After spending a year in Division Two, the Urawa Reds will make their comeback to the J. League's top flight when the 2001 season gets under way on Saturday.
The club made big changes during the off-season, hiring South American coaches for the first time in its attempt to make the team competitive in J1 after a mixed year in the second division.
It wasn't always so. Urawa gave its loyal fans something to cheer about in 1995-96 under the guidance of German manager Holger Osieck. The team finished third in 1995's first stage and came in sixth in 1996 (played in a single-stage format.) But the glory days were gone and the team has gone from bad to worse. Last year, it managed to scramble out of the second division, but the writing was on the wall and big changes had to be made.