As Nissan Motors (1972–1991) The team traces its origins to 1972 as the
Nissan Motors Football Club, based in
Yokohama. Nissan won promotion to Division 2 Football League in 1976. Under coach
Shu Kamo, the team won the
Japan Soccer League in 1988 and 1989, as well as the
JSL Cup in 1988, 1989 and 1990 and the
Emperor's Cup in 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1991. The 1989 team won the "
Triple Crown" - all three major tournaments in Japan - with famous players such as
Kazushi Kimura,
Takashi Mizunuma and Brazilian
Oscar. At the end of the 1991–92 season, the team won the
Asian Cup Winners' Cup.
As Yokohama Marinos (1992–1998) Nissan obtained registration in the newly formed
J.League to acquire professional club status and changed the club's name to
Yokohama Marinos, a reference to Yokohama's status as a major port city. In their first seasons as a professional team, Yokohama Marinos continued to win competitions: triumphant in the
Emperor's Cup, a second consecutive
Asian Cup Winners' Cup, and their first
J.League title in 1995. Matches between Yokohama Marinos and
Verdy Kawasaki were known as the National Derby.
As Yokohama F. Marinos (1999–present) {{football squad on pitch|align=right In 1999, the club was renamed
Yokohama F. Marinos after the technical and financial merger with
Yokohama Flügels, which had declared bankruptcy. An F was added to the name to represent the Flügels half of the club. However, many Flügels fans have rejected the new team, feeling that their team was dissolved into the F. Marinos rather than merged with it. As a result, they refused to follow F. Marinos and instead created
Yokohama FC, the new city rival of F. Marinos, with the help of public donations and an affiliation with
IMG, a talent agency. In 2000, Marinos were runner-up in the
2000 J1 League, where
Shunsuke Nakamura was named the best player of the season. On 27 October 2001, Marinos won the
J.League Cup, defeating
Júbilo Iwata in a 0–0 match where Marinos won the penalty shootout 3–1. In the 2002 season, Marinos were league runners-up behind Júbilo Iwata.
Back-to-back league champions In 2003 and 2004, Marinos became back-to-back league champions for the second time, in the professional era, with the stars of the team being South Koreans
Ahn Jung-hwan,
Yoo sang-chul and Japanese players
Daisuke Oku,
Tatsuhiko Kubo and
Yuji Nakazawa (who was the best player of the year in 2004). Their coach was the Japanese
Takeshi Okada, who was named the 'Best Coach of the Year' in 2003 and 2004. From 2005 to 2008, with notable players
Hayuma Tanaka,
Hideo Ōshima,
Daisuke Sakata and
Koji Yamase, Marinos didn't achieve any single honours. The highest they reached during this period was the
2008 Emperor's Cup semi-final where they were knockout by
Gamba Osaka in extra time. In 2010, club legend
Shunsuke Nakamura returned to Yokohama F. Marinos after 8 years and stayed until the end of the
2017 J1 League season. On August 4, 2011, a year after leaving the club, former Marinos player
Naoki Matsuda collapsed during training with
Matsumoto Yamaga due to cardiac arrest and died at the age of 34. As a result, his former number 3 has been retired. And after two semi-final defeats in 2011 and 2012, Marinos won the
2013 Emperor's Cup on 1 January 2014, the first after 21 years and in 2013, they were runner-up in the
J.League for the second time in their history.
Owned by City Football Group On 20 May 2014, it was announced that the
City Football Group, a subsidiary of
Abu Dhabi United Group, had invested in a minority stake in Yokohama F. Marinos, creating a partnership with the football club and the automaker
Nissan. And after consecutive defeats, such as a loss in the
2017 Emperor's Cup Final and in the
2018 J.League Cup Final, the team managed to get a good shape thanks to the direction of the Australian coach
Ange Postecoglou, which ended 15 years of drought by winning the
2019 J1 League title, with emphasis on the participation of
Teruhito Nakagawa being the 'Best Player of the Season' and top scorer with 15 goals together with Brazilian
Marcos Júnior. In 2020, Marinos made it out of the
2020 AFC Champions League group stage for the first time since the
AFC Champions League switched to the current format. The club were drawn in Group H alongside Chinese
Shanghai SIPG, South Korean
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Australian
Sydney FC. Marinos qualified to the knockout stages as group leaders with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 losses. However the club was bowed out from the tournament in the Round of 16 losing 3–2 to South Korean
Suwon Samsung Bluewings. In 2021, Marinos finished in second place 13 points behind league champions,
Kawasaki Frontale where on 18 July 2021, Head coach
Ange Postecoglou was signed by Scottish club,
Celtic while
Hideki Matsunaga will be the caretaker for the club until 18 July 2021, Marinos signed another Australian head coach,
Kevin Muscat. In 2022, Kevin Muscat steered the club to win their fifth
J1 League title. The club also finished as group leaders in the 2022 AFC Champions League group stage being placed in Group H alongside South Korean Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Vietnamese
Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Australian Sydney FC. Marinos qualified to the knockout stages with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 losses where they faced another Japanese side
Vissel Kobe in the Round of 16, however, the club suffered a 3–2 defeat to Vissel Kobe thus crashing out from the competition. In 2023, Marinos than finished as league runners up with 64 points behind Vissel Kobe who got 71 points. Kevin Muscat than guided the club in the
2023–24 AFC Champions League group stage being drawn in Group G with Chinese
Shandong Taishan, South Korean
Incheon United and Filipino
Kaya–Iloilo. Marinos finished the group tied with 12 points along with Shandong Taishan and Incheon United but qualified to the
round of 16 as group leaders. On 6 December 2023, Kevin Muscat resigned as the head coach in which
Harry Kewell were appointed as the new head coach of the club on 31 December 2023 becoming the third consecutive Australian manager in the club history. Harry Kewell than guided the club in the round of 16 fixture against Thai
Bangkok United, winning the match 3–2 on aggregate with
Anderson Lopes scoring an injury time penalty in the 120th minute of extra time during the second leg sending the team to the quarter-finals. Marinos then faced off against
Shandong Taishan again in which Marinos won 3–1 on aggregate thus seeing them to the semi-finals against South Korean
Ulsan Hyundai. Marinos suffered a 1–0 defeat away in which the club bounced back in the second leg at home winning the match 3–2 thus seeing both club tied with 3–3 on aggregate sending the match into extra time and then penalties shootout. Marinos went on to win the penalties shootout 5–4 where vice-captain
Eduardo scored the winning penalty to send the team to their first-ever Champions League final against Emirati
Al Ain. They would start losing 0-1 during the first leg at home, but then came back with two goals from
Asahi Uenaka and
Kota Watanabe to make it 2–1 at the end of the match, but, unfortunately, they'd lose 5–1 away in the second leg (6–3 on aggregate), thus ending as runners-up of the competition. == Rivalries ==