J. League
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Image:J league.gif The Template:Nihongo, or Template:Nihongo, is the top professional football league in Japan.
Contents |
League History
J. League was created in 1992, though play did not begin until the following year, and initially consisted of 10 teams, taken from the original Japanese Soccer League formed in post-war Japan. The success of that inaugural season saw rapid expansion follow, with two teams joining the league nearly every year until 1996, then a single team was added in 1997 and 1998.
The years when each team joined are as follows:
- 1993
- Kashima Antlers, Urawa Red Diamonds (also known as Urawa Reds), JEF United Ichihawa (later JEF United Ichihara Chiba), Verdy Kawasaki (later Tokyo Verdy 1969), Yokohama Marinos (later merged with Yokohama Flügels to form Yokohama F. Marinos), Yokohama Flūgels, Shimizu S-Pulse, Nagoya Grampus Eight, Gamba Osaka, Sanfrecce Hiroshima
- 1994
- Júbilo Iwata, Bellmare Hiratsuka (later Shonan Bellmare)
During this initial phase of J. League, several players and coaches came from Europe and South America to play, raising the overall quality of the league to rival that of the more established play overseas. However, with rising quality comes rising cost, and many of the smaller teams could not sustain a viable product. Many J. League teams folded or were on the verge of folding.
In response, the league was divided from the 1999 season. The bottom two teams from J. League were matched with 10 teams from the semi-professional Japan Football League (JFL) to create J2, or J. League Division 2. The requirements for maintaining a J2 franchise were not as stringent for those as the original J. League (now often called J1),thus allowing smaller cities could successfully maintain a franchise.
- 1999
- With the merger of the two Yokohama franchises, the J-League was reduced to 17 teams. Consadole Sapporo is also dropped from the top division at this time (to make 16) due to losing games against Vissel Kobe and Avispa Fukuoka during the "J1 Qualifying Tournament" and joined 9 new teams in J2.
- Montedio Yamagata, Vegalta Sendai, Omiya Ardija, Kawasaki Frontale, Ventforet Kofu, Sagan Tosu, FC Tokyo, Albirex Niigata, Oita Trinita
- 2000
- Mito HollyHock (J2)
- 2001
- Yokohama FC (J2)
- 2005
- THE SPA Kusatsu (J2), Tokushima VORTIS (J2)
- 2006
- Ehime FC (J2)
League Structure
Promotion and relegation follow a pattern familiar to European club football, where the bottom team of J1 and the top team of J2 are guaranteed to move. The 2nd-last and 2nd-place clubs may also move, though this is not mandatory, and relies on the J2 team meeting the requirements for J1 franchise status, in terms of revenue and stadium capacity. This has generally not been a concern, 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.
In 2005, the J. League expanded to 18 J1 teams once again, promoting the top two J2 teams automatically. A playoff was also held between the 16th place team in the J1 and the 3rd placed J2 team; however Kashiwa Reysol defeated Avispa Fukuoka both home and away to hold on to their place in the upper division. The two teams lost to J1 were replaced by promotion of two teams from 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.
By 2007 a 3-division structure is intended, with 18 J1, 16 J2 teams, and up to 16 J3 teams (created from the JFL).
The Season
Until 2004 season, the J1 season was divided into two halves, with a separate championship for each half. 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. If different teams had won each half, then a single playoff game between the half champions was held to determine the overall winner. Due to change in the number of the teams from 16 to 18, J1 moved to a single-season format from 2005 season, with each club playing the other twice.
J2 plays a single season of 44 games until 2005, but will be increased to 48 games in 2006 season due to a newly participating club, Ehime FC. All teams playing each other 4 times, much like some other smaller sized leagues such as the Scottish Premier League. Also see Japanese Football League Teams.
Members in 2006 season
J. League Division 1
J. League Division 2
Championship History
J.League Division 1
| Year | Overall Champion | 1st Stage | 2nd Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Verdy Kawasaki | Kashima Antlers | Verdy Kawasaki |
| 1994 | Verdy Kawasaki | Sanfreece Hiroshima | Verdy Kawasaki |
| 1995 | Yokohama Marinos | Yokohama Marinos | Verdy Kawasaki |
| 1996 | Kashima Antlers (Unified Season) | ||
| 1997 | Jubilo Iwata | Kashima Antlers | Jubilo Iwata |
| 1998 | Kashima Antlers | Jubilo Iwata | Kashima Antlers |
| 1999 | Jubilo Iwata | Jubilo Iwata | Shimizu S-Pulse |
| 2000 | Kashima Antlers | Yokohama F.Marinos | Kashima Antlers |
| 2001 | Kashima Antlers | Jubilo Iwata | Kashima Antlers |
| 2002 | Jubilo Iwata | Jubilo Iwata | Jubilo Iwata |
| 2003 | Yokohama F.Marinos | Yokohama F.Marinos | Yokohama F.Marinos |
| 2004 | Yokohama F.Marinos | Yokohama F.Marinos | Urawa Red Diamonds |
| 2005 | Gamba Osaka (Unified Season) | ||
J.League Division 2
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Kawasaki Frontale | F.C. Tokyo | Oita Trinita |
| 2000 | Consandole Sapporo | Urawa Red Diamonds | Oita Trinita |
| 2001 | Kyoto Purple Sanga | Vegalta Sendai | Montedio Yamagata |
| 2002 | Oita Trinita | Cerezo Osaka | Albirex Niigata |
| 2003 | Albirex Niigata | Sanfreece Hiroshima | Kawasaki Frontale |
| 2004 | Kawasaki Frontale | Omiya Ardija | Avispa Fukuoka |
| 2005 | Kyoto Purple Sanga | Avispa Fukuoka | Ventforet Kofu |
J. League attendance (2005)
Famous players
- Magno Alves
- Alex
- Washington Stecanela Cerqueira
- Emerson
- Toshiya Fujita
- Gral
- Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi
- Marquinhos
- Alex Mineiro
- Kazuyoshi Miura
- Masashi Nakayama
- Shinji Ono
- Santiago "Sa-Sa" Salcedo
- Atsushi Yanagisawa
Former Players
- Ahn Jung-Hwan
- Bebeto
- Aitor Beguiristain
- David Bisconti
- Guido Buchwald
- Dunga
- Hong Myung-Bo
- Michael Laudrup
- Leonardo
- Gary Lineker
- Pierre Littbarski
- İlhan Mansız
- Hugo Maradona
- Edu Marangon
- Shunsuke Nakamura
- Koji Nakata
- Hidetoshi Nakata
- Noh Jung-Yoon
- Masashi Oguro
- Yoshito Okubo
- Alpay Özalan
- Park Ji-Sung
- Ruy Ramos
- Salvatore Schillaci
- Lorenzo Staelens
- Hristo Stoitchkov
- Dragan Stojkovic
- Patrick Mboma
- Naohiro Takahara
- Pedro Troglio
- Richard Witschge
- Zico
- Patrick Zwaanswijk
Famous Coaches
- Paulo Autuori-Kashima Antlers
- Stuart Baxter-Vissel Kobe
- Former coach of Vissel Kobe for 1995-97, and Sanfrecce Hiroshima for 1992-93
- Guido Buchwald-Urawa Red Diamonds
- Pericles Chamusca-Oita Trinita
- Alexandre Tadeu Gallo-FC Tokyo
- Akira Nishino-Gamba Osaka
- Former coach of Kashiwa Reysol for 1998-2001, and U-23 Japan national football team for Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Takeshi Okada-Yokohama F. Marinos
- Former coach of Consadole Sapporo for 1999-2001, and Japan national football team for 1997-98
- Ivica Osim-JEF United Ichihara Chiba
- Ruy Ramos-Tokyo Verdy 1969
- Joel Santana-Vegalta Sendai
- Sef Vergoossen-Nagoya Grampus Eight
- Masakuni Yamamoto-Júbilo Iwata
- Former coach of U-23 Japan national football team for Football at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Former Coaches
- Osvaldo Ardiles — 2003-05 for Tokyo Verdy 1969, 2000-01 for Yokohama F. Marinos, and 1996-98 for Shimizu S-Pulse
- Toninho Cerezo — 2000-05 for Kashima Antlers
- Hugo Fernandez — 1997-98 for Consadole Sapporo
- Ivan Hašek — 2004 for Vissel Kobe
- Wim Jansen — 1995-96 for Sanfrecce Hiroshima
- Kunishige Kamamoto — 1991-94 for Gamba Osaka
- Horst Köppel — 1997 for Urawa Red Diamonds
- Émerson Leão — 2005 for Vissel Kobe, 1996 for Verdy Kawasaki, and 1992-94 for Shimizu S-Pulse
- Pierre Littbarski — 2003-04 for Yokohama FC
- Holger Osieck — 1995-96 for Urawa Red Diamonds
- Pavel Řehák — 2005 for Vissel Kobe
- Eddie Thomson — 1997-2000 for Sanfrecce Hiroshima
- Jozef Vengloš — 2002 for JEF United Ichihara
- Zdenko Verdenik — 2003-2004 for Vegalta Sendai, 2002-2003 for Nagoya Grampus Eight, and 2001 for JEF United Ichihara
- Arsène Wenger — 1995-96 for Nagoya Grampus Eight
See also
- Winning Eleven - the oficial video game of J-League.
- Sports league attendances
External links
Template:Japan Professional Football Leaguede:J. League fr:Championnat du Japon de football nl:J-League ja:日本プロサッカーリーグ sv:J. League zh:日本職業足球聯賽 es:J. League