1999 Japan Football League

Japan Football League
Season1999
Dates18 April – 7 November
ChampionsYokohama FC
1st JFL title
1st D3 title
PromotedMito HollyHock
Matches played108
Goals scored386 (3.57 per match)
Top goalscorerMarcus (22 goals total)
Highest attendance11,283 (Round 2,
Yokohama vs. Jatco)
Lowest attendance113 (Round 4,
Kokushikan vs. Jatco)
Average attendance1,084
2000 →

The 1999 Japan Football League (Japanese: 第1回日本フットボールリーグ, Hepburn: Dai Ikkai Nihon Futtobōru Rīgu) was the first season of the Japan Football League, the third tier of the Japanese football league system.

Overview

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1999 JFL teams

After the dissolution of former Japan Football League in order to form J. League Division 2, the new Japan Football League was established from this season as the nationwide top division for amateur clubs. It was originally planned to have 8 clubs, including seven former JFL clubs and Yokogawa Electric, promoted from Kantō Soccer League, one of nine Japanese Regional Leagues. But it eventually became nine-club structure by accepting Yokohama FC, which was established by supporters of defunct Yokohama Flügels, as an associate member as an extralegal measures. Nine clubs played 24 matches each, in triple round-robin format. Yokohama F.C. won the championship but under the conditions of their associate membership were not eligible to promotion and had to stay in JFL for the next year.

Table

Pos Team Pld W OTW D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Yokohama FC (C) 24 16 2 3 3 57 32 +25 55
2 Honda Motor[a] 24 13 5 1 5 69 34 +35 50
3 Mito HollyHock (P) 24 13 3 0 8 48 32 +16 45 Promotion to 2000 J. League Division 2[b]
4 Denso SC[a] 24 8 3 4 9 46 38 +8 34
5 Sony Sendai 24 7 2 1 14 29 42 −13 26
6 Otsuka Pharmaceuticals[a] 24 7 1 2 14 35 47 −12 25
7 Jatco SC 24 6 2 3 13 40 53 −13 25
8 Yokogawa Electric 24 6 1 0 17 26 42 −16 20
9 Kokushikan University 24 4 2 0 18 36 65 −29 16
Updated to match(es) played on 7 November 1999. Source: Japan Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Occupied one of the top three places at the end of the first part of the season (9th week) and were seeded for 1999 Emperor's Cup. These clubs were automatically qualified for the tournament, while each of other JFL clubs had to go through the prefectural qualifier. Yokohama F.C. and Kokushikan University were not eligible to be seeded.
  2. ^ Though Mito HollyHock haven't finished within top two, their promotion was unanimously accepted by the special J. League Board decision. The fact that championship has been won by associate JFL members, Yokohama F.C., was taken into account.

Results

Round 1
Home \ Away DEN HOL HON JAT KSU OTP SON YEL YFC
Denso SC 2–4 3–1 0–0OT 3–1 1–1OT
Mito HollyHock 0–3 1–2OT 1–0
Honda Motors 6–4 3–2 1–2 2–0 3–4
Jatco SC 2–1OT 2–3OT
Kokushikan University 0–5 0–3 0–1 1–3
Otsuka Pharmaceuticals 3–2 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–4
Sony Sendai 0–4 2–3 1–0OT 0–1
Yokogawa Electric 0–1OT 2–1 2–1OT
Yokohama FC 4–1 2–2OT 5–2 1–0 4–0
Updated to match(es) played on 13 June 1999. Source: Japan Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Round 2
Home \ Away DEN HOL HON JAT KSU OTP SON YEL YFC
Denso SC 0–4 3–0 1–0 2–2OT
Mito HollyHock 2–1 2–1 4–3 4–0
Honda Motors 1–2 8–2 4–1 2–0
Jatco SC 0–4 0–5 1–3 2–3
Kokushikan University 1–3 1–0OT 1–2OT 2–1
Otsuka Pharmaceuticals 1–2OT 1–1OT 2–0 2–3
Sony Sendai 0–1 1–3 1–3 3–1
Yokogawa Electric 0–1 1–2 0–2 3–4OT
Yokohama FC 3–2 4–3OT 1–0 2–1
Updated to match(es) played on 15 August 1999. Source: Japan Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Round 3
Home \ Away DEN HOL HON JAT KSU OTP SON YEL YFC
Denso SC 3–2OT 0–0OT 1–0OT
Mito HollyHock 2–1 3–2OT 4–1 1–0 2–0
Honda Motors 1–0OT 2–1OT 2–1OT 4–3OT
Jatco SC 5–3 2–1OT 1–5 2–1
Kokushikan University 5–4 3–1 0–3 0–3
Otsuka Pharmaceuticals 2–2OT 3–0 2–3OT
Sony Sendai 3–2 0–1 1–0 1–0
Yokogawa Electric 2–3 1–5 3–2 3–0 0–1
Yokohama FC 3–2 2–1 3–2OT 2–0
Updated to match(es) played on 7 November 1999. Source: Japan Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Brazil Marcus Honda Motors 22
2 Japan Kenji Arima Yokohama FC 19
3 Japan Mitsunori Yabuta Yokohama FC 12
4 Japan Hiroyasu Ibata Honda Motors 11
Japan Hiroaki Tajima Honda Motors 11

Attendances

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Yokohama FC 53,045 11,283 1,494 4,080 −74.3%†
2 Honda Motors 14,733 3,109 283 1,133 +62.1%†
3 Mito HollyHock 10,695 2,531 412 891 +16.6%†
4 Sony Sendai 7,833 2,109 329 653 −57.5%†
5 Jatco SC 6,198 1,809 362 620 +5.3%†
6 Yokogawa Electric 7,194 1,556 268 600 n/a‡
7 Otsuka Pharmaceuticals 6,803 2,039 172 567 −4.7%†
8 Denso SC 6,270 1,372 211 523 +28.5%†
9 Kokushikan University 4,253 2,099 113 354 0.0%†
League total 117,024 11,283 113 1,084 −39.7%†

Source: Japan Football League
Notes:
† The club was created by the supporters of disbanded J. League club Yokohama Flügels – therefore attendances are compared to Flügels' last record in J. League.
‡ Team played previous season in Regional Leagues.

Promotion and relegation

No relegation has occurred because the league was expanding to 12 teams. At the end of the season, the winner and runner-up of the Regional League promotion series, ALO's Hokuriku and Tochigi SC were promoted automatically. In addition, FC Kyoken and Shizuoka Sangyo University were included by JFA and College FA recommendations.