Chifure AS Elfen Saitama 2014 Training Shirt

CHIFURE AS ELFEN SAITAMA - TRAINING SHIRT 2014

Chifure AS Elfen Saitama are a Japanese women's football club representing Saitama Prefecture, just north of Tokyo. Founded in 1991 as AS Elfen FC, they are known affectionately as AS Saitama and today play their home matches at Kumagaya Athletic Stadium, a ground that holds 15,392. In 2014 the club carried the name AS Elfen Saitama; the Chifure prefix, taken from the Japanese cosmetics brand, would not arrive until 2016. The club's playful mascots are drawn from the wildlife of Saitama, among them a giant flying squirrel and a kingfisher.

The 2014 season, during which this understated training shirt was worn, saw AS Elfen Saitama fighting to preserve their place in the Nadeshiko League Division 1, the top flight of Japanese women's football. They finished 8th of the ten teams in the first stage, winning 5, drawing 2 and losing 11 of their 18 matches for 17 points, a return that left them in the relegation mix. The championship was claimed by Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies, the third title in their history.

With the league split into a second stage, Saitama were drawn into the position playoff group alongside the sides outside the top six. There they rallied, winning four and losing only two of their six matches to climb clear of the drop and secure another year in the top division. In the Empress's Cup, the historic knockout competition open to clubs across Japan, their run came to an end in the third round.

The division's golden boot went to Yuika Sugasawa of JEF United, who struck 20 goals, while Urawa's Michi Goto was named the league's Most Valuable Player. For AS Elfen Saitama, survival itself was the achievement that defined the campaign. The reprieve proved brief, as the club were relegated the following season before rebuilding and eventually rising into the professional WE League in 2021.