2013 J.League Division 1

J.League Division 1
Season2013
ChampionsSanfrecce Hiroshima
2nd J.League title
7th Japanese title
RelegatedOita Trinita
Júbilo Iwata
Shonan Bellmare
Champions LeagueSanfrecce Hiroshima
Yokohama F. Marinos
Kawasaki Frontale
Cerezo Osaka
Matches played306
Goals scored879 (2.87 per match)
Top goalscorerYoshito Ōkubo (26 goals)
Highest attendance62,632
Marinos vs Albirex
Lowest attendance5,698
Júbilo vs Albirex
Average attendance17,226
2012
2014

The 2013 J.League Division 1 season was the 48th season of Japanese top-flight football and the 21st since the establishment of the J.League in 1992. The season began on 2 March and finished on 7 December.[1]

Sanfrecce Hiroshima were the defending champions.

Clubs

Vissel Kobe, Gamba Osaka and Consadole Sapporo were relegated at the end of the 2012 season after finishing in the bottom three places of the table. Consadole Sapporo returned to J2 after only one season in the top flight, while Vissel Kobe was relegated after six seasons in the top flight. Gamba Osaka, instead, was relegated for the first time since the creation of J.League in 1993 and the first time since their forerunners, Matsushita Electric Soccer Club, were relegated to the second Division of the Japan Soccer League after the 1986–87 season.

The three relegated teams were replaced by 2012 J.League Division 2 champions Ventforet Kofu, runners-up Shonan Bellmare and sixth-placed and play-off winner team Oita Trinita. Kofu made an immediate return to the top division, while Shonan returned after a two-year absence. In the end, Oita beat JEF United Chiba in the playoff final and returned in J1 after three seasons in the second division. Due to Oita's promotion, it will be the first time to have 2 clubs in the top-flight league competitions from Kyushu since 2006, and Kansai region will have only one club competing in the top flight first time since 1994 season due to Kobe and Gamba's relegations.

Club name Hometown(s) Stadium Capacity Note(s)
Albirex Niigata Niigata & Seirō, Niigata Denka Big Swan Stadium 42,300
Cerezo Osaka Osaka Nagai Stadium 47,816
FC Tokyo Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium 49,970
Júbilo Iwata Iwata, Shizuoka Yamaha Stadium 15,165
Kashima Antlers Kashima, Ibaraki Kashima Soccer Stadium 40,728
Kashiwa Reysol Kashiwa Kashiwa Soccer Stadium 15,900 2013 ACL Participant
(2012 Emperor's Cup Winners)
Kawasaki Frontale Kawasaki, Kanagawa Todoroki Athletics Stadium 26,232
Nagoya Grampus Nagoya Paloma Mizuho Stadium 27,000
Oita Trinita Ōita Ōita Stadium 40,000 Promoted from J2 League
(6th place/play-off winner in J2 2012)
Omiya Ardija Ōmiya, Saitama NACK5 Stadium 15,500
Sagan Tosu Tosu, Saga Tosu Stadium 24,490
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshima Hiroshima Big Arch 50,000 2013 ACL participant
(Champions in J1 2012)
Shimizu S-Pulse Shizuoka IAI Stadium Nihondaira 20,339
Shonan Bellmare Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Shonan BMW Stadium 18,500 Promoted from J2 League
(Runners-up in J2 2012)
Urawa Red Diamonds Urawa, Saitama Saitama Stadium 63,700 2013 ACL participant
(3rd place in J1 2012)
Vegalta Sendai Sendai, Miyagi Yurtec Stadium 19,694 2013 ACL participant
(Runners-up in J1 2012)
Ventforet Kofu Kōfu, Yamanashi Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium 17,000 Promoted from J2 League
(Champions in J2 2012)
Yokohama F. Marinos Yokohama & Yokosuka Nissan Stadium 72,327

Personnel and kits

Club Head coach Kit manufacturer Front shirt sponsor
Albirex Niigata Masaaki Yanagishita Adidas Kameda Seika
Cerezo Osaka Levir Culpi Mizuno Yanmar
FC Tokyo Ranko Popović Adidas Lifeval
Júbilo Iwata Takashi Sekizuka Puma Yamaha
Kashima Antlers Toninho Cerezo Nike Lixil
Kashiwa Reysol Nelsinho Baptista Yonex Hitachi
Kawasaki Frontale Yahiro Kazama Puma Fujitsu
Nagoya Grampus Dragan Stojković Le Coq Sportif Toyota
Oita Trinita Kazuaki Tasaka Puma Daihatsu Kyushu
Omiya Ardija Tsutomu Ogura Under Armour NTT Docomo
Sagan Tosu Yoon Jong-hwan Warrior DHC
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hajime Moriyasu Nike EDION
Shimizu S-Pulse Afshin Ghotbi Puma Suzuyo
Shonan Bellmare Cho Kwi-jae Penalty Tri Terasu
Urawa Red Diamonds Mihailo Petrović Nike Polus
Vegalta Sendai Makoto Teguramori Asics Iris Ohyama
Ventforet Kofu Hiroshi Jofuku Mizuno Hakubaku
Yokohama F. Marinos Yasuhiro Higuchi Adidas Nissan

Foreign players

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player Non-visa foreign Type-C contract Former player(s)
Albirex Niigata Léo Silva Roger Gaúcho Kim Jin-su Kim Kun-hoan Bruno Lopes
Cerezo Osaka Branquinho Edno Fábio Simplício Kim Jin-hyeon Gu Sung-yun
FC Tokyo Lucas Severino Nemanja Vučićević Jang Hyun-soo
Júbilo Iwata Carlinhos Paraíba Baek Sung-dong Cho Byung-kuk Jung Woo-young
Kashima Antlers Davi Juninho
Kashiwa Reysol Cléo Jorge Wagner Leandro Domingues Kim Chang-soo
Kawasaki Frontale Alan Pinheiro Jeci Renatinho An Byong-jun Róbson Patric
Nagoya Grampus Daniel Tijolo Danilson Córdoba Nikola Jakimovski Joshua Kennedy Tiago
Oita Trinita Rodrigo Mancha Choi Jung-han Kim Jung-hyon Kim Yeong-gi
Omiya Ardija Lucas Neill Milivoje Novaković Zlatan Ljubijankić Cho Young-cheol Carlinhos Paraíba
Sagan Tosu Nilson Kim Min-woo Yeo Sung-hae Kim Jung-ya Jonathan Restrepo Roni
Diego Ambuila
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Mihael Mikić Hwang Seok-ho Lee Dae-heon Park Hyung-jin Kim Jeong-seok
Shimizu S-Pulse Dženan Radončić Calvin Jong-a-Pin Lee Ki-je Lee Min-soo Baré
Shonan Bellmare Alex Muralha Wellington Stevica Ristić Han Kook-young Edivaldo Hermoza
Thiago Quirino
Urawa Red Diamonds Márcio Richardes Ranko Despotović
Vegalta Sendai Diogo Heberty Wilson Ryang Yong-gi
Ventforet Kofu Gilsinho Marquinhos Paraná Patric Choi Sung-keun Douglas
Hugo Almeida
Lenny
William Pottker
José Ortigoza
Yokohama F. Marinos Dutra Fábio Aguiar Marquinhos Jeong Dong-ho

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima (C) 34 19 6 9 51 29 +22 63 Qualification for 2014 AFC Champions League group stage[a]
2 Yokohama F. Marinos 34 18 8 8 49 31 +18 62
3 Kawasaki Frontale 34 18 6 10 65 51 +14 60
4 Cerezo Osaka 34 16 11 7 53 32 +21 59
5 Kashima Antlers 34 18 5 11 60 52 +8 59
6 Urawa Red Diamonds 34 17 7 10 66 56 +10 58
7 Albirex Niigata 34 17 4 13 48 42 +6 55
8 FC Tokyo 34 16 6 12 61 47 +14 54
9 Shimizu S-Pulse 34 15 5 14 48 57 −9 50
10 Kashiwa Reysol 34 13 9 12 56 59 −3 48
11 Nagoya Grampus 34 13 8 13 47 48 −1 47
12 Sagan Tosu 34 13 7 14 54 63 −9 46
13 Vegalta Sendai 34 11 12 11 41 38 +3 45
14 Omiya Ardija 34 14 3 17 45 48 −3 45
15 Ventforet Kofu 34 8 13 13 30 41 −11 37
16 Shonan Bellmare (R) 34 6 7 21 34 62 −28 25 Relegation to 2014 J.League Division 2
17 Júbilo Iwata (R) 34 4 11 19 40 56 −16 23
18 Oita Trinita (R) 34 2 8 24 31 67 −36 14
Updated to match(es) played on 7 December 2013. Source: J.League Division 1
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ The winners of the 2013 Emperor's Cup qualify for the group stage of the 2014 AFC Champions League. As the Emperor's Cup winners were Yokohama F. Marinos, who had already qualified to ACL through the championship, the remaining spot was awarded to the fourth-placed team.

Results

Home \ Away ALB ANT ARD BEL CER FMA FRO GRA JÚB RED REY SAG SFR SSP TOK TRI VEG VEN
Albirex Niigata 2–3 1–0 3–2 1–0 1–0 2–1 2–0 4–2 0–2 3–2 3–1 1–2 3–1 0–3 2–3 1–0 1–1
Kashima Antlers 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 4–1 3–1 1–1 1–2 3–1 1–2 0–2 3–1 3–2 3–1 3–2 0–0
Omiya Ardija 1–1 3–1 2–1 0–3 1–0 2–3 2–1 3–0 1–0 2–3 1–1 2–1 2–2 2–5 0–1 0–2 1–2
Shonan Bellmare 0–2 1–2 0–1 0–3 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–1 0–2 1–1 3–2 2–1 3–2 1–2
Cerezo Osaka 1–0 1–2 1–2 2–1 2–1 0–0 2–1 2–0 2–2 1–1 4–1 1–0 4–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 0–1
Yokohama F. Marinos 0–2 1–1 2–1 4–2 1–1 2–1 1–2 2–1 3–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–0 3–2 1–1 0–0 1–1
Kawasaki Frontale 2–1 4–2 2–1 1–2 2–2 1–0 2–1 2–1 4–0 3–1 0–1 2–0 2–0 2–2 1–1 4–2 1–1
Nagoya Grampus 2–0 3–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 1–2 1–2 1–1 2–0 3–2 3–2 1–1 2–1 0–2 2–1 0–2 0–0
Júbilo Iwata 2–1 2–3 0–1 4–0 2–2 0–1 2–4 2–3 1–2 0–1 3–3 0–2 0–1 0–0 3–1 1–1 1–1
Urawa Red Diamonds 1–0 3–1 4–0 2–0 2–5 2–3 1–3 1–0 2–1 2–1 6–2 3–1 0–1 2–2 4–3 1–1 1–1
Kashiwa Reysol 1–1 2–1 0–4 5–2 1–3 2–1 3–1 3–3 1–3 2–6 2–1 1–1 2–2 4–1 3–1 0–0 2–0
Sagan Tosu 1–3 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 5–4 1–1 1–0 4–1 0–3 0–2 0–1 2–3 3–2 1–0 2–1
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2–0 0–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 1–3 4–2 1–1 2–1 1–2 0–0 2–0 3–1 1–2 1–0 1–0 5–1
Shimizu S-Pulse 1–2 4–3 1–0 3–1 1–1 0–5 1–2 2–1 1–0 0–2 1–2 6–4 0–4 0–0 3–1 2–0 2–1
FC Tokyo 2–0 1–4 0–1 2–1 1–2 0–2 2–0 3–1 2–2 3–2 3–0 2–3 0–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 4–1
Oita Trinita 1–3 2–3 0–2 1–2 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–2 1–1 2–2 0–0 2–4 1–1 2–3 1–2 0–1 0–1
Vegalta Sendai 0–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 3–3 2–1 1–1 0–2 1–2 2–1 6–0 1–1
Ventforet Kofu 1–1 3–0 0–3 0–1 1–2 0–0 1–3 0–1 2–1 0–1 3–1 0–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–0 0–1
Updated to match(es) played on 7 December 2013. Source: J. League Division 1
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Yoshito Ōkubo Kawasaki Frontale
26
2 Kengo Kawamata Albirex Niigata
23
3 Yoichiro Kakitani Cerezo Osaka
21
4 Yohei Toyoda Sagan Tosu
20
5 Masato Kudo Kashiwa Reysol 19
Yuya Osako Kashima Antlers
7 Hisato Satō Sanfrecce Hiroshima 17
Kazuma Watanabe FC Tokyo
9 Marquinhos Yokohama F. Marinos
16
10 Wilson Vegalta Sendai 13
Shinzo Koroki Urawa Red Diamonds

Updated to games played on 7 December 2013
Source: J. League

Awards

Player of the Month

Month Player Club
March Shunsuke Nakamura[2] Yokohama F. Marinos
April Zlatan Ljubijankič[2] Omiya Ardija
May Yoichiro Kakitani Cerezo Osaka
June N/A[3]
July Shusaku Nishikawa Sanfrecce Hiroshima
August Yuya Osako Kashima Antlers
September Ariajasuru Hasegawa FC Tokyo
October Tetsuya Enomoto Yokohama F. Marinos
November Yoshito Ōkubo Kawasaki Frontale

Best XI

Position Player Club
GK Shusaku Nishikawa Sanfrecce Hiroshima
DF Daisuke Nasu Urawa Red Diamonds
DF Masato Morishige FC Tokyo
DF Yuji Nakazawa Yokohama F. Marinos
MF Hotaru Yamaguchi Cerezo Osaka
MF Shunsuke Nakamura Yokohama F. Marinos
MF Toshihiro Aoyama Sanfrecce Hiroshima
MF Yoichiro Kakitani Cerezo Osaka
FW Kengo Kawamata Albirex Niigata
FW Yoshito Ōkubo Kawasaki Frontale
FW Yuya Osako Kashima Antlers

Attendances

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Urawa Red Diamonds 630,701 54,905 23,295 37,100 +1.3%
2 Yokohama F. Marinos 467,425 62,632 12,537 27,496 +19.8%
3 Albirex Niigata 443,906 33,378 18,919 26,112 +4.4%
4 FC Tokyo 426,246 40,371 12,905 25,073 +4.7%
5 Cerezo Osaka 319,928 36,361 9,119 18,819 +11.3%
6 Kawasaki Frontale 282,952 21,657 12,345 16,644 −6.5%
7 Kashima Antlers 279,115 32,305 6,681 16,419 +6.7%
8 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 275,556 27,911 10,045 16,209 −8.5%
9 Nagoya Grampus 274,297 30,478 9,237 16,135 −5.9%
10 Vegalta Sendai 252,725 17,892 11,755 14,866 −10.4%
11 Shimizu S-Pulse 240,324 21,420 9,238 14,137 −6.5%
12 Ventforet Kofu 214,441 28,906 7,754 12,614 +21.2%
13 Kashiwa Reysol 213,406 34,021 7,013 12,553 −8.8%
14 Sagan Tosu 184,242 22,530 6,292 11,515 −4.0%
15 Oita Trinita 202,557 23,814 7,067 11,915 +22.6%
16 Omiya Ardija 189,342 13,365 7,412 11,138 +4.7%
17 Júbilo Iwata 185,207 20,049 5,698 10,895 −17.0%
18 Shonan Bellmare 168,481 13,786 6,080 9,911 +44.6%
League total 5,271,047 62,632 5,698 17,226 −1.9%

Updated to games played on 7 December 2013
Source: J. League Division 1
Notes:
Team played previous season in J2.

References

  1. ^ "J.League season dates (+others)". Japan Football Association. Archived from the original on 2013-09-23. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
  2. ^ a b 「コカ・コーラ Jリーグ 月間MVP」3月・4月の受賞選手決定! Archived 2013-06-09 at the Wayback Machine. J-League. 16 May 2013.
  3. ^ No Division 1 league match scheduled due to 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup