Wikipedia

Japan ‘s professional association football ( soccer ) league
Football league

Former logo

This logo was used from 2015 to 2018

The J.League ( japanese : Jリーグ, Hepburn : Jē Rīgu ), formally Japan Professional Football League ( 日本プロサッカーリーグ, Nihon Puro Sakkā Rīgu, literally “ Japan Pro Soccer League ” ) [ 2 ] is Japan ‘s professional football league including the first base division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the japanese association football league system. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] J1 League is one of the most successful leagues in asian club football. It is presently sponsored by Meiji Yasuda Life and thus formally known as the Meiji Yasuda J.League ( japanese : 明治安田生命Jリーグ ). [ 10 ]

history [edit ]

For the history of japanese club association football before the origin of the professional league in 1993, see Japan Soccer League. For a detail history of the J2 League, see J2 League § History

Before the professional league ( pre-1992 ) [edit ]

Before the origin of the J.League, the highest level of cabaret football was the Japan Soccer League ( JSL ), which consisted of amateur clubs. [ 11 ] [ 12 ] Despite being well-attended during the boom of the late 1960s and early 1970s ( when Japan ‘s national team won the bronze Olympic decoration at the 1968 games in Mexico ), the JSL went into decline in the 1980s, in general pipeline with the deteriorating position cosmopolitan. Fans were few, the grounds were not of the highest quality, and the japanese home team was not on a equality with the asian powerhouses. To raise the flat of play domestically, to attempt to garner more fans, and to strengthen the national team, the Japan Football Association ( JFA ) decided to form a professional league. During this era, japanese football investors traveled entirely to Europe to find a possible model ; finally, the Japanese embraced the mannequin of Germany ‘s Bundesliga to develop its own professional league. [ 13 ] The professional association football league, J.League was formed in 1992, with eight clubs drawn from the JSL First Division, one from the Second Division, and the newly formed Shimizu S-Pulse. At the same time, JSL changed its name and became the Japan Football League, a semi-professional league. Although the J.League did not officially launching until 1993, the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup competition was held between the ten clubs in 1992 to prepare for the inaugural season .

Inaugural season and J.League boom ( 1993–1995 ) [edit ]

J.League formally kicked off its first temper with ten-spot clubs on 15 May 1993, when Verdy Kawasaki hosted Yokohama Marinos at the Tokyo National Stadium .

After the thunder ( 1996–1999 ) [edit ]

Despite the success in the first three years, in early 1996 the league attendance declined quickly, coincided with the economic slump of Japan. In 1997, the average attendance was 10,131, compared to more than 19,000 in 1994. Yokohama Flügels were merged with Yokohama Marinos ascribable to the withdrawal of one of their major sponsors, right after they became the winners of the 1998 Emperor ‘s Cup on 1 January 1999 .

change of infrastructure and crippled formats ( 1999–2004 ) [edit ]

The league ‘s management realized that they were heading in the improper management. In ordering to solve the problem, the management came out with two solutions. beginning, they announced the J.League Hundred Year Vision, in which they aim to make 100 professional association football clubs in the nation of Japan by 2092, which would be the hundredth season. The league besides encouraged the clubs to promote football or non-football related sports and health activities, to acquire local sponsorships, and to build full relationships with their hometowns at the grass-root level. The league believed that this would allow the clubs to bond with their respective cities and towns and get support from local government, companies, and citizens. In other words, clubs would be able to rely on the locals, preferably than major home sponsors. second, the infrastructure of the league was heavily changed in 1999. The league acquired nine clubs from the semi-professional JFL and one club from J. League to create a two-division system. The top fledge became the J.League Division 1 ( J1 ) with 16 clubs while J.League Division 2 ( J2 ) was launched with ten clubs in 1999. The second-tier Japan Football League ( former ), now became third-tier Japan Football League. besides, until 2004 ( with the exception of 1996 season ), the J1 season was divided into two. At the goal of each full season, the champion from each half played a two-legged serial to determine the overall season winner and runner-up. Júbilo Iwata in 2002, and Yokohama F. Marinos in 2003, won both “ halves ” of the respective seasons, thus eliminating the need for the playoff series. This was the region of the cause the league abolished the split-season system starting from 2005 .

european League Format & AFC Champions League ( 2005–2008 ) [edit ]

Since the 2005 season, J.League Division 1 consisted of 18 clubs ( from 16 in 2004 ) and the season format became alike to the european clubhouse football. The numeral of relegate clubs besides increased from 2 to 2.5, with the third-from-bottom club going into Promotion / Relegation Series with the third-placed J2 golf club. Since then, other than minor adjustments, the top flight has stayed reproducible. japanese teams did not treat the asian Champions League that badly in the early on years, in part due to the distances travelled and teams played. however, in the 2008 Champions League, three japanese sides made the quarter-finals. [ 14 ]

modern phase ( 2009–2014 ) [edit ]

Three major changes were seen starting in the 2009 season. First, starting that season, four clubs entered the AFC Champions League. second, the number of relegation slots increased to three. finally, the AFC Player slot was implemented starting this season. Each clubhouse will be allowed to have a sum of four foreign players ; however, one slot is reserved for a actor that derives from an AFC country other than Japan. besides, as a prerequisite of being a extremity of the Asian Football Confederation, the J.League Club License regulations started in 2012 as one standard of whether a club was allowed to stay in its division or to be promoted to a higher tier in the professional tied league. No major changes happened to J.League Division 1 as the total of clubs stayed at 18 .

Future ( 2015– ) [edit ]

From 2015 the J.League system changed to a three-stage arrangement. The year is split into first and moment league stages, followed by a third base and concluding championship stage. The third stage is composed of stagecoach one and two ‘s sum point champions and up to four other teams. These extra four teams consist of the adopt : stage one and stage two ‘s top point accumulator, and stage one and two ‘s second placed points accumulator. These five teams then take share in a championship playoff phase to decide the winner of the league trophy. In 2017, the single-table format returned due to a negative chemical reaction from hard-core fans and a failure to appeal to casual fans .

timeline [edit ]

Level(s)

League(s)/Division(s)

I
J1 League
18 clubs
II
J2 League
22 clubs
III
J3 League
18 clubs
Since the origin of the second division in 1999, promotion and relegation follow a convention like to the European leagues, where the two bottom clubs of J1 and the top two clubs of J2 are guaranteed to move. From the 2004 to 2008 season, the third-placed J2 cabaret entered the Promotion / Relegation Series against the sixteenth-placed J1 club and the winner had a right to play in the top flight in the follow year. Starting on the 2009 season, the peak three J2 clubs receives J1 promotion by default option in place of three bottom J1 clubs. however, promotion or right to play the now-defunct pro/rel series relies on the J2 clubs meeting the requirements for J1 franchise status set by the league. This has by and large not been a hindrance, in fact, no club is however to be denied promotion due to not meeting the J1 criteria. Until the 2004 season, the J1 season was divided into two halves, with an annual backing series involving the champions from each one-half ( with the exception of the 1996 temper ). however, from the 2005 season, the single-season format is adopted as the acme flight was expanded to eighteen clubs. Currently, 18 clubs compete in double round robin, dwelling and away. Starting on the 2008 season, the peak three clubs, along with the Emperor ‘s Cup winner receive ACL berths for the follow season. If the Emperor ‘s Cup winner happens to be one of the crown three J1 finishers, the 4th-place cabaret receives the concluding berth. Starting on the 2009 temper, the bottom three clubs are relegated to Division 2 at the end of the year. The two-halves format returned in 2015 but was abandoned again after 2016. Starting in 2012, Division 2 established promotion playoffs for the clubs ranked 3rd to 6th, in a manner exchangeable to the EFL Championship in England, the Serie B in Italy and the Segunda División in Spain. however, the semifinals would be only one leg and all matches that ended in draw would enable the higher ranked club in the table to advance or be promoted. In 2013 the J3 League was established, and while its champion was promoted mechanically, the runner-up had to play a Promotion/Relegation series until 2017 .