Rivalries
Frontale's rivalry with F.C. Tokyo is known as the Tamagawa Clasico (using the Spanish word "Clasico" as used in derbies in Spain and Latin America). The two clubs first met in 1991 in the old Japan Soccer League Second Division and were rivals for promotion to the J. League in the 1990s. They co-founded the new J2 in 1999 and were promoted together the same year, and although Frontale were immediately relegated, they were promoted again in 2005 and have regularly met since then.
Frontale also has a Tamagawa rivalry with Tokyo Verdy 1969, which was originally also based in Kawasaki and moved to Chofu, Tokyo in 2000. The two were co-founders of the JSL Second Division in 1972 and, although spent 20 seasons (1979 to 1999) in separate tiers, rekindled the rivalry in the late 1990s as Kawasaki fans deserted Verdy to support Frontale, seen as a more community-focused club, and since then their fortunes have reversed as Frontale is a top flight mainstay while Verdy sunk into the second tier beginning in 2005.
Read more about this topic: Kawasaki Frontale