2013 J.League Division 1

J. League Division 1

Season	2013
Champions	Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2nd J. League title 7th Japanese title
Relegated	Oita Trinita Júbilo Iwata Shonan Bellmare
Champions League	Sanfrecce Hiroshima Yokohama F. Marinos Kawasaki Frontale Cerezo Osaka
Matches played	306
Goals scored	879 (2.87 per match)
Top goalscorer	Yoshito Okubo (26 goals)
Highest attendance	62,632 F. Marinos vs Albirex
Lowest attendance	5,698 Júbilo vs Albirex
Average attendance	17,226
← 2012 2014 →

The 2013 J. League Division 1 season was the 48th season of Japanese top-flight football and 21st since the establishment of the J. League. The season began on 2 March and finished on 7 December.^[1]

Sanfrecce Hiroshima are the defending champions.

Clubs

Vissel Kobe, Gamba Osaka and Consadole Sapporo were relegated at the end of the 2012 season after finishing in the bottom three places of the table. Consadole Sapporo returned to J2 after only one season in the top flight, while Vissel Kobe was relegated after six seasons in the top flight. Gamba Osaka, instead, was relegated for the first time since the creation of J. League in 1993 and first time since their forerunners, Matsushita Electric Soccer Club, were relegated to the second Division of Japan Soccer League after the 1986–87 season.

The three relegated teams were replaced by 2012 J. League Division 2 champions Ventforet Kofu, runners-up Shonan Bellmare and sixth-placed and play-off winner team Oita Trinita. Kofu made an immediate return to the top division, while Shonan after a two-year absence. In the end, Oita beat JEF United Chiba in the playoff final and returned in J1 after three seasons in the second division. Due to Oita's promotion, it will be the first time to have 2 clubs in the top-flight league competitions from Kyushu since 2006, and Kansai region will have only one club competing in the top flight first time since 1994 season due to Kobe and Gamba's relegations.

Albirex Niigata

Cerezo Osaka

Greater Tokyo Area

Júbilo Iwata

Nagoya Grampus

Oita Trinita

Sagan Tosu

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Shimizu S-Pulse

Vegalta Sendai

Greater Tokyo teams

F.C. Tokyo
Kashima Antlers
Kashiwa Reysol
Kawasaki Frontale
Omiya Ardija
Shonan Bellmare
Urawa Red Diamonds
Ventforet Kofu
Yokohama F. Marinos

Locations of the 2013 J. League 1 teams

Club Name	Home Town(s)	Stadium	Capacity	Note(s)
Albirex Niigata	Niigata & Seiro, Niigata	Big Swan Stadium	42,300
Kashima Antlers	Kashima, Ibaraki	Kashima Soccer Stadium	40,728
Omiya Ardija	Omiya, Saitama	NACK5 Stadium	15,500
Cerezo Osaka	Osaka, Osaka	Nagai Stadium	47,816
Yokohama F. Marinos	Yokohama & Yokosuka, Kanagawa	Nissan Stadium	72,327
Kawasaki Frontale	Kawasaki, Kanagawa	Todoroki Athletics Stadium	26,232
Nagoya Grampus	Nagoya, Aichi	Mizuho Athletic Stadium	27,000
Júbilo Iwata	Iwata, Shizuoka	Yamaha Stadium	15,165
Oita Trinita	Oita, Oita	Ōita Stadium	40,000	Promoted from J2 League (6th place/play-off winner in J2 2012)
Urawa Red Diamonds	Urawa, Saitama	Saitama Stadium	63,700	2013 ACL participant (3rd place in J1 2012)
Kashiwa Reysol	Kashiwa, Chiba	Kashiwa Soccer Stadium	15,900	2013 ACL Participant (2012 Emperor's Cup Winners)
Shimizu S-Pulse	Shizuoka, Shizuoka	IAI Stadium Nihondaira	20,339
Sagan Tosu	Tosu, Saga	Tosu Stadium	24,490
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Hiroshima, Hiroshima	Hiroshima Big Arch	50,000	2013 ACL participant (Champions in J1 2012)
Shonan Bellmare	Hiratsuka, Kanagawa	Shonan BMW Stadium	18,500	Promoted from J2 League (Runners-up in J2 2012)
F.C. Tokyo	Tokyo	Ajinomoto Stadium	49,970
Vegalta Sendai	Sendai, Miyagi	Yurtec Stadium	19,694	2013 ACL participant (Runners-up in J1 2012)
Ventforet Kofu	Kofu, Yamanashi	Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium	17,000	Promoted from J2 League (Champions in J2 2012)

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Asian Player	Non-Visa Foreign	Type-C Contract
Albirex Niigata	Léo Silva	Roger Gaúcho	Kim Kun-Hoan	Kim Jin-Su
Kashima Antlers	Davi	Juninho
Omiya Ardija	Lucas Neill	Milivoje Novaković	Zlatan Ljubijankič	Cho Young-Cheol
Shonan Bellmare	Alex Santana	Wellington	Stevica Ristić	Han Kook-Young
Cerezo Osaka	Branco	Edno	Fábio Simplício	Kim Jin-Hyeon		Gu Sung-Yun
Yokohama F. Marinos	Dutra	Fabio	Marquinhos	Jeong Dong-Ho
Kawasaki Frontale	Alan Pinheiro	Jeci	Renato		Ahn Byung-Jun	Robson
Nagoya Grampus	Daniel	Danilson Córdoba	Nikola Jakimovski	Joshua Kennedy	Thiago Pereira
Júbilo Iwata	Carlinhos	Cho Byung-Kuk	Jung Woo-Young	Baek Sung-Dong
Urawa Red Diamonds	Marcio Richardes
Kashiwa Reysol	Cléo	Jorge Wagner	Leandro Domingues	Kim Chang-Soo
Shimizu S-Pulse	Calvin Jong-a-Pin	Dženan Radončić	Lee Min-Soo	Lee Ki-Je
Sagan Tosu	Nilson	Kim Min-Woo		Yeo Sung-Hye	Kim Jung-Ya	Jonathan
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Mihael Mikić	Park Hyung-Jin	Lee Dae-Heon	Hwang Seok-Ho		Kim Jeong-Seok
Oita Trinita	Rodrigo Mancha			Choi Jung-Han		Kim Jung-Hyon
F.C. Tokyo	Lucas	Nemanja Vučićević		Jang Hyun-Soo
Ventforet Kofu	Gilsinho	Marquinhos Paraná	Patric	Choi Sung-Kuen	Irfan Bachdim
Vegalta Sendai	Diogo	Wilson	Heberty		Ryang Yong-Gi

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Sanfrecce Hiroshima (C)	34	19	6	9	51	29	+22	63	Qualification to 2014 AFC Champions League Group stage ^1
2	Yokohama F. Marinos	34	18	8	8	49	31	+18	62
3	Kawasaki Frontale	34	18	6	10	65	51	+14	60
4	Cerezo Osaka	34	16	11	7	53	32	+21	59
5	Kashima Antlers	34	18	5	11	60	52	+8	59
6	Urawa Red Diamonds	34	17	7	10	66	56	+10	58
7	Albirex Niigata	34	17	4	13	48	42	+6	55
8	F.C. Tokyo	34	16	6	12	61	47	+14	54
9	Shimizu S-Pulse	34	15	5	14	48	57	−9	50
10	Kashiwa Reysol	34	13	9	12	56	59	−3	48
11	Nagoya Grampus	34	13	8	13	47	48	−1	47
12	Sagan Tosu	34	13	7	14	54	63	−9	46
13	Vegalta Sendai	34	11	12	11	41	38	+3	45
14	Omiya Ardija	34	14	3	17	45	48	−3	45
15	Ventforet Kofu	34	8	13	13	30	41	−11	37
16	Shonan Bellmare (R)	34	6	7	21	34	62	−28	25	Relegation to 2014 J.League Division 2
17	Júbilo Iwata (R)	34	4	11	19	40	56	−16	23
18	Oita Trinita (R)	34	2	8	24	31	67	−36	14

Updated to games played on 7 December 2013.
Source: J.League Division 1
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹ The winners of the 2013 Emperor's Cup will also qualify for the group stage of the 2014 AFC Champions League. If the winners have already qualified to ACL through the championship, the spot will be awarded to the fourth-placed team.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Home ╲ Away

ALB

ANT

ARD

BEL

CER

FMA

FRO

GRA

JÚB

RED

REY

SAG

SFR

SSP

TOK

TRI

VEG

VEN

Albirex Niigata

2–3

1–0

3–2

1–0

1–0

2–1

2–0

4–2

0–2

3–2

3–1

1–2

3–1

0–3

2–3

1–0

1–1

Kashima Antlers

1–0

1–0

1–0

1–0

2–1

4–1

3–1

1–1

1–2

3–1

1–2

0–2

3–1

3–2

3–1

3–2

0–0

Omiya Ardija

1–1

3–1

2–1

0–3

1–0

2–3

2–1

3–0

1–0

2–3

1–1

2–1

2–2

2–5

0–1

0–2

1–2

Shonan Bellmare

0–2

1–2

0–1

0–3

1–2

1–1

1–1

1–1

2–2

1–2

1–1

0–2

1–1

3–2

2–1

3–2

1–2

Cerezo Osaka

1–0

1–2

1–2

2–1

2–1

0–0

2–1

2–0

2–2

1–1

4–1

1–0

4–1

1–0

0–0

1–1

0–1

Yokohama F. Marinos

0–2

1–1

2–1

4–2

1–1

2–1

1–2

2–1

3–0

1–1

2–1

1–0

1–0

3–2

1–1

0–0

1–1

Kawasaki Frontale

2–1

4–2

2–1

1–2

2–2

1–0

2–1

2–1

4–0

3–1

0–1

2–0

2–0

2–2

1–1

4–2

1–1

Nagoya Grampus

2–0

3–1

2–1

2–0

1–1

1–2

1–2

1–1

2–0

3–2

3–2

1–1

2–1

0–2

2–1

0–2

0–0

Júbilo Iwata

2–1

2–3

0–1

4–0

2–2

0–1

2–4

2–3

1–2

0–1

3–3

0–2

0–1

0–0

3–1

1–1

1–1

Urawa Red Diamonds

1–0

3–1

4–0

2–0

2–5

2–3

1–3

1–0

2–1

2–1

6–2

3–1

0–1

2–2

4–3

1–1

1–1

Kashiwa Reysol

1–1

2–1

0–4

5–2

1–3

2–1

3–1

3–3

1–3

2–6

2–1

1–1

2–2

4–1

3–1

0–0

2–0

Sagan Tosu

1–3

1–1

2–1

1–0

2–0

0–1

5–4

1–1

1–0

4–1

0–3

0–2

0–1

2–3

3–2

1–0

2–1

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

2–0

0–0

3–1

1–0

1–0

1–3

4–2

1–1

2–1

1–2

0–0

2–0

3–1

1–2

1–0

1–0

5–1

Shimizu S-Pulse

1–2

4–3

1–0

3–1

1–1

0–5

1–2

2–1

1–0

0–2

1–2

6–4

0–4

0–0

3–1

2–0

2–1

F.C. Tokyo

2–0

1–4

0–1

2–1

1–2

0–2

2–0

3–1

2–2

3–2

3–0

2–3

0–1

2–0

2–0

2–0

4–1

Oita Trinita

1–3

2–3

0–2

1–2

0–2

0–1

0–1

1–2

1–1

2–2

0–0

2–4

1–1

2–3

1–2

0–1

0–1

Vegalta Sendai

0–1

2–1

2–1

0–0

1–1

0–0

2–1

2–1

1–1

3–3

2–1

1–1

0–2

1–2

2–1

6–0

1–1

Ventforet Kofu

1–1

3–0

0–3

0–1

1–2

0–0

1–3

0–1

2–1

0–1

3–1

0–0

2–0

0–2

1–1

0–0

0–1

Updated to games played on 7 December 2013.
Source: J. League Division 1
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Yoshito Ōkubo	Kawasaki Frontale	26
2	Kengo Kawamata	Albirex Niigata	23
3	Yoichiro Kakitani	Cerezo Osaka	21
4	Yohei Toyoda	Sagan Tosu	20
5	Masato Kudo	Kashiwa Reysol	19
	Yuya Osako	Kashima Antlers	19
7	Hisato Satō	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	17
	Kazuma Watanabe	F.C. Tokyo	17
9	Marquinhos	Yokohama F. Marinos	16
10	Shinzo Koroki	Urawa Red Diamonds	13
	Wilson	Vegalta Sendai	13

Updated to games played on 7 December 2013
Source: J. League

Awards

Player of the Month

Month	Player	Club
March	Shunsuke Nakamura[2]	Yokohama F. Marinos
April	Zlatan Ljubijankič[2]	Omiya Ardija
May	Yoichiro Kakitani	Cerezo Osaka
June	N/A[3]
July	Shusaku Nishikawa	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
August	Yuya Osako	Kashima Antlers
September	Aria Jasuru Hasegawa	F.C. Tokyo
October	Tetsuya Enomoto	Yokohama F. Marinos
November	Yoshito Ōkubo	Kawasaki Frontale

Best XI

Position	Player	Club
GK	Shusaku Nishikawa	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
DF	Daisuke Nasu	Urawa Red Diamonds
DF	Masato Morishige	F.C. Tokyo
DF	Yuji Nakazawa	Yokohama F. Marinos
MF	Hotaru Yamaguchi	Cerezo Osaka
MF	Toshihiro Aoyama	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
MF	Shunsuke Nakamura	Yokohama F. Marinos
MF	Yoichiro Kakitani	Cerezo Osaka
FW	Yuya Osako	Kashima Antlers
FW	Yoshito Ōkubo	Kawasaki Frontale
FW	Kengo Kawamata	Albirex Niigata

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Urawa Red Diamonds	630,701	54,905	23,295	37,100	+1.2%^†
2	Yokohama F. Marinos	467,425	62,632	12,537	27,496	+19.8%^†
3	Albirex Niigata	443,906	33,378	18,919	26,112	+4.3%^†
4	F.C. Tokyo	426,246	40,371	12,905	25,073	+4.6%^†
5	Cerezo Osaka	319,928	36,361	9,119	18,819	+11.2%^†
6	Kawasaki Frontale	282,952	21,657	12,345	16,644	−6.5%^†
7	Kashima Antlers	279,115	32,305	6,681	16,419	+6.7%^†
8	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	275,556	27,911	10,045	16,209	−8.5%^†
9	Nagoya Grampus	274,297	30,478	9,237	16,135	−5.9%^†
10	Vegalta Sendai	252,725	17,892	11,755	14,866	−10.4%^†
11	Shimizu S-Pulse	240,324	21,420	9,238	14,137	−6.5%^†
12	Ventforet Kofu	214,441	28,906	7,754	12,614	+21.2%^†
13	Kashiwa Reysol	213,406	34,021	7,013	12,553	−8.8%^†
14	Sagan Tosu	184,242	22,530	6,292	11,515	−3.9%^†
15	Oita Trinita	202,557	23,814	7,067	11,915	+22.5%^†
16	Omiya Ardija	189,342	13,365	7,412	11,138	+4.7%^†
17	Júbilo Iwata	185,207	20,049	5,698	10,895	−16.9%^†
18	Shonan Bellmare	168,481	13,786	6,080	9,911	+44.6%^†
	League total	5,271,047	62,632	5,698	17,226	−1.9%^†

Updated to games played on 7 December 2013
Source: J. League Division 1
Notes:
^† Team played previous season in J2.

References

1. "J. League season dates (+others)". Japan Football Association. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
2. 「コカ・コーラ Ｊリーグ 月間ＭＶＰ」３月・４月の受賞選手決定！. J-League. 16 May 2013.
3. No Division 1 league match scheduled due to 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup