2013 Japan Football League

The 2013 Japan Football League (Japanese: 第15回日本フットボールリーグ, Hepburn: Dai Jūgo-kai Nihon Futtobōru Rīgu) is the 17th season of the third tier of the Japanese football, and the 15th season since the establishment of Japan Football League. It started on 10 March and finished on 24 November.

Japan Football League
Season2013
ChampionsNagano Parceiro
1st JFL title
1st D3 title
PromotedKamatamare Sanuki
Matches played306
Goals scored784 (2.56 per match)
Top goalscorerYuji Unozawa
(20 goals)
Highest attendance10,116
F.C. Ryukyu vs Uva
Lowest attendance103
Printing vs Uva
Average attendance1,322
← 2012
  2014 (J3) →
2014 (JFL) →

Clubs

Due to unfortunate withdrawal of Arte Takasaki, the previous season has featured only 17 teams, but for 2013 the league has brought the number of teams back to 18. After having another team (Sagawa Shiga) ceasing its operations and withdrawing after the season, the league has welcomed into its ranks two newcomers, SC Sagamihara and Fukushima United. Both clubs are looking forward to eventual J. League promotion, with Sagamihara holding the associate membership status, and Fukushima having applied for it in 2007, though unsuccessfully.

Last season has for the first time ever featured direct exchange of teams between JFL and J. League. JFL champions and J. League associate members V-Varen Nagasaki were promoted at the expense of Machida Zelvia, who returned to JFL after only a single season in J2.

Tochigi Uva were on the brink of relegation, as their play-off series against Norbritz Hokkaido was tied after two rounds. It was decided in penalty shootout, which Tochigi club has won 4–1 and retained their place in the JFL.

On 26 February Blaublitz Akita and Zweigen Kanazawa were granted J. League associate membership status,[1] bringing the number of such clubs to six, an all-time high mark for the league. On 20 August YSCC Yokohama's application was also granted by J. League,[2] further increasing associate members count to seven. It raised again to 10 members after another J. League board session on 16 September, when applications of Fukushima United, FC Ryukyu and Fujieda MYFC were approved.[3]

Club Name Home Town Notes
Blaublitz Akita All cities/towns in Akita J. League associate member
Fukushima United Fukushima, Fukushima Promoted from Tohoku league D1 in 2012. J.League associate member
Honda FC Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
Honda Lock Miyazaki, Miyazaki
Hoyo Oita Ōita, Ōita
Kamatamare Sanuki All cities/towns in Kagawa J. League associate member
MIO Biwako Shiga Kusatsu, Shiga
Fujieda MYFC Fujieda, Shizuoka J.League associate member
Nagano Parceiro Nagano, Nagano J. League associate member
SP Kyoto Mukō, Kyoto
FC Ryukyu All cities/towns in Okinawa J.League associate member
SC Sagamihara Sagamihara, Kanagawa Promoted from Kantō league D1 in 2012. J. League associate member
Sony Sendai Tagajō, Miyagi
Tochigi Uva Tochigi, Tochigi
Yokogawa Musashino Musashino, Tokyo
YSCC Yokohama Yokohama, Kanagawa J.League associate member
Machida Zelvia Machida, Tokyo Relegated from J2 in 2012, eligible for J2 promotion
Zweigen Kanazawa Kanazawa, Ishikawa J. League associate member

Change in rules
Promotion to J. League Division 2
As in the previous year, the league winner will promote to J. League Division 2 (J2) if it meets promotion criteria, and the runner-up will promote to J2 if it meets promotion criteria and win a home-and-away play-off against a J2 club.
As the establishment of J3 League, if a playoff is taken place, the losing team will go to J3, but not staying to JFL.
Relegation to regional leagues
As the establishment of J3 League leads to a number of teams' transfer in next year, only promotion of teams from regional leagues will take place, not relegation.[4]

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Nagano Parceiro (C) 34 21 9 4 61 25 +36 72 Formed J3 League
2 Kamatamare Sanuki[lower-alpha 1] (P) 34 21 5 8 49 26 +23 68 Qualification for Promotion playoffs[lower-alpha 2]
3 SC Sagamihara 34 18 7 9 58 42 +16 61 Formed J3 League
4 Machida Zelvia 34 18 7 9 51 44 +7 61
5 Honda FC 34 14 11 9 54 38 +16 53
6 SP Kyoto 34 14 11 9 36 25 +11 53
7 Zweigen Kanazawa 34 14 8 12 60 48 +12 50 Formed J3 League
8 Blaublitz Akita 34 14 8 12 48 45 +3 50
9 Sony Sendai 34 12 14 8 33 34 −1 50
10 Yokogawa Musashino 34 13 10 11 36 36 0 49
11 FC Ryukyu 34 12 10 12 47 51 −4 46 Formed J3 League
12 YSCC Yokohama 34 11 6 17 45 56 −11 39
13 Fujieda MYFC 34 9 9 16 40 58 −18 36
14 Fukushima United 34 8 10 16 35 42 −7 34
15 Hoyo Oita 34 9 5 20 32 45 −13 32
16 MIO Biwako Shiga 34 8 6 20 40 56 −16 30
17 Tochigi Uva 34 9 3 22 34 66 −32 30
18 Honda Lock 34 6 11 17 25 47 −22 29
Updated to match(es) played on 8 December 2013. Source: Japan Football League
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal differential; 3rd goals scored; 4th head-to-head results; 5th disciplinary points; 6th draw. If two clubs are tied for first place, both clubs will be declared champions.
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted.
Notes:
  1. Kamatamare Sanuki topped the table at the end of the 17th round and thus were awarded JFL seed for 2013 Emperor's Cup.[5]
  2. Direct promotion and pro/rele series will take place only if there will be promotion-eligible teams (shown in bold) that will claim either of two top spots in JFL.

Results
Home \ Away BLA FUK HON LOC HOY KAM MIO MYF PAR PRI RYU SGM SON UVA YMC YSC ZEL ZWE
Blaublitz Akita 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 3–6 1–1 1–0 2–2 2–1 4–0 2–0 1–1 4–0 2–2 1–4
Fukushima United 2–3 3–3 0–1 0–2 1–2 0–3 2–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 1–2 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–1 1–2 3–0
Honda FC 3–1 1–1 2–0 3–2 0–2 1–1 3–2 1–3 1–1 1–2 2–1 0–1 5–0 0–0 2–0 3–0 0–0
Honda Lock 0–1 2–2 0–0 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–4 0–3 2–2 2–4 2–2 1–1 1–2 0–0 2–0 1–5
Hoyo Oita 0–2 3–0 0–2 0–2 1–3 2–1 2–0 1–3 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 3–2 1–2 0–3
Kamatamare Sanuki 1–0 0–0 2–0 2–0 0–1 2–1 2–2 0–0 0–0 3–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 3–2
MIO Biwako Shiga 3–0 1–0 0–2 1–0 2–0 0–4 0–2 1–5 0–1 4–1 0–1 0–0 0–4 1–2 1–2 2–3 2–2
Fujieda MYFC 2–1 0–2 3–3 2–0 0–0 0–1 0–3 2–1 1–0 1–5 2–2 1–2 2–0 1–4 1–2 1–0 1–1
Nagano Parceiro 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–1 2–2 0–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 5–0 0–2 1–0 3–1 5–1 2–1
SP Kyoto 2–0 0–2 0–1 2–0 2–1 3–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 3–2 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–2 3–0
FC Ryukyu 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 3–1 0–0 0–1 2–1 2–2 1–1 1–2 1–0 0–3 1–2 0–1
SC Sagamihara 1–1 3–2 0–4 2–1 3–2 0–1 2–1 3–1 2–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 4–0 1–4 1–1
Sony Sendai 2–1 0–0 3–1 3–1 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 0–1 2–3 0–2 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–1
Tochigi Uva 1–2 1–5 0–3 0–1 0–5 2–1 3–2 1–2 2–3 1–2 2–1 3–4 1–1 1–2 0–1 0–0 0–4
Yokogawa Musashino 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–0 0–1 2–3 2–0 2–0 0–0 0–0 2–1 0–4 0–0 1–0 0–5 0–1 4–2
YSCC Yokohama 0–2 1–2 2–1 0–0 2–1 2–4 1–1 1–2 1–1 0–0 1–4 1–4 0–1 4–0 1–3 1–1 5–2
Machida Zelvia 2–0 0–1 1–2 0–0 1–0 2–1 3–1 3–0 0–4 0–0 3–4 1–2 1–1 3–1 2–2 3–2 2–1
Zweigen Kanazawa 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–2 0–1 3–2 4–1 1–2 1–2 5–0 2–2 2–1 2–0 0–0 3–2 1–2
Updated to match(es) played on 24 November 2013. Source: Japan Football League: first round, second round
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers
Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Yuji Unozawa Nagano Parceiro
20
2 Ryosuke Kijima Kamatamare Sanuki
15
Koji Suzuki Machida Zelvia
15
4 Shohei Kiyohara Zweigen Kanazawa
13
Yuki Matsumoto SC Sagamihara
13
Yatsunori Shimaya Hoyo Oita
13
Shunta Takahashi FC Ryukyu
13
8 Kazuki Ganaha FC Ryukyu
12
Sho Gokyu SC Sagamihara
12
Goshi Okubo Sony Sendai
12

Updated to games played on 24 November 2013
Source: Japan Football League

Attendances
Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Machida Zelvia 53,956 6,379 2,317 3,174 −12.5%†
2 Kamatamare Sanuki 53,129 8,968 1,037 3,125 +33.3%†
3 Nagano Parceiro 39,768 3,213 1,418 2,339 −16.8%†
4 FC Ryukyu 35,180 10,116 846 2,069 −4.4%†
5 Zweigen Kanazawa 35,074 8,112 699 2,063 −10.8%†
6 SC Sagamihara 32,705 4,893 513 1,924 n/a‡
7 Blaublitz Akita 30,057 4,889 1,011 1,768 +55.6%†
8 Fukushima United 17,464 2,195 339 1,027 −19.2%‡
9 Fujieda MYFC 16,209 1,563 565 953 +79.1%†
10 YSCC 13,310 1,889 355 783 +10.3%†
11 Yokogawa Musashino 13,085 2,257 298 770 +7.7%†
12 Honda FC 12,824 1,238 354 754 −8.4%†
13 Sony Sendai 10,929 951 334 643 +9.4%†
14 Tochigi Uva 10,276 1,679 239 604 +23.0%†
15 MIO Biwako Shiga 9,233 1,091 224 543 −14.8%†
16 Honda Lock 8,727 1,153 283 513 −5.9%†
17 SP Kyoto 6,982 1,004 103 405 +3.8%†
18 Hoyo Oita 5,654 641 218 333 −30.5%†
League total 404,472 10,116 103 1,322 +6.6%†

Updated to games played on 24 November 2013
Source: Japan Football League: first round, second round
Notes:
† Team played previous season in J2
‡ Team played previous season in Regional Leagues.

Post-season promotion and relegation

J2 Promotion playoffs

After conclusion of the JFL and J2 seasons, playoffs for participation in 2014 J2 season were contested by lowest-placed J2 club Gainare Tottori and Kamatamare Sanuki, who possess J2 license and have finished second in JFL. The playoffs took place on 1 and 8 December.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Gainare Tottori 1–2 Kamatamare Sanuki 1–1 0–1
Kamatamare Sanuki1–1Gainare Tottori
Takahashi  47' Report  50' Mori
Kagawa Marugame Stadium, Marugame, Kagawa
Attendance: 5,793
Referee: Yosuke Kubota
Gainare Tottori0–1Kamatamare Sanuki
Report  20' Takahashi
Tottori Bank Bird Stadium, Tottori, Tottori
Attendance: 6,313
Referee: Koichiro Fukushima

Kamatamare Sanuki won the playoffs on aggregate and were promoted to 2014 J. League Division 2. Gainare Tottori were relegated to the newly created 2014 J3 League.

Promotion from Regional Leagues

After 10 of 18 teams were set to leave JFL for the newly created J3, the league announced that it would suffer a contraction and only 14 teams would participate in 2014.[6] The league accommodated all winners of the Regional League promotion series and accepted applications from other Regional clubs that were willing to participate in the nationwide league.

The top three spots of the Regional League promotion series were occupied by Grulla Morioka, Fagiano Okayama Next and FC Kagoshima respectively, and Volca Kagoshima took the last spot. However, the Morioka club has been chosen by J. League for participation in the 2014 J3 season, and both Kagoshima clubs have announced their post-season merger to Kagoshima United. On December 4 the league announced the final list of promoted teams:[7]

  • Fagiano Okayama Next – Chūgoku Soccer League champions, 2nd place in Regional promotion play-offs.
  • Kagoshima United – new club, created on merger of Volca Kagoshima and FC Kagoshima, Kyushu Soccer League respective champions and runners-up
  • Vanraure Hachinohe – Tōhoku Soccer League runners-up, and J. League associate members
  • Azul Claro Numazu – Tōkai Soccer League 4th place, and J. League associate members
  • Maruyasu Industries – Tōkai Soccer League champions
  • Renofa Yamaguchi – Chūgoku Soccer League 3rd place, Shakaijin Cup winners, and J. League associate members
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References
  1. Ｊリーグ準加盟審査結果について [Examination results of J. League associate members] (in Japanese). J. League. 26 February 2013. Archived from the original on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  2. Ｊリーグ準加盟審査結果について [Examination results of J. League associate members] (in Japanese). J. League. 20 August 2013. Archived from the original on 23 August 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  3. Ｊリーグ準加盟審査結果について [Examination results of J. League associate members] (in Japanese). J. League. 17 September 2013. Archived from the original on 20 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  4. "ＪＦＬ　来季はＪ３発足により６減の１２チームで開催へ！" [JFL will decrease the number of teams by 6 into 12, due to the establishment of J3 next year]. Sports Nippon. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  5. "第15回JFL第17節「福島ユナイテッドＦＣが逆転勝利、第９３回天皇杯のＪＦＬシードはカマタマーレ讃岐が獲得！」" [After defeating Fukushima United FC in Round 17 of 15th JFL season, Kamatamare Sanuki has earned a place in 93rd Emperor's Cup!]. Japan Football League. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  6. "２０１４年度　第１６回日本フットボールリーグ チーム数についてのお知らせ" [Announcement on number of teams for 2014 JFL season]. Japan Football League. 7 November 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  7. "お知らせ「第１６回日本フットボールリーグ新入会チーム決定！」" [Announcement on the decision on admission of new teams for 16th JFL season!]. Japan Football League. 4 December 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
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