Even though I’ve been a Kashiwa Reysol “fan” since 2004 there were quite a few lean years in the middle when I just didn’t follow the J-League at all. Typically that period was the most successful for Reysol as they won six different titles in five consecutive seasons including back to back J2 and J1 titles. I missed it all so was hoping that this Emperor’s Cup Final match would be the first time they won a trophy in my presence. The title of this post will already tell you it wasn’t meant to be though!

Saturdays are usually a workday for myself but my boss was thankfully understanding in giving me the day off to attend the final. Ultimately, this non-work day proved to be more tiring and far more draining than teaching a load of kids classes! Even though kick off wasn’t till 2:00 pm I still left at pretty much the same time (around 8:30 am) as I would on a normal Saturday. The Olympic rings symbol, located outside the Olympic Museum, was my first stop of the day once I’d arrived in this part of Shinjuku ward.

Can never resist getting a photo here!

Kokuritsu Kyōgijō a.k.a. Japan National Stadium was across the road from there and fairly deserted which made it much easier than expected for the Reysol UK ultras to get a photo taken outside the stadium.

All the other Reysol UK Ultras were just out of shot!!

I thought I was going to arrive really early when I told my friend Benny that I’d be there about four hours prior to kick off. He must’ve laughed at my words as he said he would be there at 7:00am! With that in mind, it wasn’t a surprise that more and more people began to appear as I made my way round the stadium where huge numbers representing both clubs were congregated. One really has to respect the dedication of such fans which goes far beyond just turning up to each and every game.

This was the 103rd Emperor’s Cup Final and it took place exactly five years after my first appearance at the 2018 final. I also witnessed Kofu’s shock win in last years final so this was my third time but the first one where I was heavily invested in the outcome. Kawasaki Frontale were the much-fancied opponents and the last time I saw them in action was actually at the same stadium back in July when they narrowly lost an entertaining friendly match against German giants Bayern Munich.

The Emperor’s Cup Final is basically the equivalent of the English FA Cup and it is indeed the second oldest tournament in the world after that with a history of just over 100 years. Traditionally this game is held on January 1st but it sometimes gets moved due to other club or international tournaments coinciding with it which is always music to my ears as I am usually not in Tokyo on New Years Day.

With just over three hours till kick off I met up with Benny and some other Reysol fans including another German called Marcus. I wasn’t really ready to go inside the stadium at that point but one has to respect and follow the rules of the supporters group who had kindly allocated me a seat in their section on the lower level behind the goal. I was expecting to have to do some work like helping to tie banners up or put flags on seats but it had already been done the previous afternoon.

THREE hours before kick off!

The road to the final for Reysol was admittedly something of an easy ride with all five previous rounds having home advantage even if one or two of them were technically away games. This was the only match of the tournament played outside of Kashiwa! Being in the stadium early naturally meant I was mightily hungry later on so bought some footy scran which is an incredibly rare thing for me to do. I spent 500 yen on yakisoba (fried noodles) and 600 yen on honey cheese chips which were both pretty good.

Footy scran??

In between such delicacies I met up in the concourse with the man behind the number one Kawasaki Frontale blog in English. It was great to catch up with Frontale Rabbit and his wife and put our rivalries aside ahead of this big game. Click here to read his rather frank views on Frontale’s performance in the final.

Back in my seat with less than an hour till kick off, the atmosphere was hotting up with the singing in full effect. It barely stopped all afternoon after that.

The pre-match razzzmatazz was quite stylish and didn’t feature any of the usual hype music and flame cannon action which is part and parcel of most showpiece occasions these days.

When the match did finally start I actually missed the first few seconds due to having a plastic yellow sheet above my head in order to create those fantastic images viewers see on TV. It didn’t take too long for my first yawn of the afternoon shortly after that which was because of tiredness but would have also been justified by the lack of goalmouth activity.

These blog posts are usually scarce on match details which is just as well really as goalscoring opportunites were very limited here. Reysol were probably the better team for most of the match but struggled to create any real clear opportunities although striker Mao Hosoya did have a couple of one-on-one situations which he failed to make count. The shots-on-target stats (19 from 32) did look quite impressive but very few of them really troubled the Korean keeper Jung Sung-Ryong.

Not wanting to tempt fate, I didn’t share my true feelings with Marcus (who was sat next to me) that I thought the game had a scoreless draw written all over it. That proved to be true but typically Frontale nearly won it in the final moments of extra time having not looked much of a threat for much of the game. Reysol keeper Kenta Matsumoto made a fantastic save from French striker Gomis though but his afternoon was far from over.

The deadlock meant penalty kicks would decide the winner. Sadly it all took place at the opposite end to where we stood all match.

The shoot-out proved to be a real rollercoaster ride of emotions. After one successful kick each, Matsumoto saved the next Frontale penalty from former Reysol player Yusuke Segawa but VAR intervened and the player didn’t make a mistake with the re-take. Reysol’s fourth kick hit the post and Frontale’s Gomis had the chance to win it with their fifth but it was brilliantly saved. It went to sudden death and Frontale missed the sixth penalty giving Eiichi Katayama the moment to step up and take the glory for Reysol. He blew his chance though as it agonisingly hit the post.

The penalties all went in after that and at 7-7 it was the turn for the keepers. Frontale’s keeper Sung-Ryong took a great kick and then saved from his opposite number  Matsumoto. An epic shoot-out was suddenly all over so quickly as the other end of the stadium went into delirium whilst it was stunned silence at our end.

Many supporters of losing finalists often make a hasty exit on such occasions but the whole of our supporters group in the lower tier of the stand remained in place for the medal ceremony, trophy lift and to commiserate our players on the loss. It was a heartbreaking end to a very long day but it did give me a thirst for more cup finals and hopefully next time will be Reysol’s day.

Final Score: Kawasaki Frontale 0-0 Kashiwa Reysol (A.E.T. Frontale won 8-7 on penalties)

Bonus: Back in early January 2021 I was outside Japan National Stadium ahead of  the Levain Cup Final between FC Tokyo and Kashiwa Reysol. This match was very much during the Covid_19 era and the final had been arranged and rearranged a couple of times from my memory. We had spent the New Year holiday in Izu with my wife’s parents and  didn’t think we were going to be back in Tokyo until after the final. However, things changed due to her work and so I was able to attend the final. There was just one problem though!

I didn’t actually have a ticket!! I thought I’d try my luck outside the stadium though whilst savouring the pre-match atmosphere. I didn’t get lucky and there wasn’t any atmosphere due to coronavirus but it did enable me to prank some followers on Twitter!

Sadly it wasn’t to be for Reysol on that occasion either and we lost 2-1 as FC Tokyo claimed their third league cup victory in three attempts.

Click here to read ‘Witnessing An Historic Upset In The 102nd Emperor’s Cup Final’

Click here to read ‘German Giants Bayern Munich Back in Japan For A Couple Of Money Spinning Friendlies’

Click here to read ‘Watching My First Football Match At The National Stadium In Tokyo’

Click here to read ‘In Attendance At The 98th Emperors Cup Final (2018)’