Saburo Kawabuchi (川淵 三郎, Kawabuchi Saburō, born December 3, 1936) is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for and managed the Japan national team. He is the founder and honorary chairman of the J.League. Between 2002 and 2008, he served as president of the Japan Football Association.
 Kawabuchi in 1964 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Saburo Kawabuchi | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | December 3, 1936 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Takaishi, Osaka, Japan | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1952–1954 | Mikunigaoka High School | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1957–1960 | Waseda University | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1961–1970 | Furukawa Electric | 68 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | 68 | (10) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1958–1965 | Japan | 26 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1973–1975 | Furukawa Electric | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1980–1981 | Japan | |||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||
Early life
editKawabuchi was born in Takaishi on December 3, 1936.[1] At first, when he was in Takaishi elementary school and Takaishi Junior high school, he played baseball. He was on to Mikunigaoka High School, Osaka and became a member of football team at the high school. He graduated from Mikunigaoka High School, Osaka in 1955. He went on to Waseda University School of commerce in 1957. He played for the Waseda University football team. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in commerce from Waseda University.
Club career
editAfter graduating from Waseda University, Kawabuchi played for Furukawa Electric, in the early days of the Japan Soccer League. In the initial league season, he was the first player to score a hat-trick, against Nagoya Mutual Bank.[2] He retired in 1970, having played 68 games and scored 10 goals in the league.
National team career
editOn December 25, 1958, when Kawabuchi was a Waseda University student, he debuted and scored 2 goals for Japan national team against Hong Kong. In 1962, he played at 1962 Asian Games. In 1964, he was selected Japan for 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[1] At 1964 Summer Olympics, he scored a goal in first match against Argentina. He also played at 1962 Asian Games. He played 26 games and scored 8 goals for Japan until 1965.[3]
Coaching career
editAfter retirement, Kawabuchi became a coach for Furukawa Electric in 1970. In 1973, he became a manager and managed until 1975. Just before 1982 World Cup qualification in December 1980, he was named manager for the Japan national team and replaced Masashi Watanabe, who suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Kawabuchi managed Japan at the 1982 World Cup qualification and managed until March 1981.
In 1991, he was named the inaugural chairman of the J.League, as the first professional league in Japan. In 1991, he also became the first chairman of the J.League. In 2002, he resigned as chairman of the J.League and became the 10th president of the Japan Football Association as Shunichiro Okano's successor. Kawabuchi served until 2008. He also served as president of the Japan Basketball Association from May 2015 to June 2016.
In 2006, he received the FIFA Order of Merit. In 2008, he was also selected for the Japan Football Hall of Fame.
Later years
editKawabuchi serves as a councilor on the organizing committee for the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. He had been requested by former Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori to succeed him as committee chairperson in February 2021, but Kawabuchi later said that he would not accept the request.[4]
Club statistics
edit| Club performance | League | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals |
| Japan | League | |||
| 1965 | Furukawa Electric | JSL Division 1 | 14 | 3 |
| 1966 | 14 | 4 | ||
| 1967 | 14 | 1 | ||
| 1968 | 14 | 1 | ||
| 1969 | 12 | 1 | ||
| 1970 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 68 | 10 | ||
National team statistics
edit| Japan national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1958 | 2 | 2 |
| 1959 | 9 | 3 |
| 1960 | 1 | 0 |
| 1961 | 6 | 1 |
| 1962 | 6 | 2 |
| 1963 | 0 | 0 |
| 1964 | 0 | 0 |
| 1965 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 26 | 8 |
Awards and honours
edit- Japan Soccer League Silver Ball (Assist Leader): 1966
- Japan Football Hall of Fame: Inducted in 2008[5]
- Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd Class, Gold and Silver Star: 2009[5]
- Person of Cultural Merit: 2015[6]
- Order of Culture: 2023[7]
Books
edit- J's career – With Japan football, Nihon Keizai Shimbun Shuppan, 2009
References
edit- ^ a b Saburo Kawabuchi. sports-reference.com
- ^ Japan Soccer League 1965 Archived 2015-09-11 at the Wayback Machine. Homepage1.nifty.com. Retrieved on May 30, 2015.
- ^ a b Japan National Football Team Database
- ^ "Tokyo Olympics head quits over sexism row with no successor in sight". Kyodo News. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- ^ a b "KAWABUCHI Saburo". Japan Football Association. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
- ^ "川淵三郎最高顧問が2015年度の文化功労者に顕彰". JFA. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
- ^ "塩野七生さんら7人文化勲章＝功労者に北大路欣也さんら". Jiji Press. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
External links
edit
- Saburō Kawabuchi – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Saburō Kawabuchi at National-Football-Teams.com
- Japan National Football Team Database
- Japan Football Hall of Fame at Japan Football Association