Hannover 96 Extends International Club Partnership With FC Mito HollyHock.

Roger Hampel

Image: FC Mito HollyHock

Hannover 96 and FC Mito HollyHock have agreed to extend their international club partnership ahead of schedule, prolonging the cooperation by an additional year. The agreement, initially launched at the start of the 2023/24 season and originally set to run until June 2026, has now been extended as both clubs formalise the continuation of their cross-border development model.

The renewal was announced in Japan during a media event surrounding Mito’s opening home fixture of the J1 League season against JEF United. A delegation from Hannover 96, led by managing director Henning Bindzus, was present in Mito at the time of the announcement.

Structured Player Pathway Between Japan and Germany Hannover 96

A central component of the partnership remains the structured sporting exchange programme. Under the framework, one Mito HollyHock player per season joins Hannover 96’s U23 side to gain exposure to the German professional football environment.

Hayate Matsuda was the first beneficiary of the pathway, contributing to Hannover’s U23 promotion to the 3. Liga in 2024 before progressing into the first-team squad, where he has since made 17 senior appearances and scored three goals. The current participant in the exchange is 20-year-old Asuma Ikari, who has featured in 19 matches for the U23 side this season.

Beyond player development, the cooperation includes coaching education programmes delivered by Hannover 96 academy staff in Japan, training camps for Mito’s U15 side in Germany, football camps hosted in Japan and ongoing knowledge exchange between the two organisations. The partnership also acknowledges support from JX Advanced Metals and TANIOBIS GmbH, which were instrumental in facilitating the initial cooperation framework.

Image: FC Mito HollyHock

Executive Comments

Henning Bindzus, Managing Director of Hannover 96, said:

“Over the past years, our cooperation with FC Mito HollyHock has developed into a close partnership. It represents an important component of our international activities in Japan and clearly demonstrates how mutually beneficial such collaboration can be. The footballing pathway taken by Hayate Matsuda — from Mito through our academy and into the first team — speaks for itself and symbolises the success of this partnership. Beyond that, it also delivers value in many other areas, including international knowledge exchange, which opens up exciting perspectives for the continued development of both clubs, as well as strengthening German-Japanese economic relations. We see many further opportunities within our partnership that we want to shape together, and we are very pleased about the extension.”

Ko Kojima, President of FC Mito HollyHock, added:

“For us, the partnership with Hannover 96 is a very important element in developing our club and our players. We look forward to continuing to shape the future of our organisation through targeted youth development, coach education, cultural exchange and new joint projects. Here in Japan, our cooperation has received very positive feedback, which has already provided noticeable advantages in player recruitment. The extension is therefore a very strong signal and an important step for us.”

Long-Standing Japanese Connection

The partnership extension also builds on Hannover 96’s established relationship with Japanese football. Over the past decade, several Japanese professionals have represented the club, strengthening sporting and cultural ties between Lower Saxony and Japan.

Currently, Hayate Matsuda and Daisuke Yokota are part of the Hannover 96 squad. In previous years, players such as Sei Muroya, Hiroki Sakai, Hiroshi Kiyotake and Genki Haraguchi featured prominently for the club.

This sustained Japanese presence has contributed to brand visibility in the Japanese market and reinforces the strategic rationale behind maintaining a structured partnership with FC Mito HollyHock.