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

    Managerial changes
    Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of
    appointment
    Ventforet Kofu Japan Tatsuma Yoshida 30 April 2018[2] Japan Nobuhiro Ueno 30 April 2018
    Kyoto Sanga Japan Takanori Nunobe 11 May 2018[3] Serbia Boško Gjurovski 11 May 2018
    Ehime FC Japan Shuichi Mase 15 May 2018[4] Japan Kenta Kawai 15 May 2018
    Albirex Niigata Japan Masakazu Suzuki 8 August 2018[5] Japan 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 Brazil Alex Muralha Brazil Cauê Brazil Jonathan Reis Brazil Thalles South Korea Song Ju-hun Brazil Bruno Meneghel
    Omiya Ardija Brazil Marcelo Toscano Brazil Mateus North Macedonia David Babunski Sweden Robin Simović South Korea Kim Dong-su Brazil Cauê
    Avispa Fukuoka Brazil Dudu Brazil Léo Mineiro South Korea Won Du-jae South Korea Yu In-soo Brazil Euller
    Brazil Túlio de Melo
    Ehime FC South Korea Park Seung-su South Korea Woo Sang-ho
    Fagiano Okayama Brazil Ricardo Santos South Korea Choi Jung-won South Korea Jeong Chung-geun South Korea Lee Kyung-tae South Korea Lee Yong-jae
    FC Gifu Argentina Ezequiel Ham Brazil Michael New Zealand Ryan De Vries South Korea Jeon San-hae Spain Víctor Ibáñez South Korea Woo Sang-ho
    JEF United Chiba Argentina Joaquín Larrivey Argentina Diego Rodríguez Australia Jason Geria Brazil Hebert Paraguay Jorge Salinas
    Kamatamare Sanuki Brazil Alex South Korea Park Chan-yong South Korea Song Young-min
    Kyoto Sanga Brazil Juninho Brazil Kaio China Wu Shaocong South Korea Kim Cheol-ho Uruguay Renzo López Uruguay Matías Caseras
    Brazil Alexandre
    Machida Zelvia North Macedonia Dorian Babunski Peru Romero Frank South Korea Jung Han-cheol North Korea Ri Han-jae
    Matsumoto Yamaga Brazil Dinei Brazil Paulinho Brazil Serginho South Korea Goh Dong-min South Korea Jo Jin-woo Singapore Anders Aplin
    Mito HollyHock Brazil Batista Brazil Diego Brazil Jefferson Baiano Costa Rica Danny Carvajal
    Montedio Yamagata Brazil Álvaro Brazil Bruno Lopes Brazil Felipe Alves Brazil Jairo
    Oita Trinita Brazil Willian South Korea Mun Kyung-gun North Korea Hwang Song-su South Korea Lim Seung-gyeom
    Renofa Yamaguchi Brazil Julinho Brazil Renan Brazil Washington Brazil Gerson
    South Korea Min Kyung-jun
    Roasso Kumamoto South Korea Lim Jin-woo South Korea Yang Sang-jun North Korea An Byong-jun
    Tochigi SC Brazil Alex Brazil Paulao Brazil Henik Brazil Mendes Switzerland Johnny Leoni Australia Diogo Ferreira
    Slovenia Nejc Pečnik
    Tokushima Vortis Brazil Bueno Nigeria Peter Utaka South Korea Kim Jong-pil Spain David Barral Spain Sisinio Brazil Nathan Júnior
    Costa Rica Danny Carvajal
    Ventforet Kofu Brazil Diego Brazil Éder Lima Brazil Ferrugem Brazil Junior Barros South Korea Byeon Jun-byum Brazil Dinei
    Brazil Lins
    Tokyo Verdy Brazil Alan Pinheiro Brazil Douglas Brazil Leandro North Korea Ri Yong-jik Spain Carlos Martínez
    Yokohama FC Brazil Bruno Meneghel Brazil Leandro Domingues Netherlands Calvin Jong-a-Pin Norway Ibba Laajab South Korea Bae Seung-jin South Korea Jeong Chung-geun
    Zweigen Kanazawa Brazil Allan Brazil 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 for 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 for 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) Champions; (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

    2018 J.League J1/J2 Play-Offs (2018 J1参入プレーオフ)
    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-Final2nd Semi-FinalFinal
    J1 (16)Júbilo Iwata2
    J2 (3)Yokohama FC0J2 (6)Tokyo Verdy0
    J2 (5)Omiya Ardija0J2 (6)Tokyo Verdy1
    J2 (6)Tokyo Verdy1

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

    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

    Júbilo Iwata remains in J1 League.
    Tokyo Verdy remains in J2 League.

    Top scorers
    As of matches played 17 November 2018.[6]
    Rank Player Club Goals
    1
    		 Japan Genki Omae Omiya Ardija
    24
    2
    		 Japan Ado Onaiwu Renofa Yamaguchi
    22
    3
    		 Japan Takayuki Funayama JEF United Chiba
    19
    4
    		 Norway Ibba Yokohama FC
    17
    5
    		 Brazil Douglas Vieira Tokyo Verdy
    13
    6 Japan Masashi Oguro Tochigi SC 12
    Japan Seigo Kobayashi Renofa Yamaguchi
    Japan Yuki Nakashima Machida Zelvia
    Brazil Mateus Omiya Ardija
    Japan Kenji Baba Oita Trinita
    Japan 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. "吉田 達磨 監督 契約解除について".
    3. "布部陽功監督 退任のお知らせ". Archived from the original on 2018-09-25. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
    4. "05/15 | トップチーム監督及びヘッドコーチ 契約解除のお知らせ | 愛媛Fc 公式サイト". Archived from the original on 2018-08-17. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
    5. "鈴木 政一監督 契約解除のお知らせ".
    6. "J.league.jp Japan Professional Football League".
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