From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
2019 J2 League
The 2019 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (Japanese: 2019 明治安田生命J2リーグ, Hepburn: 2019 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J2 Rīgu) season was the 48th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 21st season since the establishment of J2 League.
| Season |
|---|
| Kashiwa Reysol2nd J2 title3rd D2 title |
| Kashiwa ReysolYokohama FC |
| Kagoshima UnitedFC Gifu |
| 462 |
| 1,197 (2.59 per match) |
| 20,486Niigata vs. Kashiwa (9 March) |
| 2,111Yokohama vs. Tokushima(15 June) |
| 7,176 |
| ← 2018 2020 → |
The 2019 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (Japanese: 2019 明治安田生命J2リーグ, Hepburn: 2019 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J2 Rīgu) season was the 48th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 21st season since the establishment of J2 League.
Following eight successful seasons, Kashiwa Reysol bid farewell to the first division. A similar fate befell V-Varen Nagasaki, who returned to J2 after their inaugural season in the top tier. Matsumoto Yamaga and Oita Trinita, having earned promotion, filled their vacancies, while Tokyo Verdy missed out on promotion after losing the play-off against Júbilo Iwata. In addition, four teams experienced changes in their league status: Roasso Kumamoto and Kamatamare Sanuki exited J2, paving the way for the newly-promoted FC Ryukyu and Kagoshima United, both set to embark on their inaugural J2 season.
The participating clubs are listed in the following table:
| Club name | Home town(s) | Stadium | Capacity | Last season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albirex Niigata | Niigata & Seirō, Niigata | Denka Big Swan Stadium | 42,300 | J2 (16th) |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Fukuoka City, Fukuoka | Level5 Stadium | 22,563 | J2 (7th) |
| Ehime FC | All cities/towns in Ehime | Ningineer Stadium | 20,000 | J2 (18th) |
| Fagiano Okayama | All cities/towns in Okayama | City Light Stadium | 20,000 | J2 (15th) |
| FC Gifu | All cities/towns in Gifu | Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium | 26,109 | J2 (20th) |
| JEF United Chiba | Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba | Fukuda Denshi Arena | 18,500 | J2 (14th) |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Chiba Prefecture | Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium | 15,349 | Relegated from J1 (17th) |
| Kyoto Sanga | Southwestern cities/towns in Kyoto | Kyoto Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium | 20,588 | J2 (19th) |
| Machida Zelvia | Machida, Tokyo | Machida Athletic Stadium | 10,600 | J2 (4th) |
| Mito HollyHock | Mito, Ibaraki | K's denki Stadium Mito | 12,000 | J2 (10th) |
| Montedio Yamagata | All cities/towns in Yamagata | ND Soft Stadium | 20,315 | J2 (12th) |
| Omiya Ardija | Saitama, Saitama | NACK5 Stadium Omiya | 15,500 | J2 (5th) |
| Renofa Yamaguchi | All cities/towns in Yamaguchi | Yamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium | 20,000 | J2 (8th) |
| Tochigi SC | Utsunomiya, Tochigi | Tochigi Green Stadium | 18,025 | J2 (17th) |
| Tokushima Vortis | All cities/towns in Tokushima | Pocarisweat Stadium | 20,441 | J2 (11th) |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | Nagasaki Prefecture | Nagasaki Athletic Stadium | 20,246 | Relegated from J1 (18th) |
| Ventforet Kofu | All Yamanashi Prefecture | Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium | 17,000 | J2 (9th) |
| Tokyo Verdy | All cities/towns in Tokyo | Ajinomoto Stadium | 49,970 | J2 (6th) |
| Yokohama FC | Yokohama, Kanagawa | Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium | 15,454 | J2 (3rd) |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | Kanazawa, Ishikawa | Ishikawa Kanazawa Stadium | 20,000 | J2 (13th) |
| FC Ryukyu | Okinawa | Tapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium | 25,000 | Promoted from J3 (champions) |
| Kagoshima United FC | Kagoshima | Shiranami Stadium | 19,934 | Promoted from J3 (2nd) |
| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albirex Niigata | Kazuaki Yoshinaga | Masaru Kato | Adidas |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Kiyokazu Kudo | Jun Suzuki | Yonex |
| Ehime FC | Kenta Kawai | Go Nishida | Mizuno |
| Fagiano Okayama | Kenji Arima | Kohei Kiyama | Penalty |
| FC Gifu | Takeshi Oki | Masanori Abe | New Balance |
| FC Ryukyu | Yasuhiro Higuchi | Kazumasa Uesato | sfida |
| JEF United Chiba | Atsuhiko Ejiri | Yūto Satō | Kappa |
| Kagoshima United FC | Kim Jong-song | Shuto Nakahara | Puma |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Nelsinho Baptista | Hidekazu Otani | Yonex |
| Kyoto Sanga | Ichizo Nakata | Takumi Miyayoshi | Puma |
| Machida Zelvia | Naoki Soma | Yudai Inoue | SVOLME |
| Mito HollyHock | Shigetoshi Hasebe | Junya Hosokawa | GAViC |
| Montedio Yamagata | Takashi Kiyama | Takumi Yamada | Penalty |
| Omiya Ardija | Takuya Takagi | Genki Omae | Under Armour |
| Renofa Yamaguchi | Masahiro Shimoda | Hidetoshi Miyuki | Finta |
| Tochigi SC | Kazuaki Tasaka | Kotaro Fujiwara | ATHLETA |
| Tokushima Vortis | Ricardo Rodríguez | Ken Iwao | Mizuno |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | Makoto Teguramori | Masato Kurogi | Hummel |
| Ventforet Kofu | Akira Ito | Yuta Koide | Mizuno |
| Tokyo Verdy | Hideki Nagai | Naoya Kondo | ATHLETA |
| Yokohama FC | Takahiro Shimotaira | Yuta Minami | SOCCER JUNKY |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | Masaaki Yanagishita | Tomonobu Hiroi | Adidas |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date ofappointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JEF United Chiba | Juan Esnáider | 17 April 2019 | Atsuhiko Ejiri | 18 April 2019 |
| Albirex Niigata | Koichiro Katafuchi | 14 April 2019 | Kazuaki Yoshinaga | 14 April 2019 |
| Yokohama FC | Edson Tavares | 14 May 2019 | Takahiro Shimotaira | 14 May 2019 |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Fabio Pecchia | 3 June 2019 | Kiyokazu Kudo | 3 June 2019 |
| FC Gifu | Takeshi Oki | 16 June 2019 | Makoto Kitano | 18 June 2019 |
| Tokyo Verdy | Gary White | 17 July 2019 | Hideki Nagai | 17 July 2019 |
The total number of foreign players is limitless, but clubs can only register up to five foreign players for a single match-day squad. Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Iran and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.
Players in bold are players who join midway through the competition.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | Player 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albirex Niigata | Cauê | Franci | Leonardo | Paulão | Samuel Santos | Silvinho | Cho Young-cheol |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Félix Micolta | Won Du-jae | Jon Ander Serantes | Yang Dong-hyen | |||
| Ehime FC | Mladen Jutrić | Park Seong-su | Woo Sang-ho | ||||
| Fagiano Okayama | Léo Mineiro | Hadi Fayyadh | Choi Jung-won | Lee Kyung-tae | Lee Yong-jae | Yu Yong-hyeon | |
| FC Gifu | Junior Barros | Michael | Víctor Ibáñez | Frédéric Bulot | Jan-Ole Sievers | Ham Yeong-jun | Ryan De Vries |
| JEF United Chiba | Jason Geria | Alan Pinheiro | Hebert | Kléber | Williams Velásquez | ||
| Kashiwa Reysol | Cristiano | Gabriel | Júnior Santos | Matheus Sávio | Richardson | Michael Olunga | |
| Kyoto Sanga | Juninho | Renan Mota | |||||
| Machida Zelvia | Dorian Babunski | Ri Han-jae | Romero Frank | Jeong Chung-geun | |||
| Mito HollyHock | Jo | Lelêu | |||||
| Montedio Yamagata | Alvaro | Jefferson Baiano | Rodolfo | ||||
| Omiya Ardija | David Babunski | Juanma | Robin Simović | ||||
| Renofa Yamaguchi | Renan | Dostonbek Tursunov | |||||
| Tochigi SC | Henik | Mendes | Yuri | Yoo Hyun | Lee Rae-jun | ||
| Tokushima Vortis | Diego | Jordy Buijs | Sisi | Chakkit Laptrakul | Zabikhillo Urinboev | ||
| Tokyo Verdy | Jaílton Paraíba | Klebinho | Leandro | Walmerson | Ri Yong-jik | Nemanja Kojić | Kang Soo-il |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | Caio César | Víctor Ibarbo | Lee Jong-ho | Lee Sang-min | |||
| Ventforet Kofu | Allano | Dudú | Éder Lima | Peter Utaka | |||
| Yokohama FC | Leandro Domingues | Calvin Jong-a-Pin | Ibba Laajab | ||||
| Zweigen Kanazawa | Allan | Giovanni Clunie | |||||
| FC Ryukyu | Ramon | Danny Carvajal | Kim Song-sun | ||||
| Kagoshima United | Lucão | Nildo | Han Yong-thae | Ahn Joon-soo |
| Runner-up and qualification for 2020 J1 League |
| Qualification for promotion play-offs |
| Relegation to 2020 J3 League |
In the first two rounds of the 2019 J.League J1/J2 Play-Offs (2019 J1参入プレーオフ), if the score is tied after 90 minutes, no extra time is played and the winner is the team with the best J2 League ranking. In the final match against the J1 team, if the score is tied after 90 minutes, no extra time is played and the J1 team wins.
Shonan Bellmare remains in J1 League.
Tokushima Vortis remains in J2 League.
As of matches played November 24th, 2019.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leonardo | Albirex Niigata | ||
| Michael Olunga | Kashiwa Reysol | ||
| Hiroto Goya | V-Varen Nagasaki | ||
| Peter Utaka | Ventforet Kofu | ||
| Cristiano | Kashiwa Reysol | ||
| Ibba | Yokohama FC | ||
| Lee Yong-jae | Fagiano Okayama | ||
| Kléber | JEF United Chiba | ||
| Kazunari Ichimi | Kyoto Sanga | ||
| Junki Koike | Tokyo Verdy | ||
| Koji Suzuki | FC Ryukyu | ||
| Hayato Nakama | Fagiano Okayama |
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albirex Niigata | 304,445 | 20,486 | 8,777 | 14,497 | −2.8%† |
| 2 | JEF United Chiba | 203,725 | 14,950 | 5,885 | 9,701 | −1.6%† |
| 3 | Omiya Ardija | 199,040 | 12,090 | 5,874 | 9,478 | +2.8%† |
| 4 | Kashiwa Reysol | 198,887 | 13,056 | 6,415 | 9,471 | −16.9%† |
| 5 | Fagiano Okayama | 198,331 | 17,288 | 5,298 | 9,444 | +9.8%† |
| 6 | Montedio Yamagata | 174,064 | 18,721 | 5,415 | 8,289 | +22.5%† |
| 7 | Ventforet Kofu | 173,742 | 15,665 | 4,870 | 8,273 | +12.0%† |
| 8 | Kyoto Sanga | 164,845 | 14,069 | 3,385 | 7,850 | +38.6%† |
| 9 | V-Varen Nagasaki | 162,476 | 11,924 | 4,872 | 7,737 | −31.1%† |
| 10 | Yokohama FC | 148,280 | 12,937 | 2,111 | 7,061 | +15.0%† |
| 11 | Avispa Fukuoka | 146,639 | 12,028 | 3,578 | 6,983 | −21.3%† |
| 12 | FC Gifu | 139,526 | 11,787 | 4,212 | 6,644 | −3.1%† |
| 13 | Mito HollyHock | 127,824 | 9,874 | 3,886 | 6,087 | +23.3%† |
| 14 | Kagoshima United | 121,493 | 7,955 | 4,079 | 5,785 | +43.2%‡ |
| 15 | Tokushima Vortis | 120,460 | 10,526 | 3,870 | 5,736 | +14.8%† |
| 16 | Renofa Yamaguchi | 112,601 | 12,105 | 3,662 | 5,630 | −8.1%† |
| 17 | Tokyo Verdy | 112,789 | 8,545 | 2,331 | 5,371 | −9.5%† |
| 18 | Zweigen Kanazawa | 109,386 | 13,070 | 2,543 | 5,209 | +15.0%† |
| 19 | Tochigi SC | 108,105 | 8,426 | 3,725 | 5,148 | −9.0%† |
| 20 | FC Ryukyu | 100,409 | 12,019 | 2,428 | 4,953 | +57.4%‡ |
| 21 | Machida Zelvia | 99,077 | 8,814 | 3,009 | 4,718 | −4.0%† |
| 22 | Ehime FC | 79,373 | 7,874 | 2,540 | 3,780 | +19.6%† |
| League total | 3,315,234 | 20,486 | 2,111 | 7,176 | +1.8%† |
Ask Mako anything about 2019 J2 League — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report