Wikipedia:

J. League

J.LEAGUE
Current_sport.svg J. League 2007
J_league.png
Founded
1992
Inaugural season
1993
Nation
Flag of Japan Japan
Relegation To
Japan Football League
(promotion only)
Number of Teams
J1: 18 clubs
J2: 13 clubs
Asian Qualification
Asian Champions League
A3 Champions Cup
Domestic Cups
Yamazaki Nabisco Cup
Emperor's Cup
Defending Champions (2006)
J1: Urawa Reds
J2: Yokohama F.C.
Website
Official Website {English}
Official Website {Japanese}

The Japan Professional Football League (日本プロサッカーリーグ Nippon Puro Sakkā Rīgu?), or J.LEAGUE (Jリーグ J Rīgu?), is the top professional football (soccer) league in Japan and one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football.

The League history

Phases of the League

Before the formation of J.LEAGUE (-1992)

Before the J.LEAGUE was created, the highest level of club football in Japan was the Japan Soccer League (JSL), and consisted of amateur teams. Fans were few, the grounds were not of the highest quality, and the Japanese national team was not on a par with the Asian powerhouses. To raise the level of play domestically, to attempt to garner more fans, and to strengthen the national team, the Japan Football Association (JFA) decided to form a professional league.

The professional football league, J.LEAGUE was formed in 1992, with ten clubs drawn from the JSL. At this point the JSL changed its name and became the Japan Football League (former), a semi-professional league. Although the J.LEAGUE did not officially launch until 1993, the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup competition was held between the ten clubs in 1992.

The inaugural season, and the J.LEAGUE boom (1993-1995)

J.LEAGUE kicked-off its first season with ten clubs on May 15, 1993 as Verdy Kawasaki (current, Tokyo Verdy 1969) played host to Yokohama Marinos (current, Yokohama F. Marinos) at the Kasumigaoka National Stadium. It made a huge impact on the Japanese sports culture as professional baseball, golf, and sumo were the only well-supported and widely-watched sports in the country. Many famous and post-peak foreign players were brought into the clubs and the stadiums were filling in. On every matchday, at least one game was broadcast live on national TV, and it seemed the league was a huge success. In the second season (1994), the league recorded its highest average attendance of 19,598, which is yet to be broken.

An era after the J.LEAGUE boom (1996-1999)

Despite the success in the first three years, many financial experts knew that "the boom" would soon dissipate, and the league would be in terrible shape as the clubs continued paying high wages to the foreign players. In fact, the phenomenon began in early 1996 as the league attendance declined rapidly. In 1997 the average attendance was 10,131, almost half of that in 1995. Many claimed that the sudden decline in popularity was also due to rapid expansions; A total of eight clubs were added in five years since the inaugural season. With high paychecks and low attendance, money was bleeding from the clubs, and the league sponsors were becoming very worried. It seemed that there was no way out from the losses.

Although J-League had moved away from the Japanese baseball's model of corporate-owned teams and clubs were their own independent entities, clubs still depended heavily on support from sponsors, who were essentially parent companies. When the Japanese economy took a turn for the worse, clubs suffered when their sponsors were affected. In 1998, Sato Kogyo, a general contractor and primary co-sponsor of Yokohama Flügels, announced that it was experiencing financial difficulties, and it would be pulling its support from the club. The other primary co-sponsor, All Nippon Airways, who could not support the club on its own, met with Nissan Motors, the primary sponsor of Yokohama Marinos, the Flügels' cross-town rival, and decided to merge their clubs. Under the agreement, the Flügels were dissolved, and the Marinos were renamed Yokohama F. Marinos, the "F." representing the Flügels. Around the same time, Fujita, the sponsors of Bellmare Hiratsuka (currently, Shonan Bellmare), also did not want to finance the club any more.

It would be just a matter of time before the league collapsed.

Change of the League's infrastructure (1999-present)

Gamba Osaka warming up before a match against Yokohama F. Marinos.
Enlarge
Gamba Osaka warming up before a match against Yokohama F. Marinos.

League officials finally realized that they were heading in the wrong direction and in 1999 they decided to change the infrastructure of the league.

The league acquired nine clubs from the semi-professional JFL (former) and one club from J.LEAGUE to create a two division system. The topflight became the J.LEAGUE Division 1 (J1) with 16 clubs while J.LEAGUE Division 2 (J2) was launched with ten clubs in 1999.

The criteria for becoming a J2 club were not as strict as the top division and this allowed smaller cities and towns to maintain a club successfully from the grass-root level, without investing as much as the clubs in J1. Clubs in J2 were well supported from their hometown crowd and government, and the clubs took time to build the team for J1 promotion as they also tried to gradually improve financially. The best examples of successful clubs are Oita Trinita, Albirex Niigata, and Ventforet Kofu. All these clubs originally started as J2 in 1999 and were comparatively small, but as these club grew stronger each year, they eventually earned J1 promotion in 2002, 2003, and 2005. Now they are all established in the topflight.

The league also began to more closely follow European game formats as time went on. Originally, due to the cultural unease of neither side coming out as the winner of a game, extra time, golden goal rules, and penalty shoot-outs were employed for regular league matches. Penalty shoot-outs were abolished in the beginning of the 1999 season, and extra time was abolished in 2002 for J2 and 2003 for J1.

Also until 2004 (with the exception of 1996 season), the J1 season was divided into two. At the end of each full season, the champion from each half played a two-legged series to determined the overall season winner. Jubilo Iwata in 2002, and Yokohama F. Marinos in 2003, won both "halves" of the respective seasons, thus eliminating the need for the playoff series. This was the part of the reason for the league to abolish the split-season system beginning in 2005.

Future plans (2007 and beyond)

At the beginning of the 2006 season, the J.LEAGUE excutives announced that the league would expand J2 to 18 clubs by 2010, and 22 clubs by 2016. In the past there has been some mention of creating a third division (J3); however, this plan has been postponed for now. Several Japan Football League teams have announced intentions of being promoted to J2; however, the presence of strong company teams (which are ineligible for promotion) makes the task difficult. Due to this, as of the 2007 season, clubs with J.LEAGUE Associate Memberships finishing in the top 4 of the JFL are eligible for promotion.

Timetable

1989
  • JFA forms a professional league assessment committee.
1990
  • The committee decides the criteria for clubs (a home town, a home stadium, sponsors, etc.)
  • Fifteen to twenty clubs from JSL applies for professional league membership
1991
  • The official announcement was made to the public
1992
1993
  • The J.LEAGUE officially kicks off its first season with ten clubs
1994
1995
1996
1997
  • One club was promoted from JFL (former). The league now has 17 clubs.
  • Went back to the split season format again (however, only one round-robin per stage)
  • Change in the points regulation (3pts for a regulation win, 2pts for a extra time win, 1pt for a PK win, and 0pts for a loss)
1998
1999
2000
  • One club was promoted from JFL to J2. The league now has 16 J1 clubs and 11 J2 clubs.
2001
  • One club was promoted from JFL to J2. The league now has 16 J1 clubs and 12 J2 Clubs.
2002
  • Extra time was scratched in J2 (3pts for a win, 1pt for a tie, 0pts for a loss)
  • J1 still had extra time (3pts for a regualtion win, 2pts for an extra time win, and 1pt for a tie)
2003
  • Extra time was scratched in J1 (3pts for a win, 1pt for a tie, 0pts for a loss)
2004 (Go to 2004 J.LEAGUE Season)

At end of the 2004 season, the J.LEAGUE expanded to 18 J1 teams once again, promoting the top two J2 teams. A two-legged Promotion/Relegation Series was also held between the 16th place team in the J1 and the 3rd placed J2 team; however Kashiwa Reysol defeated Avispa Fukuoka in aggregate to hold on to their place in the upper division.

2005 (Go to 2005 J.LEAGUE Season)
  • Two clubs were promoted from JFL to J2. The league now has 18 J1 clubs and 12 J2 clubs.
  • The league starts the single season format (double round robin) for J1
2006 (Go to 2006 J.LEAGUE Season)

The League structure

Main article: Japanese football league system

Promotion and relegation follow a pattern similar to European club football, where the two bottom clubs of J1 and the top two clubs of J2 are guaranteed to move. However, promotion relies on the J2 clubs meeting the requirements for J1 franchise status, in terms of revenue, player contracts, youth academy, and stadium capacity. This has generally not been a hindrance, so a 2-team promotion is the norm.

Promotion to J2 from the JFL has tended to be more ad-hoc in nature, given the disparity in nature between the two leagues. In 2000, 2001, and 2006 the JFL league champion was promoted to J2; in 2005 two teams were promoted (as explained below). There is no provision as of 2006 for relegation from J2 to the JFL.

For the 2006 season, the top two J2 teams and bottom two J1 teams in 2005 again were automatically promoted/relegated. In the playoff, the third place J2 team Ventforet Kofu defeated Kashiwa Reysol, the third-worst J1 team, sending three J1 teams down to J2 for the first time.

J.LEAGUE Division 1 (J1)

Until 2004 season, the J1 season was divided into two halves, with a separate championship for each half (with exception of the 1996 season). Each half was 15 games long and each team played each other once, then again in the second half; playing away games against all the teams they had played at home in the first half of the season and vice versa. When a single team won both half seasons (ie. posted the best record over each 15-game half), then that team was declared the overall champion of the J1.

The 2007 season

Eighteen clubs will play in double round-robin (home and away) format, a total of 34 games each. A club receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order: goal differential, goals scored, head-to-head results. If they are still tied, the clubs will be ranked the same in the standings, meaning multiple clubs can win championships. The bottom two clubs will be relegated to J2, while the 16th placed club plays a two-legged Promotion/Relegation Series.

Clubs in J1 (2007)

Club Name Year Joined Home Town(s) Home Stadium(s) Capacity
Urawa Reds 1993 Saitama, Saitama Saitama Stadium
Urawa Komaba Stadium		 63,700
21,500
Kawasaki Frontale 1999 (J2) Kawasaki, Kanagawa Todoroki Athletics Stadium 25,000
Gamba Osaka 1993 Suita, Osaka Osaka Expo '70 Stadium 23,000
Shimizu S-Pulse 1993 Shimizu, Shizuoka Nihondaira Stadium
Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa		 20,339
51,349
Júbilo Iwata 1994 Iwata, Shizuoka Yamaha Stadium
Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa		 16,893
51,349
Kashima Antlers 1993 Southwestern cities/towns of Ibaraki Kashima Stadium 39,026
Nagoya Grampus Eight 1993 Nagoya, Aichi Mizuho Athletic Stadium
Toyota Stadium		 27,000
45,000
Oita Trinita 1999 (J2) All cities/towns in Oita Oita Stadium 40,000
Yokohama F. Marinos 1993 Yokohama & Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Nissan Stadium 72,370
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1993 Hiroshima, Hiroshima Hiroshima Big Arch 50,000
JEF United Chiba 1993 Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba Fukuda Denshi Arena 18,500
Omiya Ardija 1999 (J2) Saitama, Saitama Omiya Park Soccer Stadium 12,500
F.C. Tokyo 1999 (J2) All cities/towns in Tokyo Tokyo Stadium 50,000
Albirex Niigata 1999 (J2) Niigata & Seiro, Niigata Tohoku Denryoku Big Swan Stadium 42,300
Ventforet Kofu 1999 (J2) All cities/towns in Yamanashi Kose Sports Stadium 17,000
Yokohama F.C. 2001 (J2) Yokohama, Kanagawa Mitsuzawa Stadium 15,064
Kashiwa Reysol 1995 Kashiwa, Chiba Hitachi Kashiwa Soccer Stadium 15,900
Vissel Kobe 1997 Kobe, Hyōgo Kobe Wing Stadium
Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium		 34,000
45,000

Championship history

Main article: Japanese football champions
Year 1st Stage 2nd Stage
1993 (detail) Kashima Antlers Verdy Kawasaki
1994 (detail) Sanfrecce Hiroshima Verdy Kawasaki
1995 (detail) Yokohama Marinos Verdy Kawasaki
1996† (detail) Kashima Antlers
1997 (detail) Kashima Antlers Júbilo Iwata
1998 (detail) Júbilo Iwata Kashima Antlers
1999 (detail) Júbilo Iwata Shimizu S-Pulse
2000 (detail) Yokohama F. Marinos Kashima Antlers
2001 (detail) Júbilo Iwata Kashima Antlers
2002‡ (detail) Júbilo Iwata
2003‡ (detail) Yokohama F. Marinos
2004 (detail) Yokohama F. Marinos Urawa Red Diamonds
2005† (detail) Gamba Osaka
2006† (detail) Urawa Red Diamonds

* The season champions are bolded
† Unifed Season
‡ Single club won both stages

Best performance teams

# Club Winners Runners-up
1 Kashima Antlers 4 2
2 Júbilo Iwata 3 3
3 Yokohama F. Marinos 3 2
4 Tokyo Verdy 1969 2 1
5 Urawa Red Diamonds 1 2
6 Gamba Osaka 1 0
7 Nagoya Grampus Eight 0 1
7 Kawasaki Frontale 0 1
7 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0 1
7 Shimizu S-Pulse 0 1

Relegation history

In 1998 J.LEAGUE official decided that there will be two divisions and Division 1 will be reduced from 18 clubs to 16. In end of 1998 season, the Yokohama Marinos merged with Yokohama Flugels. The league had to relegate one more club from the top flight. They took the results from 1997 and 1998 season and choose the bottom four clubs to participate in the end of season tournament with Kawasaki Frontale from JFL (former). Out of these five clubs, three will be allowed to stay at J1 and two will be dropped to division 2. JEF United Ichihara, Vissel Kobe, and Avispa Fukuoka survived, while Kawasaki Frontale failed to win J1 promotion and Consadole Sapporo became the first club in J.LEAGUE history to relegate to J2. These two clubs and other eight clubs from JFL (former) were brought up to create the division 2.

From 1999 to 2003 season, two bottom (15th and 16th) clubs were dropped. Even though, Division 1 had two stages in one season, to determine the relegating clubs, overall standing were used.

At end of the 2004 season, J1 again expanded from 16 clubs to 18 clubs. No clubs were relegated, however, last-placed (16th) club had to play Promotion/Relegation Series against 3rd placed club from J2.

From 2005 season, two bottom (17th and 18th) clubs were relegated, while 16th-placed club had to play Promotion/Relegation Series against 3rd placed club from J2.

Year 15th Place 16th Place 17th Place 18th Place
1998 (detail) JEF United Ichihara Consadole Sapporo Vissel Kobe Avispa Fukuoka
1999 (detail) Urawa Reds Bellmare Hiratsuka
2000 (detail) Kyoto Purple Sanga Kawasaki Frontale
2001 (detail) Avispa Fukuoka Cerezo Osaka
2002 (detail) Sanfrecce Hiroshima Consadole Sapporo
2003 (detail) Vegalta Sendai Kyoto Purple Sanga
2004 (detail) Cerezo Osaka Kashiwa Reysol †
2005 (detail) Shimizu S-Pulse Kashiwa Reysol ‡ Tokyo Verdy 1969 Vissel Kobe
2006 (detail) Ventforet Kofu Avispa Fukuoka ‡ Cerezo Osaka Kyoto Purple Sanga

* Relegated clubs are bolded
† Won the Promotion/Relegation Series
‡ Lost the Promotion/Relegation Series and relegated

J. League Division 2 (J2)

Since the inception in 1999, format of J2 has been very consistent. The clubs play a quadruple round-robin (two home and away) format in a single season. Until 2001, the clubs played extra time if they were tied after regulation and the clubs received 3pts for a regulation win, 2pts for an extra time win, 1pt for a tie, and 0pts for loss (there were no penalties). However, since 2002, the league got rid of the extra time and set the points system to the normal 3-1-0 system.

The 2007 season

Thirteen clubs will play in quadruple round-robin format, a total of 48 games each. A club receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order: goal differential, goals scored, head-to-head results. If they are still tied, the clubs will be ranked the same in the standings, meaning multiple clubs can win championships. The top two clubs will be promoted to J1, while the 3rd placed club plays a two-legged Promotion/Relegation series.

Clubs in J2 (2007)

Club Name Year Joined Home Town(s) Home Stadium(s) Capacity
Avispa Fukuoka 1996 Fukuoka, Fukuoka Hakata no mori stadium 22,563
Cerezo Osaka 1995 Osaka, Osaka Nagai Stadium 50,000
Kyoto Sanga F.C. 1996 Kyoto, Kyoto Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium 20,242
Sagan Tosu 1999 (J2) Tosu, Saga Tosu Stadium 25,000
Vegalta Sendai 1999 (J2) Sendai, Miyagi Sendai Stadium 19,694
Consadole Sapporo 1998 Sapporo, Hokkaidō Sapporo Atsubetsu Park Stadium
Sapporo Dome		 20,005
42,831
Tokyo Verdy 1969 1993 All cities/towns in Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium 50,000
Montedio Yamagata 1999 (J2) All cities/towns in Yamagata Yamagata Park Stadium 20,315
Ehime F.C. 2006 (J2) All cities/towns in Ehime Ehime Prefectural General Athletics Park 20,000
Mito HollyHock 2000 (J2) Mito, Ibaraki Kasamatsu Stadium 22,022
Shonan Bellmare 1994 Central cities/towns in Kanagawa Hiratsuka Athletics Stadium 18,500
Thespa Kusatsu 2005 (J2) All cities/towns in Gunma Shikishima Stadium 10,050
Tokushima Vortis 2005 (J2) All cities/towns in Tokushima Naruto Athletic Stadium 20,000

Championship/Promotion history

The top two clubs receive promotion. From the 2004 season, the 3rd placed club plays Promotion/Relegation Series against 16th-placed club in J1.

Year Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place 4th Place
1999 Kawasaki Frontale F.C. Tokyo Oita Trinita Albirex Niigata
2000 Consadole Sapporo Urawa Reds Oita Trinita Omiya Ardija
2001 Kyoto Purple Sanga Vegalta Sendai Montedio Yamagata Albirex Niigata
2002 Oita Trinita Cerezo Osaka Albirex Niigata Kawasaki Frontale
2003 Albirex Niigata Sanfrecce Hiroshima Kawasaki Frontale Avispa Fukuoka
2004 (detail) Kawasaki Frontale Omiya Ardija Avispa Fukuoka† Montedio Yamagata
2005 (detail) Kyoto Purple Sanga Avispa Fukuoka Ventforet Kofu‡ Vegalta Sendai
2006 (detail) Yokohama F.C. Kashiwa Reysol Vissel Kobe‡ Sagan Tosu

* Bold type designates the promoted club
† Lost the Promotion/Relegation Series
‡ Won the Promotion/Relegation Series and promoted

J.LEAGUE Associate Membership

Main article: Japanese football league system

If a club with J.LEAGUE Associate Membership finishes top 4 in JFL, the club will receive J2 promotion. Currently, following club(s) has this status:

Competitions hosted by the J.LEAGUE

Other than J1 and J2, these are the competitions and tournaments held by J.LEAGUE:

† Before 2005, JFA solely hosted the cup. Now hosted by both league and JFA
‡ Hosted along with K-league and CSL

Non-J.LEAGUE competition that J.LEAGUE club participate in:

J-League awards

Player of the Year

See List of J-League Player of the Year

Top scorer

See List of J-League Top Scorers

Team of the Year

See Category:J-League Team of the Year

Young Player of the Year

See List of J-League Young Player of the Year

Manager of the Year

See List of J-League Manager of the Year

Notable current players

Notable players from each region

Current well-known coaches

Former coaches