Naoki Chiba

Naoki Chiba
千葉 直樹
Personal information
Full name Naoki Chiba
Date of birth (1977-07-24) July 24, 1977 (age 47)
Place of birth Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10+12 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1993–1995 Tohoku Gakuin High School
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2010 Vegalta Sendai 430 (18)
Total 430 (18)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Naoki Chiba (千葉 直樹, Chiba Naoki, born July 24, 1977) is a former Japanese football player.

Playing career

Chiba was born in Sendai on July 24, 1977. After graduating from high school, he joined Japan Football League club Brummel Sendai (later Vegalta Sendai) based in his local in 1996. He became a regular player from 1997 and played many matches as defensive midfielder for the club for a long time. The club was promoted to new league J2 League from 1999. In 2001, the club won the 2nd place and was promoted to J1 League from 2002. However the club gained new member Hajime Moriyasu and Silvinho in 2002 and Toshiya Ishii in 2003. So, Chiba's opportunity to play decreased behind new member from 2002 and the club was relegated to J2 from 2004. From 2004, he became a regular player again. In 2009, the club won the champions and was promoted to J1 from 2010 for the first time in 7 years. He retired end of 2010 season.

Club statistics

Club performance League Cup League Cup Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Japan League Emperor's Cup J.League Cup Total
1996 Brummel Sendai Football League 0 0 0 0 - 0 0
1997 17 1 2 0 1 0 20 1
1998 26 0 4 0 4 0 34 0
1999 Vegalta Sendai J2 League 31 0 2 0 2 0 35 0
2000 39 2 1 0 2 0 42 2
2001 38 1 3 1 2 0 43 2
2002 J1 League 17 0 0 0 5 0 22 0
2003 8 0 0 0 2 0 10 0
2004 J2 League 27 1 0 0 - 27 1
2005 36 1 1 0 - 37 1
2006 44 2 2 0 - 46 2
2007 43 4 0 0 - 43 4
2008 39 1 1 0 - 40 1
2009 40 5 4 0 - 44 5
2010 J1 League 25 0 1 0 3 0 29 0
Career total 430 18 21 1 21 0 472 19

References