The 15th All Japan Seniors (over 50) football tournament had its second day on 26 June and the second and the third matches of the first round. At the end of the day, 4 teams will get through to the final round.

The team who got through from the Group A was Fukuoka Tobiume Senior SC (Kyushu/ Fukuoka). They beat Alfoot Azumino Senior (Hokushinetsu 1/ Nagano), who also wanted to get their second consecutive win, 1-0 in their second match, and kept their top position. Even though they couldn’t win the match against Kagawa FC 50 (Shikoku 2/ Kagawa) in their third match, they were on top by having scored one more goal than Azumino and move on to the final round.

Akita Senior Football Club, who is from the hosting prefecture, could not get through. As the team’s player SATO Shigenori reflected on how they had been “too passionate to function well as a team” in the first match, they adjusted themselves for the second match and beat Kagawa. They could get one victory in their home prefecture.

Group B was difficult since all of the teams had the possibility of moving on to the final round even after the third matches. Tokyo Bay FC O-50 (Kanto 2/ Tokyo) was beaten 1-2 by Anciano Mie (Tokai 2/ Mie) in the second match. Hyogo SC (Kansai 1/ Hyogo) also could not break through the consistent defence of Matsue Senior Soccer FC Dandan (Chugoku 1/ Shimane) and ended the match 0-0. Eventually, the team who got the ticket to the final round was Tokyo Bay FC O-50; they beat Hyogo 2-0 in their last match. 

Group C also had seesaw matches competing for only one goal just like in their first matches. KYOTO MAYUMARO FC (Kansai 2/ Kyoto) played against Chiba Shijukara SC (Kanto 1/ Chiba) and couldn’t score with a penalty in the 1st half and the match ended 0-0. However, in their third match, KYOTO beat Hiroshima YU-YU FC (Chugoku 2/ Hiroshima) 1-0 by MATSUYAMA Yoshiyuki’s penalty. The team got through to the final with 3 wins. KYOTO MAYUMARO FC is now aiming at the title as a team from Kansai for the first time since Hyogo Senior Selection (50) won the title in the 8th tournament.

In the Group D, Shizuoka Sunpu FC (Tokai 1/ Shizuoka) showed their strength; after the previous match which they won with only one goal difference, the team beat the other two teams Hitsujigaoka Old Kickers 2002/OV50 (Hokkaido) and Club 50 – (Hokushinetsu 2/ Fukui) 1-0. They got 3 consecutive wins. Hitsujigaoka, on the other hand, beat Ozu Senior FC (Shikoku 1/ Ehime) 2-0 and got 6 points, but they couldn’t get through due to the defeat against Shizuoka. 

The last day of the tournament will be on 27 June. The 3 matches of the final round which are the semi-finals and the final will take place at Akigin Stadium and Akita Yabase Stadium. For the semi finals, Fukuoka will play against Tokyo Bay, and KYOTO MAYUMARO FC will face Shizuoka Sunpu.

Players' Comments

SATO Shigenori (Akita Senior Football Club)
Since we had lost the first match, we had to win the matches today to get through to the final round. Eventually, we couldn’t make it, but we kept trying to get as many as goals to get the better position. It is my pleasure that I can play with my teammates who used to play for different teams when they were younger. I believe that I can keep playing football throughout my life, so I want to keep enjoying even in 60s and in 70s having more and more teammates. 

AOTO Shinobu (Matsue Senior Soccer FC Dandan)
In the first match, we were pressured by the opponent’s power, but on the second day we could make more chances and played better matches. The second match against Hyogo SC ended in a draw; we could have beaten them since we had chances. Football is a joy for me. In my team, I have many teammates whom I have known since I was an elementary school student. We then went different ways from high school or university, but we came back to the same team and started to play together again at this age. I hope we can play in the same team even after the age of 60.

TANAKA Hisao (Chiba Shijukara SC)
We could win the Kanto qualifier with good luck, but this time we just finished our first national level tournament without keeping our level of play. I also felt that we have not got enough players who could stay consistent throughout all 3 matches within 2 days. It is such a shame that we couldn’t do well, but it was a good chance for me to meet with my ex teammates of high school and university time for the first time after decades. They are now playing for the teams in Shizuoka and Hiroshima. We just enjoyed saying to each other “you look different!” it was very good to see them. 

KONO Toshio (Ozu Senior FC)
We have come to this national level tournament for 5 consecutive years. However, we couldn’t get a victory until last year. This year, we had to learn again the difficulty that we conceded goals just in a moment when we lost slight attention. This happens only in the national level competition. However, it is meaningful for us that we could get the second victory in this tournament since last year and that we had the possibility of getting through to the final round until the third match. In my daily life, I don’t have chances to meet with people in different types of job but I can meet with many people from variety of professional background through playing football. One of the highlights of this opportunity is to have a very good time with my teammates over glasses of beer. 

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

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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