Activities of Class 1, Shiga Football Association

MITSUYOSHI Hidenobu, Chairman of Class 1 Committee of Shiga Football Association

For holding a National Sports Festival in 10 years

In Shiga we had a significant drop in the number of registered senior teams some time ago, but last several years we have had the same number of newly-registered teams as we have teams going off the registration. It’s our big task ahead how we increase the number of registered teams and grow the football family.

One of the reasons of a deregistration they say is the competition in the prefectural league gets too tough and matches become unenjoyable as players get older. So several years ago, we talked to the teams registered in the prefectural league about launching the O-35 league where they can enjoy evening matches on Saturdays without much stress. We haven’t had so many teams yet and players aren’t registered, but hopefully we will use this as a stepping stone to grow football among older generations and we will be able to provide a playing platform where people can keep playing football for life.

In addition, we are the only prefecture in Japan where there is no big enough stadiums to hold a J-League match. We have MIO Biwako Shiga which belong to the Japan Football League (JFL) and Lagend Shiga FC in the Kansai League’s Division 1. Although both teams are working hard to advance to the J-League, not having a stadium has been a limitation to what they can do. However, it has been decided that we will hold a National Sports Festival in 2024. It’s local governments to lead the planning, but still there have been discussions regarding building a stadium and having a J-League size stadium is coming to realization. (Photo: The semi-final match of the 18th Shiga Football Championship. The environment surrounding football will be improved to hold a National Sports Festival.)

Fortunately Shiga is located within a commuting distance to J-League matches or national team matches held in Kyoto and Osaka, but it will be even more welcomed and approachable by young players and football fans to have top-level matches held in our prefecture. We think it’s our mission to take advantage of the National Sports Festival in 10 years, get more people involved in football and build a platform where people can keep playing football.