2002 J.League Division 2

J.League Division 2
Season2002
ChampionsOita Trinita
1st J2 title
1st D2 title
PromotedOita Trinita
Cerezo Osaka
Matches played264
Goals scored671 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorerMarcus Vinícius (19 goals)
Highest attendance42,211[1]
Albirex Niigata 0-0 Cerezo Osaka (10 August 2002)
Lowest attendance1,136[1]
Mito HollyHock 0-2 Sagan Tosu (7 August 2002)
Total attendance1,806,392
Average attendance6,842[1]
2001
2003

The 2002 J.League Division 2 season was the 31st season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 4th season since the establishment of J.League Division 2.

Starting this season, extra-time rule was abolished and the league adopted the traditional 3-1-0 points system. The twelve clubs competed in the quadruple round-robin format. The top two received promotion to the J.League Division 1. There were no relegation to the third-tier Japan Football League.

Clubs

The following 12 clubs played in J.League Division 2 during 2002 season. Of these clubs, Cerezo Osaka and Avispa Fukuoka were relegated from J.League Division 1 last year.

Personnel

Club Head coach
Albirex Niigata Yasuharu Sorimachi
Avispa Fukuoka Shigekazu Nakamura
Cerezo Osaka Akihiro Nishimura
Kawasaki Frontale Nobuhiro Ishizaki
Mito HollyHock Masaaki Kanno
Montedio Yamagata Koichi Hashiratani
Oita Trinita Shinji Kobayashi
Omiya Ardija Henk Duut
Sagan Tosu Hiroshi Soejima
Shonan Bellmare Koji Tanaka
Ventforet Kofu Takeshi Oki
Yokohama FC Katsuyoshi Shinto

Foreign players

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Non-visa foreign Type-C contract Former players
Albirex Niigata Beto Marcus Vinícius Serjão An Yong-hak
Avispa Fukuoka Alen Avdić Zoltan Sabo Noh Jung-yoon
Cerezo Osaka Almir Turković João Carlos Yoon Jong-hwan Jeong Yong-dae
Kawasaki Frontale Bentinho Marlon Marquinho Alex Marcos Aurélio
Mito HollyHock An Seon-jin Hwang Hak-sun
Montedio Yamagata
Oita Trinita Andradina Fabinho Santos Sandro Marcelo Mattos
Kim Sung-kil
Omiya Ardija Toninho Jorge Dely Valdés Fuat Usta Jorginho
Sagan Tosu David Bisconti Erikson Noguchipinto
Shonan Bellmare Ever Palacios Silva
Ventforet Kofu Jorginho Alair
Yokohama FC Fernando Moner

League format

Twelve clubs played in quadruple round-robin format, a total of 44 games each. A club receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order:

  • Goal differential
  • Goals scored
  • Head-to-head results

A draw would be conducted, if necessary. However, if two clubs are tied at the first place, both clubs will be declared as the champions. The top two clubs are promoted to J1.

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Oita Trinita (C, P) 44 28 10 6 67 34 +33 94 Promotion to 2003 J.League Division 1
2 Cerezo Osaka (P) 44 25 12 7 93 53 +40 87
3 Albirex Niigata 44 23 13 8 75 47 +28 82
4 Kawasaki Frontale 44 23 11 10 71 53 +18 80
5 Shonan Bellmare 44 16 16 12 46 43 +3 64
6 Omiya Ardija 44 14 17 13 52 42 +10 59
7 Ventforet Kofu 44 16 10 18 51 55 −4 58
8 Avispa Fukuoka 44 10 12 22 58 69 −11 42
9 Sagan Tosu 44 9 14 21 41 64 −23 41
10 Mito HollyHock 44 11 7 26 45 73 −28 40
11 Montedio Yamagata 44 6 17 21 29 57 −28 35
12 Yokohama FC 44 8 11 25 43 81 −38 35
Updated to match(es) played on November 24, 2002. Source: J.League Data Site
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Top scorers

Pos Player Club Goals PK GP Shots Goals per game
1st Marcus Vinícius Albirex Niigata 19 4/5 36 139 0.55
2nd Yoshito Ōkubo Cerezo Osaka 18 1/2 29 65 0.91
Andradina Oita Trinita 1/1 39 117 0.50
4th Bentinho Kawasaki Frontale 16 3/3 36 176 0.44
5th Takayoshi Ono Mito HollyHock 14 2/2 36 85 0.46
Hiroshi Morita Sagan Tosu 0/0 38 86 0.45
David Bisconti 4/4 39 92 0.42
8th Yasuo Manaka Cerezo Osaka 13 1/1 28 67 1.05
Jorge Dely Valdés Omiya Ardija 2/2 32 72 0.46
10th Hiroaki Morishima Cerezo Osaka 12 0/0 37 75 0.34
Marlon Kawasaki Frontale 0/0 23 74 0.58

Attendances

# Football club Total attendance Home games Average Highest Lowest
1 Albirex Niigata 472,507 22 21,478 42,211 9,125
2 Oita Trinita 271,669 22 12,349 27,431 3,094
3 Cerezo Osaka 174,951 22 7,952 32,067 3,067
4 Avispa Fukuoka 142,808 22 6,491 14,475 3,284
5 Omiya Ardija 115,846 22 5,266 19,782 2,517
6 Kawasaki Frontale 115,431 22 5,247 20,405 3,044
7 Shonan Bellmare 100,125 22 4,551 9,739 2,120
8 Ventforet Kofu 108,108 22 4,914 13,000 2,954
9 Sagan Tosu 85,586 22 3,890 8,464 1,796
10 Montedio Yamagata 82,601 22 3,755 8,996 1,908
11 Yokohama FC 76,498 22 3,477 11,118 1,518
12 Mito HollyHock 60,262 22 2,739 5,576 1,136

Source:[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "J. League Data Site".