SFIDA Setagaya begin their Empress’s Cup campaign against Nankatsu SC WINGS in Akita, with both clubs looking to turn difficult seasons into something worth celebrating.
Okay. So, Warren, where have you been?
Yeah. Life has been a bit crazy recently.
In a few words, I was unexpectedly made unemployed. Since then, my days have been filled with job applications, searching for new opportunities, trying to work out what comes next, and, somewhere amongst all of that, attempting to stay vaguely sane.
There has been a lot of gym. A few runs. Plenty of writing elsewhere.
And today is my birthday.
And SFIDA Setagaya have been sitting there in the back of my mind.
That meant, unfortunately, I missed writing about the final game of the league season.
Sorry.
I intend to make up for my absence with something bigger: a proper season review, using that final game as the thread through everything that happened during this strange, occasionally wonderful and occasionally maddening 2026 campaign.
I’m still here. Still AuDHD. Still writing.
And right now, we have an Empress’s Cup game to talk about.
SFIDA are going to Akita. For some reason.
SFIDA Setagaya face Nadeshiko League Division 2 side Nankatsu SC WINGS in the first round of the Empress’s Cup on Sunday, November 15, with kick-off scheduled for 13:00 JST.
The venue? Soyu Stadium in Akita.
Eh? Look, I understand how cup competitions work. The JFA selects neutral venues, and the Empress’s Cup is a national competition. Part of the charm is taking football around the country rather than allowing clubs to remain permanently inside their familiar metropolitan bubbles.
But this particular arrangement is bizarre.
SFIDA are from Setagaya. Nankatsu are from Katsushika. They are both Tokyo clubs.
So naturally, they will settle this Tokyo derby 600 kilometres north of the Japanese capital city. Of course.
There are quite a few alternative locations I would personally have considered:
- Yokohama.
- Kawasaki.
- Machida.
- Totsuka.
- Higashi-Totsuka.
- That massive field just outside Higashi-Totsuka Station where there’s the nice ice cream shop.
I am available for future JFA logistical consultations.
Joking aside, there is a serious point underneath this. Setagaya to Akita is roughly a seven-hour drive, depending on traffic and the precise starting point. That is a substantial journey for players, coaches, club staff and supporters when both teams are travelling from essentially the same metropolitan area.
There is the financial cost. There is the environmental cost. And there is the simple question of accessibility for supporters.
In fact, when you consider that players in Japan’s lower divisions frequently balance football with employment and other responsibilities, adding such a considerable journey to an already demanding schedule feels particularly unnecessary.
Still, Akita it is.
And Soyu Stadium at least gives this peculiar fixture an interesting backdrop. The old municipal athletics ground dates back to 1941 and holds almost 20,000 people, with the pitch sitting inside its running track.
Two Tokyo teams, an old stadium in northern Japan, mid-November and knockout football.
Fine. You win, JFA. There is some romance here.
SFIDA should win this
Now for the football.
There really isn’t any need to overcomplicate the basic expectation.
SFIDA Setagaya are the Division 1 team.
Nankatsu SC WINGS are the Division 2 team.
SFIDA should be targeting the second round.
Nankatsu finished seventh in Division 2 and endured some extremely difficult periods during the campaign, including heavy defeats and stretches where goals were painfully difficult to come by.
That should immediately interest SFIDA.
Because if there is one thing this team demonstrated during the latter stages of 2026, it is that they can punish vulnerability.
That is quietly strong form.
More importantly, Uchida is absolutely flying.
Aoki Nanoha reminds us why this cup matters
Her reflection centred on the conclusion of SFIDA’s final league campaign under their historic name.
It had been a difficult season, she acknowledged, both collectively and personally.
SFIDA had failed to achieve their original league ambitions, while Aoki herself had struggled with injuries. Yet her response was not simply to lament the time she had missed.
Instead, she described using that period to better understand her own body and work towards becoming more resilient against future injuries.
There is something rather lovely about that.
Footballers are often judged entirely by what happens during those 90 minutes, but progress doesn’t always arrive in the form of goals, assists or league positions.
Sometimes progress is learning how to manage your body. Sometimes it is getting back onto the pitch. Sometimes it is simply being in a better position to contribute than you were a few months earlier.
And Aoki’s happiest memory?
Sharing the final league victory with the supporters who had stood by the club.
She also made it clear that SFIDA intend to carry the momentum of their final two league victories into the Empress’s Cup, where the squad remain determined to achieve their objectives.
There was even room for a little celebration of Uchida’s Golden Boot.
Congratulations, Misuzu!
For me, Aoki’s reflections capture why the cup matters beyond the obvious opportunity to win another football match.
SFIDA did not achieve what they wanted in the league.
That cannot be changed.
But they can still decide how the final weeks of 2026 are remembered.
Nankatsu have their own reasons to fight
Of course, SFIDA aren’t the only team arriving in Akita with a point to prove.
And one of the most interesting perspectives on Nankatsu’s season comes from their No. 14, Maaya Tsukinukizawa.
She graduated from university, moved into working life and began adjusting to living in Tokyo for the first time.
Balancing employment and football proved difficult.
Her routine changed. Managing her time and physical condition became more complicated. The transition from student life into employment was not quite as straightforward as she might have hoped.
Then, around the beginning of the league season, she became unwell.
The illness kept her away from the team for several months.
For a young footballer trying to establish herself in a new environment, that must have been particularly frustrating.
But Tsukinukizawa’s account was not dominated by negativity.
Instead, she spoke warmly about the teammates who welcomed her back, the supporters who continued encouraging her and the importance of recognising the people who make it possible for her to play football.
She even recalled being taken out to enjoy marine sports with some of her senior teammates, an experience that helped create memories away from training and competitive matches.
It is easy to forget that these relationships matter enormously.
A football team is not just a collection of players executing tactical instructions. It is a group of people spending considerable portions of their lives together, helping each other through difficult periods and occasionally finding time to enjoy themselves.
And, just like Aoki, Tsukinukizawa sees the Empress’s Cup as an opportunity.
She admitted feeling frustrated that she had not been able to deliver the performances or results she wanted during the league campaign.
But the season isn’t finished.
There is still football to play, and she wants to repay the people who have supported her through her performances on the pitch.
Two players.
Two different clubs.
Two difficult seasons.
One Empress Cup match…with the hopes of maybe another, and to get something extra out of the season.
This feels like a game for SFIDA to attack
I don’t want SFIDA approaching this as though they merely need to survive the inconvenience of a first-round cup fixture.
Go after them.
One of the most encouraging developments under Takashi Hamada has been his willingness to change the team’s approach depending upon the opposition.
We have seen SFIDA press aggressively. We have seen them sit deeper and attack vertically. We have seen different combinations around Uchida and Horie.
Against a Division 2 opponent, though, SFIDA should be looking to establish the hierarchy of the contest early.
Captain Miu Kashiwara can set that tone in midfield. Saya Shinohara can stretch Nankatsu from the left after completing every minute of the league campaign and leading SFIDA with five assists.
Kokoro Kitagawa, meanwhile, offers another interesting attacking route after starting the final four league games and producing a goal and an assist across the final two.
There are options here.
And while Uchida’s goals inevitably dominate the conversation, this would be a lovely opportunity for somebody else to make the leap.
SFIDA have spent too much of this season asking Uchida and Horie to provide the decisive moment.
Cup football can reward the unexpected scorer.
One last journey for SFIDA Setagaya?
Perhaps that is why I wanted to come back for this one.
The league season is over, but SFIDA Setagaya’s 2026 story isn’t.
In fact, the ending has become considerably more meaningful.
Hamada has announced that he will leave his position after the season. More significantly, this is the final competition SFIDA will play under the name SFIDA Setagaya FC before the club’s planned integration and transition into FC Tokyo Sfida for 2027.
Suddenly, an apparently ordinary first-round cup game isn’t quite so ordinary.
Every victory extends the life of this version of the club…into Akita at least.
Every match could be the last.
There is no need to drown that in sentimentality. Football clubs evolve. Structures change. The integration with FC Tokyo opens a completely different pathway for the women’s team.
But names matter.
Badges matter.
SFIDA have existed under this identity since 2001.
It represents the end of something familiar.
That doesn’t mean the future cannot be exciting.
It simply means the present deserves to be enjoyed while it is still here.
Win on Sunday and the reward is enormous.
Not because SFIDA suddenly become favourites to win the Empress’s Cup, but because waiting in round two are WE League opposition: Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara.
That would be a proper test.
First, however, Nankatsu.
The team from the division below. The first-time Empress’s Cup participants. The dangerous underdogs with absolutely nothing to lose.
SFIDA should win.
I think they will win.
But after reading the thoughts of Aoki and Tsukinukizawa, I find myself hoping that both teams can take something positive from the occasion.
Because the football calendar doesn’t always care whether you’ve had a difficult year.
It just keeps moving.
Sometimes that’s frustrating. Sometimes it’s exactly what you need.
Happy birthday to me.
Come on, SFIDA.
Thanks. See you. Bye.
Keep safe.
