Naohiko Minobe

is a Japanese football manager and former player. He currently is the manager of club, Asuka FC.

Playing career Minobe was born in Moriyama on July 12, 1965. After graduating from high school, he joined Matsushita Electric (later Gamba Osaka) in 1984. He played many matches mainly as a right back. In 1990, Matsushita Electric won the Emperor's Cup, the first major title in the club’s history. In 1994, Minobe moved to Kyoto Purple Sanga, playing in the Japan Football League. In 1994, he became a captain and played as a regular starter. In 1995, although his opportunity to play decreased, the club finished in second place and was promoted to J1 League. However Minobe retired at the end of the 1995 season without having played in J1 at the club.

Managerial career After retirement, Minobe became a coach for Kyoto Purple Sanga (later Kyoto Sanga FC) in 1996. He mainly managed the youth team until 2003.

In 2004, he became a coach for top team. In October 2006, manager Koichi Hashiratani was sacked and Minobe became the new manager as Hashiratani’s successor. However the season’s results were bad and the club was relegated to the J2 League. Although he started the season as manager in 2007, he was sacked in October.

In 2008, Minobe signed as manager with J2 club Tokushima Vortis. Although the club finished in bottom place in 2008, the club results improved each season after that and they finished in 4th place in 2011. Minobe resigned at the end of the 2011 season. In 2013, Minibe signed with Japan Football League club AC Nagano Parceiro, and led the club to win the league that year, meaning the club was promoted to the newly formed J3 League for the 2014 season. In 2014, although the club finished the 2nd place, they lost the promotion/relegation series, and were not promoted to J2. In August 2015, although the club place was doing well in 3rd place, Minobe resigned due to health problems.

On 12 January 2021, Minobe was announced officially as the manager of Kansai Soccer League club, Asuka FC at the start of 2021 season. On 24 November 2024, Minobe secured promotion to Japan Football League for the first time in their history for the 2025 season after defeating J-Lease FC 2-1 in Takebishi Stadium Kyoto in the Japanese Regional Football Champions League final round.

Club statistics

Managerial statistics .

Honours Manager Asuka FC Kansai Soccer League Div 1: 2024 Japanese Regional Football Champions League: 2024