A middle school student debuting in the first division? This player who became the talk of the Japanese J-League...FC Tokyo 15-year-old to bench for 2 consecutive games
Mar 01, 2025
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On the 1st, when the fourth round of the J League 2025 season was held, it was FC Tokyo midfielder Maki Kitahara who the Japanese media rushed to deal with as a hot topic.
Kitahara was born on July 7, 2009, and was registered as a call-up for the adult team on the 14th from FC Tokyo Youth Team U-15 Musashi.
Kitahara was on the bench waiting list in the third round against Nagoya on the 26th, and drew attention as he was included in the entry for the second consecutive game against Kashima.
Before the start of this season, he had also joined a winter training camp and had predicted his debut in the first division by training with seniors such as Kirasung.
When he actually appeared on the bench for the first team for two consecutive games, Japanese media shed light on the topic, saying, `It's great that an active middle school student came right before his debut in the first division.'
He also predicted that if Kitahara plays as a substitute member on the day, it will be the youngest record in J-League history. If he participates on this day, he will be 15 years, 7 months, and 22 days old. Takayuki Morimoto (Tokyo Verdi) is the youngest player to play in the J-League history at 15 years, 10 months, and 6 days. FC Tokyo's previous youngest record was 16 years, 5 months and 22 days of Kubo Takefusa (Real Sociedad).
Kitahara was able to challenge the first team stage under Japan's 'HomeGrown' system. 'Homegrown' refers to a player whose total number of days registered in a particular club's Class 1 to Class 4 teams is more than 990 (3 seasons) during the period from the year of his 12th birthday to the year of his 21st birthday.
The J-League requires more than a certain number of players to register 'home-grateful', and in the 2025 season, there are four players in the first division and two players in the second and third divisions.
Kitahara's debut match was also not made in the match. In the 29th minute of the second half, Tokyo allowed the winning goal, and eventually lost 2-0.
However, local media predict that it will be only a matter of time before Kitahara sets a record for the youngest ever appearance because she has plenty of opportunities left in the future.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
