2018 J2 League

The 2018 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (2018 明治安田生命J2リーグ) season was the 47th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 20th season since the establishment of J2 League.

Meiji Yasuda J2 League
Season2018
ChampionsMatsumoto Yamaga
PromotedMatsumoto Yamaga
Oita Trinita
RelegatedRoasso Kumamoto
Kamatamare Sanuki
Matches played462
Goals scored1,143 (2.47 per match)
Top goalscorerGenki Omae
Omiya Ardija, 24 goals
Highest attendance22,465[1]
Niigata 1–1 Matsumoto
(3 March)
Lowest attendance1,510[1]
Sanuki 1-1 Yamagata
(19 September)
Average attendance7,049
← 2017
2019 →

Clubs

The participating clubs are listed in the following table:

Club Name Home Town(s) Note(s)
Albirex Niigata Niigata & Seirō, Niigata Relegated from J1
Omiya Ardija Saitama Relegated from J1
Avispa Fukuoka Fukuoka City, Fukuoka
Ehime FC All cities/towns in Ehime[lower-alpha 1]
Fagiano Okayama All cities/towns in Okayama[lower-alpha 2]
FC Gifu All cities/towns in Gifu[lower-alpha 3]
JEF United Chiba Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba
Kamatamare Sanuki Takamatsu, Kagawa
Kyoto Sanga Southwestern cities/towns in Kyoto[lower-alpha 4]
Machida Zelvia Machida, Tokyo
Matsumoto Yamaga Central cities/towns in Nagano[lower-alpha 5]
Mito HollyHock Mito, Ibaraki
Montedio Yamagata All cities/towns in Yamagata[lower-alpha 6]
Oita Trinita Ōita
Renofa Yamaguchi All cities/towns in Yamaguchi[lower-alpha 7]
Roasso Kumamoto Kumamoto
Tochigi SC Utsunomiya, Tochigi Promoted from J3
Tokushima Vortis All cities/towns in Tokushima[lower-alpha 8]
Ventforet Kofu All Yamanashi Prefecture[lower-alpha 9] Relegated from J1
Tokyo Verdy All cities/towns in Tokyo
Yokohama FC Yokohama, Kanagawa
Zweigen Kanazawa Kanazawa
  1. centering on Matsuyama
  2. centering on Okayama, Kurashiki, Tsuyama
  3. centering on Gifu
  4. Kyoto, Uji, Joyo, Kyōtanabe, Mukō, Nagaokakyō, Kizugawa, Kameoka, Nantan, Kyotanba
  5. Matsumoto, Nagano, Azumino, Yamagata, Shiojiri, Ōmachi, Ikeda
  6. centering on Yamagata, Tendō, Tsuruoka
  7. centering on Yamaguchi, Shimonoseki, Sanyoonoda, Ube
  8. centering on Tokushima, Naruto, Mima, Matsushige, Itano, Aizumi, Kitajima
  9. centering on Kofu and Nirasaki

Personnel and kits
Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer
Albirex Niigata Masakazu Suzuki Ryota Isomura Adidas
Avispa Fukuoka Masami Ihara Hisashi Jogo Yonex
Ehime FC Shuichi Mase Kazuhisa Kawahara Mizuno
Fagiano Okayama Tetsu Nagasawa Kohei Kiyama Penalty
FC Gifu Takeshi Oki Yuto Ono New Balance
JEF United Chiba Juan Esnáider Naoya Kondo Kappa
Kamatamare Sanuki Makoto Kitano Kazumasa Takagi ATHLETA
Kyoto Sanga Takanori Nunobe Yuta Someya Wacoal
Machida Zelvia Naoki Soma Ri Han-jae SVOLME
Matsumoto Yamaga Yasuharu Sorimachi Masaki Iida Adidas
Mito HollyHock Shigetoshi Hasebe Junya Hosokawa GAViC
Montedio Yamagata Takashi Kiyama Takumi Yamada New Balance
Oita Trinita Tomohiro Katanosaka Akira Takeuchi Puma
Omiya Ardija Masatada Ishii Kosuke Kikuchi Under Armour
Renofa Yamaguchi Masahiro Shimoda Hidetoshi Miyuki Finta
Roasso Kumamoto Hiroki Shibuya Akihiro Sato Puma
Tochigi SC Yuji Yokoyama Koji Hirose ATHLETA
Tokushima Vortis Ricardo Rodríguez Ken Iwao Mizuno
Tokyo Verdy Miguel Ángel Lotina Akira Ibayashi ATHLETA
Ventforet Kofu Tatsuma Yoshida Hideomi Yamamoto Mizuno
Yokohama FC Edson Tavares Kensuke Sato SOCCER JUNKY
Zweigen Kanazawa Masaaki Yanagishita Tomonobu Hiroi Adidas

    Managerial changes
    Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of
    appointment
    Ventforet Kofu Tatsuma Yoshida 30 April 2018[2] Nobuhiro Ueno 30 April 2018
    Kyoto Sanga Takanori Nunobe 11 May 2018[3] Boško Gjurovski 11 May 2018
    Ehime FC Shuichi Mase 15 May 2018[4] Kenta Kawai 15 May 2018
    Albirex Niigata Masakazu Suzuki 8 August 2018[5] Koichiro Katafuchi 22 August 2018

    Foreign players

    The total number of foreign players is restricted to five per club. Clubs can register up to four foreign players for a single match-day squad, of which a maximum of three are allowed from nations outside the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.

    Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Other Former
    Albirex Niigata Alex Muralha Cauê Jonathan Reis Thalles Song Ju-hun Bruno Meneghel
    Omiya Ardija Marcelo Toscano Mateus David Babunski Robin Simović Kim Dongsu Cauê
    Avispa Fukuoka Dudu Léo Mineiro Won Du-jae Yu In-soo Euller
    Túlio de Melo
    Ehime FC Park Seung-su Woo Sang-ho
    Fagiano Okayama Ricardo Santos Choi Jung-won Jeong Chung-geun Lee Kyung-tae Lee Yong-jae
    FC Gifu Ezequiel Ham Michael Ryan De Vries Jeon San-hae Víctor Ibáñez Woo Sang-ho
    JEF United Chiba Joaquín Larrivey Diego Rodríguez Jason Geria Hebert Jorge Salinas
    Kamatamare Sanuki Alex Park Chan-yong Song Young-min
    Kyoto Sanga Juninho Kaio Wu Shaocong Kim Cheol-ho Renzo López Matías Caseras
    Alexandre
    Machida Zelvia Dorian Babunski Romero Frank Jung Han-cheol Ri Han-jae
    Matsumoto Yamaga Dinei Paulinho Serginho Goh Dong Min Jo Jin-woo Anders Aplin
    Mito HollyHock Batista Diego Jefferson Baiano Danny Carvajal
    Montedio Yamagata Álvaro Bruno Lopes Felipe Alves Jairo
    Oita Trinita Willian Mun Kyung-gun Hwang Song-su Lim Seung-gyeom
    Renofa Yamaguchi Julinho Renan Washington Gerson
    Min Kyung-jun
    Roasso Kumamoto Lim Jin-woo Yang Sang-jun An Byong-jun
    Tochigi SC　 Alex Paulao Henik Mendes Johnny Leoni Diogo Ferreira
    Nejc Pečnik
    Tokushima Vortis Bueno Peter Utaka Kim Jong-pil David Barral Sisinio Nathan Júnior
    Danny Carvajal
    Ventforet Kofu Diego Éder Lima Ferrugem Junior Barros Byeon Jun-byum Dinei
    Lins
    Tokyo Verdy Alan Pinheiro Douglas Leandro Ri Yong-jik Carlos Martínez
    Yokohama FC Bruno Meneghel Leandro Domingues Calvin Jong-a-Pin Ibba Laajab Bae Seung-jin Jeong Chung-geun
    Zweigen Kanazawa Allan Rodrigo Maranhão

    League table
    Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
    1 Matsumoto Yamaga (C, P) 42 21 14 7 54 34 +20 77 Promotion to 2019 J1 League
    2 Oita Trinita (P) 42 23 7 12 76 51 +25 76
    3 Yokohama FC 42 21 13 8 63 44 +19 76 Qualification to promotion play-offs[lower-alpha 1]
    4 Machida Zelvia 42 21 13 8 62 44 +18 76
    5 Omiya Ardija 42 21 8 13 65 48 +17 71 Qualification to promotion play-offs[lower-alpha 1]
    6 Tokyo Verdy 42 19 14 9 56 41 +15 71
    7 Avispa Fukuoka 42 19 13 10 58 42 +16 70
    8 Renofa Yamaguchi 42 16 13 13 63 64 −1 61
    9 Ventforet Kofu 42 16 11 15 56 46 +10 59
    10 Mito HollyHock 42 16 9 17 48 46 +2 57
    11 Tokushima Vortis 42 16 8 18 48 42 +6 56
    12 Montedio Yamagata 42 14 14 14 49 51 −2 56
    13 Zweigen Kanazawa 42 14 13 15 52 48 +4 55
    14 JEF United Chiba 42 16 7 19 72 72 0 55
    15 Fagiano Okayama 42 14 11 17 39 43 −4 53
    16 Albirex Niigata 42 15 8 19 48 56 −8 53
    17 Tochigi SC 42 13 11 18 38 48 −10 50
    18 Ehime FC 42 12 12 18 34 52 −18 48
    19 Kyoto Sanga 42 12 7 23 40 58 −18 43
    20 FC Gifu 42 11 9 22 44 62 −18 42
    21 Roasso Kumamoto (R) 42 9 7 26 50 79 −29 34 Relegation to 2019 J3 League[lower-alpha 2]
    22 Kamatamare Sanuki (R) 42 7 10 25 28 72 −44 31
    Source: 2018 MEIJI YASUDA J2 LEAGUE League table
    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 2018 J3 League.

    Results
    Home \ Away ALB ARD AVI EHI FAG GIF HOL JEF KAM MON REN ROS SAN TOC TRI VEN VER VOR YAM YFC ZEL ZWE
    Albirex Niigata 0–1 0–3 0–1 0–1 5–0 1–1 1–2 2–1 0–0 0–2 2–3 1–1 0–3 1–2 1–5 1–2 1–0 1–1 0–1 2–0 2–1
    Omiya Ardija 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–1 0–1 2–2 2–1 4–4 2–1 1–2 1–0 1–0 2–1 2–0 0–1 1–2 4–0 1–0 1–1
    Avispa Fukuoka 0–2 3–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 3–1 3–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 2–2 2–1 1–0 0–2 0–0 1–0 0–1 0–0 2–2 2–2
    Ehime FC 0–0 2–3 1–5 2–0 1–3 0–1 1–0 0–0 0–2 2–0 1–2 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–2 1–0 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–2
    Fagiano Okayama 1–2 0–1 2–2 0–1 0–0 0–1 0–2 3–0 2–2 0–1 3–1 2–2 3–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 2–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 3–3
    FC Gifu 2–1 0–1 0–0 1–2 2–1 4–0 2–0 2–3 0–1 2–2 0–2 2–3 1–1 0–2 3–4 1–1 0–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 0–1
    Mito HollyHock 0–1 0–2 1–2 4–1 3–0 1–1 1–0 5–0 3–0 3–0 3–2 1–2 0–0 1–2 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–1 1–0
    JEF United Chiba 1–2 1–3 3–3 2–1 1–0 2–3 0–0 6–1 2–1 2–2 3–1 2–0 0–0 2–4 2–1 2–3 2–0 2–3 0–1 3–2 3–4
    Kamatamare Sanuki 0–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–2 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 1–2 1–2 0–3 3–1 0–4 0–1 1–2 1–1 0–2
    Montedio Yamagata 1–2 1–1 2–2 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 2–1 2–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 3–3 1–1 2–1 0–1 1–0 3–2 2–3 2–2 2–1
    Renofa Yamaguchi 1–2 2–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 4–1 2–2 0–4 1–0 0–1 4–1 1–2 1–0 1–3 0–1 4–3 2–2 2–2 0–3 0–1 2–2
    Roasso Kumamoto 3–1 2–1 0–1 3–0 0–0 1–2 2–1 1–3 1–1 1–2 2–2 0–4 0–1 1–3 1–4 0–0 2–1 1–3 3–5 2–3 0–1
    Kyoto Sanga 0–3 0–2 1–0 0–1 0–1 2–1 0–1 0–3 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–2 0–0
    Tochigi SC 2–1 0–1 1–0 1–3 0–1 4–1 1–2 0–1 1–0 1–0 2–5 1–0 3–1 2–4 0–1 2–2 1–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 1–1
    Oita Trinita 4–0 1–2 1–0 0–1 4–1 2–1 3–1 4–0 5–0 2–2 2–2 2–0 2–1 0–0 2–4 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 4–3 2–1
    Ventforet Kofu 0–0 1–0 1–2 0–1 2–0 1–3 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 3–2 1–1 2–1 6–2 0–0 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 1–3
    Tokyo Verdy 4–3 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 3–0 2–1 1–0 0–0 3–1 2–2 3–1 3–0 0–0 0–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–4 0–1
    Tokushima Vortis 0–0 2–1 3–1 2–0 0–1 2–1 1–0 4–1 0–1 5–1 1–2 1–0 1–0 4–1 3–0 0–1 0–4 1–1 0–1 1–2 0–3
    Matsumoto Yamaga 2–0 3–2 1–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 4–2 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–4 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–3 0–1 5–0
    Yokohama FC 0–3 2–2 3–0 2–1 3–0 2–0 2–3 4–2 3–1 3–1 1–0 1–1 1–2 0–0 1–1 3–3 2–2 1–0 0–0 2–3 0–4
    Machida Zelvia 0–0 3–2 2–1 2–1 1–3 1–0 0–0 3–3 3–0 0–0 1–2 2–2 2–1 0–1 3–2 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–0
    Zweigen Kanazawa 2–3 1–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 2–0 3–1 3–1 0–1 1–0 2–2 0–0 1–3 2–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 0–0 0–2 0–0 1–1
    Updated to match(es) played on 17 November 2018. Source: J.League Data
    Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

    Promotion–Relegation Playoffs

    Because Machida Zelvia did not own a J1 license for the 2019 season, they were ineligible to participate in the play-offs. Thus, Yokohama FC, finishing third in the season, received a bye into the second round, from which the winner will play the team finishing 16th in J1.

      1st Semi-Final 2nd Semi-Final Final
                                   
        1 Júbilo Iwata 2  
        2 Yokohama FC 0     J2 (6) Tokyo Verdy 0  
      3 Omiya Ardija 0     J2 (6) Tokyo Verdy 1  
      4 Tokyo Verdy 1  

    First Semi-Final
    Omiya Ardija0–1Tokyo Verdy
    Taira  71'
    Attendance: 11,858

    Second Semi-Final
    Yokohama FC0–1Tokyo Verdy
    Douglas Vieira  90+7'
    Attendance: 12,625
    Referee: Hajime Matsuo

    Final
    Júbilo Iwata2–0Tokyo Verdy
    K. Ogawa  41' (pen.)
    Taguchi  80'    		 Report
    Attendance: 14,588

    Top scorers
    As of matches played 17 November 2018.[6]
    Rank Player Club Goals
    1
    		 Genki Omae Omiya Ardija
    24
    2
    		 Ado Onaiwu Renofa Yamaguchi
    22
    3
    		 Takayuki Funayama JEF United Chiba
    19
    4
    		 Ibba Yokohama FC
    17
    5
    		 Douglas Vieira Tokyo Verdy
    13
    6
    		 Masashi Oguro Tochigi SC
    12
    Seigo Kobayashi Renofa Yamaguchi
    Yuki Nakashima Machida Zelvia
    Mateus Omiya Ardija
    Kenji Baba Oita Trinita
    Noriaki Fujimoto

    Attendances
    Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
    1 Albirex Niigata 313,080 22,465 8,614 14,913 −32.3%†
    2 Matsumoto Yamaga 278,948 19,066 9,490 13,283 −21.0%†
    3 JEF United Chiba 207,025 12,440 6,152 9,858 −1.3%†
    4 Omiya Ardija 193,711 12,400 6,506 9,224 −19.5%†
    5 Oita Trinita 187,052 15,125 4,880 8,907 +10.5%†
    6 Avispa Fukuoka 186,323 15,331 6,684 8,873 −7.1%†
    7 Fagiano Okayama 180,586 13,851 5,034 8,599 −9.2%†
    8 Ventforet Kofu 155,054 10,192 3,130 7,384 −31.9%†
    9 FC Gifu 144,011 12,045 3,819 6,858 −1.7%†
    10 Montedio Yamagata 142,094 13,609 4,675 6,766 +2.8%†
    11 Yokohama FC 128,959 10,978 3,051 6,141 +2.9%†
    12 Renofa Yamaguchi 128,579 12,927 3,133 6,123 +12.3%†
    13 Tokyo Verdy 124,654 10,529 3,048 5,936 −4.4%†
    14 Kyoto Sanga 118,931 9,036 2,624 5,663 −16.1%†
    15 Tochigi SC 118,805 11,562 3,203 5,657 +9.9%‡
    16 Roasso Kumamoto 110,643 10,226 3,206 5,269 −19.6%†
    17 Tokushima Vortis 104,941 8,753 2,974 4,997 +0.4%†
    18 Mito HollyHock 103,698 7,858 2,736 4,938 +0.1%†
    19 Machida Zelvia 103,215 10,013 2,414 4,915 +21.2%†
    20 Zweigen Kanazawa 95,093 9,645 2,108 4,528 +3.0%†
    21 Ehime FC 66,382 5,319 2,196 3,161 −18.2%†
    22 Kamatamare Sanuki 64,532 5,668 1,510 3,073 −19.2%†
    League total 3,256,416 22,465 1,510 7,049 +1.1%†

    Updated to games played on 17 November 2018
    Source: J. League Data
    Notes:
    † Relegated from J1.‡ Promoted from J3.

    References
    1. "2018 J2 LEAGUE Attendance". J.League. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
    2. http://www.ventforet.jp/news/press_release/515714
    3. http://www.sanga-fc.jp/news/p/12954/
    4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-08-17. Retrieved 2018-08-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    5. http://www.albirex.co.jp/news/top_team/55740
    6. https://www.jleague.jp/en/stats/goal.html?s=J2
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