HomeAway

1999 - 2000

1999 was the season when the golden era of the club began : its key players were at their best, the team had finished at the third place the previous season, and a real group was being created. Sanada, Saito, Morioka, Ichikawa, Toda, Ito, Sawanobori, Alex, with the addition of future S-Pulse coach Tasaka, were all part of one of the best starting elevens the club could ever offer to the fans. As a result, Shimizu S-Pulse won the league's second stage and went to the finals against neighbour Jubilo Iwata. Unfortunately, Iwata managed to win the title after both teams won their leg 2-1 and the penalty shootout went in favor of Jubilo (2-4). The 2000 season would finally be successful as Shimizu won the Asian Cup Winners' Cup, the first continental trophy of the club, for its first participation. The team also managed to get to the Emperor's Cup finals, but lost to the Kashima Antlers (3-2).

The golden era can be associated with the distinctive "camo" design the players wore at that time. Even though a lot of websites around the world put it in their "Hall of shame" tops, it was a fresh new idea and the overall orange render popped out from the field. The Mikan shade of orange made its return as a part of the camo design, and the blue arrows pattern followed the sleeves, the shorts' sides and the collar. The world map kept its globe shape and was slighly moved to the left, with a transparent background. Once again, the away kit was a white and grey version of the home kit. For international games, the players didn't have any badges on the sleeves, nor did they have the Glico sponsor on the back. But for the first time, they'd show their last name on top of the back numbers. Overall, this set screams S-Pulse and if you must remember one, it might be this one.


Honours :
-J.League Division 1 : None.
-Runners-up : 1999.

-Emperor's Cup : None.
-Runners-up : 2000.

-Japanese Super Cup : None.
-Runners-up : 1999.

-Asian Cup Winners' Cup : 2000.

-Asian Super Cup : None.
-Runners-up : 2000.

Brand : Puma

Sponsors :
Front : Japan Airlines / Back : Glico / Sleeve : Honen / Shorts : None.

Badges : J.League

Numbers / Nameset :

Jock tag : Jock tag

Template used : None.

Counterfeit : No.

Differences between authentic and replica : The only difference was the jock tag : "Professional" for the retail versions of the shirt, "Pro Use" for the versions made to be used by the players. The fabric, logos, badges and sponsors were the same for both versions. Following what was done for the 1997/1998 seasons, shirts with long sleeves were only made for the players.

TRIVIA


-The arrow legacy : From the mid-90's to the early 2000's, Puma integrated an arrow pattern in every Shimizu S-Pulse uniform it designed. On the 1999/2000 version, the arrow pattern is placed all along the sleeves, the shorts' sides and the collar.

-Secret logo : Under the back of the collar, a secret logo is hidden. It is the club's script logo. This feature will appear again on the 2013 uniform.

-Immaterial country : On the globe can be seen a "country" called "Kensho". While it isn't a physical territory and more of a spiritual domain from the Japanese culture, the main reason for this word to be included in the S-Pulse's designs from 1992 all the way to 2006 is that it is the designer's first name, Kensho Abe. That explains why it is never placed at the same spot on every design he made for Shimizu.

-Numbers' colors : For several games of the 1999, 2000 and 2001 seasons, the players wore blue and white numbers on their away uniforms. Those blue and white numbers were supposed to be worn on the home uniforms only, as the away numbers were blue and orange, as seen in the rest of the away games. The reason behind that fact is unknown.