Kashima Antlers 2001 Training Shirt

KASHIMA ANTLERS - TRAINING SHIRT 2001

Kashima Antlers are the most successful club in Japanese football, founded in 1947 as the team of Sumitomo Metal Industries and rooted in the city of Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture. They play at the Kashima Soccer Stadium and take their name from the deer long associated with the local Kashima Shrine. Much of the club's identity is built on the legacy of Brazilian legend Zico, whose arrival in 1991 helped transform a modest works side into serial champions, and a bronze statue of him greets supporters outside the stadium.

The 2001 season, during which this classy training shirt was worn, delivered yet another title under Brazilian manager Toninho Cerezo. In the two-stage format of the era, Kashima won the second stage and then defeated first-stage winners Júbilo Iwata in the Suntory Championship play-off to be crowned overall J.League champions, the fourth league title in the club's history.

There were cup adventures too. Kashima reached the semi-finals of the J.League Cup (then the Nabisco Cup) and progressed to the quarter-finals of the Emperor's Cup, keeping the club competitive on several fronts across a demanding calendar as they reasserted themselves as the dominant force in the domestic game.

Japan international forward Atsushi Yanagisawa was the club's leading marksman with 12 goals, heading a homegrown core that would go on to serve the national team. The title confirmed Cerezo's Kashima as the standout side of the season, adding another chapter to a golden era that had already brought a domestic treble the year before, in 2000.

Follow the club on X: @atlrs_official