Azul Claro Numazu
| Full name | Football Club Azul Claro Numazu |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1973 (as Numazu Arsenal SC) 2003 (as Azul Claro Numazu) |
| Ground | Shizuoka Ashitaka Athletic Stadium |
| Capacity | 10,000 |
| Managing Organisation | Azul Claro Suruga Corporation (NPO) |
| Chairman | Hiroyoshi Yamamoto |
| Manager | Kazuhito Mochizuki |
| League | JFL |
| Website | http://www.azul-claro.jp/ |
Azul Claro Numazu (アスルクラロ沼津, Azul Claro Numazu) is a Japanese professional football team based in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture. They currently play in Japan Football League, the fourth-tier of Japanese nationwide football and the top level of amateur football in the country.
History
The club has been established in 1974 as Numazu Arsenal and slowly progressed through the tiers of Shizuoka prefectural leagues. In 2006 the club began the process of transformation into a professional organization with the ultimate goal of joining J. League. Same year the club adopted its current name, Azul Claro (meaning "bright blue" in Spanish).
In 2012 Azul Claro won promotion to Tōkai Adult Soccer League and quickly progressed through its ranks, spending only a season in each of its divisions. Though they have finished only fourth in 2013 Tōkai League, they were considered as serious contenders for admission to the newly created J3 League. On September 17, 2013 the club has been granted the J. League Associate Membership and passed all stages of licensing and inspection by the league. However, they were only the 3rd choice club for the only Regional League spot in J3 so eventually they had to give way to Template:Fb team Grulla Morioka. The club have won the promotion anyway though—they were selected by Japan Football League board as one of the teams to play in 2014 season.