FC Tokyo 2008 Home Shirt

FC TOKYO - HOME SHIRT 2008

FC Tokyo were founded in 1935 as the works team of Tokyo Gas, which is why supporters still know them affectionately as "the Gas". They took their current name in 1998 and entered the J.League in 1999, and they play their home games at the Ajinomoto Stadium in Chofu, out in the west of the capital. Their blue and red have become one of the more recognisable looks in Japanese football.

The 2008 season, during which this classic home shirt was worn, was the club's 10th as a member of J.League Division 1. Under manager Hiroshi Jofuku, FC Tokyo enjoyed a solid campaign, finishing 6th out of 18 clubs and pushing deep into both domestic cups.

There was plenty for the Ajinomoto crowd to enjoy in the knockouts. FC Tokyo reached the semi-finals of the Emperor's Cup and the quarter-finals of the J.League Cup, backing up their league consistency with genuine cup runs.

Shingo Akamine top-scored with 12 league goals, with Brazilian forward Cabore just behind on 11. The season is best remembered, though, for the emergence of a 21-year-old full-back named Yuto Nagatomo, who chipped in with three goals and would go on to join Inter Milan and become one of Japan's most-capped players of all time. It has been a fairytale for Nagatomo who, now aged 40, is back at the club where he broke through all those years ago.