Masato Saito

{{short description|Japanese footballer}} {{Infobox football biography |name=Masato Saito<br/>斉藤雅人 |image= |image_size= |caption= |fullname=Masato Saito |birth_date={{Birth date and age|1975|12|1}} |birth_place=Saitama, Saitama, Japan |death_date= |death_place= |height={{Height|m=1.72}} |position=Midfielder |currentclub= |clubnumber= |youthyears1=1991–1993|youthclubs1=Bunan High School |youthyears2=1994–1997|youthclubs2=Komazawa University |years1=1998–2009|clubs1=Omiya Ardija|caps1=304|goals1=14 |totalcaps=304|totalgoals=14 |nationalyears1=|nationalteam1=|nationalcaps1=|nationalgoals1= |manageryears1=|managerclubs1= |medaltemplates= }} {{Nihongo|'''Masato Saito'''|斉藤雅人|Saitō Masato|born December 1, 1975}} is a former Japanese football player.

==Playing career== Saito was born in Saitama on December 1, 1975. After graduating from Komazawa University, he joined Japan Football League club Omiya Ardija based in his local in 1998. He played many matches as defensive midfielder from first season. The club was promoted to J2 League from 1999 and J1 League from 2005. Although he played many matches for a long time, he could not play many matches in 2009 and retired end of 2009 season.

== Post play career == Saito filled various coaching and directors roles at Omiya Ardija after retiring as a player. He finally retired as Academy director and Under-18 director in August 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=斉藤雅人アカデミーダイレクター兼U18監督退任のお知らせ |url=https://www.ardija.co.jp/ventus/news/?id=42938 |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=www.ardija.co.jp}}</ref>

==Club statistics== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- ! colspan=3 | Club performance ! colspan=2 | League ! colspan=2 | Cup ! colspan=2 | League Cup ! colspan=2 | Total |- ! Season !! Club !! League ! Apps !! Goals ! Apps !! Goals ! Apps !! Goals ! Apps !! Goals |- ! colspan=3 | Japan ! colspan=2 | League ! colspan=2 | Emperor's Cup ! colspan=2 | J.League Cup ! colspan=2 | Total |- |1998||rowspan="12"|Omiya Ardija||Football League||15||1||3||0||colspan="2"|-||18||1 |- |1999||rowspan="6"|J2 League||22||0||2||0||1||0||25||0 |- |2000||24||2||3||0||2||0||29||2 |- |2001||31||1||1||0||2||0||34||1 |- |2002||35||3||3||0||colspan="2"|-||38||3 |- |2003||36||2||3||0||colspan="2"|-||39||2 |- |2004||43||2||3||0||colspan="2"|-||46||2 |- |2005||rowspan="5"|J1 League||21||0||4||0||3||0||28||0 |- |2006||25||0||1||0||3||0||29||0 |- |2007||26||1||0||0||4||0||30||1 |- |2008||22||2||0||0||3||0||25||2 |- |2009||4||0||0||0||3||0||7||0 |- ! colspan=3 | Career total !304||14||23||0||21||0||348||14 |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{J.League player|1957}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saito, Masato}} Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:Komazawa University alumni Category:Japanese men's footballers Category:J1 League players Category:J2 League players Category:Japan Football League (1992–1998) players Category:RB Omiya Ardija players Category:Men's association football midfielders Category:Football people from Saitama (city) Category:20th-century Japanese sportsmen