J.League 1 outfit Yokohama F. Marinos have appointed Englishman Steve Holland as their head coach for the 2025 campaign, succeeding John Hutchinson who only served as Yokohama’s interim manager for the remainder of the previous season.
Holland had previously served as Gareth Southgate’s assistant at the England national team, helping the Three Lions to the finals of both Euro 2021 and 2024, finishing runners-up at both occasions, as well as the semifinal of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
He had also overseen Chelsea’s golden era under Roman Abramovich, serving initially as the head coach of the reserves in 2009 before being promoted as assistant coach to Andres Villas-Boas in 2011. Holland remained in that position until 2017, overseeing Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League win in 2011/12, the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League triumph, and the 2016/17 Premier League title charge.
Holland’s only other head coach role was at Crewe Alexandra back in the 2007/08 season.
“Our challenge is to win the title again,” said Holland, as quoted from BBC Sport, “We will play aggressive attacking football. We want to build a team that can compete for the title with consistency and high competitiveness.”
Holland will be joined by Ryo Adachi and Hideo Oshima, both of whom having served as Yokohama’s assistant coaches since 2022 and 2020 respectively, and Patrick Kisnorbo, who controversially left his post at Melbourne Victory to join Yokohama’s backroom staff.