*anese footballer and manager*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Saburo Kawabuchi (川淵 三郎, Kawabuchi Saburō, born December 3, 1936) is a former *anese football player and manager. He played for and managed the *an national team. He is the founder and honorary chairman of the J.League. Between 2002 and 2008, he served as president of the *an Football *ociation.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Club career
• 3 National team career
• 4 Coaching career
• 5 Later years
• 6 Club statistics
• 7 National team statistics
• 8 Awards
• 9 Books
• 10 References
• 11 External links

Early life

Kawabuchi was born in Takaishi on December 3, 1936. At first, when he was in Takaishi elementary school and Takaishi Junior high school, he played baseball. He was on to Mikunigaoka High School, Osaka and became a member of football team at the high school. He graduated from Mikunigaoka High School, Osaka in 1955. He went on to Waseda University School of commerce in 1957. He played for Waseda University football team. He earned Bachelor of arts degree in commerce from Waseda University.

Club career

After graduating from Waseda University, Kawabuchi played for Furukawa Electric, in the early days of the *an Soccer League. In the initial league season, he was the first player to score a hat-trick, against Nagoya Mutual Bank. He retired in 1970. He played 68 games and scored 10 goals in the league.

National team career

On December 25, 1958, when Kawabuchi was a Waseda University student, he debuted and scored 2 goals for *an national team against Hong Kong. In 1962, he played at 1962 Asian Games. In 1964, he was selected *an for 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. At 1964 Summer Olympics, he scored a goal in first match against Argentina. He also played at 1962 Asian Games. He played 26 games and scored 8 goals for *an until 1965.

Coaching career

After retirement, Kawabuchi became a coach for Furukawa Electric in 1970. In 1973, he became a manager and managed until 1975. Just before 1982 World Cup qualification in December 1980, he was named manager for *an national team to replace Masashi Watanabe, who suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Kawabuchi managed *an at 1982 World Cup qualification and managed until March 1981.

In 1991, he named inaugural chairman of the J.League is first professional league in *an. In 1991, he also became a first chairman of J.League. In 2002, he resigned chairman of J.League and became 10th president of *an Football *ociation as Shunichiro Okano successor. Kawabuchi served until 2008. He also served as president of *an Basketball *ociation from May 2015 to June 2016.

In 2006, he received FIFA Order of Merit. In 2008, he was also selected *an Football Hall of Fame.

Later years

Kawabuchi serves as a councilor on the organizing committee for the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. He had been requested by former Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori to succeed him as committee chairperson in February 2021, but Kawabuchi later said that he would not accept the request.

Club statistics

National team statistics

Awards

• *an Soccer League Silver Ball (*ist Leader): 1966

Books

• J's career – With *an football, Nihon Keizai Shimbun Shuppan, 2009

References

External links

• Saburō Kawabuchi – FIFA compe*ion record (archived)
• Saburō Kawabuchi at National-Football-Teams.com
• *an National Football Team Database
• *an Football Hall of Fame at *an Football *ociation