Hello everyone. I am Noro, the representative of GAMBA OSAKA . I would like to thank all of you for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend this GAMBA OSAKA supporters' meeting.
We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to all the supporters who continue to support us at home, away, and online. At the spring supporters' meeting, we promised to hold supporters' meetings twice a year, in spring and autumn. The meeting was held at the Expo'70 Memorial Stadium, and we apologize for the cramped space and the poor visibility of the screen, but we ask for your understanding. Half a year has passed since the last supporters' meeting. It goes without saying that we will be fighting in J2, and we learned a lot from this first experience. In terms of management, we have had a significant decrease in revenue and we need to cut expenses significantly to survive. The team was also confused by the solid defense and quick attack of J2, with one win and four draws in the first five games. It is also difficult to collect stadium donations from companies and corporations in J2. In light of this current situation, I would like to explain in detail how we will revive our team, followed by the Strengthening Headquarters, Academy Headquarters, and Business Headquarters.

These are management indicators for 2012 and 2013, and I will explain them.
First of all, the average number of spectators at home games was 14,800 last year, but this year, in the 32nd round, it was 12,800, which is exactly 2,000 fewer spectators. This is largely due to the fact that fewer away games are coming. On the other hand, the average number of spectators at away games last year in J2 was 5,800. This is 14,400, so it's an increase of 8,600, or more than double. This is the situation. This is solely due to the popularity of Gamba and the national team, and above all, the fact that supporters are going to every corner of the away games, and I think this is what is pushing it up so much. The annual number of seats has decreased slightly from 6,400 to 6,100. The number of fan club members has decreased slightly, from 18,400 to 500. On the other hand, the number of supporting shops has decreased from 1,130 to 1,200. The number of shops that support us and have the Gamba flag flying is increasing. The number of members of the supporters' club has not changed, with a total of 290 people, but three months ago, everyone started standing at the stadium to collect donations, and the supporters' club members started collecting money and donating it to the fundraising organization.
The club's revenue was about 3.3 billion yen last year. The average revenue over the past 10 years has been about 3.3 billion yen, but this year it was 2.8 billion yen, a decrease of 500 million yen. This is mainly due to broadcasting rights revenue, and also the reductions from major sponsors in J2. As I mentioned earlier, the number of spectators has decreased, so I think the decrease in revenue will be about 500 million yen.

As for the team situation, I think you all know this better, but since Head Coach Hasegawa came, the team staff have started a new Gamba, and since the spring training camp, we have repeatedly worked on physical fitness, improving skills, and thorough tactics, and we are still continuing this, so I think things have improved a little. We are also reconstructing and re-emphasizing the team concept. In addition to the attacking football of speed and passing that Gamba aims for, we have worked on total football, where everyone is on defense, so that we don't rely on each individual, but can play total football as a team regardless of who is on the team.
The third point is to build a foundation for the team with the next generation in mind. We actively use young players, especially those from the academy. When two national team players were not available or there were many injuries, looking back, there were many times when seven of the 11 players were from the academy. We also use a diverse combination of players, with a mix of young, mid-career, and veteran players, to build a new team and build a foundation. As a result, after 32 rounds, we have 19 wins, 10 draws, and 3 losses. We have 67 points. Our goal at the beginning of the year was 90 points, which will be announced later, so we have 23 points left. There are 10 rounds left, so we have 7 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss. This is the minimum. We need to win more than this to reach 90 points. The final goal is to win both J1 and J2, so we need to score about twice as many points as we play, so if there are 42 games, we need to score at least 84 points. As for points, if we score about 2 points and concede 1 point, which is a 2:1 ratio, we will be at the top, so I think we can come out on top if we can keep our score to around 84 points and concede around 42 points. Currently, we are scoring 72 points and conceding 34 points, so I feel that both are a little too high. We are also conceding a little too many points.

Regarding the stadium, I will explain the details later, but as of today, we have raised 11.1 billion yen. We are now down to 2.9 billion yen. We have until March of next year to raise funds. There are six months left. Our goal is to raise 2.9 billion yen in that time and build a stadium that can accommodate 40,000 people, international matches of the World Cup class, and international A matches. As for the construction, we submitted an environmental assessment in April of last year, and it took 17 months. On September 10th, we made the final assessment public, and the environmental assessment was completed. Finally, we can carry out the administrative procedures, so we will start construction and hold a groundbreaking ceremony by the end of the year. We will inform you of this again, but the construction period is 22 months, so it will be completed in the fall of 2015. It will be in the middle of the season, but we think we will be able to hold the persimmon drop. We would appreciate your continued support in the form of donations.

Finally, it's a bit of a long span. The Tokyo Olympics have been decided to be in 2020, so I've put together on one page what I want Gamba to be, not just in the mid-term of 2015, but with an eye on 2020. Can you take a look? Starting from the bottom left, based on last year's reflections, we want to be a strong and sturdy Gamba. First of all, we want to revive this. And then there's Gamba's development. The basis is to revive the academy Gamba. And building a winning team with an eye on the next generation is the foundation. And then, winning the J2 championship and returning to J1 in one year will be the second growth. In 2015, the stadium will be completed, as I mentioned earlier, and that will be the third growth. With the stadium's first year in operation, we want to establish a new Gamba that is strong and attractive, so that fans will want to come and watch games again and again. And once again, we will aim to be Asian and ACL champions. And we want to take this opportunity to challenge the world again. Finally, there are three blue arrows pointing to the revival of Gamba's development program, and we are heading towards the Rio Olympics and the Tokyo Olympics, which we would call the U-16 team today. The Tokyo Olympics will be here in seven years, so we will be heading towards the U-23 team, which would be the third year of junior high school and the first year of high school today. We have developed a lot, and we want these members to be able to represent Japan in the Olympics, and also in the 2018 World Cup, so we want to do everything we can to develop Gamba's development program. This is my basic thinking, and I will explain the details later.

Now, I would like to move on to the Q&A session.
As we have limited time, we will limit the number of participants to about 10 people for the Q&A session.
First, if you have any questions, please raise your hand and I will call on you to answer, so please state your name and then ask your question.
Generally, we will answer questions from 3 to 5 people at a time.
We understand that you may have many questions, but please limit yourself to asking one question per person.
In addition, a stadium briefing will be held later.
There will be time for questions and answers there, and I think your questions will be answered during the explanation, so please refrain from talking about the stadium this time. Now, I would like to move on to the Q&A session. Does anyone have any questions?

This is Mizuguchi, nice to meet you.
The head of the training department just explained the team concept for 2013, which includes specific measures and an item called quick build-up.
It states that the use and development of young players at centre back, goalkeeper and defensive midfielder positions is a necessary condition, and Nishino has been used as a centre back and is doing well.
I think Uchida has been used as a defensive midfielder and has improved a lot, but as for the goalkeeper position, there is only one player who plays as a starter, and there are almost no opportunities for the sub. I would really like to know how you think about the use and development of young goalkeepers. In particular, I am not sure whether there is really a difference in ability between the starters and the subs, so I would appreciate it if you could explain this.

Thank you. Does anyone have any other questions?

My name is Nishino from Ibaraki.
There's talk in the media right now about the possibility of moving to a two-season system from 2015, and we at GAMBA OSAKA would like to be opposed to this. From what I've heard, revenues would increase by about 1 billion yen, but even if you split that 1 billion yen among 20 teams, it would only amount to 50 million.
Even if Gamba were to receive 50 million a year, I think there is a possibility that fans would start to leave if the league's philosophy or beliefs or something like that declined, so when I look at baseball today, even though the Champions League was very exciting in its first year, it doesn't seem to be very exciting now, so I would like to ask Gamba what they think about this.

Thank you very much. Does anyone have any further questions?

My name is Oouchi and I'm from Kyoto City.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity today. I would like to ask one question about the operation. The opening time of Oi G Yokocho is fixed at 4 hours before kickoff for all matches. Especially for summer matches, if the lottery for admission is held 6 hours before kickoff, it will be around 12:00 or 13:00, which is lunchtime. Of course, it is an Banpaku environment, so the risk of heatstroke is very high due to the sunlight, so it is difficult to adjust all stores to that time, but I would like to ask if you could consider revising the operation from next season onwards by selling cold drinks and the like at only a few stores in advance.

Thank you very much. Does anyone have any other questions?

My name is Okada.
This year's meeting had a very bright atmosphere, and it was a big change from the last time. The president, who started off by jokingly saying "because we're in J2," was very bright, and I think it's because the team's situation is looking bright, but I hope that we can continue to run the team and the company in this atmosphere.
I have a question. I'm not sure if it's more of a management issue than a team issue...
Strengthening the team's strength, the goals for it, and the specific measures, I was able to understand them in general because you explained the details in the presentation earlier, but I was a little concerned about it. In the presentation sheet, it said that the average attendance at home games was minus 2,000 people, the annual pass was down, and the fan club was down. In the future, they will be promoted to J1, and then they will win the J1 league, and they will win the ACL, and as you said earlier, they will move forward toward the world, but we also consider that returning to J1 is already a given course. They will also be able to build a stadium, which is already a given course. Naturally, I think that there will be an increase in the number of spectators and supporters. What's more, from the perspective of today's presentation, how to increase the number of supporters and spectators was completely missing. After all, the basis is the foundation. I think that a global strategy and increased revenue and profits through that are also necessary, but we need to make sure that the foundation is solid. Cerezo's supporters are now visibly increasing. Whether watching on TV or going to the stadium, how can GAMBA OSAKA create these supporters through their own planning and efforts so that they are not outdone by other teams? What are their goals? I would like you to clearly explain this to the extent that you can understand at this stage. That's all.

Thank you very much. Now, I would like to conclude the session. Is there anyone else who would like to speak?

My name is Hirota. Nice to meet you.
This season, we have played 16 games, both home and away, and our win rate for away games is 69% and for home games is 50%, meaning our win rate for home games is about 20% lower. I would like to know what you think the reason is. If we don't know the reason, it will be a little difficult to aim for the top spots even if we are promoted to J1 next year, so I would like you to explain that to me. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Now, we would like to close the questions here for now, so the staff will take over the microphone.

Now, I will answer your question from the perspective of strengthening the game.
First of all, regarding the absolute necessity for goalkeepers to grow, this was a challenge I felt especially strongly last year. The goalkeeper is a special position. Unlike other positions, I think experience is very important in this position. It is also a position that controls the entire team, and I think the Head Coach's psychology is that he wants to use the most reliable player when the game is on the line.
In this season, our main goal is to return to J1 within a year, so we have to play in matches with a focus on winning. In that context, Fujigaya, who has experience, has been playing in most of the matches, and that is why we are using him.
However, as you say, if there are no young players who can surpass those players, the team will not continue. How can we give them the experience they need to do so?
For example, last year and this year, we loaned Kawada, who is a member of Gamba, from a J2 team to a J1 team this year to gain experience. In that sense, he may not be able to play for us, but we are drawing up a picture of him gaining experience elsewhere and then playing next year and beyond. In addition, we have Kimura, who is in his 11th year this year. The presence of players like this is also important. He is a player whose contract has been extended because he shows his strength when it matters most, and I think their growth is really necessary.
The current situation is that the Head Coach decides which players to use in the end, and the Head Coach uses the player who is in the best condition, so please understand that this is how the players are used, but we also take such things into consideration when it comes to coaching the players and measures for their development. Is that correct?

Since we're in J2 now, I think there's a chance he'll be used, but if they move up to J1 next year, it won't be possible to use young players, right?

Some people say that there is a chance because we are in J2, and that may be true if you focus on the goalkeeper alone, but as a team, 11 players play for 90 minutes, and one of those pieces is the goalkeeper, who is a very important player in a unique position, so it may be important to give him a chance, but I also think that it is important for the team to fight without losing balance, so we need to develop young players, especially goalkeepers, defensive midfielders, and center backs, and we are definitely doing this this year with a common understanding with the on-site staff. Coach Marquinhos is doing various things, such as training young players separately from daily training, but we have not yet reached the point where we can let them take on the challenge in a practical setting.

And your last question was about the win rate for home and away games.
Regarding that, as I explained in my presentation earlier, in the results table and section trends, especially the seven games in the first quarter, here, as you can see, there is a triangle with an H written on the left side of the Kyoto match (this is a home game). This is a home game. The first quarter matches against Kyoto, Yokohama, Chiba, and Tokyo Verdy are all triangles. They were draws.
We really weren't able to win at home in this first season. I mentioned the reason for this in my presentation earlier, but even though this was a lower category, it took a long time for us to get used to the environment and the style of our opponents, and we were unable to fully implement the style, team concept, and game concept that we were aiming for this year in this first season. So, because we were at home, I analyzed that the reason we had so many draws at home was because of that, in the first season. So, if you ask me why we had so many draws because we were at home, I would say it took a long time for us to get used to this environment, which is why we had so many draws in the first season.

So, that's fine.
Now, may I move on to other questions?

Yes, sorry. Well, Ouchi-san's third question. It's about the time for Oi G, but especially for the summer season, there is a possibility that we can set things up earlier, so we would like to deal with it for next year. However, if we have an earlier kickoff, such as 2 o'clock, it's difficult to get customers even if we open early, so we would like to coordinate with the contractors to make some kind of arrangement for the summer night games during the J-League summer season from mid-June to mid-September.

I will answer Mr. Nishino's question and Mr. Okano's second and fourth questions.
First of all, it is a two-season system, and as has been mentioned many times in the newspapers, it is a really simple summary.

The J.League has put out a lot of longer documents, and I've just excerpted some of them from the perspective of the team, the academy, the supporters, and other aspects, but from a business perspective, the main premise of the discussion is that media exposure is important, and the champion and overall champion will be decided in the first and second halves of the season, so the exposure will increase and income will increase. I think the supporters have not yet understood this, so there may be some dissatisfaction. However, from the team's perspective, the fairness of the competition, the fact that the champion is the champion in one stage is mainstream in Europe, so this is the true champion, and they have to win in the short term, so team formation is difficult, and as there are academies, from the perspective of training, the performance and good players are used, and the perspective of long-term player training and use is reduced, so no matter how you look at it, there are many disadvantages in this area. We have spoken to the J.League about this matter, and as a result, although GAMBA OSAKA has written that it is an ambiguous triangle, the revenue of the J.League as a whole is not increasing. In fact, the number of J.League spectators and revenue have been declining since 2008. If things continue like this, the number of TV broadcasts will decrease, revenue will decrease, and the J.League as a whole will not be able to sustain itself. There has been a lot of coverage in the last two or three weeks that this has not been explained to everyone sufficiently. In the end, the J.League committee was held this week, and 40 clubs expressed their opinions, which we can call a vote, and the J.League summarized them. At the end of the month, the J.League board of directors will hold a meeting, and the final decision will be made there, and GAMBA OSAKA has expressed it this way. As for the postseason, there are still issues, but we said that we will follow the final decision of the J.League.

So, there was some talk about how the match would be played, so I'll explain. The team with the most points throughout the year is on the far left, and they will play the championship in the postseason. Yes, if they are combined, please wait a moment. Before that, the first place in the first half and the second place in the second half, and the first place in the second half and the second place in the first half will first form a turret and fight to decide the winner of the super stage in a tournament, and if this team fights the team with the most points throughout the year, there will naturally be a place to take the first place, the first place, the first place. In that case, the second place will fight against the second place team, and they will play against that team, so the number of games will be two. If they are all separated, there will be a maximum of four games, so I think the best idea would be to decide the true annual winner in a maximum of four games over two weeks. There have been dozens of ideas, but it was reported recently that this is the most calming thing to do.
Is that okay? Is that not okay? I've explained it a little bit.
Also, Mr. Yokoyama's question is absolutely correct.
How to increase the number of customers and how to increase the number of supporters is a real management issue. Basically, what is the value of a club? This is defined by the J.League, but it is the value of having famous players and how well they can perform. Multiplying this value by the environment for watching the game, this is generally said to be the value of the club. Therefore, as for GAMBA OSAKA, we have two national team players, including former national team players, and are quite valuable in terms of being famous. Also, regarding the viewing environment, we are very sorry for the inconvenience, but there is no roof, the track is far away, and there is not enough food and drink. We are covering this with Oi G Therefore, GAMBA OSAKA's urgent task is to improve the stadium environment. After all, it will be full with 19,000 people, so we need more than 20,000 people, or 40,000 people if we play a national team match, so we would like to change this environment by collecting donations and building it ourselves. Therefore, if we build a new stadium, although this is not everything, more fans will be able to come and the capacity will increase. Also, we have not cut the players' annual salaries that much, and we want to further strengthen the team. Also, as I have repeatedly said, developing excellent players from the academy, developing them at low cost, and turning them into top players is what leads to good performance, so I think we have explained that we want to continue to work steadily in this area.

Okay, so I would like to have one more Q&A session. We are a little pressed for time, so I would like to cut it down to three people, but does anyone have any questions?
By show of hands, now the next person.

My name is Takamura and I'm from Higashiosaka. Nice to meet you. I have a request or question about the official away bus tour that Nishitetsu Travel is running. I will be participating in the away bus tour of Alwin in Matsumoto next week, which will be my first time participating in three years. I think Kinki Nippon Tourist was running it last time, but now Nishitetsu Travel is running it. The basic format is that you meet in Shin-Osaka on the way there, then take a bus to the venue, watch the game, and disband in Shin-Osaka on the way back. I think it's fine to meet in Shin-Osaka on the way there, but about the way back, I live in Higashiosaka, and I have a friend who is a Gamba supporter and lives in Izumiotsu, so if you could extend the disbandment to Shin-Osaka, it would be very helpful. Also, regarding the price of the supporter tour, to be honest there is almost no difference in the price between booking your own trip to the venue and the price offered by Nishitetsu. In some cases it may be cheaper to book your own trip or book a bus yourself than the price offered by Nishitetsu, so it would be very helpful if you could make the price a little cheaper if possible, and I would appreciate your consideration in this regard.

Thank you very much. Does anyone have any other questions? Well, the lady over there, please.

Sorry. My name is Koima. Recently, "Suitan" came to the Banpaku and has been cheering on Gamba with all his might. Are there plans for collaboration goods between "Suitan" and Gamba in the future? Thank you.

Sorry. Thank you very much. Finally, does anyone have any questions? The last person.

Excuse me. When will Uenoyama-san be back?

Sorry. May I have your name please?

My name is Inoue.

I would like to end the Q&A session here, so I will answer your questions now.

Yes, sorry. The first one is Nishitetsu's tour, but we are an official sponsor, so we are arranging it there. I would like to convey to the person in charge that we would like to make it a good one, including convenience for customers and cost performance. The second point is about goods, and I think collaboration is possible regarding goods. In the past, there have been various forms such as Gachapin and Endo, and Kuidaore Taro and Gamba uniforms, so Suita City owns the copyright for those, and although Suitan has not yet been able to grasp the designer's rights, I think it is possible for that person and our club to collaborate. Normally, royalties for goods are a certain percentage, but I think it is possible to have that go to a fundraising organization, so I think collaboration goods are possible.
I'm sorry. It's about Suitan, but when I was in charge, the person in charge said that Suitan's portrait rights were very strict, and I heard that goods and the like were not free, so as Ito explained, if that had changed, it would be a different story, but if that were to happen, there would be a contract issue with them, rather than with Gamba, so I won't know until I check whether they can deal with it immediately.

Inoue's question. When will Uenoyama-san return? I can't say anything about personnel matters here, but as you know, Uenoyama-san has been very active in the academy and development at the J.League, and he is in a position of director status. It's been five years, so what to do with Gamba is a negotiation with the J.League? We will make adjustments in this area soon. That's all.

This concludes the supporters' meeting. Thank you very much. Next, we will hold a stadium briefing, so please continue to listen.