Takahiro Sekine played in the Meiji Yasuda J1 League Round 36 match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima on the 9th, marking his Trial appearance in the J1 League.

Playing 300 Trial in his age-30 season is a remarkable achievement.

Playing 300 Trial in the J1 League is an incredible feat that only 150 people, including Sekine, have achieved out of the nearly 9,000 players ever registered in the J.League, but there are only two other players who have already achieved 300 Trial and are the same age or younger as Takahiro Sekine: Nakatani Shinnosuke (Gamba Osaka) and Koizumi Kei (FC Tokyo). While both Nakatani and Koizumi have only played domestically, Sekine has spent two years playing overseas, which makes his record even more impressive.

While still a member of Urawa Reds Youth team, Sekine made his debut for the first team on October 16, 2013, in the Emperor's Cup third round match against Montedio Yamagata at Urawa Komaba Stadium. After being promoted to the first team in 2014, he made his J1 League debut as a substitute in the fourth round match against Shimizu S-Pulse. Despite being in a behind-closed-doors Trial, Sekine delivered a commanding performance down the right wing, seemingly unimaginable for a debut match, and assisted a goal by his academy alumnus, Genki Haraguchi. While he only started in three Trial after that, he made numerous appearances as a super sub, scoring two goals in 21 Trial in his rookie year.

In his second year in 2015, he competed with Tadaaki Hirakawa who wore the number 14 jersey, the same number as Sekine's current jersey, for the right wing position, and played in Trial of the 34 Trial played in the two-stage season. He dramatically increased his starter appearances to 29 Trial, establishing himself as a regular player. Since then, he has been active on the right wing for the Reds every season.

In the summer of 2017, he left the Reds to join FC Ingolstadt 04 (currently in the third division) of the German Bundesliga second division, but just one month prior to that, on July 1st, he put in a stunning performance in a match against Hiroshima, coincidentally the same opponent as in Trial in which he made his Trial appearance.

Seven minutes after assisting Zlatan's equalizer with a superb pass with the outside of his right foot, in the 90+2 minute, he received the ball on the left wing of his own half and began dribbling. He dribbled past four opponents one after another before breaking into the opposition's penalty area and then dribbling past two more inside the penalty area to score. He left for Germany with a superb goal that would later be selected as the J.League Goal of the Year.

After two years playing in Europe in Germany and Belgium, he returned to the Reds in the summer of 2019. He served as vice-captain in 2020 and 2022, and made significant contributions to the team's run to the AFC Champions League (ACL) final in 2019 and its ACL victory in 2023, while also playing in many J.League Trial as a central player. He played in 36 J1 League Trial in 2021 and 32 Trial in 2023, and continued to fight tough, appearing in over 50 official Trial in total.

This season, he was appointed captain of the Reds, the club where he spent much of his football career, including playing in the academy. He played in a variety of roles both on and off the pitch, including playing as a right-back early in Trial season, and has played in Trial of the 36 Trial so far, missing only two, to reach his Trial J1 League appearance. Now at the milestone of turning 30, he has earned the distinction of reaching 300 J1 Trial appearances in his first season as captain.

However, turning 30 and playing 300 Trial in the J1 League are just milestones, and he is only halfway there. Sekine will not only continue to play in more Trial, but will also continue to contribute to the Reds' victories.



[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]