BTOP Hokkaido

History

The club was established in 1998 as Sapporo Thank FC, a phoenix club formed after the dissolution of Anfini Sapporo. Originally based in Sapporo, it relocated to Kuriyama in 2004 and rebranded as Thank FC Kuriyama. The team competed in the Hokkaido Soccer League until 2006, when a seventh-place finish led to relegation. From 2007 to 2021, they played in the Hokkaido Block Leagues, considered Japan's seventh tier. At the start of 2021, the club rebranded again to BTOP Thank Kuriyama, with former J.League player Tetsuya Yano becoming president and all players signing professional contracts. In 2022, they debuted in the fifth-tier Hokkaido Soccer League and immediately won the title after an 8–0 victory over Sapporo FC on 25 September. This earned them a promotion opportunity to the Japan Football League via the 2022 Regional Champions League, for which they qualified by winning the Hokkaido League and finishing as runners-up in the 2022 Shakaijin Cup, losing to Briobecca Urayasu 5–3 on penalties after a 0–0 draw. In the Regional Champions League, they lost all three group matches 2–1. The club aspires to become the second team from Hokkaido to join the J.League, after Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo in 1998, aiming for back-to-back promotions to reach J1 by 2027. On 13 March 2023, the club announced a name change to BTOP Hokkaido, stating the motivation was to convey the charm of Hokkaido through sports and grow into a team loved by the whole region.