Shoriki died a year later, in 1969, but not before signing his name to the plans to establish Yomiuri Football Club.

As Japanese football began its transition from the JSL to the J.League in the early 1990s, it invested heavily in stars and featured Japan internationals Kazuyoshi Miura, Ruy Ramos and Tsuyoshi Kitazawa.

At this time the team professionalized and renamed itself Verdy Kawasaki, "Coined from the Portuguese "VERDE" meaning "green" probably named after their green jersey colour "Tokyo Greens/Tokyo Verdi", although the color was picked in homage to Brazilian club Palmeiras, a team admired by one of Yomiuri's first idols, São Paulo-born George Yonashiro.

Their new local rivals had been promoted to J1 in 2000 and had already captured a vast number of the supporters Verdy had been hoping to attract.

Only the play of midseason acquisition Edmundo and a win in the final match of the second stage saved the club from relegation to J2.

[9] However, the struggling Verdy upset European giant Real Madrid (who were in Asia on a preseason tour), 3–0 on 25 July.

[10] For the 2006 season, the club appointed former Verdy Kawasaki legend, Ruy Ramos, as manager on 22 December 2005.

After a brief scuffle with Consadole Sapporo over the J2 title, Tokyo Verdy 1969 had to settle for runners-up position, enough to earn promotion back into the top flight for 2008.

[13] The J.League approved the transfer, but made it a condition that Verdy find a new sponsor by 16 November or risk not being able to play J2 football for the 2010 season.

[14] In October 2010, Tokyo Verdy signed a five-year sponsorship deal with sports retail store and apparel company Xebio.

[15] The sponsorship deal saw the Xebio logo placed on Tokyo Verdy's kit and included naming rights for two regular season home games.

They ended just one game short of a J1 League comeback, having lost in the final by 2–0 against Júbilo Iwata, which saw the promotion hopes fade away for another time.

As a result, Verdy, who were the top-ranked side entering the J2 League playoffs, returned to the national top tier for the first time since 2008.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.