2014 J.League Division 1
Season | 2014 |
---|---|
Champions | Gamba Osaka 2nd J.League title 2nd Japanese title |
Relegated | Omiya Ardija Cerezo Osaka Tokushima Vortis |
Champions League | Gamba Osaka Urawa Red Diamonds Kashima Antlers |
Matches played | 306 |
Goals scored | 774 (2.53 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Yoshito Ōkubo (18 goals) |
Highest attendance | 56,758 Reds vs Gamba |
Lowest attendance | 0 Reds vs S-Pulse |
Average attendance | 17,240 |
← 2013 2015 → |
The 2014 J.League Division 1 season was the 49th season of top-flight football in Japan, and the 22nd since the establishment of the J.League in 1992. The season began on 1 March and ended on 8 December. Sanfrecce Hiroshima were the defending champions.
Due to Japan's participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, there was an extended break to allow for preparation after the 14th-week matches on 17 and 18 May, with the league resuming on 15 July for four clubs who participated in the 2014 AFC Champions League to play rescheduled 12th-week matches, and 19 July for other 14 clubs.[1]
2014 saw the league played via a home and away system over a single season for the last time until at least 2020. From 2015 the league will revert to an Apertura and Clausura system, with a multi-team play-off 'super stage' to decide the champions, similar to the format used when the J.League began.[2]
The league was won by Gamba Osaka, who won their second J.League title following a 0–0 away draw against Tokushima Vortis. They became the second league champions (after Kashiwa Reysol) to win the first division after being promoted as second division champions.
Clubs
[edit]18 teams compete in this year's competition. Both Gamba Osaka and Vissel Kobe return to J1 after a single season outside the top flight; they finished as the J.League Division 2 champions and runners-up, respectively. Tokushima Vortis, who finished fourth in the regular season and won the promotion playoff, will make their top-flight debut, becoming the first club from Shikoku to do so. Those three teams replaced Oita Trinita, Shonan Bellmare and Júbilo Iwata; Júbilo were relegated from J1 for the first time after twenty seasons in the top tier, while Bellmare and Trinita were bumped down after cameo appearances in J1.
Foreign players
[edit]Managerial changes
[edit]Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Incoming manager |
---|---|---|---|
Vegalta Sendai | Mutual consent | ||
Cerezo Osaka | Mutual consent | ||
Shimizu S-Pluse | Mutual consent | ||
Sagan Tosu | Sacked | ||
Omiya Ardija | Sacked | ||
Cerezo Osaka | Sacked |
League table
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gamba Osaka (C) | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 59 | 31 | +28 | 63 | Qualification for 2015 AFC Champions League group stage[a] |
2 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 34 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 52 | 32 | +20 | 62 | |
3 | Kashima Antlers | 34 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 64 | 39 | +25 | 60 | |
4 | Kashiwa Reysol | 34 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 48 | 40 | +8 | 60 | Qualification for 2015 AFC Champions League Third qualifying round[a] |
5 | Sagan Tosu | 34 | 19 | 3 | 12 | 41 | 33 | +8 | 60 | |
6 | Kawasaki Frontale | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 56 | 43 | +13 | 55 | |
7 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 37 | 29 | +8 | 51 | |
8 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 44 | 37 | +7 | 50 | |
9 | FC Tokyo | 34 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 47 | 33 | +14 | 48 | |
10 | Nagoya Grampus | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 47 | 48 | −1 | 48 | |
11 | Vissel Kobe | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 49 | 50 | −1 | 45 | |
12 | Albirex Niigata | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 30 | 36 | −6 | 44 | |
13 | Ventforet Kofu | 34 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 27 | 31 | −4 | 41 | |
14 | Vegalta Sendai | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 35 | 50 | −15 | 38 | |
15 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 34 | 10 | 6 | 18 | 42 | 60 | −18 | 36 | |
16 | Omiya Ardija (R) | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 44 | 60 | −16 | 35 | Relegation to 2015 J2 League |
17 | Cerezo Osaka (R) | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 36 | 48 | −12 | 31 | |
18 | Tokushima Vortis (R) | 34 | 3 | 5 | 26 | 16 | 74 | −58 | 14 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- ^ a b Because Gamba Osaka won the 2014 Emperor's Cup, the group stage spot has been given to third-placed Kashima Antlers, while ACL qualification spot has been awarded to the fourth-placed Kashiwa Reysol.
Positions by round
[edit]Leader and qualification to 2015 AFC Champions League group stage | |
Qualification to 2015 AFC Champions League group stage | |
Qualification to 2015 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off | |
Relegation to 2015 J2 League |
Note 1: Matchday 12 results for 2014 AFC Champions League Participants (Sanfrecce Hiroshima vs. Yokohama F. Marinos, Cerezo Osaka vs. Kawasaki Frontale), held on 15 July 2014, are included in Matchday 15 ranking. Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Kawasaki Frontale and Cerezo Osaka qualified to the Round of 16 of the 2014 AFC Champions League, in which the First Leg matches overlap with matches for Matchday 12
Results
[edit]Top scorers
[edit]Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Kawasaki Frontale | 18
| |
2 | Sagan Tosu | 15
| |
3 | Vissel Kobe | 14
| |
4 | Vissel Kobe | 13
| |
FC Tokyo | 13
| ||
Shimizu S-Pulse | 13
| ||
8 | Kawasaki Frontale | 12
| |
Urawa Red Diamonds | 12
| ||
Nagoya Grampus | 12
| ||
11 | FC Tokyo | 11
| |
Kashiwa Reysol | 11
| ||
Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 11
|
Updated to games played on 8 December 2014
Source: J. League Data
Awards
[edit]Individual
[edit]Award | Recipient | Club | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Most Valuable Player | Gamba Osaka | ||
Rookie of the Year | Kashima Antlers | ||
Manager of the Year | Gamba Osaka | ||
Top scorer | Kawasaki Frontale | 18 goals. |
Best Eleven
[edit]Position | Footballer | Club | Nationality |
---|---|---|---|
GK | Shusaku Nishikawa (3) | Urawa Red Diamonds | |
DF | Kosuke Ota (1) | FC Tokyo | |
DF | Masato Morishige (2) | FC Tokyo | |
DF | Tsukasa Shiotani (1) | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | |
MF | Gaku Shibasaki (1) | Kashima Antlers | |
MF | Yoshinori Muto (1) | FC Tokyo | |
MF | Léo Silva (1) | Albirex Niigata | |
MF | Yasuhito Endō (11) | Gamba Osaka | |
FW | Yoshito Ōkubo (2) | Kawasaki Frontale | |
FW | Takashi Usami (1) | Gamba Osaka | |
FW | Patric (1) | Gamba Osaka |
* The number in brackets denotes the number of times that the footballer has appeared in the Best 11.
Attendances
[edit]Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 603,770 | 56,758 | 0 | 35,516 | −4.3% |
2 | FC Tokyo | 428,184 | 42,059 | 13,048 | 25,187 | +0.5% |
3 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 392,496 | 40,571 | 11,088 | 23,088 | −16.0% |
4 | Albirex Niigata | 390,648 | 35,533 | 2,104 | 22,979 | −12.0% |
5 | Cerezo Osaka | 367,651 | 42,723 | 10,262 | 21,627 | +14.9% |
6 | Kashima Antlers | 300,310 | 32,099 | 8,840 | 17,665 | +7.6% |
7 | Nagoya Grampus | 284,474 | 38,966 | 5,599 | 16,733 | +3.7% |
8 | Kawasaki Frontale | 283,241 | 19,668 | 10,609 | 16,661 | +0.1% |
9 | Vegalta Sendai | 257,949 | 18,914 | 11,144 | 15,173 | +2.1% |
10 | Vissel Kobe | 255,185 | 25,382 | 9,375 | 15,010 | +30.3%† |
11 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 254,951 | 24,734 | 9,515 | 14,997 | −7.5% |
12 | Gamba Osaka | 250,738 | 19,569 | 10,898 | 14,749 | +20.0%† |
13 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 241,577 | 19,824 | 8,539 | 14,210 | +0.5% |
14 | Sagan Tosu | 240,323 | 23,277 | 8,276 | 14,137 | +22.8% |
15 | Ventforet Kofu | 206,904 | 36,505 | 5,416 | 12,170 | −3.5% |
16 | Omiya Ardija | 183,791 | 14,182 | 7,001 | 10,811 | −2.9% |
17 | Kashiwa Reysol | 182,161 | 14,623 | 6,115 | 10,715 | −14.6% |
18 | Tokushima Vortis | 151,034 | 17,274 | 3,594 | 8,884 | +104.3%† |
League total | 5,275,387 | 56,758 | 0 | 17,240 | +0.1% |
Updated to games played on 8 December 2014
Source: J. League Data
Notes:
† Team played previous season in J2.
References
[edit]- ^ "J.League season to begin on March 1". Japan Times. 2013-12-17.
- ^ "J-League switches to two-stage season in order to boost fans and revenue". Inside World Football.com. 2013-09-20. Archived from the original on 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
- ^ "Player registration and contracts". J.League. Archived from the original on 2014-09-11. Retrieved 28 November 2014.