2014 J3 League

J3 League
Season2014
ChampionsZweigen Kanazawa
1st J3 title
1st D3 title
PromotedZweigen Kanazawa
Matches played198
Goals scored495 (2.5 per match)
Top goalscorerKoji Suzuki (19 goals)
Highest attendance8,115
Zweigen vs MYFC
Lowest attendance504
Fukushima vs Gainare
Average attendance2,247
2015 →

The 2014 J3 League (referred to as the 2014 Meiji Yasuda J3 League (2014 明治安田生命J3リーグ) for sponsorship reasons) was the 18th season of the third tier of the Japanese football, and the inaugural season of the professional J3 League. The season commenced on 9 March and will finish on November 23,[1] with a 3-week break after the 17th week matches on 21 and 22 June (except one on 25 June), then will resume from 19 and 20 July, due to prefectural qualifiers, followed by the 1st and 2nd round matches of the 2014 Emperor's Cup scheduled during the intermission.

Establishment

After the discussion on J1-J2 Joint Committee on 16 January 2013, all J. League clubs agreed in principle with an establishment of the new league starting 2014.[2] This decision was formally put into force by J. League Council on 26 February executive meeting.[3] The league was planned to launch with 10 teams, but another session of J. League Council in July decided that inaugural season of J3 will feature 12 teams.[4]

Clubs

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Locations of the 2014 J3 League teams

In order to participate, a club must have held an associate membership, or had submitted an application before 30 June 2013, and then passed an inspection in order to obtain a participation licence issued by J. League Council.[5] On November 19, J. League has confirmed the following clubs to participate in the inaugural J3 season:[6]

Club Name Home Town Notes
Blaublitz Akita All cities/towns in Akita
Fukushima United Fukushima, Fukushima
Gainare Tottori All cities/towns in Tottori Relegated from 2013 J2, eligible for J2 promotion
Grulla Morioka Morioka, Iwate The only club promoted from Regional Leagues
Fujieda MYFC Fujieda, Shizuoka
Nagano Parceiro Nagano, Nagano Eligible for J2 promotion
FC Ryukyu All cities/towns in Okinawa
SC Sagamihara Sagamihara, Kanagawa
YSCC Yokohama Yokohama, Kanagawa
Machida Zelvia Machida, Tokyo Eligible for J2 promotion
Zweigen Kanazawa Kanazawa, Ishikawa Eligible for J2 promotion
J.League U-22 Selection n/a A special team, composed of best J1 and J2 youngsters in order to prepare them for 2016 Olympics

On 29 September the J. League licensing board issued J2 licenses to the following clubs: Machida Zelvia, Nagano Parceiro, Zweigen Kanazawa, and Gainare Tottori.[7] Tottori's license was issued provisionally, under conditions of financial improvement before 30 October when the league re-assessed the club's financial stance and confirmed the passage of the licensing.

Competition rules

The league will be played in three rounds, each team playing a total of 33 matches. J.League U-22 Selection will play all their matches on the road.[1]

Each team must feature at least 3 players holding professional contracts. Two foreign players are allowed per team, plus 1 more from the ASEAN partner country of J. League. The matchday roster will consist of 16 players, and up to 5 substitutes will be allowed in a game.[1]

Promotion and relegation

Rules for promotion to J2 will be largely similar to those of Japan Football League in the recent seasons: in order to be promoted, a club must hold a J2 license and finish in top 2 of the league. The U-22 team is not eligible for promotion regardless of their final position. The champions will be promoted directly, in exchange to 22nd-placed J2 club; and the runners-up will participate in the playoffs with 21st J2 club. If either or both top 2 finishers are ineligible for promotion, the playoffs and/or direct exchange will not be held in accordance to the exact positions of promotion-eligible clubs.[1]

No relegation to JFL is planned. Up to 2 clubs may be promoted if they are licensed by J. League for J3 participation and finish in top-4 of JFL.

Foreign players

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Asian Player Non-Visa Foreign Type-C Contract
Blaublitz Akita Brazil Leonardo South Korea Lee Keun-ho
Fukushima United South Korea Kim Kong-Chyong North Korea Kim Hong-Yeon
Gainare Tottori
Grulla Morioka
Fujieda MYFC South Korea Park Il-gyu
Nagano Parceiro South Korea Kim Yeong-Gi
FC Ryukyu
SC Sagamihara Brazil Weslley United States Mobi Fehr
YSCC Yokohama Egypt Osama Elsamni
Machida Zelvia South Korea Bae Dae-Won
Zweigen Kanazawa South Korea Choi Ji-Hoon
J.League U-22 Selection1

Note:
^1 A special team, composed of best J1 and J2 youngsters in order to prepare them to 2016 Olympics

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Zweigen Kanazawa (C, P) 33 23 6 4 56 20 +36 75 Promotion to 2015 J2 League[a]
2 Nagano Parceiro 33 20 9 4 58 23 +35 69 Qualification for J2 promotion playoffs[a]
3 Machida Zelvia 33 20 8 5 59 22 +37 68
4 Gainare Tottori 33 14 11 8 34 25 +9 53
5 Grulla Morioka 33 12 9 12 43 39 +4 45
6 SC Sagamihara 33 12 7 14 44 48 −4 43
7 Fukushima United 33 9 9 15 30 38 −8 36
8 Blaublitz Akita 33 10 4 19 38 57 −19 34
9 FC Ryukyu 33 8 10 15 31 50 −19 34
10 J.League U-22 Selection 33 9 6 18 37 63 −26 33
11 Fujieda MYFC 33 7 9 17 36 52 −16 30
12 YSCC Yokohama 33 4 12 17 29 58 −29 24
Source: J.League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal differential; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Disciplinary points; 6) Draw.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Only clubs that hold J2 licence are eligible for promotion.

Results

Rounds 1–11

Home \ Away BLA FUK GAI GRU MYF PAR RYU SGM YSC ZEL ZWE J22
Blaublitz Akita 2–2 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–2 1–2
Fukushima United 0–1 0–2 1–2 1–0 0–1 0–1
Gainare Tottori 0–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 0–1 1–0
Grulla Morioka 4–1 0–0 2–3 3–0 1–4 6–1
Fujieda MYFC 0–0 0–2 2–2 1–2 0–0 2–4
Nagano Parceiro 1–0 1–4 1–0 0–0 2–1 1–0
FC Ryukyu 2–0 1–3 0–1 0–0 1–7 3–0
SC Sagamihara 3–0 2–1 2–2 2–0 0–4 0–1
YSCC Yokohama 1–1 0–1 0–2 1–4 1–1 0–2
Machida Zelvia 4–1 3–0 0–0 2–0 0–0 4–0
Zweigen Kanazawa 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 4–0 2–0
J.League U-22 Selection
Updated to match(es) played on 11 May 2014. Source: J. League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Rounds 12–22

Home \ Away BLA FUK GAI GRU MYF PAR RYU SGM YSC ZEL ZWE J22
Blaublitz Akita 0–1 2–2 1–0 3–4 1–4 4–0
Fukushima United 2–0 2–3 2–2 2–2 0–2 0–0
Gainare Tottori 1–4 1–0 0–0 0–0 4–2 1–0
Grulla Morioka 3–0 1–2 2–1 1–1 0–1 3–1
Fujieda MYFC 0–1 0–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 3–1
Nagano Parceiro 2–0 3–0 1–1 3–2 1–2 4–0
FC Ryukyu 2–0 0–3 0–2 1–1 1–0 0–6
SC Sagamihara 0–1 0–0 2–2 0–1 4–0 2–3
YSCC Yokohama 0–0 1–1 2–3 0–1 0–3 2–1
Machida Zelvia 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 2–1 1–1
Zweigen Kanazawa 1–0 2–2 3–1 2–1 0–1 0–0
J.League U-22 Selection
Updated to match(es) played on 26 October 2014. Source: J. League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Rounds 23–33

Home \ Away BLA FUK GAI GRU MYF PAR RYU SGM YSC ZEL ZWE J22
Blaublitz Akita 1–3 0–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 1–1
Fukushima United 2–0 0–1 0–1 2–1 2–2 0–0
Gainare Tottori 1–2 2–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–2
Grulla Morioka 1–1 0–2 0–3 1–1 0–2 2–1
Fujieda MYFC 1–2 0–2 2–2 1–1 0–1 2–1
Nagano Parceiro 3–0 3–0 2–0 6–1 2–0 5–0
FC Ryukyu 0–0 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–1 4–2
SC Sagamihara 2–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–2 1–5
YSCC Yokohama 1–2 0–0 2–0 0–0 2–4 1–1
Machida Zelvia 2–0 1–2 4–1 2–1 0–0 3–0
Zweigen Kanazawa 2–1 2–0 3–2 4–0 2–1 3–0
J.League U-22 Selection
Updated to match(es) played on 23 November 2014. Source: J. League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

J2 promotion playoffs

2014 J2/J3 Play-Offs (2014 J2・J3入れ替え戦)
J3 runners-up Nagano Parceiro played the 21st-placed J2 club Kamatamare Sanuki in a two-legged playoffs. The winning club will play in J2 in 2015 season.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Kamatamare Sanuki 1–0 Nagano Parceiro 0–0 1–0
Nagano Parceiro0–0Kamatamare Sanuki
Report
Attendance: 8,944
Referee: Itaru Hirose
Kamatamare Sanuki1–0Nagano Parceiro
Attendance: 6,170

Nagano Parceiro remains in J3 League.
Kamatamare Sanuki remains in J2 League.

Top scorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Japan Koji Suzuki Machida Zelvia
19
2 Japan Tsugutoshi Oishi Fujieda MYFC
17
3 Japan Yuji Unozawa Nagano Parceiro
16
4 Japan Ryota Doi Grulla Morioka
11
Japan Hirochika Miyoshi Blaublitz Akita
11
6 Japan Akio Yoshida YSCC Yokohama
10
7 Japan Yoshinori Katsumata Nagano Parceiro
9
Japan Shohei Kiyohara Zweigen Kanazawa
9
Japan Yuki Sato Nagano Parceiro
9
Japan Takafumi Suzuki Machida Zelvia
9

Updated per games played on 23 November 2014
Source: J. League data

Attendance

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Nagano Parceiro 64,701 8,011 1,655 3,595 +53.7%†
2 Zweigen Kanazawa 61,920 8,115 658 3,440 +66.7%†
3 Machida Zelvia 56,404 4,569 2,012 3,134 −1.3%†
4 SC Sagamihara 56,388 7,860 921 3,133 +62.8%†
5 Gainare Tottori 55,242 5,892 1,832 3,069 −25.1%†
6 Blaublitz Akita 31,921 2,488 1,057 1,773 +0.3%†
7 Grulla Morioka 27,403 3,048 741 1,522 +103.5%‡
8 FC Ryukyu 25,162 5,163 520 1,398 −32.4%†
9 Fukushima United 23,769 4,163 504 1,321 +28.6%†
10 Fujieda MYFC 23,733 3,302 612 1,319 +38.4%†
11 YSCC Yokohama 18,323 1,819 512 1,018 +30.0%†
League total 444,966 8,115 504 2,247 +70.0%†

Updated to games played on 23 November 2014
Source: J. League data
Notes:
League average is compared to JFL average of 2013.
† Team played previous season in J2.
‡ Team played previous season in the Regional Leagues.

References

  1. ^ a b c d ２０１４Ｊ３リーグ 大会方式および試合方式について [Playing system and rules of 2014 J3 League] (PDF) (in Japanese), J. League, 17 December 2013, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2013, retrieved 30 December 2013
  2. ^ Ｊ３設立へ中西理事「理解は得た」 [Director Nakahishi on the agreement for J3 establishment] (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports News. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  3. ^ 来年からＪ３新設を正式決定　Ｊリーグ理事会 [Consul formally decided to launch new J3 league next year] (in Japanese). Sports Nippon Newspapers. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  4. ^ Ｊ3参加クラブ数は「12」で決定 [J3 is determined to start with 12 teams] (in Japanese). J. League. 16 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-07-18. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  5. ^ Ｊ３までの道のり [Steps to J3 participation] (in Japanese). J. League. 16 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-07-20. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  6. ^ 申請クラブ審査状況に更新がありました [Update to club review situation] (in Japanese). J. League. 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on 22 November 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  7. ^ クラブライセンス交付第一審機関（ＦＩＢ）決定による　２０１５シーズン　Ｊリーグクラブライセンス交付について [J. League licensing for 2015 season.] (in Japanese). J. League. 29 September 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 9 October 2014.