Thursday, 28 March 2024

Team Mascot & Old Uniforms

Jimbeinho

When Ryukyu were admitted to the J.League, they refrained from naming a mascot despite the fact that the team crest featured a pair of very impressive-looking Okinawan Lion-dogs ("shishi"). Most fans and third-party observers assumed that eventually the Shishi on the team crest would be adopted as the mascot.

But in recent years, there have been more than a few odd choices of mascot. Rather than make the most obvious choice, FCRyukyu held an open competition for mascot submissions. This tactic has been used previously by a number of teams, usually with very disappointing results. Sure enough, when the winning entry was announced, more than a few Ryukyu fans were gobsmacked by the choice. "Jimbeinho", as the team named him, is a type of manta ray which is common in Okinawa. The name "Jimbeinho" was concocted by taking a part of the Japanese name for this ray, and adding an ersatz Portuguese ending.


FC Ryukyu -- Team Uniforms (2004-present)

Click on the small pictures to see a larger-size image

2009 (H) 2010 (H) 2010 (A) 2011 (H) 2011 (A) 2013 (H)
2013 (H) 2014 (H) 2015 (H) 2015 (A) 2016 (H) 2016 (A)
2017 (H) 2017 (A) 2018 (H) 2018 (A) 2019 (H) 2019 (A)
2020 (H) 2020 (A) 2021 (H) 2021 (A) 2022 (H) 2022 (A)