2023–24 WE League season

WE League
Season2023–24
Dates11 November 2023 – 25 May 2024[1][2]
ChampionsUrawa Reds (2nd title)
Champions LeagueUrawa Reds
Matches played132
Goals scored326 (2.47 per match)
Top goalscorerKiko Seike (20 goals)
Biggest away winMynavi Sendai 0–5 NTV Tokyo Verdy Beleza
(26 November 2023)
Nojima Stella Kanagawa 0–5 Urawa Reds
(16 March 2024)
Highest scoringAC Nagano Parceiro 3–5 Urawa Reds
(31 March 2024)
Longest winning run6 matches (Urawa Reds)
Longest unbeaten run13 matches (INAC Kobe Leonessa)
Longest winless run13 matches (Nojima Stella Kanagawa)
Longest losing run5 matches (Nojima Stella Kanagawa)
Highest attendance5,306 (18 November 2023)
Mynavi Sendai 0–3 INAC Kobe Leonessa
Lowest attendance575 (9 December 2023)
JEF United Chiba 1–1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina
Total attendance227,377
Average attendance1,722

The 2023–24 WE League season (Japanese: 2023–24 WEリーグ, Hepburn: 2023–24 WE Rīgu) was the 3rd season of the WE League since its establishment in 2020. The league begin on 11 November 2023 and end on 25 May 2024.[1][2]

Overview

This season, the league expanded to 12 teams with the inclusion of Cerezo Osaka Yanmar Ladies, who will play in the WE League for the first time after playing in the Nadeshiko League Division 1 in the 2022 season.

Teams

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Locations of the 2023–24 WE League teams
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Locations of the WE League teams in and near Tokyo
Team Location Ground Capacity 2022–23 season
AC Nagano Parceiro Nagano Nagano U Stadium
15,491
7th
Albirex Niigata Niigata Denka Big Swan Stadium
42,300
10th
Niigata Athletic Stadium
18,671
Chifure AS Elfen Saitama Kumagaya Kumagaya Athletic Stadium
15,392
11th
Cerezo Osaka Yanmar Osaka Yodoko Sakura Stadium
15,392
2022 Nadeshiko League Division 1, 4th
INAC Kobe Leonessa Kobe Noevir Stadium Kobe
30,132
2nd
JEF United Chiba Chiba Fukuda Denshi Arena
19,781
8th
Ichihara ZA Oripri Stadium
14,051
MyNavi Sendai Sendai Yurtec Stadium Sendai
19,694
4th
Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara Sagamihara Sagamihara Gion Stadium
15,300
9th
Omiya Ardija Ventus Saitama NACK5 Stadium Omiya
15,500
6th
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina Hiroshima Hiroshima Koiki Park Football Stadium
6,000
5th
Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza Kita, Tokyo Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka
7,258
3rd
Urawa Red Diamonds Saitama Urawa Komaba Stadium
21,500
1st

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
AC Nagano Parceiro Japan Ryu Hirose Penalty Hokto
Albirex Niigata Japan Kazuaki Hashikawa X-girl Kameda Seika
Chifure AS Elfen Saitama Japan Takashi Ikegaya X-girl Chifure
Cerezo Osaka Yanmar Japan Nobuhito Toriizuka X-girl Yanmar
INAC Kobe Leonessa Spain Jordi Ferrón Hummel Mondahmin (Home kit)
Earth Corporation (Away kit)
JEF United Chiba Japan Shoko Mikami X-girl Furukawa Electric
MyNavi Sendai Japan Shigemitsu Sudo X-girl Mynavi
Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara Japan Masaaki Kanno X-girl tvk
Omiya Ardija Ventus Japan Rina Yanai Under Armour ahamo
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina Japan Shin Nakamura Nike EDION
Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza Japan Takeo Matsuda Athleta Coca-Cola
Urawa Red Diamonds Japan Naoki Kusunose Nike Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Foreign players

The JFA subsidizes salaries for players from Southeast Asian member federations, while the league itself subsidizes players from top-ranked FIFA countries.[3]

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Former players
Albirex Niigata
Cerezo Osaka Yanmar Indonesia Zahra Muzdalifah
Chifure AS Elfen Saitama United States Sakura Yoshida
INAC Kobe Leonessa
JEF United Chiba Jamaica Vyan Sampson
MyNavi Sendai Cameroon Aurelle Awona Nigeria Chidinma Okeke Spain Carla Bautista Spain Paula Guerrero Thailand Janista Jinantuya Thailand Chatchawan Rodthong
Nagano Parceiro Thailand Taneekarn Dangda Thailand Nutwadee Pram-nak
Nojima Stella Kanagawa
Omiya Ardija Ventus
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina
Tokyo Verdy Beleza
Urawa Red Diamonds

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Urawa Red Diamonds (C) 22 18 3 1 55 17 +38 57 Qualification to the 2024–25 AFC Women's Champions League
2 INAC Kobe Leonessa 22 15 4 3 39 12 +27 49
3 Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza 22 13 7 2 47 18 +29 46
4 Albirex Niigata 22 13 2 7 26 18 +8 41
5 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina 22 9 4 9 26 25 +1 31
6 JEF United Chiba 22 6 7 9 18 23 −5 25
7 Omiya Ardija Ventus 22 7 4 11 17 32 −15 25
8 Chifure AS Elfen Saitama 22 7 2 13 20 29 −9 23
9 Cerezo Osaka Yanmar 22 6 3 13 19 31 −12 21
10 MyNavi Sendai 22 5 6 11 22 40 −18 21
11 AC Nagano Parceiro 22 4 6 12 21 40 −19 18
12 Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara 22 3 4 15 16 41 −25 13
Source: WE League, WE League Data Site
Rules for classification: 1) Points;2) Goal difference;3) Number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away ALB BEL CER ELF JEF KOB MYN NAG NOJ OMI REG URA
Albirex Niigata 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 0–2 2–1 4–1 2–0 0–1 0–2 2–0
Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza 2–1 1–1 0–0 2–1 0–1 3–0 3–1 3–1 7–0 2–1 2–2
Cerezo Osaka Yanmar 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–2 1–2 0–1 3–3 2–1 0–2 0–4
Chifure AS Elfen Saitama 1–2 1–2 0–1 0–1 0–3 1–3 1–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–2
JEF United Chiba 0–0 1–3 0–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–2
INAC Kobe Leonessa 1–0 0–0 3–1 3–0 2–0 4–1 3–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 0–2
MyNavi Sendai 1–3 0–5 2–1 2–1 0–0 0–3 1–1 1–1 1–2 1–2 0–3
AC Nagano Parceiro 0–0 0–3 1–2 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–2 2–3 1–2 1–0 3–5
Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara 0–1 0–2 2–1 2–1 0–2 0–3 0–2 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–5
Omiya Ardija Ventus 1–2 0–1 1–0 0–2 0–0 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–2 0–4
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina 1–2 2–2 1–0 0–2 1–1 2–0 2–2 2–0 2–1 0–2 1–2
Urawa Red Diamonds 2–0 3–3 2–0 2–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 3–1 2–0 3–1 2–0
Source: WE League, WE League Data Site
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals[4][5]
1 Japan Kiko Seike (清家 貴子) Urawa Reds 20
2 Japan Mami Ueno (上野 真実) Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina 11
3 Japan Nanami Kitamura (藤野 あおば) NTV Tokyo Verdy Beleza 9
Japan Mei Shimada (島田 芽依) Urawa Reds
5 Japan Mina Tanaka (田中 美南) INAC Kobe Leonessa 8
6 Japan Megumi Ito (伊藤 めぐみ) AC Nagano Parceiro 7
Japan Maho Hirosawa (廣澤 真穂) Mynavi Sendai
8 Japan Miyu Yakata (矢形 海優) Cerezo Osaka Yanmar 6
Japan Hikaru Kitagawa (北川 ひかる) INAC Kobe Leonessa
Japan Nanami Kitamura (北村 菜々美) NTV Tokyo Verdy Beleza
Japan Yuzuki Yamamoto (山本 柚月) NTV Tokyo Verdy Beleza
Japan Miki Ito (伊藤 美紀) Urawa Reds

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "「2023-24 WEリーグ」 第1節～第7節 日程決定のお知らせ". WE League. 18 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b "【11月11日（土）開幕！】「2023-24 WEリーグ」 第1節～第7節 日程決定のお知らせ". Yahoo! Japan. 19 August 2023.
  3. ^ Orlowitz, Dan (10 September 2021). "Japan's ambitious WE League aims to empower in historic first season". The Japan Times.
  4. ^ "Stats". WE League.
  5. ^ "Goalscoring ranking". WE League.