F.League

Not to be confused with F-League.

F.League

Country	Japan
Confederation	AFC
Founded	2007
Number of teams	12
Level on pyramid	1
Domestic cup(s)	All Japan Futsal Championship, F.League Ocean Cup
International cup(s)	AFC Futsal Club Championship
Current champions	Nagoya Oceans (2015–16)
Most championships	Nagoya Oceans (9 titles)
Website	http://www.fleague.jp/

The F. League (in Japanese: "F・リーグ", Officially "日本フットサルリーグ",Nihon Futtosaru Rīgu) is the top league for Futsal in Japan. The winning team obtains the participation right to the AFC Futsal Club Championship.^[1]

Overview

The league was formed in 2007 as a complement for the elimination tournament, (the current Puma Cup) which groups regional futsal champions into a final elimination phase.^[2]

The league operates on the sports franchise system, with no promotion or relegation of clubs. The clubs are thus expansion teams. In 2009 the number of clubs was increased from 8 to 10 with the addition of Fuchu Athletic and Espolada Hokkaido.

In F. League play, the clubs battle each other three times: once at home, once away and once in a neutral venue (generally Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo). The season runs from August to February.

An elimination league cup, the Ocean Cup is played every season by the 12 F.League teams.

Teams

Teams playing the F.League 2015–16 season.

Team	City/Area	Main Arena	Founded
Espolada Hokkaido	Sapporo, Hokkaido	Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center	2008
Voscuore Sendai	Sendai, Miyagi	Sendai Gymnasium	2012
Bardral Urayasu	Urayasu, Chiba	Urayasu General Gymnasium	1998
Fugador Sumida	Sumida, Tokyo	Sumida City Gymnasium	2001
Fuchu Athletic F.C.	Fuchū, Tokyo	Fuchu Sports Center	2000
Pescadola Machida	Machida, Tokyo	Machida Municipal General Gymnasium	1999
Shonan Bellmare	Hiratsuka, Kanagawa	Odawara Arena	2007
Agleymina Hamamatsu	Hamamatsu, Shizuoka	Hamamatsu Arena	1996
Nagoya Oceans	Nagoya, Aichi	Taiyo Yakuhin Ocean Arena	2006
Shriker Osaka	Osaka, Osaka	Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium	2002
Deução Kobe	Kobe, Hyogo	Kobe Green Arena	1993
Vasagey Oita	Oita, Oita	Oozu Sports Park	2003

History

Seasons	Winner	Runner-up	Third place
2007–08	Nagoya Oceans	Bardral Urayasu	Deução Kobe
2008–09	Nagoya Oceans	Bardral Urayasu	Deução Kobe
2009–10	Nagoya Oceans	Pescadola Machida	Shriker Osaka
2010–11	Nagoya Oceans	Deução Kobe	Vasagey Oita
2011–12	Nagoya Oceans	Shriker Osaka	Deução Kobe
2012–13	Nagoya Oceans	Shriker Osaka	Fuchu Athletic
2013–14	Nagoya Oceans	Shriker Osaka	Vasagey Oita
2014-15	Nagoya Oceans	Shriker Osaka	Bardral Urayasu
2015-16	Nagoya Oceans	Fuchu Athletic	Shriker Osaka

References

↑ ARITA, KENICHI (18 May 2012). "F.League hopes World Cup will boost sport's popularity". asahi.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
↑ "Futsal league ready for the off". fifa.com. Retrieved 13 December 2013. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)

External links

Official website

Futsal in Japan

Japan Football Association

League competitions	F. League

National teams	Men's Women's

F. League

Clubs	Espolada Hokkaido Bardral Urayasu Fuchu Athletic F.C. Pescadola Machida Shonan Bellmare Agleymina Hamamatsu Nagoya Oceans Shriker Osaka Deução Kobe Vasagey Oita Voscuore Sendai Fugador Sumida

Seasons	2007-08 2008-09 2009–10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15

Top level futsal leagues of Asia (AFC)

Australia China Hong Kong Indonesia Iran Iraq Japan Korea Republic Kyrgyzstan Lebanon Malaysia Qatar Thailand Uzbekistan Vietnam

^† Provisional Associated Member

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