Naohito Hirai

Naohito Hirai (平井 直人, Hirai Naohito, born July 16, 1978) is a former Japanese football player.

Naohito Hirai
平井 直人
Personal information
Full name Naohito Hirai
Date of birth (1978-07-16) July 16, 1978
Place of birth Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1994–1996 Kyoto Purple Sanga
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2010 Kyoto Sanga FC 213 (0)
2017 Renofa Yamaguchi FC 0 (0)
2018 Kataller Toyama 0 (0)
Total 213 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Hirai was born in Kyoto on July 16, 1978. He joined J1 League club Kyoto Purple Sanga (later Kyoto Sanga FC) in 1997. He could not play at all in the match behind Shigetatsu Matsunaga until early 2000. He became a regular goalkeeper from the middle of 2000. However the club was relegated to J2 League end of 2000 season. Although he lost regular position behind Masahiko Nakagawa from the middle of 2001,[1] the club returned to J1 League in a year. From 2002, he became a regular goalkeeper again and the club won the champions 2002 Emperor's Cup first major title in club history. After that, although the club results were bad, he played many matches until 2007. However the club gained Yuichi Mizutani in 2008 and Hirai he could hardly play in the match behind Mizutani. He retired end of 2010 season. In September 2017, when he coached Renofa Yamaguchi FC, he was registered as player because many goalkeeper could not play in the match.[2] However he did not play in the match and his registration was deleted a week later.[3] In March 2018, when he coached Kataller Toyama, he was registered as player because many goalkeeper could not play for injury.[4] However he did not play in the match and his registration was deleted in April.[5]

Coaching career

After retirement, Hirai started coaching career at Kyoto Sanga FC in 2011. He served as goalkeeper coach until 2012. In 2013, he moved to Ehime FC and coached until 2014. In 2015, he returned to Kyoto. In 2017, he moved to Renofa Yamaguchi FC. In 2018, he moved to Kataller Toyama.

Club statistics
Club performance League Cup League Cup Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Japan League Emperor's Cup J.League Cup Total
1997Kyoto Purple SangaJ1 League00000000
199800000000
199900000000
20001501080240
2001J2 League1500000150
2002J1 League2605060370
20032801040330
2004J2 League26010-270
200539000-390
2006J1 League1800040220
2007Kyoto Sanga FCJ2 League33000-330
2008J1 League800030110
200900000000
2010500050100
2017Renofa Yamaguchi FCJ2 League0000-00
2018Kataller ToyamaJ3 League0000-00
Career total 2130803002510

References
  1. J.League(in Japanese)
  2. J.League(in Japanese)
  3. J.League(in Japanese)
  4. J.League(in Japanese)
  5. J.League(in Japanese)
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