When the J. League began in 1993, a prerequisite for membership was that clubs had to remove any references to parent companies from their names, with the likes of Sumitomo Metal Industries and Mazda SC instead assuming monikers such as Kashima Antlers and Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
The reverberations were subsequently felt within Japanese soccer, then, when international conglomerate Red Bull became the first foreign owner of a J. League side in September 2024, adding then-third division Omiya Ardija to its stable of clubs around the world.
This past year represented Red Bull’s first full season in charge of the Saitama outfit — which is back in the second tier after storming to the 2024 J3 title — and it wasted no time stamping its mark on its new acquisition.