Japan Football League 2003

Japan Football League 2003
master	Ōtsuka Pharmaceutical SC
Relegated	FC Kyōto 1993 (after playoffs ) Jatco FC (retreat)
Teams	16
Games	240
Gates	724  (ø 3.02 per game)
← Japan Football League 2002 Japan Football League 2004 →
^ J. League Division 2 2003 Regionalliga 2003 ↓

The 2003 Japan Football League was the fifth season of the Japan Football League . Sixteen clubs took part in it. The season started on March 30th and ended on November 23rd, 2003.

Ōtsuka Pharmaceutical SC won the championship. Due to the fact that no team could meet the requirements for J. League approval, there were no promoters. Conversely, a total of two teams left the division. The bottom of the table FC Kyoto 1993 rose after two defeats in the relegation games against Gunma FC Horikoshi , the runner-up in the regional league finals , in addition, Jatco FC withdrew for financial reasons at the end of the season; the team was eventually disbanded.

mode

After the single round, which was exceptionally played out in the 2002 season for scheduling reasons, the mode returned to the usual double round tournament . There were three points for a win; in the event of a tie, each team received a counter. The table for each semi-series was 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

For promotion to the J. League Division 2 2004 , only clubs that met sporting and economic criteria and withstood a final review by the J. League were eligible. The two worst teams in the table should originally play in two relegation games each against the two winners of the Regional League final round, with the sixteenth facing the champion and the fifteenth the runner-up. Due to the withdrawal of Jatco FC at the end of the season, however, participation in the relegation was only necessary for the bottom of the table who competed against the RL final round runner-up. The pairing was set up like a kind of mini-league; the team with the most points held the class, with the same number of points first the goal difference decided and, if it should be the same, a penalty shoot-out immediately after the second leg.

Attendees

A total of sixteen teams took part in the season, for the first time since the league was founded, fewer teams played in the league than in the previous season. Direct relegated to the Regionalliga here were Alouette Kumamoto and Profesor Miyazaki , both in the Kyushu returned -RL. In addition to these two teams, Shizuoka Sangyo University FC , who lost after two relegation games only on penalties against Sagawa Printing SC , runner-up in the regional league finals, also left the division and from then on devoted themselves exclusively to playing in the various Japanese university leagues.

The team from Sagawa Printing , based in Kyoto Prefecture , remained the only promoted team from the regional leagues, as final round champion Ain Foods SC also narrowly failed in their relegation pairing against Jatco FC on penalties.

Also before this season, a club renamed itself. In order to bond with the community, Yokogawa Denki SC changed its name to Yokogawa Musashino FC .

Tagajō Toyama Kirobe Hamamatsu Fuji Kariya Muko Kyoto Osaka Tottori Tokushima Matsuyama Utsunomiya Tokyo Machida Musashino Associations of the Kantō region

Clubs of the Japan Football League 2003

society	City / region	Remarks
ALO's Hokuriku	Toyama , Toyama
DENSO FC	Kariya , Aichi
Ehime FC	Matsuyama , Ehime
Honda FC	Hamamatsu , Shizuoka
Jatco FC	Eastern Shizuoka Prefecture around Fuji
Kokushikan University SC	Machida , Tokyo
FC Kyoto 1993	Kyōto , Kyōto
Ōtsuka Pharmaceutical SC	Tokushima , Tokushima
Sagawa Express Osaka SC	Osaka , Osaka
Sagawa Express Tōkyō SC	Tokyo
Sagawa Printing SC	Mukō , Kyoto	Runner-up in the regional league finals in 2002
Sony Sendai FC	Tagajō , Miyagi
Tochigi SC	Utsunomiya , Tochigi
SC Tottori	Yonago , Tottori
YKK SC	Kurobe , Toyama
Yokogawa Musashino FC	Musashino , Tokyo

statistics

table

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Ōtsuka Pharmaceutical SC	30th	23	3	4th	065:210	+44	72
2.	Honda FC	30th	21st	4th	5	073:300	+43	67
3.	Ehime FC	30th	17th	5	8th	055:390	+16	56
4th	Sagawa Express Osaka SC	30th	16	6th	8th	048:290	+19	54
5.	Sagawa Express Tōkyō SC	30th	15th	7th	8th	054:370	+17	52
6th	YKK SC	30th	15th	5	10	056:380	+18	50
7th	Jatco FC	30th	15th	3	12	045:440	+1	48
8th.	Tochigi SC	30th	12	9	9	048:350	+13	45
9.	Sony Sendai FC	30th	13	6th	11	046:440	+2	45
10.	SC Tottori	30th	10	7th	13	045:500	−5	37
11.	Kokushikan University SC	30th	10	4th	16	036:640	−28	34
12.	DENSO SC	30th	9	5	16	041:510	−10	32
13.	Yokogawa Musashino FC	30th	9	2	19th	032:650	−33	29
14th	ALO's Hokuriku	30th	7th	6th	17th	023:470	−24	27
15th	Sagawa Printing SC (N)	30th	5	6th	19th	031:620	−31	21st
16.	FC Kyoto 1993	30th	2	4th	24	026:680	−42	10
Status: end of the season

Relegation matches against the winners of the regional league final round : FC Kyōto 1993

Cessation of play at the end of the season: Jatco FC

(N)	Promoted from the Regionalliga 2002: Sagawa Printing SC

Crosstab

Relegation

After the end of the season, shortly before the turn of the year, the relegation games between the Japan Football League and the best teams in the regional league finals took place. The original plan was that the sixteenth against the final round winner and the fifteenth against the runner-up should play; after the withdrawal of Jatco FC at the end of the season, however, the final round champion Thespa Kusatsu was allowed to rise directly, the runner-up Gunma FC Horikoshi measured himself in two games with the JFL table bottom FC Kyōto in 1993, the penultimate Sagawa Printing SC was spared.

Both games were won by the lower class club; after a narrow 3: 2 in the first leg in Takasaki , Gunma could clearly win the second leg in Kyoto with 5: 0.

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Gunma FC Horikoshi	2	2	0	0	008: 200	+6	06th
2.	FC Kyoto 1993	2	0	0	2	002: 800	−6	00

Web links

• Season on the official website of the Japan Football League (Japanese)
• Final tables of the 2003 season in Japanese football , RSSSF (English)