New S-Pulse Stadium - Ready for 2026

BARRY WRITES... 

Time to crack those party poppers! News broke on Friday of plans for a new 25k+ stadium in the heart of Shimizu. Should all go according to plan, it's to cost ¥20 000 000 000 (£131,615,810, €159,448,413, US$174,210,148) will be financed by the city, prefecture, local business and donations, and be ready by 2026.

For comparison, G. Osaka's Panasonic Stadium, seating 40k and opened in 2015, cost ¥14 000 000 000. Noevir Stadium Kobe cost more at ¥23 000 000 000, seats 30k, but has a retracable roof. Kyoto's new stadium holds 21k, and cost a shade under ¥17 000 000 000. All are modern, comfortable stadia, around our budget.

Proposed site - slap bang next to Shimizu station

I've long said it: build it and they will come. We do well to get the crowds we do at our current home (which I love, Love, LOVE), but were we to have something more akin to those above, and easier to get to, our crowds would near double. It seems that time has come.

NOT OUT THE BLUE

At least so far as serious consideration goes, a new home has been a point of discussion for the last decade. When I spoke to Ghotbi in 2011, he explained then of plans to leave Nihondaira. The topic has resurfaced from time to time (see Januray 2014, when Higashi Shizuoka station was mooted), but Friday's news was the first solid indication that things are in motion.

WHY? 

If you've not yet had the pleasure, you may look at Nihondaira and wonder why we'd ever want to leave. It's beautiful! The pitch is always immaculate, and the views across Suruga Bay - wow! 

If you're new here, I've talked about this plenty, and anyone else who has been will also tell you. It's a beautiful location. Once you get there. It's a great place to watch football. When the weather's nice.  

Nihondaira is home. Always has been, always will be, but you can easily point to issues limiting the club's ambitions. To name a few biggies: poor access, no roof coverage for most the ground, a lack of sufficient hospitality facilities.

Then there's tight concourses which quickly fill when busy, and especially so when it's raining. A capacity which, while not tested too often, for big games isn't enough; an issue that extends to media capacity and the like. 

Finally, little things like cup holders on seat backs. Heck, seats in many areas don't even have backs, and some are just benches. Shizuoka may be football mad, but an afternoon at the match is still competing with a lot. Expectations for stadia have come a long way since the early 90s, and casual punters want all the above, and more. 

Despite its shortcomings, we'd not leave Nihondaira unless it was for something special. We've got reason to think Shimizu station will be just that.

WHERE?

Many of my readers will know, but if you've not yet visited Shimizu a scan over these pictures will show why the new location is too good to pass up.

Nihondaira is off the beaten track

There's a number of stadia around Japan within walking distance of a station, but by no means all. Nihondaira stretches "walking distance" to the extreme. It's possible, and we've all done it in the past, but are in no hurry to repeat the feat.

You're far better off getting a shuttle bus. But then there's the wait times, and the traffic jams after the game... 1st world problems these may be, but if there's the option to step off the train and be inside the ground in five minutes, it's a no brainer. To put it another way, you'll get off the train at Shimizu, and covered walkways (many of which already exist) will take you all the way to the ground.

View from Shimizu Station

Any discussion of a new stadium location always came with an asterisk attached. Mt Fuji is inextricably linked with the culture and identity of Shizuokans, and nowhere more so than those who follow Shimizu. The top of our badge is even modelled after Japan's famous peak.

The famous view of Mt Fuji from Nihondaira is not something S-Pulse fans want to give up lightly. Or at all, in fact. A stadium next door to Shimizu station will tick this box, and is a reason this location is so feted.

STADIUM DETAILS

Aside from an ACL specification-meeting capacity of 25k+, no concept art or details are so far public. This is where we, for now, speculate.

Will it be a dome? Will it have a retractable roof? Will it retain Nihondaira's small distance to the pitch? Will there be landscaped gardens with cherry blossom lined pathways? For this last one, most certainly.

It will look nothing like this

Until we get some official art or details, the rest is very much unknown. Given where it is, we have space for something well-planned, beautiful, which fits in with the area, the character of our club and Shimizu itself.

The one previous artist impression we've seen was for the tiny site next to Higashi Shizuoka station. Aside from the transport links, I was never fully convinced by this location. By waiting we've landed a perfect spot, with limitless potential. It's going to be exciting seeing what they choose to do. I'm confident of the care and attention which will be behind this project. Whatever emerges over the coming months and years is going to be worth the wait.

SURROUNDING AREA

With two major roads, the local Shizutetsu line, the Tōmei Expressway just over a mile away, and the interchange to the Shin-Tōmei Expressway a short distance east, even without Shimizu station next door, it's already far better served than Nihondaira.

The area around the station has undergone considerable development over recent years and, with a new ward office proposed to name one, more major work is expected. Not forgetting the shops, izakaya, karaoke and restaurants already ouside the station, or Shimizu Fish Market (GO!! The sashimi is incredible) over the road. A short ten minute walk south you also find S-Pulse Dream Plaza and Shimizu international port.

It's an area which is already doing well, but which will boom every other week should 20k+ fans descend for the footer, or for gigs, exhibitions etc. And picture the thousands of annual cruise ship visitors to Shimizu being greeted by a shiny new orange stadium bearing our name. Way to stamp our brand on their consciousness! 

The space around this brownfield site has plenty of potential for connected developments; commercial, residential or even just stadium parking for non matchday use. From an economical standpoint, it's easy to see why both the city and prefecture would back the plan.

THE VIEW FROM IWATA

I've seen Jubilo fans questioning the prefecture's involvement, but there's not much to justify here. You have to remember Ecopa was built by the prefecture, and it's Iwata who have gained far more from that venue. It's a 7 minute train ride from Iwata to Fukuroi (home of Ecopa), whereas it's over an hour from Shimizu. 

When locations for the stadium that would become Ecopa were shortlisted, Shizuoka City was a possibility. It wasn't chosen, and Iwata fans no doubt rejoiced at getting a brand new 50k stadium on their doorstep for free. Our proposed new ground is being funded only in part by the prefecture, and given what we've talked about, it's not hard to see why they would be behind it. The majority of the tab will still be picked up locally.

THE ONLY WAY TO GO 

This is the announcement I've been waiting for since, honestly, I can't remember. To leave Nihondaira would be a huge wrench. We're lucky to call it home, and should we move to a new home down by the sea, that grand old lady will remain sat up in the foothills of the moutain range from which she takes her name. It would never be forgotten, and I'm certain we would continue to used it in some capacity. 

To grow as a club, to achieve our aims on the pitch, to keep new fans coming, and to make sure they stick around when they do, a beautiful new home with all modcons is the only way to go. If we've got the chance of one right in the heart of Shimizu, we have to grab it.