2019 J2 League

The 2019 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (Japanese: 2019 明治安田生命J2リーグ, Hepburn: 2019 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J2 Rīgu) season is the 48th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 21st season since the establishment of J2 League.

Meiji Yasuda J2 League
Season2019
ChampionsKashiwa Reysol
2nd J2 title
3rd D2 title
PromotedKashiwa Reysol
Yokohama FC
RelegatedKagoshima United
FC Gifu
Matches played462
Goals scored1,197 (2.59 per match)
Highest attendance20,486
Niigata - Kashiwa
(9 March)
Lowest attendance2,111
Yokohama FC-Tokushima
(15 June)
Average attendance7,176
← 2018
2020 →

Clubs
Locations of the 2019 J2 League teams
Greater Tokyo Area J2 League Teams

After eight seasons of good success, Kashiwa Reysol had to say goodbye to the first division. The same happened to V-Varen Nagasaki, which came back to J2 after their debut season in the first tier.[1] In their place, Matsumoto Yamaga and Oita Trinita left J2 after getting promoted, while Tokyo Verdy lost the promotion/relegation play-off against Jubilo Iwata. Also another four teams changed category: Roasso Kumamoto and Kamatamare Sanuki left J2, while their places will be taken by newly-arrived FC Ryukyu and Kagoshima United FC will play their first J2-season ever in their history.[2]

The participating clubs are listed in the following table:

Club Name Home Town(s) Stadium Capacity Last season
Albirex Niigata Niigata & Seiro, Niigata Denka Big Swan Stadium 42,300 J2 (16th)
Avispa Fukuoka Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Level5 Stadium 22,563 J2 (7th)
Ehime FC All cities/towns in Ehime[lower-alpha 1] Ningineer Stadium 20,000 J2 (18th)
Fagiano Okayama All cities/towns in Okayama[lower-alpha 2] City Light Stadium 20,000 J2 (15th)
FC Gifu All cities/towns in Gifu[lower-alpha 3] Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium 26,109 J2 (20th)
JEF United Chiba Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba Fukuda Denshi Arena 18,500 J2 (14th)
Kashiwa Reysol Chiba Prefecture Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium 15,349 Relegated from J1 J1 (17th)
Kyoto Sanga Southwestern cities/towns in Kyoto[lower-alpha 4] Kyoto Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium 20,588 J2 (19th)
Machida Zelvia Machida, Tokyo Machida Athletic Stadium 10,600 J2 (4th)
Mito HollyHock Mito, Ibaraki K's denki Stadium Mito 12,000 J2 (10th)
Montedio Yamagata All cities/towns in Yamagata[lower-alpha 5] ND Soft Stadium 20,315 J2 (12th)
Omiya Ardija Saitama, Saitama NACK5 Stadium Omiya 15,500 J2 (5th)
Renofa Yamaguchi All cities/towns in Yamaguchi[lower-alpha 6] Yamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium 20,000 J2 (8th)
Tochigi SC Utsunomiya, Tochigi Tochigi Green Stadium 18,025 J2 (17th)
Tokushima Vortis All cities/towns in Tokushima[lower-alpha 7] Pocarisweat Stadium 20,441 J2 (11th)
V-Varen Nagasaki Nagasaki Prefecture Nagasaki Athletic Stadium 20,246 Relegated from J1 J1 (18th)
Ventforet Kofu All Yamanashi Prefecture[lower-alpha 8] Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium 17,000 J2 (9th)
Tokyo Verdy All cities/towns in Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium 49,970 J2 (6th)
Yokohama FC Yokohama, Kanagawa Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium 15,454 J2 (3rd)
Zweigen Kanazawa Kanazawa, Ishikawa Ishikawa Kanazawa Stadium 20,000 J2 (13th)
FC Ryukyu Okinawa Tapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium 25,000 Promoted from J3(Champions)
Kagoshima United FC Kagoshima Shiranami Stadium 19,934 Promoted from J3(2nd)
  1. centering on Matsuyama
  2. centering on Okayama, Kurashiki, Tsuyama
  3. centering on Gifu
  4. Kyoto, Uji, Joyo, Kyotanabe, Muko, Nagaokakyo, Kizugawa, Kameoka, Nantan, Kyotanba
  5. centering on Yamagata, Tendo, Tsuruoka
  6. centering on Yamaguchi, Shimonoseki, Sanyoonoda, Ube
  7. centering on Tokushima, Naruto, Mima, Matsushige, Itano, Aizumi, Kitajima
  8. centering on Kofu and Nirasaki

Personnel and kits
Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer
Albirex Niigata Kazuaki Yoshinaga Masaru Kato Adidas
Avispa Fukuoka Kiyokazu Kudo Jun Suzuki Yonex
Ehime FC Kenta Kawai Go Nishida Mizuno
Fagiano Okayama Kenji Arima Kohei Kiyama Penalty
FC Gifu Takeshi Oki Masanori Abe New Balance
FC Ryukyu Yasuhiro Higuchi[3] Kazumasa Uesato sfida
JEF United Chiba Atsuhiko Ejiri Yūto Satō Kappa
Kagoshima United FC Kim Jong-song[4] Shuto Nakahara Puma
Kashiwa Reysol Nelsinho Baptista Hidekazu Otani Yonex
Kyoto Sanga Ichizo Nakata Takumi Miyayoshi Puma
Machida Zelvia Naoki Soma Yudai Inoue SVOLME
Mito HollyHock Shigetoshi Hasebe Junya Hosokawa GAViC
Montedio Yamagata Takashi Kiyama Takumi Yamada Penalty
Omiya Ardija Takuya Takagi Genki Omae Under Armour
Renofa Yamaguchi Masahiro Shimoda Hidetoshi Miyuki Finta
Tochigi SC Kazuaki Tasaka[5] Kotaro Fujiwara ATHLETA
Tokushima Vortis Ricardo Rodríguez Ken Iwao Mizuno
V-Varen Nagasaki Makoto Teguramori Masato Kurogi Hummel
Ventforet Kofu Akira Ito Yuta Koide Mizuno
Tokyo Verdy Hideki Nagai Naoya Kondo ATHLETA
Yokohama FC Takahiro Shimotaira Yuta Minami SOCCER JUNKY
Zweigen Kanazawa Masaaki Yanagishita Tomonobu Hiroi Adidas

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of
appointment
JEF United Chiba Juan Esnáider 17 April 2019[6] Atsuhiko Ejiri 18 April 2019[7]
Albirex Niigata Koichiro Katafuchi 14 April 2019[8] Kazuaki Yoshinaga 14 April 2019[8]
Yokohama FC Edson Tavares 14 May 2019[9] Takahiro Shimotaira 14 May 2019[10]
Avispa Fukuoka Fabio Pecchia 3 June 2019[11] Kiyokazu Kudo 3 June 2019[12]
FC Gifu Takeshi Oki 16 June 2019[13] Makoto Kitano 18 June 2019[14]
Tokyo Verdy Gary White 17 July 2019[15] Hideki Nagai 17 July 2019[16]

Foreign players

The total number of foreign players is limitless, but clubs can only register up to five foreign players for a single match-day squad. Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Iran and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.

Players in bold are players who join midway through the competition.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Player 7
Albirex Niigata Cauê Franci Leonardo Paulão Samuel Santos Silvinho Cho Young-cheol
Avispa Fukuoka Félix Micolta Won Du-jae Jon Ander Serantes Yang Dong-hyen
Ehime FC Mladen Jutrić Park Seong-su Woo Sang-ho
Fagiano Okayama Léo Mineiro Hadi Fayyadh Choi Jung-won Lee Kyung-tae Lee Yong-jae Yu Yong-hyeon
FC Gifu Junior Barros Michael Víctor Ibáñez Frédéric Bulot Jan-Ole Sievers Ham Yeong-jun Ryan De Vries
JEF United Chiba Jason Geria Alan Pinheiro Hebert Kléber Williams Velásquez
Kashiwa Reysol Cristiano Gabriel Júnior Santos Matheus Sávio Richardson Michael Olunga
Kyoto Sanga Juninho Renan Mota
Machida Zelvia Dorian Babunski Ri Han-jae Romero Frank Jeong Chung-geun
Mito HollyHock Jo Lelêu
Montedio Yamagata Alvaro Jefferson Baiano Rodolfo
Omiya Ardija David Babunski Juanma Robin Simović
Renofa Yamaguchi Renan Dostonbek Tursunov
Tochigi SC Henik Mendes Yuri Yoo Hyun Lee Rae-jun
Tokushima Vortis Diego Jordy Buijs Sisi Chakkit Laptrakul Zabikhillo Urinboev
Tokyo Verdy Jaílton Paraíba Klebinho Leandro Walmerson Ri Yong-jik Nemanja Kojić Kang Soo-il
V-Varen Nagasaki Caio César Víctor Ibarbo Lee Jong-ho Lee Sang-min
Ventforet Kofu Allano Dudú Éder Lima Peter Utaka
Yokohama FC Leandro Domingues Calvin Jong-a-Pin Ibba Laajab
Zweigen Kanazawa Allan Giovanni Clunie
FC Ryukyu Ramon Danny Carvajal Kim Song-sun
Kagoshima United Lucão Nildo Han Yong-thae Ahn Joon-soo

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Kashiwa Reysol (C, P) 42 25 9 8 85 33 +52 84 Promotion to 2020 J1 League
2 Yokohama FC (P) 42 23 10 9 66 40 +26 79
3 Omiya Ardija 42 20 15 7 62 40 +22 75 Qualification to promotion play-offs[lower-alpha 1]
4 Tokushima Vortis 42 21 10 11 67 45 +22 73
5 Ventforet Kofu 42 20 11 11 64 40 +24 71
6 Montedio Yamagata 42 20 10 12 59 40 +19 70
7 Mito HollyHock 42 19 13 10 56 37 +19 70
8 Kyoto Sanga 42 19 11 12 59 56 +3 68
9 Fagiano Okayama 42 18 11 13 49 47 +2 65
10 Albirex Niigata 42 17 11 14 71 52 +19 62
11 Zweigen Kanazawa 42 15 16 11 58 46 +12 61
12 V-Varen Nagasaki 42 17 5 20 57 61 −4 56
13 Tokyo Verdy 42 14 13 15 59 59 0 55
14 FC Ryukyu 42 13 10 19 57 80 −23 49
15 Renofa Yamaguchi 42 13 8 21 54 70 −16 47
16 Avispa Fukuoka 42 12 8 22 39 62 −23 44
17 JEF United Chiba 42 10 13 19 46 64 −18 43
18 Machida Zelvia 42 9 16 17 36 59 −23 43
19 Ehime FC 42 12 6 24 46 62 −16 42
20 Tochigi SC 42 8 16 18 33 53 −20 40
21 Kagoshima United (R) 42 11 7 24 41 73 −32 40 Relegation to 2020 J3 League[lower-alpha 2]
22 FC Gifu (R) 42 7 9 26 33 78 −45 30
Source: Meiji Yasuda J2 League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Only teams that meet J1 license criteria can participate in promotion play-offs. If one or more teams fail to meet the criteria, only eligible teams that finished 3rd to 6th will participate and no replacement teams will be added.
  2. Direct exchange between J2 and J3 is subject to eligibility of J2-licensed teams in top 2 of 2019 J3 League.

Positions by round
Team ╲ Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142
Kashiwa Reysol433224344557666777653322111111111111111111
Yokohama FC182117191318121215121214141213121114141312987645442233334323222
Omiya Ardija8159131610773233333532225455433234565223432333
Tokushima Vortis161114171715911111414101214161412111099111012911121099899998755654
Ventforet Kofu844333125344744344466679877777788867988765
Montedio Yamagata22126555512422112121111244564656422442244446
Mito HollyHock512442231111221213334533356565354675666487
Kyoto Sanga8658771187996555455542111222323646556599878
Fagiano Okayama1812151066101011881112111110889111076678991010977789877999
Albirex Niigata858681389101110810131516141313121112131313910121313131313121211121111101110
Zweigen Kanazawa81619111596687654788997878111011108888101010111112101010111011
V-Varen Nagasaki57101411172020131010129876668781098101211131211111111101010111212121212
Tokyo Verdy182016181814151617181613111010111312121014131211121313111112121212131313131313131313
FC Ryukyu12111145667989991010111413141414151715161619151615141515151515151414
Renofa Yamaguchi172212162120212119151720192021202019171615151515161416141515161414151414141414141515
Avispa Fukuoka211720222022181720171818202119182121212121192119191918191917191818181818181818181816
JEF United Chiba81822212219131516191915171514151615151818171616141517171716181717171717171717161617
Machida Zelvia514182014814149131316151612131516161516161717181819201818171919191919191919191918
Ehime FC871191016191314161517211717191717191717181818171614151414141516161616161616171719
Tochigi SC81921151212171818202022181918171920202020212021202121212121212121212121212121212120
Kagoshima United31013121821222222222221161820211818181919201920212020182020202020202020202020202021
FC Gifu2877911161921212119222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
Leader and qualification to 2020 J1 League
Runner up and qualification to 2020 J1 League
Qualification to promotion play-offs
Relegation to 2020 J3 League
Source: Meiji Yasuda J2 League

Promotion–Relegation Playoffs

In the first two rounds of the 2019 J.League J1/J2 Play-Offs (2019 J1参入プレーオフ), if the score is tied after 90 minutes, no extra time is played and the winner is the team with the best J2 League ranking. In the final match against the J1 team, if the score is tied after 90 minutes, no extra time is played and the J1 team wins.

  1st Round
01 Dec		     2nd Round
08 Dec		     Final
14 Dec
                           
  J2 (4) Tokushima Vortis 1  
  J2 (5) Ventforet Kofu 1         J1 (16) Shonan Bellmare 1
        J2 (4) Tokushima Vortis 1     J2 (4) Tokushima Vortis 1
        J2 (6) Montedio Yamagata 0  
  J2 (3) Omiya Ardija 0    
  J2 (6) Montedio Yamagata 2  

1st Round
Omiya Ardija0–2Montedio Yamagata
Report Shinozuka  73' (o.g.)
Yamagishi  82'
Attendance: 10,942
Tokushima Vortis1–1Ventforet Kofu
Buijs  37' Report Utaka  39'
Attendance: 8,418

2nd Round
Tokushima Vortis1–0Montedio Yamagata
Kawata  53' Report
Attendance: 10,376

Final
Shonan Bellmare1–1Tokushima Vortis
Matsuda  64' Report Suzuki  20'
Shonan BMW Stadium Hiratsuka, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa
Attendance: 13,814

Top scorers
As of matches played November 24th, 2019.[17]
Rank Player Club Goals
1
 Leonardo Albirex Niigata
28
2
 Michael Olunga Kashiwa Reysol
27
3
 Hiroto Goya V-Varen Nagasaki
22
4
 Peter Utaka Ventforet Kofu
20
5
 Cristiano Kashiwa Reysol
19
6
 Ibba Yokohama FC
18
Lee Yong-jae Fagiano Okayama
8
 Kléber JEF United Chiba
17
Kazunari Ichimi Kyoto Sanga
10
 Junki Koike Tokyo Verdy
16
11
 Koji Suzuki FC Ryukyu
15
Hayato Nakama Fagiano Okayama

Attendances
Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Albirex Niigata 304,445 20,486 8,777 14,497 −2.8%†
2 JEF United Chiba 203,725 14,950 5,885 9,701 −1.6%†
3 Omiya Ardija 199,040 12,090 5,874 9,478 +2.8%†
4 Kashiwa Reysol 198,887 13,056 6,415 9,471 −16.9%†
5 Fagiano Okayama 198,331 17,288 5,298 9,444 +9.8%†
6 Montedio Yamagata 174,064 18,721 5,415 8,289 +22.5%†
7 Ventforet Kofu 173,742 15,665 4,870 8,273 +12.0%†
8 Kyoto Sanga 164,845 14,069 3,385 7,850 +38.6%†
9 V-Varen Nagasaki 162,476 11,924 4,872 7,737 −31.1%†
10 Yokohama FC 148,280 12,937 2,111 7,061 +15.0%†
11 Avispa Fukuoka 146,639 12,028 3,578 6,983 −21.3%†
12 FC Gifu 139,526 11,787 4,212 6,644 −3.1%†
13 Mito HollyHock 127,824 9,874 3,886 6,087 +23.3%†
14 Kagoshima United 121,493 7,955 4,079 5,785 +43.2%‡
15 Tokushima Vortis 120,460 10,526 3,870 5,736 +14.8%†
16 Renofa Yamaguchi 112,601 12,105 3,662 5,630 −8.1%†
17 Tokyo Verdy 112,789 8,545 2,331 5,371 −9.5%†
18 Zweigen Kanazawa 109,386 13,070 2,543 5,209 +15.0%†
19 Tochigi SC 108,105 8,426 3,725 5,148 −9.0%†
20 FC Ryukyu 100,409 12,019 2,428 4,953 +57.4%‡
21 Machida Zelvia 99,077 8,814 3,009 4,718 −4.0%†
22 Ehime FC 79,373 7,874 2,540 3,780 +19.6%†
League total 3,315,234 20,486 2,111 7,176 +1.8%†

Updated to games played on 24 November 2019
Source: J. League Data
Notes:
† Last year in J1 League。‡ Last year in J3 League。

Notes
    gollark: Phone #1 died to screen damage and then being consigned to wait for replacement parts forever, phone #2 died to a manufacturing defect (friend's identical one had it too) where the micro-USB port apioformed, phone #3 mysteriously had touchscreen failure, phone #4 is working but has a somewhat degraded battery.
    gollark: All my phones have suffered damage of some kind to non-core parts, because apparently the computer bits are extremely reliable.
    gollark: You would need an ESP32 *and* screen thing *and* 4G modem.
    gollark: Macron cannot do any operation on integers except 3n+1 and n/2.
    gollark: The South-East Tunisian UN.

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