Nagasaki

Latest results

Standing

Football team

Club · Japan · B League

«Velca»

188 Matches

106 wins

82 losses

15533–15076 Points

+457 Difference

82.6 Average per match

Form W W L W W L

Japanet Holdings, the retail and media conglomerate based in Sasebo, built the club for the port city itself. In 2020 the company put the name to a public vote, and Velca beat two other finalists after nearly 15,000 ballots were counted — a portmanteau stitching together "welcome," the idea of a healthy local community, and victory. Prussian blue, white and gold followed as the club's colours, and the team entered the B.League in the 2021–22 season, in the third tier.

What Nagasaki did from there had little precedent in the league. They won B3 in their debut season with 45 wins against three losses, went straight up to B2 and reached the final there too, losing it to Saga Ballooners, who took the automatic promotion instead. B1 arrived for 2023–24 regardless, and by the 2025–26 season Velca were beating Ryukyu Golden Kings in the finals to take the top-flight championship — three divisions climbed inside five years of existence.

The Happiness Arena, their home within the Nagasaki Stadium City development, can be configured anywhere from 1,000 up to 6,000 seats depending on the fixture. Kyushu gives them their nearest opponents in Kumamoto Volters and Saga Ballooners, though it's Ryukyu who have become the team Nagasaki measure themselves against after that B1 final.

Takuma Ito took the club up from B3 as general manager and head coach, before Kenjiro Maeda took over the bench from 2022–23 onward and was still in charge when the B1 title came. On the floor, it was Hyunjung Lee who ran the show in that 2025–26 final and was named its MVP — the player Velca fans point to when the climb through three leagues comes up.

Fixtures and results

23 Sep	B League	Shimane H	64:89	L
26 May	B League	Ryukyu Golden Kings H	72:64	W
24 May	B League	Ryukyu Golden Kings H	66:60	W
23 May	B League	Ryukyu Golden Kings H	69:71	L
16 May	B League	Chiba H	102:93	W
15 May	B League	Chiba H	82:74	W

SeaHorses Mikawa

Ryukyu Golden Kings

Nagoya Diamond Dolphins

San-en NeoPhoenix

B League

Group stage · Western Conference