Saburo Kawabuchi

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Saburo Kawabuchi
Saburō Kawabuchi 1964b.jpg
Kawabuchi in 1964
Personal information
Full nameSaburo Kawabuchi
Date of birth (1936-12-03) December 3, 1936 (age 88)
Place of birthTakaishi, Osaka, Japan
Playing positionForward
Youth career
1952–1954Mikunigaoka High School
1957–1960Waseda University
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1961–1970Furukawa Electric68(10)
Total68(10)
National team
1958–1965Japan26(8)
Teams managed
1973–1975Furukawa Electric
1980–1981Japan
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Biography

Kawabuchi was born in Takaishi on December 3, 1936. After graduating from Waseda University, he played for Furukawa Electric. In 1965, Furukawa Electric joined new league Japan 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.

On December 25, 1958, when Kawabuchi was a Waseda University student, he debuted and scored 2 goals for the Japan national team against Hong Kong. In 1962, he played at 1962 Asian Games. In 1964, he was selected Japan 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 Japan until 1965.

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 the Japan national team to replace Masashi Watanabe, who suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Kawabuchi managed Japan 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 Japan. In 1991, he also became a first chairman of J.League. In 2002, he resigned chairman of J.League and became 10th president of Japan Football Association as Shunichiro Okano successor. Kawabuchi served until 2008. He also served as president of Japan Basketball Association from May 2015 to June 2016.

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

Statistics

[1]

Club performance League
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals
JapanLeague
1965 Furukawa Electric JSL Division 1 14 3
1966 14 4
1967 14 1
1968 14 1
1969 12 1
1970 0 0
Country Japan 68 10
Total 68 10

[2]

Japan national team
YearAppsGoals
1958 2 2
1959 9 3
1960 1 0
1961 6 1
1962 6 2
1963 0 0
1964 0 0
1965 2 0
Total 26 8

References

Other websites