Golden Samurai
Sint Truiden (STVV) and the unexpected
It seems that nobody is talking about high-flying Sint-Truiden (STVV), perhaps except the team at The Belgian Football Podcast.
The Canaries’ unexpectedly positive season so far needs further exploration – for the uninitiated, last year the Limburg club were battling relegation, but at present find themselves sitting in a PO1 position (top 6) in the Belgian Pro League. Not since the days of being coached by Jacky Mathijssen (2001/04) have the Canaries been this high. The contrast is stark.
Some background. In 2017 Japanese e-commerce giant DMM.com acquired a minority stake in Sint Truidense V.V., or STVV, based in the Belgian city of Sint Truiden; later that same year they purchased the remaining shares from previous owner Roland Duchatelet to take full control. Under the 8 years of DMM.com ownership, the club has recruited heavily from Japan and integrated a range of Japanese management elements inside the club. The owner’s strategy is clear: to build a bridge for Japanese football talent into Europe. Some notable past players who have launched successful careers in Europe via STVV include Takehiro Tomiyasu (now at Arsenal), Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt/Lazio), and Wataru Endo (Liverpool). Other notable players include Shinji Kagawa, Shinji Okazaki, and Yuma Suzuki.
Kagawa and Okazaki - Copyright Het Nieuwsblad
As recently as earlier this year the club expanded it’s shareholder structure to develop further ties with Japan by adding additional Japanese investors: Maruhan East Japan, Septani Holdings and most notably Japanet (which acquired 19.9% of the shares from DMM.com in July 2025, becoming the major partner and kit sponsor). The club executive, e.g., CEO Takayuki Tateishi, is also Japanese. (known by his friends and close colleagues as “Mister T”) is the unsung architect of much of the club’s stability and growth. Despite being STVV CEO for the past 8 years, he is still relatively unknown in Belgium, but within broader Japanese football networks, he is a force to be reckoned with. In his earlier years he was a professional footballer in Japan, and then latterly a coach in Japan and Italy with Hellas Verona and a director at clubs in Japan such as FC Tokyo and Oita Trinita. Not surprisingly, the Limburg club also broadcast all their games live in Japan and have a strong Japanese fanbase. The club even renamed their home stadium, formerly known as Stayen, to Daio Wasabi Stayen.
CEO Takayuki Tateishi - Image Copyright Sporza
The fact that many former Canaries now play for the Japanese national team is also telling.
“It’s interesting for Japanese players to come here because the owner and management are Japanese. They can experience the lifestyle and culture of home here.”
Takayuki Tateishi - STVV CEO
At present 50% of their 36 million euro budget comes from Japan, but there is also a strong Japanese sponsorship contribution with 140 Japanese sponsors in comparison to the current 160 Belgian sponsors. Perhaps the most significant aspect of the financial picture is the fact that the club is now debt-free. Many other Belgian clubs continue to accumulate significant losses, but STVV contradict this and cut their cloth accordingly. Financial balance is of huge importance to Mr T, who goes to great lengths to ensure that there are no significant salary fluctuations within the squad.
“This indicates the direction we want to take the club. Our goal is to be sustainable. This fits the wider Japanese corporate identity. We must remain humble; this way we can grow.”
Tatayuki Tateishi - STVV CEO
There are inherent challenges in maintaining this financial balance while remaining competitive with the European football market; Japanese players who may have demonstrated their talent and potential in the past prior to coming to Belgium are relatively cheaper to acquire than talented young Belgian players. Sint-Truiden are acutely aware that focusing more on this for them is likely the quickest route to success for their footballing operations model.
The Canaries’ current Sporting Director is Andre Pinto (he is currently the longest-serving Sporting Director in the Belgian Pro League), having been in post since January 2018. Pinto plays a pivotal role in the Japanese revolution. It’s worth highlighting that Pinto has strong links with the Japanese market, having previously been a scout at FC Tokyo in the J League. Pinto aligns with the ownership’s vision of a club which is a European development hub for Japanese players transitioning successfully to European football. (There remains significant value and crucially resale value with the Japanese market). Over the 8 years that Pinto has been in post, he has helped oversee the appointment of 9 coaches, but somewhat amusingly, a club that has such strong links with Japan has yet to appoint a Japanese T1!
There is what could be considered an unwritten rule at the club that, despite the dominant Japanese cultural links, the squad can only include a certain number of Japanese players; this is to ensure the local Limburg roots are maintained and respected. It’s worth remembering that in the owner’s early years attendances did fall as their relationship with the local community suffered as the club became seen as more Japanese than Belgian, but in recent years much work has been done to redress this perception. Localism and community are integral to Belgian football culture.
“We want a healthy mix of Haspengouw and Japanese talent, supplemented by experienced foreign players.”
Bert Stas - Brand Manager STVV
The club spent the majority of last season in a relegation fight after the poor appointment of Italian-American coach Christian Lattanzio, who struggled to adapt to the Belgian game and was swiftly despatched after only 6 competitive games (he won none of those fixtures). Lattanzio was succeeded by the seasoned Belgian coach Felice Mazzu, who, despite a very promising start, fell foul of an unsettled camp with disruptive influences such as Didier Lamkel Ze and a strong Japanese squad which was interrupted by numerous departures to represent their country at the Olympics. Mazzu’s tenure lasted seven months and ended amidst inconsistency and a declining atmosphere.
Wouter Vrancken - Image Copyright: STVV
Mazzu’s replacement as T1 in April 2025 was Wouter Vrancken, a former STVV player and a native of Sint Truiden. He made his professional debut for the club at age 18 in 1997 and remained a regular feature in the STVV midfield for the following 7 seasons! Vrancken’s appointment not only stabilised the team but also saw them avoiding relegation. Vrancken has developed a strong team dynamic and a positive atmosphere, which has been highlighted by the removal and banishment of disruptive playing influences. The Canaries’ form in 2025/26 has been, up to this point, one of the stories of the season. The side has been blended, balanced and largely injury-free, allowing Vrancken to field a stable and consistent side. The blend is paying off; this season Japanese players such as Ryotaro Ito and striker Keisuke Goto have been effective mainstays, along with goalkeeper Leo Kokubo, defender Shogo Taniguchi and defensive midfielder Rihito Yamamoto. Although young Belgian talents are getting opportunities to flourish, such as defender Rein Van Helden and wingers Robert Jan Vanwesemael and Ilias Sebaoui.
Van Helden and Vanwesemael - Image Copyright Sporza
Vrancken has a reputation for playing entertaining football with a strong attacking flair but with a solid physical and defensive balance built into his sides. It is proactive, physical and possession-based. Quality (while on the ball) is paramount to his tactical approach, as are quick and effective transitions to exploit opponents’ errors, but perhaps the most important aspect of Vrancken’s success as a coach is his ability to create a strong team spirit and enhance mental resilience across a squad. The collective fight is more important than individual talent. Vrancken is a coach who believes fundamentally that “football is more than data” and a coach who prioritises players who “throw themselves into challenges and cover for each other”. The opportunity to return to his roots, to where he started his own footballing career in the youth set up at STVV, and to live locally close to family goes some way to explaining the positive “people and fire” ethos that has been created inside the club. The question on everybody’s lips is, can they maintain it and secure their first PO1 finish since 2009/10 under another local Limburgian coach, Guido Brepols.