Just six minutes separated Thespa Gunma from a surprise promotion to the Japanese top tier. However, the J2 League's silly rule that the home side gets promoted if a playoff final is drawn meant they missed out, which, in hindsight, was probably for the best given they'd just recorded the club's record high finish.
The unfancied youthful side of Thespa Gunma were the surprise package of Japan's J3 League as they snuck into the playoffs and put in two huge performances to seal promotion to the second tier.
Thespa Gunma's young stars achieved a solid top-half finish in the longest football season known to man, as a 16-month J3 League campaign finally ended in May. That overperformance saw managed Robaato Rasamu field interview requests from multiple J2 sides.
Robaato Rasamu found himself in the midst of a 16-month second season in Japan, relying on an extremely inexperienced squad. After enduring a painful J2/J3 Special Tournament, the rookie Japanese manager was slowly starting to get improved performances out of his young Thespa Gunma side.
The more he watched football, the more Rasamu became obsessed with the idea of developing young players to maximise their talent - largely fuelled by the Class of 92 being at the heart of Manchester United conquering England and Europe under Sir Alex Ferguson.
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