Vissel Kobe

[Towser]

Aston Villa is delighted to announce a new collaborative partnership with Japanese club, Vissel Kobe, further strengthening our international network and player development pipeline.

The J1 League side, who currently sit top of the division, join the growing V Sports global network of clubs alongside ZED FC and Vitória Sport Clube from Egypt and Portugal respectively.

As part of this exciting step forward for both clubs, Villa and Vissel Kobe will work to create a bilateral development framework for players and staff which will enhance youth development, alongside the cooperative sharing of ideas, techniques and best practice. The partnership will look to further open up pathways for talented Japanese players to play in Europe and, ultimately, at Aston Villa.

This synergy between the clubs will also extend to first team level, with the exchange of technical knowledge and coaching methodology together with collaboration in the areas of performance, scouting & recruitment, data analysis and overall squad management.

A senior delegation from Kobe will be visiting Birmingham at the end of the month to mark the start of the partnership and two of Vissel Kobe’s talented U16 players will also train with the Villa Academy for the duration of the visit.

The new partnership will also see a Villa Academy team travel to Japan in 2024 to take part in an international tournament.

[Monty]

Axl...

[Risso]

I've no beef with that.

[Clampy]

I thought we'd bought a new player for a minute or it was maybe a Japanese gangster.

Interesting though.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

As long as we're not hiring the designer of their shirts..

[eamonn]

Yeah....Axl?

[Axl Rose]

Could be worse, I suppose.

They're currently top of the league, are owned by Rakuten and are a bit like the Man City of the J League.

I of course, don't like them 😂

If it means Villa being a bit more in the spotlight over here, so be it.

Young Vissel fans will probably now adopt Villa as their English team, which will definitely improve my opinion of them. It is very tiring to see the amount of Man City fans here since (they started cheating their way to success) their strategic partnership with those wankers, Marinos.

[Axl Rose]

アストン ヴィラ

A su to n  Vu i ra

That's how we're known over here.

[AV84]

Preseason tour of Japan next summer?

[Axl Rose]

Preseason tour of Japan next summer?

That would be amazing.

Appallingly humid, mind.

[cdward]

From Wiki - The club was founded in 1966 as the semi-professional Kawasaki Steel Soccer Club.
In 2018 they signed David Villa and Iniesta.
They play in crimson shirts.

I like them already
Up the Vissel!

They will have to work on their nickname though
Nickname - Ushi (cows)

[VILLA MOLE]

Would be good to tap in to the Japanese market

[ADVILLAFAN]

Maybe we will finally have a Japanese player.

[Sexual Ealing]

They will have to work on their nickname though
Nickname - Ushi (cows)

They must have seen those DO'L-era shirts we had.

[Hookeysmith]

I see this as an excellent strategic marketing move and an excellent opportunity to tap into the huge football potential in Japan in both support and potential future players