1998 J.League

The 1998 season was the sixth season of the J-League. The league began in March and ended in November. For this year, the division was contested by 18 teams. Júbilo Iwata won the 1st stage and Kashima Antlers won the 2nd stage. Kashima Antlers won the J.League title after winning both matches in the Suntory Championship.

J.League
Season1998
ChampionsKashima Antlers
2nd J. League title
RelegatedConsadole Sapporo
Asian Club ChampionshipKashima Antlers
Júbilo Iwata
Matches played306
Goals scored1,074 (3.51 per match)
Top goalscorerMasashi Nakayama (36 goals)
Highest attendance53,598 - Flügels vs. Marinos (September 15)
Lowest attendance2,091 - Vissel vs. JEF Utd. (October 14)
Average attendance11,982
← 1997
1999 →

First stage
Pos Team Pld W OTW PKW OTL PKL L GF GA GD Pts
1 Shizuoka Prefecture Júbilo Iwata 17 13 0 0 0 0 4 52 18 +34 39
2 Shizuoka Prefecture Shimizu S-Pulse 17 13 0 0 0 0 4 32 14 +18 39
3 Aichi Prefecture Nagoya Grampus Eight 17 9 3 0 0 1 4 37 21 +16 33
4 Kanagawa Prefecture Yokohama Marinos 17 10 1 0 1 0 5 39 21 +18 32
5 Ibaraki Prefecture Kashima Antlers 17 10 1 0 0 0 6 41 28 +13 32
6 Tokyo Verdy Kawasaki 17 10 0 0 1 1 5 34 25 +9 30
7 Saitama Prefecture Urawa Red Diamonds 17 8 1 2 1 0 5 30 23 +7 28
8 Kanagawa Prefecture Yokohama Flügels 17 7 2 1 0 0 7 33 32 +1 26
9 Osaka Prefecture Cerezo Osaka 17 7 1 0 1 0 8 36 47 −11 23
10 Chiba Prefecture Kashiwa Reysol 17 6 1 2 1 0 7 32 35 −3 22
11 Chiba Prefecture JEF United Ichihara 17 7 0 0 2 0 8 31 31 0 21
12 Kanagawa Prefecture Bellmare Hiratsuka 17 5 2 1 1 0 8 27 34 −7 20
13 Hiroshima Prefecture Sanfrecce Hiroshima 17 5 2 0 2 1 7 22 33 −11 19
14 Osaka Prefecture Gamba Osaka 17 4 2 1 1 0 9 27 29 −2 17
15 Kyoto Prefecture Kyoto Purple Sanga 17 4 2 0 3 0 8 20 33 −13 16
16 Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo 17 3 1 0 2 3 8 28 44 −16 11
17 Hyōgo Prefecture Vissel Kobe 17 3 0 0 1 0 13 20 48 −28 9
18 Fukuoka Prefecture Avispa Fukuoka 17 2 0 1 2 2 10 22 47 −25 7
Source:

Second stage
Pos Team Pld W OTW PKW OTL PKL L GF GA GD Pts
1 Kashima Antlers 17 12 3 0 0 0 2 38 15 +23 42
2 Júbilo Iwata 17 13 0 0 1 0 3 55 21 +34 39
3 Urawa Red Diamonds 17 11 0 0 2 0 4 32 17 +15 33
4 Yokohama Marinos 17 10 1 0 3 0 3 40 27 +13 32
5 Shimizu S-Pulse 17 8 3 1 0 1 4 39 21 +18 31
6 Nagoya Grampus Eight 17 9 1 1 1 0 5 34 26 +8 30
7 Yokohama Flügels 17 8 0 1 0 0 8 37 32 +5 25
8 Kashiwa Reysol 17 8 0 1 1 1 6 24 26 −2 25
9 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 17 7 1 1 1 1 6 23 19 +4 24
10 Consadole Sapporo 17 8 0 0 1 1 7 29 30 −1 24
11 Kyoto Purple Sanga 17 6 2 1 0 0 8 27 30 −3 23
12 Bellmare Hiratsuka 17 7 0 1 0 0 9 26 32 −6 22
13 Cerezo Osaka 17 7 0 0 0 1 9 20 32 −12 21
14 Vissel Kobe 17 5 0 1 1 0 10 25 41 −16 16
15 Avispa Fukuoka 17 4 1 0 0 0 12 11 38 −27 14
16 Gamba Osaka 17 3 2 0 0 1 11 20 32 −12 13
17 Verdy Kawasaki 17 3 0 0 1 1 12 13 28 −15 9
18 JEF United Ichihara 17 1 0 1 2 1 12 18 44 −26 4
Source:

Playoffs

Suntory Championship
Júbilo Iwata1 – 2Kashima Antlers
Nakayama 7' Hasegawa 72'
Muroi gold-colored soccer ball 110'
Attendance: 40,263
Referee: Masayoshi Okada
Kashima Antlers2 – 1Júbilo Iwata
Akita 39'
Bismarck 41'		 Fujita 84'
Attendance: 16,991
Referee: Leslie Mottram

Relegation playoffs

On the aggregate table, JEF United Ichihara, Avispa Fukuoka, and Vissel Kobe had earned within the 15th-18th places in the tables for both 1997 and 1998, while Consadole Sapporo had achieved within the same span on its sole season on the J.League. (Gamba Osaka, who had finished between Sapporo and Kobe, was reprieved because of the collapse and resignation of Yokohama Flügels.) These clubs thus were entered in an elimination promotion/relegation tournament along with Japan Football League runners-up Kawasaki Frontale, who unlike champions Tokyo Gas had a base more qualifiable for the J.League.

First round
November 19, 1998 Avispa Fukuoka 3–2 (a.e.t.) Kawasaki Frontale Hakata no Mori Football Stadium, Fukuoka
Kudo 24'
Yamashita 89'
Fernando , gold-colored soccer ball 104' 		Ito 17'
Tuto 61'		 Attendance: 12,535
Referee: Alfredo Rodas

Kawasaki forms J.League Division 2 the next season. Fukuoka advances to the next round.

Second round

The winners of this round stay in J.League Division 1 and the losers play a final elimination series to determine the club relegated to Division 2.

November 22, 1998 Vissel Kobe 2–1 Consadole Sapporo Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium, Kobe
Nagashima 34' (pen.)
Kaimoto 41'		 Tanada 50' Attendance: 14,613
November 26, 1998
Time 		Consadole Sapporo 0–2 Vissel Kobe Muroran Irie Stadium, Muroran
Tomàs 48'
Watada 89'		 Attendance: 4,525
Referee: Alfredo Rodas
November 22, 1998 Avispa Fukuoka 0–2 JEF United Ichihara Hakata no Mori Football Stadium
Takeda 65'
Scholten 76'		 Attendance: 12,300
Referee: Leslie Mottram
November 26, 1998 JEF United Ichihara 2–1 Avispa Fukuoka Ichihara Stadium, Ichihara
Suzuki 49'
Sakai 60'		 Mori 63' Attendance: 10,703

Final round
December 2, 1998 Avispa Fukuoka 1–0 Consadole Sapporo Hakata no Mori Football Stadium
Ueno 61' Attendance: 12,526
Referee: Alfredo Rodas
December 5, 1998 Consadole Sapporo 0–3 Avispa Fukuoka Muroran Irie Stadium, Muroran
Ueno 52'
Fernando 84'
Ishimaru 89'		 Attendance: 8,372
Referee: Leslie Mottram

Fukuoka stays in J.League Division 1. Consadole is relegated to new J.League Division 2.

Awards

Individual awards
AwardRecipientClubNotes
Most Valuable PlayerJapan Masashi NakayamaJúbilo Iwata
Rookie of the YearJapan Shinji OnoUrawa Red Diamonds
Manager of the YearArgentina Osvaldo ArdilesShimizu S-Pulse
Top Scorer Japan Masashi NakayamaJúbilo Iwata36 goals.

Best Eleven
PosFootballerClubNationality
GKSeigo NarazakiYokohama Flügels Japan
DFNaoki SomaKashima Antlers Japan
DFMakoto TanakaJúbilo Iwata Japan
DFYutaka AkitaKashima Antlers Japan
MFShinji OnoUrawa Red Diamonds Japan
MFDaisuke OkuJúbilo Iwata Japan
MFToshiya FujitaJúbilo Iwata Japan
MFHiroshi NanamiJúbilo Iwata Japan
MFDungaJúbilo Iwata Brazil
FWMasashi NakayamaJúbilo Iwata Japan
FWAtsushi YanagisawaKashima Antlers Japan

References
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