2014 J3 League

J3 League
Season	2014
Champions	Zweigen Kanazawa; 1st J3 title; 1st D3 title
Promoted	Zweigen Kanazawa
Matches played	198
Goals scored	495 (2.5 per match)
Top goalscorer	Koji Suzuki (19 goals)
Highest attendance	8,115; Zweigen vs MYFC
Lowest attendance	504; Fukushima vs Gainare
Average attendance	2,247
	2015 →

The 2014 J3 League (referred to as the 2014 Meiji Yasuda J3 League (2014 明治安田生命J3リーグ) for sponsorship reasons) was the 18th season of the third tier of the Japanese football, and the inaugural season of the professional J3 League. The season commenced on 9 March and will finish on November 23,^[1] with a 3-week break after the 17th week matches on 21 and 22 June (except one on 25 June), then will resume from 19 and 20 July, due to prefectural qualifiers, followed by the 1st and 2nd round matches of the 2014 Emperor's Cup scheduled during the intermission.

Establishment

After the discussion on J1-J2 Joint Committee on 16 January 2013, all J. League clubs agreed in principle with an establishment of the new league starting 2014.^[2] This decision was formally put into force by J. League Council on 26 February executive meeting.^[3] The league was planned to launch with 10 teams, but another session of J. League Council in July decided that inaugural season of J3 will feature 12 teams.^[4]

Clubs

Locations of the 2014 J3 League teams

In order to participate, a club must have held an associate membership, or had submitted an application before 30 June 2013, and then passed an inspection in order to obtain a participation licence issued by J. League Council.^[5] On November 19, J. League has confirmed the following clubs to participate in the inaugural J3 season:^[6]

Club Name	Home Town	Notes
Blaublitz Akita	All cities/towns in Akita
Fukushima United	Fukushima, Fukushima
Gainare Tottori	All cities/towns in Tottori	Relegated from 2013 J2, eligible for J2 promotion
Grulla Morioka	Morioka, Iwate	The only club promoted from Regional Leagues
Fujieda MYFC	Fujieda, Shizuoka
Nagano Parceiro	Nagano, Nagano	Eligible for J2 promotion
FC Ryukyu	All cities/towns in Okinawa
SC Sagamihara	Sagamihara, Kanagawa
YSCC Yokohama	Yokohama, Kanagawa
Machida Zelvia	Machida, Tokyo	Eligible for J2 promotion
Zweigen Kanazawa	Kanazawa, Ishikawa	Eligible for J2 promotion
J.League U-22 Selection	n/a	A special team, composed of best J1 and J2 youngsters in order to prepare them for 2016 Olympics

On 29 September the J. League licensing board issued J2 licenses to the following clubs: Machida Zelvia, Nagano Parceiro, Zweigen Kanazawa, and Gainare Tottori.^[7] Tottori's license was issued provisionally, under conditions of financial improvement before 30 October when the league re-assessed the club's financial stance and confirmed the passage of the licensing.

Competition rules

The league will be played in three rounds, each team playing a total of 33 matches. J.League U-22 Selection will play all their matches on the road.^[1]

Each team must feature at least 3 players holding professional contracts. Two foreign players are allowed per team, plus 1 more from the ASEAN partner country of J. League. The matchday roster will consist of 16 players, and up to 5 substitutes will be allowed in a game.^[1]

Promotion and relegation

Rules for promotion to J2 will be largely similar to those of Japan Football League in the recent seasons: in order to be promoted, a club must hold a J2 license and finish in top 2 of the league. The U-22 team is not eligible for promotion regardless of their final position. The champions will be promoted directly, in exchange to 22nd-placed J2 club; and the runners-up will participate in the playoffs with 21st J2 club. If either or both top 2 finishers are ineligible for promotion, the playoffs and/or direct exchange will not be held in accordance to the exact positions of promotion-eligible clubs.^[1]

No relegation to JFL is planned. Up to 2 clubs may be promoted if they are licensed by J. League for J3 participation and finish in top-4 of JFL.

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Asian Player	Non-Visa Foreign
Blaublitz Akita	Leonardo		Lee Keun-ho
Fukushima United	Kim Kong-Chyong		Kim Hong-Yeon
Gainare Tottori
Grulla Morioka
Fujieda MYFC			Park Il-gyu
Nagano Parceiro			Kim Yeong-Gi
FC Ryukyu
SC Sagamihara	Weslley	Mobi Fehr
YSCC Yokohama				Osama Elsamni
Machida Zelvia			Bae Dae-Won
Zweigen Kanazawa			Choi Ji-Hoon
J.League U-22 Selection¹

Note:
^1 A special team, composed of best J1 and J2 youngsters in order to prepare them to 2016 Olympics

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Zweigen Kanazawa (C, P)	33	23	6	4	56	20	+36	75	Promotion to 2015 J2 League^[a]
2	Nagano Parceiro	33	20	9	4	58	23	+35	69	Qualification for J2 promotion playoffs^[a]
3	Machida Zelvia	33	20	8	5	59	22	+37	68
4	Gainare Tottori	33	14	11	8	34	25	+9	53
5	Grulla Morioka	33	12	9	12	43	39	+4	45
6	SC Sagamihara	33	12	7	14	44	48	−4	43
7	Fukushima United	33	9	9	15	30	38	−8	36
8	Blaublitz Akita	33	10	4	19	38	57	−19	34
9	FC Ryukyu	33	8	10	15	31	50	−19	34
10	J.League U-22 Selection	33	9	6	18	37	63	−26	33
11	Fujieda MYFC	33	7	9	17	36	52	−16	30
12	YSCC Yokohama	33	4	12	17	29	58	−29	24

Source: J.League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal differential; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Disciplinary points; 6) Draw.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Only clubs that hold J2 licence are eligible for promotion.

Results

Rounds 1–11

Home \ Away	BLA	FUK	GAI	GRU	MYF	PAR	RYU	SGM	YSC	ZEL	ZWE	J22
Blaublitz Akita		2–2	1–0	2–1	2–1	1–2						1–2
Fukushima United			0–1	0–2				1–2		1–0	0–1	0–1
Gainare Tottori				0–0		1–1	0–0	1–0		0–1		1–0
Grulla Morioka					4–1	0–0		2–3	3–0	1–4		6–1
Fujieda MYFC		0–0	0–2				2–2		1–2		0–0	2–4
Nagano Parceiro		1–0			1–4		1–0		0–0		2–1	1–0
FC Ryukyu	2–0	1–3		0–1				0–0		1–7		3–0
SC Sagamihara	3–0				2–1	2–2			2–0		0–4	0–1
YSCC Yokohama	1–1	0–1	0–2				1–4			1–1		0–2
Machida Zelvia	4–1				3–0	0–0		2–0			0–0	4–0
Zweigen Kanazawa	1–0		1–1	2–0			2–1		4–0			2–0
J.League U-22 Selection

Updated to match(es) played on 11 May 2014. Source: J. League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Rounds 12–22

Home \ Away	BLA	FUK	GAI	GRU	MYF	PAR	RYU	SGM	YSC	ZEL	ZWE	J22
Blaublitz Akita		0–1			2–2			1–0	3–4	1–4		4–0
Fukushima United			2–0		2–3		2–2	2–2		0–2		0–0
Gainare Tottori	1–4			1–0	0–0				0–0		4–2	1–0
Grulla Morioka	3–0	1–2					2–1		1–1		0–1	3–1
Fujieda MYFC				0–1		0–1	1–0		2–1	1–2		3–1
Nagano Parceiro	2–0	3–0	1–1	3–2							1–2	4–0
FC Ryukyu	2–0		0–3			0–2			1–1		1–0	0–6
SC Sagamihara			0–1	0–0	2–2	0–1	4–0					2–3
YSCC Yokohama		0–0				1–1		2–3		0–1	0–3	2–1
Machida Zelvia			1–1	1–1		1–0	0–1	2–1				1–1
Zweigen Kanazawa	1–0	2–2			3–1			2–1		0–1		0–0
J.League U-22 Selection

Updated to match(es) played on 26 October 2014. Source: J. League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Rounds 23–33

Home \ Away	BLA	FUK	GAI	GRU	MYF	PAR	RYU	SGM	YSC	ZEL	ZWE	J22
Blaublitz Akita				1–3			0–1		2–1	2–1	1–2	1–1
Fukushima United	2–0			0–1		0–1	2–1		2–2			0–0
Gainare Tottori	1–2	2–0			2–1	1–1					0–1	1–2
Grulla Morioka			1–1		0–2			0–3		1–1	0–2	2–1
Fujieda MYFC	1–2	0–2				2–2		1–1		0–1		2–1
Nagano Parceiro	3–0			3–0				2–0	6–1	2–0		5–0
FC Ryukyu			0–0	1–1	0–0	0–1					0–1	4–2
SC Sagamihara	2–1	1–0	1–0				1–1			1–2		1–5
YSCC Yokohama			1–2	0–0	2–0		0–0	2–4				1–1
Machida Zelvia		2–0	1–2				4–1		2–1		0–0	3–0
Zweigen Kanazawa		2–1			2–0	3–2		4–0	2–1			3–0
J.League U-22 Selection

Updated to match(es) played on 23 November 2014. Source: J. League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

J2 promotion playoffs

2014 J2/J3 Play-Offs (2014 J2・J3入れ替え戦)
J3 runners-up Nagano Parceiro played the 21st-placed J2 club Kamatamare Sanuki in a two-legged playoffs. The winning club will play in J2 in 2015 season.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Kamatamare Sanuki	1–0	Nagano Parceiro	0–0	1–0

30 November 2014

12:30

Nagano Parceiro	0–0	Kamatamare Sanuki
	Report

Nagano Athletic Stadium, Nagano, Nagano

Attendance: 8,944

Referee: Itaru Hirose

7 December 2014

12:30

Kamatamare Sanuki	1–0	Nagano Parceiro

Kagawa Marugame Stadium, Marugame, Kagawa

Attendance: 6,170

Nagano Parceiro remains in J3 League.
Kamatamare Sanuki remains in J2 League.

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Koji Suzuki	Machida Zelvia	19
2	Tsugutoshi Oishi	Fujieda MYFC	17
3	Yuji Unozawa	Nagano Parceiro	16
4	Ryota Doi	Grulla Morioka	11
4	Hirochika Miyoshi	Blaublitz Akita	11
6	Akio Yoshida	YSCC Yokohama	10
7	Yoshinori Katsumata	Nagano Parceiro	9
	Shohei Kiyohara	Zweigen Kanazawa	9
	Yuki Sato	Nagano Parceiro	9
	Takafumi Suzuki	Machida Zelvia	9

Updated per games played on 23 November 2014
Source: J. League data

Attendance

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Nagano Parceiro	64,701	8,011	1,655	3,595	+53.7%^†
2	Zweigen Kanazawa	61,920	8,115	658	3,440	+66.7%^†
3	Machida Zelvia	56,404	4,569	2,012	3,134	−1.3%^†
4	SC Sagamihara	56,388	7,860	921	3,133	+62.8%^†
5	Gainare Tottori	55,242	5,892	1,832	3,069	−25.1%^†
6	Blaublitz Akita	31,921	2,488	1,057	1,773	+0.3%^†
7	Grulla Morioka	27,403	3,048	741	1,522	+103.5%^‡
8	FC Ryukyu	25,162	5,163	520	1,398	−32.4%^†
9	Fukushima United	23,769	4,163	504	1,321	+28.6%^†
10	Fujieda MYFC	23,733	3,302	612	1,319	+38.4%^†
11	YSCC Yokohama	18,323	1,819	512	1,018	+30.0%^†
	League total	444,966	8,115	504	2,247	+70.0%^†

Updated to games played on 23 November 2014
Source: J. League data
Notes:
League average is compared to JFL average of 2013.
^† Team played previous season in J2.
^‡ Team played previous season in the Regional Leagues.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ２０１４Ｊ３リーグ大会方式および試合方式について [Playing system and rules of 2014 J3 League] (PDF) (in Japanese), J. League, 17 December 2013, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2013, retrieved 30 December 2013
^ Ｊ３設立へ中西理事「理解は得た」 [Director Nakahishi on the agreement for J3 establishment] (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports News. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
^ 来年からＪ３新設を正式決定　Ｊリーグ理事会 [Consul formally decided to launch new J3 league next year] (in Japanese). Sports Nippon Newspapers. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
^ Ｊ3参加クラブ数は「12」で決定 [J3 is determined to start with 12 teams] (in Japanese). J. League. 16 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-07-18. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
^ Ｊ３までの道のり [Steps to J3 participation] (in Japanese). J. League. 16 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-07-20. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
^ 申請クラブ審査状況に更新がありました [Update to club review situation] (in Japanese). J. League. 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on 22 November 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
^ クラブライセンス交付第一審機関（ＦＩＢ）決定による　２０１５シーズン　Ｊリーグクラブライセンス交付について [J. League licensing for 2015 season.] (in Japanese). J. League. 29 September 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 9 October 2014.

[table_note_res_P0.23451795626176-8] Only clubs that hold J2 licence are eligible for promotion.

[j3_rules-1] ２０１４Ｊ３リーグ大会方式および試合方式について [Playing system and rules of 2014 J3 League] (PDF) (in Japanese), J. League, 17 December 2013, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2013, retrieved 30 December 2013

[2] Ｊ３設立へ中西理事「理解は得た」 [Director Nakahishi on the agreement for J3 establishment] (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports News. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.

[council-3] 来年からＪ３新設を正式決定　Ｊリーグ理事会 [Consul formally decided to launch new J3 league next year] (in Japanese). Sports Nippon Newspapers. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.

[july_council-4] Ｊ3参加クラブ数は「12」で決定 [J3 is determined to start with 12 teams] (in Japanese). J. League. 16 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-07-18. Retrieved 16 July 2013.

[j3_steps-5] Ｊ３までの道のり [Steps to J3 participation] (in Japanese). J. League. 16 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-07-20. Retrieved 16 July 2013.

[admission_upd-6] 申請クラブ審査状況に更新がありました [Update to club review situation] (in Japanese). J. League. 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on 22 November 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.

[7] クラブライセンス交付第一審機関（ＦＩＢ）決定による　２０１５シーズン　Ｊリーグクラブライセンス交付について [J. League licensing for 2015 season.] (in Japanese). J. League. 29 September 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 9 October 2014.

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