Asian League

Full name : Kashima Antlers F.C.
Nickname : Antlers
Founded : 1947
Ground : Kashima Soccer Stadium
Kashima, Ibaraki (Capacity: 40,728)
Chairman : Hiroshi Ushijima
Manager : Oswaldo de Oliveira
History

Founded in 1947 as Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. in Osaka. It played in the semi-professional Japan Soccer League and moved to Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture in 1975. They were promoted to the JSL's top flight in 1984, but never made much of an impact, going down in 1985/86, returning in 1986/87 and going down again in 1988/89. Its last standing in the JSL was 2nd in the Second Division for 1991/92.

After the formation of the fully professional J. League, Sumitomo, like all other clubs, stripped the corporate brand from the team name and reformed as the Kashima Antlers. Kashima was essentially promoted to the new top flight, as many JSL First Division teams decided to relegate themselves being unprepared for professionalism.

Since the J. League's creation in 1993, Kashima Antlers have consistently been amongst the strongest teams in the country, holding several distinctions and records. Led by former Brazilian star and Japanese national team coach Zico, Kashima were the first team to win a J. League stage, claiming the 1st stage of the inaugural season in 1993, and in 2000 became the first J. League team to achieve the "treble", winning all three major titles: J. League, J. League Cup, and Emperor's Cup. This followed a near miss in 1997 when, after being the first team to win both cup competitions, they finished second in the league. In 2007 Antlers became only the second team to win a second league and cup double, and in doing so took their domestic trophy total to eleven; the highest in Japan during the professional era (but not overall - the record is still held by Tokyo Verdy), and the first team to reach double figures.

To this day, Kashima have maintained strong ties with the football community in Brazil, a fact borne out of Zico's past affiliation with the club.

Its hometowns are Kashima, Itako, Hasaki and Kamisu, all in Ibaraki Prefecture. The team plays at Kashima Stadium.

Kashima is no longer primarily sponsored by Sumitomo, currently bearing the logo of Tostem, a glass window maker.