The Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Football League 2015 Premier League, the highest of all competitions for Japan’s high-schoolers, is set to get underway on Saturday 11 April. Having produced a great number of players who have played in professional and college clubs, it enters its fifth year as a nation-wide league. The participating teams repeat a series of trial and error in a one-week cycle and attempt to give playing time to many players on the roster in order to improve the whole team. The “centralised system,” holding multiple fixtures at the same venue, was introduced as a new initiative for this season’s openers. The WEST league has three matches on Saturday 11 at J-GREEN Sakai and two matches on Sunday 12 at Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium.

Cerezo Osaka Youth (Osaka) came from behind and beat then league-leaders Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo) to notch the West title on the last matchday, and with that momentum going, the Osaka side clinched the national championship trophy in the end. It is interesting to see how Cerezo play as the defending champions this year. On the other hand, Kobe lost the championship match two years ago and ended up at third place last year despite repeatedly getting close to the West championship. They look for the title this season again after their disappointing results in the last few years.

How Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) and Nagoya Grampus U18 (Aichi) play cannot be missed, either, as Gamba feature Takagi Akito, the second top scorer last year, and Nagoya have Sugimori Koki, a supporting member of the Japan squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.

Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 and Kyoto Tachibana High School, two teams from Kyoto take part in the league representing the prefecture. Kyoto Sanga take on another league campaign but this year under new head coach Morioka Ryuzo, former Japanese international. They conceded the total of 34 goals last year, the fourth most in the league, despite scoring league’s second most 42 goals. The Morioka side aim at the top spots with shoring up their defence. Kyoto Tachibana secured themselves remaining in the Premier League for another year in the final matchday last year. With their goal set as “Stay in the league,” according to head coach Yonezawa Kazunari, they look to add up points with their offence led by Japanese U-17 international Iwasaki Yuto.

With significant roster changes on their squads, it appears that both Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth (Hiroshima) and Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka) will have to spend a lot of time building up the team early in the season. Even so, they try to go up further by taking advantage of their strengths as Hiroshima play good possession football and Higashi Fukuoka play an aggressive attacking style. Including contests of newly-promoted Riseisha High School (Osaka) and Oita Trinita Youth U-18 (Oita), there are plenty of must-see battles this season again. Come and witness the Premier League WEST.

The Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Football League Premier League 2015

Saturday 11 April to Sunday 6 December 2015
Round-robin tournament at both home and away pitches with 20 teams from around the country, divided into groups of 10 teams.

EAST (10 teams):
Consadole SapporoU-18 (Hokkaido), Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori), Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki), Omiya Ardija Youth (Saitama), Ichiritsu Funabashi High School (Chiba), Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba), Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa (Chiba), F.C. Tokyo U-18 (Tokyo), JFA Academy Fukushima (Shizuoka), Shimizu S-pulse Youth (Shizuoka)

WEST (10 teams):
Nagoya Grampus U18 (Aichi), Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 (Kyoto), Kyoto Tachibana High School (Kyoto), Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka), Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka), Riseisha High School (Osaka), Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo), Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth (Hiroshima), Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka), Oita Trinita U-18 (Oita)

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