Emperor's Cup
The Emperor's Cup (Japanese天皇 杯, Tennōhai; complete:天皇杯 全日本 サッカー 選手権 大会, Tennōhai zen Nippon Sakkā senshuken taikai ) is the national cup competition for Japanese men's soccer teams. He has been held since 1921 and is therefore " not traditional Japanese sports " (such as Sumo ), but one of the oldest football competitions in Asia not only older than any other national competition. Until the 60s the trophy, donated by the Japanese emperor was marked by university teams, after which he was dominated by the works teams of major Japanese corporations. Since the founding of the Japanese professional league J. League 1992 always professional teams have been in the final. The Emperor's Cup in Japan is the second most important title after the championship and the right to participate in the AFC Champions League.
Eligible for the Emperor's Cup, the finals will take place in the Olympic Stadium Tokyo since 1967, teams from the two professional leagues J1 and J2, the underlying settled regional leagues (Japan Football League), as well as some university and even school teams. At the Emperor's Cup in 2004 a total of 80 teams took part, with the 16 first division had byes to the round of 32. The winner was Tokyo Verdy 1969, the 2-1 sat down in the final against Jubilo Iwata.
Often confusion reigns in the name of the title, since the cup final of the season is traditionally played on New Year's Day the following year. Tokyo Verdy, for example, sometimes referred to as the Cup Winners Cup winner 2004 and sometimes as 2005. Due to its participation in the AFC Champions League takes place with a lag: Jubilo Iwata takes, for example, as the winner of the finale from 1 January 2004 to the Champions League 2005 part.
Similar to Germany, where in the time of the Third Reich and Viennese teams could enter the list of winners of the DFB Cup, is on the list of Japanese Cup winner a Korean team: 1935, during the Japanese occupation of Korea won, Seoul Shukyu -dan the tournament.
Previous finals
- Football Competition in Japan