J1 League

J1 League
Full name	日本 プ ロ サ ッ カ ー リ ー グ Nihon Pro Soccer League
abbreviation	J1
Association	Asian Football Confederation
First edition	1992
hierarchy	1st League
Teams	18th
master	Yokohama F. Marinos ( 2019 )
Record champions	Kashima Antlers (8 championships)
Record scorer	Yoshito Ōkubo (179)
Current season	2019
Website	http://www.jleague.jp
Qualification for	AFC Champions League
↓ J2 League

The J1 League ( J1 リ ー グ , J1 Rīgu ) is the top division of the Japan Professional Football League ( 日本 プ ロ サ ッ カ ー リ ー グ , Nippon Puro Sakkā Rīgu ) and the top division in Japanese football . It is one of the most successful soccer leagues in Asian team soccer and the only one with the top AFC rating . The J2 League is subordinate to it.

The record holder and current defending champion are the Kashima Antlers with a total of eight championships.

history

Until the founding of the J. League in 1992

Before the J. League was established as the top division in Japan, several amateur teams played in the Japan Soccer League (JSL). Due to the American influence after the defeat in World War II, baseball had advanced to the national sport for years and the interest in football was rather low, apart from national youth team tournaments. The mostly represented factory teams of large companies had strong financial backing, but it was not worth investing in larger stadiums or good places. The national team also did not have the quality to become one of the top Asian teams. To arouse interest in the sport, the Japan Football Association (JFA) decided to establish a professional league.

The founded J. League started in 1992 with eight clubs from the JSL First Division , a club from the JSL Second Division and the newly founded club Shimizu S-Pulse . Many clubs changed their names, similar to teams in the US professional leagues NBA , NFL and Major League Baseball , with words borrowed from Italian or Spanish to Europeanise the clubs. Most of the new mascots were created by Sony Entertainment between 1992 and 1995 . The JSL changed its name to the Japan Football League and became the second division behind the J. League. The first official season did not start until 1993 and the founding year was used to give the ten teams a preparatory season with the J. League Cup .

The high phase of the J. League 1993–1995

On May 15, 1993, the first season of the newly formed league began with the game between Verdy Kawasaki and the Yokohama Marinos in the Tokyo Olympic Stadium . The media presence of the sport on television - at least one game per game day was broadcast nationwide - generated great interest among the audience. The stadiums filled up and the clubs tried to make the sport attractive with veteran foreign stars. In its second edition in 1994, the league recorded its unbroken attendance record of an average of 15,598 viewers per game.

With the increased enthusiasm for the league, the lower-class clubs also tried to get a place in the professional league. Júbilo Iwata and Bellmare Hiratsuka expanded the field for the 1994 season, which was enlarged with six other teams in the following four years.

After the 1996–1999 boom

Despite the success of the first three years, experts expected the bubble to burst soon. With the commitment of more players and high salaries, the expenses threatened to exceed the expected income. With the abrupt drop in attendance in 1996, a year later only just under every second went to the stadium compared to the record year 1994. As expected, the clubs had to accept high losses and threatened to bleed out financially. Due to the low level of audience interest, it was decided to reintroduce the two-part mode for the 1997 season. Assumptions are based on the assumption that the league's rapid growth caused the audience to fall in favor.

Despite the clubs breaking away from their companies, many were still dependent on their sponsorship. With the economic recession and the liquidity of the company and hence the revenue of the clubs fell by their de facto nor parent company . Sato Kogyo, general contractor and one of the two main sponsors of the Yokohama Wing , announced in 1998 that support for the association would be discontinued due to the financial difficulties. All Nippon Airways , the second main sponsor, was not financially strong enough to do the sponsorship alone, so they tried to find a solution. After a meeting with Nissan , whose former works team was merged into the Yokohama Marinos, an agreement was reached on a merger of the former city rivals. The wings were dissolved and integrated into the renamed Yokohama F. Marinos - the F. in the name is still reminiscent of the wing today. A second incident of this kind concerned the then Bellmare Hiratsuka club , whose main sponsor Fujita had to stop supporting and led to the club's relegation in 2000. The league threatened to collapse if no solution was found.

Restructuring 1999-2004

In order to master the situation, those responsible decided to take two measures to counteract the impending disaster.

The "Hundred Years Vision" envisaged the creation of over 100 professional teams in the J. League by 2092. In order to save the league, the management made the clubs responsible for promoting football and other sporting activities at the local level. By rooting in the home, the clubs should become interesting for the hometown, its population and locally based companies as sponsors. The league tried to prevent a nationwide structure of the sport. And indeed, with the adjustment of the economic criteria for promotion to the J. League Division 2, many smaller cities with professional clubs were able to establish themselves.

Furthermore, in 1999 the structure of the league had to change decisively. With the establishment of the J. League Division 2 as the forecourt of the professional league, the JFL was pushed into the third division. Division 2 initially consisted of nine clubs from the old JFL and one relegated from Division 1. Thus, the House of Lords still consisted of 16 teams, Division 2 of ten clubs.

Regarding the game, the league is now based on the European format. Originally, the league tried to prevent draws and normal games ended in doubt with overtime , golden goal or penalty shoot-outs . With the 1999 season there was no more penalty shootout, in 2002 there was no extra time in Division 2 and a year later in Division 1.

Until 2004, with one exception in the 1996 season, the season was divided into two parts. So there was a round-trip winner, who decided the championship in two play-off games among themselves. Exceptions were Júbilo Iwata in 2002 and Yokohama F. Marinos in 2003 , who won both halves and did not have to host a season finale. This is one of the reasons why the league renounced the two-part league system from the 2005 season and also oriented itself here on the European counterpart.

European league format and AFC Champions League 2005–2008

From the 2005 season, Division 1 consisted of 18 teams with two direct relegation places and one relegation place. On the last day of the match, five teams were still fighting for the title. The championship lead changed four times, most recently in stoppage time. Ultimately, Gamba Osaka was able to secure the title in front of the Urawa Reds. Interest in the league rose again and has remained constant since then.

The role of the AFC Champions League , in which Japanese teams have participated since the 1980s, also changed for Japanese league football during this time. The clubs perceived participation as a burden that only distracts from the national competition. An example of this is the 2005 season, during which Yokohama and Iwata had to play 13 CL and league games within 44 days and could not concentrate on any of the competitions.

In response to pressure from the clubs, the league management decided in future - similar to the Korean K League Classic and the Chinese Chinese Super League - to take the AFC participants into consideration and to adapt the league's game days to international competition. The adjustment was made for the 2006 season.

The inclusion of the Australian A-League and the introduction of the FIFA Club World Cup increased the marketing of the sport on the Asian continent. As in Europe, the focus of the successful clubs was now also on international competitions. For example, Kawasaki Frontale was able to build a fan base in Hong Kong with its participation in the Champions League in 2007 and the Urawa Red Diamonds cup victories in 2007 and Gamba Osaka in 2008 testify to the clubs' efforts in international business.

The excellent management of the league was rewarded with the highest league ranking to be awarded and a total of four starting places in the competition from the 2009 season. The league took the opportunity to market itself internationally, with a focus on Asia.

Since participating in the Champions League, the winner of the Imperial Cup , which is always played on New Year's Day of the following year, was only able to take part in the international competition in the following year.

One example is Tokyo Verdy , which won the national cup in 2005 and was relegated to Division 2 in the same year as a second division team in the 2007 CL season.

In order to close this gap, the participation of the Kashima Antlers , as winners of the Imperial Cup 2007, was skipped, as the club was allowed to participate as champions in 2008 anyway.

Thus, the winner of the Kaiser Cup has been playing in the Champions League in the following season since the 2008 season.

Modern since 2009

With the start of the 2009 season there were three changes. Four J. League teams are allowed to participate in the AFC Champions League. Furthermore, there have been three direct relegation places to Division 2 since this season. Furthermore, from now on each club may have a maximum of four foreign players, at least one of whom must have the nationality of another AFC country.

For the 2015 season , a new mode was introduced to determine the master. The best three teams of the season as well as, if not already eligible to participate in the overall table, the winners of the first and second half of the season, played a championship tournament. The overall table winner was directly qualified for the finals, which will be played in the first and second leg; the other teams played the opponent in individual knockout games. As early as the 2017 season , however, there was a return to the mode of a double round tournament based on the European model, which was valid until the 2014 season . With the beginning of the 2018 season , the relegation for the table sixteenth was reintroduced; that team must assert itself at the end of the season in a single game against the winner of the J2 promotion playoffs. After the first match day of the 2020 season, the J-League experienced a forced break of around four months due to the COVID-19 pandemic . It was continued from July 4, 2020, subject to conditions. No spectators were allowed.

Summary

year	Important events	# J1 teams	# AFC teams	Relegation pl.
1989	The JFA forms a committee to establish a professional league.
1990	The committee decides the criteria for future professional clubs 15 out of 20 clubs in the Japan Soccer League are eligible to participate in the professional league
1992	The professional league J. League is founded. The following clubs make up the field of participants: Gamba Osaka , JEF United Ichihara , Nagoya Grampus Eight , Sanfrecce Hiroshima , Urawa Red Diamonds , Verdy Kawasaki , Yokohama Wings , and Yokohama Marinos (from the old JSL First Division) Kashima Antlers (from JSL Division 2) Shimizu S-Pulse (newly founded, no works team). Japan Soccer League becomes the second-rate Japan Football League The J. League Cup is played as a preparation season with 10 teams
1993	The J. League is playing its first official season	10
1994	Other clubs move up to the J. League: Júbilo Iwata and Bellmare Hiratsuka	12
1995	Other clubs move up to the J. League: Cerezo Osaka and Kashiwa Reysol The first point system is presented: The team receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a defeat on penalties and 0 points for a defeat in regular or extended playing time	14th
1996	Other clubs move up to the J. League: Kyoto Purple Sanga and Avispa Fukuoka The league is playing suspends the two-part season The average number of viewers sank to the record low of 10,131 viewers per game	16
1997	Another club is promoted to the J. League: Vissel Kobe The league plays again in a two-part season The point system is changed: the team receives 3 points for the regular time win, 2 points in overtime and 1 point in the penalty shoot-out. There are no points for defeat.	17th
1998	Another club is promoted to the J. League: Consadole Sapporo Yokohama Wing announces the dissolution and affiliation with city rivals Yokohama Marinos from the coming season. The league cites the Hundred Year Vision as its goal. The league announces the establishment of a two-tier system from the coming season. The league holds the J. League Promotion Tournament to decide on promotion and relegation for the coming season. Consadole Sapporo becomes the first relegated league history.	18th
1999	Yokohama Marinos merge with Yokohama Wings to become Yokohama F. Marinos . The penalty shootout will be abolished in both leagues. The point system is changed: a team receives 3 points for a win in regular time, 2 points in overtime, and 1 point for a tie. The old Japan Football League is restructured and becomes the third division . In order to ensure the differentiation from the old league, the new JFL in Japan is called the Nihon Football League .	16		2
2002	For the first time, two teams qualify for the newly introduced AFC Champions League at the end of the season	16	2	2
2003	The extension will be abolished in league games of Division 1 and the traditional 3-1-0 point system established	16	2	2
2004	For the expansion of the league to 18, relegation will be canceled this season. Only two teams are promoted. Introduction of the promotion and relegation system with 2 direct and one indirect promotion position, which is played in two games.	16	2	0.5
2005	The J. League Division 1 is expanded to include 18 teams J. League Division 1 completely abolishes the two-part season.	18th	2	2.5
2006	The away goals rule will be introduced in the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup and the promotion and relegation games The league founds a committee that advises on the expansion of the league The league is reintroducing the requirements for eligibility to participate in the J. League	18th	2	2.5
2007	The champions of the J. League ( Kashima Antlers ) can host the next two editions of the FIFA Club World Cup . Note: If a Japanese club wins the AFC Champions League, they lose this right. The Urawa Red Diamonds became the first Japanese team to win the AFC Champions League since its relaunch in 2002.	18th	2	2.5
2008	Gamba Osaka wins the AFC Champions League as the second Japanese team in a row.	18th	2 + 1	2.5
2009	Four clubs are allowed to participate in the AFC Champion League. Introducing the AFC player prerogative. The indirect 16th relegation place is converted into a direct one. Now three teams are automatically relegated or promoted.	18th	4th	3
2011	The J. League champions may take part in the next two editions of the FIFA Club World Cup as the title holder of the organizing association.	18th	4th	3
2015	The two-part playing time will be reintroduced. A tournament mode will be installed to determine the champions, for which the three best in the overall table and, if not already eligible to participate, the two semi-series champions qualify. The overall first placed is set for the final, which is played in the home and return leg, the other teams determine the opponent in knockout mode.	18th	4th	3
2017	Renewed abolition of the two-part championship and the championship tournament at the end of the season. The Urawa Red Diamonds win the AFC Champions League for the second time.	18th	4th	3
2018	Reintroduction of the relegation between J1 and J2; the table-sixteenth plays in a single game against the winner of the J2 promotion playoffs for relegation.	18th	4th	2.5

Position in the Japanese football pyramid

Stages)	League / Division
I.	J1 League (J1) 18 clubs
II	J2 League (J2) 22 clubs
III	J3 League 17 clubs
IV	Japan Football League 16 clubs
V / VI	9 regional leagues 134 clubs
VII +	46 prefecture leagues & 5 block leagues on Hokkaidō many clubs

Since the founding of the J. League Division 2 in 1999, there has been a promotion and relegation system similar to that of European football leagues, in which the last two of the J1 and the first two of the J2 are definitely promoted. Between 2004 and 2008, the third placed J2 and the 16th J1 played in the relegation for a place in the upper house. Even if the second division had to meet the requirements of the J. League for playing eligibility (including the size of the stadium with at least 10,000 seats), no winner was refused promotion during this time.

Until the 2004 season, Division 1 played an independent round-trip round, the winners of which decided the championship in a final. Only in the 1996 season was a full season played for the first time, which replaced the split season from 2005. The top three teams in the league and the winners of the Imperial Cup have been taking part in the AFC Champions League since 2008 . If the Kaiser Cup winner can also be found among the top three of the league, the field of participants will be expanded to include fourth place.

The relegation games were not played between 2009 and 2017, and the last three clubs were automatically relegated. With the 2018 season, the relegation was reintroduced as a single game between the J1 sixteenth and the winner of the J2 promotion playoffs.

Competition mode

The eighteen teams play a double round tournament , with one game against each other team taking place on their own pitch. The table is created according to the following criteria:

1. Number of points scored
2. Goal difference
3. Goals scored
4. Results of the games among themselves
5. Decision game or coin toss

The club with the best result at the end of the season wins the Japanese championship. The two best teams qualify for the group stage of the AFC Champions League , the third placed starts in the play-off round of the Champions League. Should one of these teams also win the Kaiser Cup, the fourth-placed team moves up. The two worst teams are relegated directly to the J2 League , the third from bottom plays in a single game against the winner of the J2 promotion playoffs for relegation.

Prize money

• 1st place: 200 million yen
• 2nd place: 100 million yen
• 3rd place: 80 million yen
• 4th place: 60 million yen
• 5th place: 40 million yen
• 6th place: 20 million yen
• 7th place: 10 million yen

Participants 2018

→ Main article : J1 League 2018

Sapporo Sendai Iwata Shizuoka Nagoya Osaka Suita Kobe Hiroshima Tosu Nagasaki Kashima Urawa Kashiwa Tokyo Hiratsuka Kawasaki Yokohama Associations of the Kantō region

Clubs of the J1 League 2018

logo	society	Year of entry	Located in	First season in the top division	Currently in the highest league since
	Cerezo Osaka	1995	Osaka , Osaka	1965	2017–
	Gamba Osaka (*)	1993	Suita , Osaka	1986/87	2014–
	Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo	1998	Sapporo , Hokkaidō	1989/90	2017–
	Júbilo Iwata	1994	Iwata , Shizuoka	1994	2016
	Kashima Antlers (*)	1993	Several cities in the southwest of Ibaraki Prefecture	1985	1993–
	Kashiwa Reysol	1995	Kashiwa , Chiba	1965	2011–
	Kawasaki Frontale	1999 (J2)	Kawasaki , Kanagawa	1977	2005–
	Nagoya Grampus (*)	1993	Nagoya , Aichi	1973	2018–
	Sagan Tosu	1999 (J2)	Tosu , saga	2012	2012–
	Sanfrecce Hiroshima (*)	1993	Hiroshima , Hiroshima	1965	2009–
	Shimizu S-Pulse (*)	1993	Shizuoka , Shizuoka	1993	2017–
	Shonan Bellmare	1994	Hiratsuka , Kanagawa	1972	2018–
	FC Tokyo	1999 (J2)	Tokyo	2000	2012–
	Urawa Red Diamonds (*)	1993	Saitama , Saitama	1965	2001–
	Vegalta Sendai	1999 (J2)	Sendai , Miyagi	2002	2010–
	Vissel Kobe	1997	Kobe , Hyogo	1997	2014–
	V-Varen Nagasaki	2013 (J2)	Association of cities in Nagasaki	2018	2018–
	Yokohama F. Marinos (*)	1993	Yokohama and Yokosuka , Kanagawa	1979	1982–

• The newcomers from the J2 League are highlighted in purple
• Unless otherwise stated, the year of entry indicates the first season in the top division of the J. League.
• "First season in the highest league" and "Currently in the highest league since" include the seasons in the former Japan Soccer League .
• The teams marked with (*) are among the founding members of the J. League in 1993. The Yokohama Wings stopped playing in 1999 and merged with the Yokohama Marinos. The remaining founding members JEF United Ichihara Chiba and Tokyo Verdy (as Verdy Kawasaki) currently play in the J2 League.

Championship and relegation

Champion since the founding of the J. League

year master Runner-up 1993 Verdy Kawasaki Kashima Antlers 1994 Verdy Kawasaki Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1995 Yokohama Marinos Verdy Kawasaki 1996 Kashima Antlers Nagoya Grampus 1997 Júbilo Iwata Kashima Antlers 1998 Kashima Antlers Júbilo Iwata 1999 Júbilo Iwata Shimizu S-Pulse 2000 Kashima Antlers Yokohama F. Marinos 2001 Kashima Antlers Júbilo Iwata 2002 Júbilo Iwata Yokohama F. Marinos 2003 Yokohama F. Marinos Júbilo Iwata 2004 Yokohama F. Marinos Urawa Red Diamonds 2005 Gamba Osaka Urawa Red Diamonds 2006 Urawa Red Diamonds Kawasaki Frontale 2007 Kashima Antlers Urawa Red Diamonds 2008 Kashima Antlers Kawasaki Frontale 2009 Kashima Antlers Kawasaki Frontale 2010 Nagoya Grampus Gamba Osaka 2011 Kashiwa Reysol Nagoya Grampus 2012 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Vegalta Sendai 2013 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Yokohama F. Marinos 2014 Gamba Osaka Urawa Red Diamonds 2015 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Gamba Osaka 2016 Kashima Antlers Urawa Red Diamonds 2017 Kawasaki Frontale Kashima Antlers 2018 Kawasaki Frontale Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2019 Yokohama F. Marinos FC Tokyo

Split season (1993–1995,
1997–2004, 2015–2016 ) single season (1996, 2005–2014, 2017–)

Record champions

society	master	Runner-up	master	Runner-up
Kashima Antlers	8th	3	1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2016	1993, 1997, 2017
Yokohama Marinos	4th	3	1995, 2003, 2004, 2019	2000, 2002, 2013
Júbilo Iwata	3	3	1997, 1999, 2002	1998, 2001, 2003
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	3	2	2012, 2013, 2015	1994, 2018
Kawasaki Frontale	2	3	2017, 2018	2006, 2008, 2009
Gamba Osaka	2	2	2005, 2014	2010, 2015
Tokyo Verdy	2	1	1993, 1994	1995
Urawa Red Diamonds	1	5	2006	2004, 2005, 2007, 2014, 2016
Nagoya Grampus	1	2	2010	1996, 2011
Kashiwa Reysol	1	0	2011
Shimizu S-Pulse	0	1		1999
Vegalta Sendai	0	1		2012
FC Tokyo	0	1		2019

History of the relegation

1998 season

With the introduction of the J. League Division 2 , the number of J1 teams was reduced from 18 to 16. The original plan was that at the end of the 1998 season, six teams would play in a play-down tournament for four places in Division 1. It was the JFL participant Kawasaki Frontale and five other teams who finished last in an overall table over the 1997 and 1998 seasons. With the dissolution of the Yokohama wing, one team fell from Division 1 anyway, so the number of participating teams was reduced to five.

Kawasaki and Avispa Fukuoka initially played a single qualifying game for the tournament, the loser of that game being placed in Division 2. Avispa was able to prevail here in extra time with the help of a golden goal and now met JEF United Ichihara in the semifinals , the other match was contested by Vissel Kobe and Consadole Sapporo . After JEF United and Vissel asserted themselves relatively clearly in the first and second leg, it was Consadole who should be relegated as the first club in league history after two final defeats against Avispa. Together with Kawasaki Frontale and eight other clubs, they founded the new J. League Division 2.

1999–2004 seasons

Between 1999 and 2003, the last two were relegated to J2 at the end of the season. This was calculated from the performance in both seasons of the two-part season and not, as in the title fight, from the placement in one half of the season. After the 2004 season, the field of participants was increased from 16 to 18, which is why no team had to relegate directly. Instead, the sixteenth of the J1 table played against the third of the J2 in a round trip for promotion and relegation. Here, too, the table was sixteenth from both seasons.

Seasons 2005 to date

From 2005 to 2008, the last two teams were relegated directly, while the sixteenth had to play in two relegation games to stay up. Relegation was waived between 2009 and 2017 and three clubs were automatically relegated. During the brief reintroduction of the two-part championship in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, these teams were once again determined by establishing an overall table for both seasons. With the revival of the relegation from the 2018 season, only the last two teams will be relegated directly, the sixteenth will now play in a single game against the winner of the J2 promotion playoffs to stay in class.

Summary

season	15th	16.	17th	18th
1998	JEF United Chiba	Consadole Sapporo	Vissel Kobe	Avispa Fukuoka
1999	Urawa Red Diamonds	Bellmare Hiratsuka
2000	Kyoto Purple Sanga	Kawasaki Frontale
2001	Avispa Fukuoka	Cerezo Osaka
2002	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Consadole Sapporo
2003	Vegalta Sendai	Kyoto Purple Sanga
2004	Cerezo Osaka	Kashiwa Reysol †
2005	Shimizu S-Pulse	Kashiwa Reysol ‡	Tokyo Verdy 1969	Vissel Kobe
2006	Ventforet Kofu	Avispa Fukuoka ‡	Cerezo Osaka	Kyoto Purple Sanga
2007	Ōmiya Ardija	Sanfrecce Hiroshima ‡	Ventforet Kofu	Yokohama FC
2008	JEF United Chiba	Júbilo Iwata †	Tokyo Verdy	Consadole Sapporo
2009	Montedio Yamagata	Kashiwa Reysol	Ōita Trinita	JEF United Chiba
2010	Vissel Kobe	FC Tokyo	Kyoto Sanga FC	Shonan Bellmare
2011	Urawa Red Diamonds	Ventforet Kofu	Avispa Fukuoka	Montedio Yamagata
2012	Albirex Niigata	Vissel Kobe	Gamba Osaka	Consadole Sapporo
2013	Ventforet Kofu	Shonan Bellmare	Júbilo Iwata	Ōita Trinita
2014	Shimizu S-Pulse	Ōmiya Ardija	Cerezo Osaka	Tokushima Vortis
2015	Albirex Niigata	Matsumoto Yamaga FC	Shimizu S-Pulse	Montedio Yamagata
2016	Albirex Niigata	Nagoya Grampus	Shonan Bellmare	Avispa Fukuoka
2017	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Ventforet Kofu	Albirex Niigata	Ōmiya Ardija
2018	Nagoya Grampus	Júbilo Iwata †	Kashiwa Reysol	V-Varen Nagasaki
2019	Sagan Tosu	Shonan Bellmare †	Matsumoto Yamaga FC	Júbilo Iwata

• Clubs in bold were relegated
• † won the relegation game
• ‡ Lost the relegation game and were relegated

More competitions

National

• Kaiser Cup (since 1921)
• JOMO All-Stars Soccer (since 1993)
• XEROX Super Cup (since 1994)
• Yamazaki Nabisco Cup (since 1992, except 1995)

International

• FIFA Club World Cup (2007-2008, 2011-2012, 2015-2016)
• AFC Champions League (1969, 1986 / 87–2002 / 03 and since 2004)
• Suruga Bank Championship (since 2008)

Previous competitions

• Pan-Pacific Championship (2008,2009)
• Relegation games (2004-2008)
• A3 Champions Cup (2003-2007)
• Suntory Championship (1993-2004, except 1996)
• Sanwa Bank Cup (1994–1997)

J. League Awards

• Coach of the year
• Player of the Year ( 最 優秀 選手 賞 , saiyūshū senshushō )
• Young Player of the Year ( ベ ス ト ヤ ン グ プ レ ー ヤ ー 賞 , besuto yangu purēyāshō )
• Eleven of the year (Best XI; ベ ス ト イ レ ブ ン , besuto irebun )
• Top scorer of the year ( 得 点 王 , tokuten'ō )

Notable J. League players

Especially at the beginning of the J. League history, the league tried to sign a number of veteran foreign stars in order to increase the general level of play. Below is a selection of such players who are of particular interest for the German-speaking area.

• Zico - Kashima Antlers (1993-1994)
• Uwe Bein - Urawa Red Diamonds (1994–1996)
• Guido Buchwald - Urawa Red Diamonds (1994-1997)
• Pierre Littbarski - JEF United Ichihara Chiba (1993-1995)
• Michael Rummenigge - Urawa Red Diamonds (1993-1995)
• Michael Laudrup - Vissel Kobe (1996-1997)
• Dragan Stojković - Nagoya Grampus Eight (1994-2001)
• Patrick M'Boma - Gamba Osaka (1997–1998), Tokyo Verdy (2003–2004), Vissel Kobe (2004–2005)
• Christo Stoitschkow - Kashiwa Reysol (1998–1999)
• Gary Lineker - Nagoya Grampus Eight (1993-1994)
• Dunga - Jubilo Iwata (1995-1998)
• Mario Haas - JEF United (2005-2006)
• Ivica Vastić - Nagoya Grampus Eight (2002-2003)
• Cacau - Cerezo Osaka (2014-2015)
• Diego Forlán - Cerezo Osaka (2014-2015)
• Lukas Podolski - Vissel Kobe (since 2017)
• Andrés Iniesta - Vissel Kobe (since 2018)
• Fernando Torres - Sagan Tosu (since 2018)
• David Villa - Vissel Kobe (since 2019)

Audience numbers

With an average attendance of 18,883 in the 2017 season, the league was roughly on par with the Dutch Eredivisie . The Urawa Red Diamonds (34,184 per game) had the highest average attendance in 2019 .

season	cut	Games	total
2005	18,765	306	5,742,233
2006	18,299	306	5,599,408
2007	19,066	306	5,834,081
2008	19.203	306	5,876,138
2009	19.094	306	5,842,695
2010	18,501	306	5,661,296
2011	15,715	306	4,808,859
2012	17,534	306	5,365,310
2013	17.160	306	5,251,083
2014	17,239	306	5,275,090
2015	17,803	306	5,447,602
2016	17,968	306	5,498,222
2017	18,883	306	5,778,198
2018	19,079	306	5,838,050
2019	20,750	306	6,349,421
Source: weltfussball.de

Transmission in German-speaking countries

In the German-speaking countries, the broadcast in the 2019 season will be via the online pay TV channels DAZN , Sportdigital and Rakuten Sports. DAZN offers a game every match day (usually the game with the participation of Vissel Kobe , Lukas Podolski's current club ) live and on demand; this game is then occasionally taken over by Sportdigital. In addition, Rakuten Sports can watch three games a week as a live stream free of charge.

See also

• Soccer in Japan
• List of Japanese football teams
• List of the highest national soccer divisions
• List of top scorer of the J.League

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ｊ１ 来 季 ２ ・ ２５ 開幕 、 １２ ・ ２ 閉幕… Ｊ２ は ２ ・ ２６ 開幕. In: www.hochi.co.jp. Sports Hochi, November 1, 2016, archived from the original on November 4, 2016 ; Retrieved November 4, 2016 (Japanese). 
2. ↑ ２０１８Ｊ１ 参 入 プ レ ー オ フ 大会 方式 お よ び 試 合 方式 に つ い て. In: www.jleague.jp. J. League, December 12, 2016, accessed December 12, 2016 (Japanese). 
3. ↑ Diario AS: En directo: Torres desvela cuál será su próximo equipo . In: AS.com . July 10, 2018 ( as.com [accessed July 10, 2018]).
4. ↑ J1 League 2017 - spectators. Retrieved January 26, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Rakuten launches live streaming, VOD service, delivering sports content to fans worldwide. Japan Today, June 11, 2019; accessed August 19, 2019 . 

Web links

• Official site