competed. The teams were divided into four four-team groups in the preliminary round-robin round and the first-place teams of each group advanced to the knockout round.

FC Maebashi 50 (Kanto 2/Gunma), Hyogo Senior 50 Selection (Kansai/Hyogo), Yamanashi Master’s Legend (Kanto 1/Yamanashi) and Koga Sonen Soccer Aikokai (Lazos Koga F.C.) (Kanto 3/Ibaraki) got past the first round as the top-place teams. It wound up being a four-time champion Hyogo Senior versus the Kanto clubs.

In a game between F.C. Maebashi 50 and Hyogo Senior 50 Selection, either side were able to win within the regulation and went into a penalty shootout. Maebashi goalkeeper MACHIDA Takayuki stopped three kicks of Hyogo Senior and led the team to the championship match. In a game between Yamanashi and Koga, which kicked off at the same time, was another hard-fought match, but Koga Sonen successfully took a lead with five minutes left and went on to advance to the final. “Our players didn’t want to end their game down 1-0 and they showed their will,” Koga Sonen coach IWANAGA Hiroshi said.

In the championship game, Maebashi and Koga showed their strong motivation to win from early.  While Maebashi tried to put on horizontal, quick attacks, Koga carefully relayed passed from their own territory. In the 10th minute, NARITA Junichi scooped a loose ball after a corner kick and netted a goal with his left leg to give Koga a lead. One minute later, TAKEMURA Yasushi added another to Koga.

“We scored consecutively and I thought it gave our opponents damage,” Takemura said. As he insisted, Koga Sonen kept their pace in the second half. In the 27th minute, Takemura capitalized on mistakes that was made by Maebashi’s goalkeeper and defender and scored his second goal of the day. He headed a cross from the left side into the net three minutes later, completing a hat trick.

Koga kept the momentum throughout the game and went on to win 4-0. They captured their first national title. Coach Iwanaga was given rough celebration from his supporters after the game. He said: “We didn’t take our time off during the holidays in May and New Year’s holidays and kept practicing as a team every day, and it paid off. Our daily work has led to this result this time.”

The 15th All Japan Seniors (over 50) football tournament

Sat. 25 June 2016 - Mon. 27 June
Akita/Akigin Stadium, Yabase Sports Park Field, Yabase Sports Park Kenkouhiroba

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