Tuesday, 19 March 2024

Kataller Toyama

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 Toyama, a large city on the Japan Sea coast of Honshu, is very similar in demographics and character to Niigata, which hosts one of the more successful J1 franchises. Though Toyama Prefecture is a bit more rural and even more remote from Japan's main population centers, there is every reason to believe that it could serve as the base for a successful J.League team. Kataller got off to a good start as it made its way into the J.League in 2009, attracting good crowds and building a good "local character". But so far the team has not performed as well on the pitch as the local supporters might wish.

Kataller was formed by the merger of two company teams with a long history of football in the pre-professional era: YKK AP and Hokuriku Electric. When the two merged, they adopted the name "Kataller", which borrows its spelling from the French word "aller" (to go) and its pronunciation from a term in the local dialect (katare) that means "Win", in the imperative form of the verb.  To put it in an English context, it comes off as something like: "Hey youse guys, get out there and Win!" So far Kataller has not responded to this instruction very well.

As for the team mascot . . . its a long story. Check out the team history or mascot section if you want to know how this strange-looking creature originated.

Team Name:

Emblem

Mascot

Team Flag:

Home Uniform -- Away Uniform

Management Corporation: Kataller Toyama Co., Ltd.
Established: November 2007
President: Tetsuo Nakao
Investors: YKK Corp. Hokuriku Electric Power Co., Inc. and 23 other corporations
Address: 368 Minami Nakata, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture 939-8234

Hometown Area: Toyama City and surrounding areas
Home Stadium: Toyama Soccer Stadium (capacity: 25,250)
Joined J. League: 2009