2021 J3 League

Meiji Yasuda J3 League
Season2021
Dates13 March – 5 December
ChampionsRoasso Kumamoto (1st title)
PromotedRoasso Kumamoto
Iwate Grulla Morioka
RelegatedNo relegation
Matches played210
Goals scored533 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorerShota Kawanishi, FC Gifu (13 goals)
Biggest home winAzul Claro Numazu v Vanraure Hachinohe 7-2
Highest scoringGainare Tottori v Nagano Parceiro 1-8
Azul Claro Numazu v Vanraure Hachinohe 7-2
Longest winning runRoasso Kumamoto 7 (28/08/21 - 16/10/2021)
Longest unbeaten runRoasso Kumamoto 12 (13/06/21 - 24/10/2021)
Highest attendance11,314
Roasso Kumamoto 2–0 FC Gifu
(5 December 2021)
Lowest attendance264
Fukushima United FC 2–1 Iwate Grulla Morioka
(26 May 2021)
Total attendance401,776
Average attendance1,913
← 2020
2022 →
All statistics correct as of complete.

The 2021 J3 League, referred to as the 2021 Meiji Yasuda J3 League (Japanese: 2021 明治安田生命J3リーグ, Hepburn: 2021 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J3 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 8th season of J3 League under its current name.

Roasso Kumamoto won the J3 title for the first time in their history, in their debut campaign at the J3 League, just three years after being relegation from the J2 League. They were promoted to the 2022 J2 League alongside Iwate Grulla Morioka. Iwate team won promotion for the J2 League for the first time.

Overview

There were no relegations from J2 League in 2020 and the number of teams decreased for 2021.

This is first season without three U-23 teams from J1 in 2021 season. Four teams from J2 League automatically relegation for 2021 and two teams from J3 League automatically promotion. J3 League has been scheduled for a expansion to 18 clubs before the 2022 season. This is the last season played with 15 teams.

Changes from the previous season

Promoted from 2020 JFL Promoted to 2021 J2 League Withdrawn / Disbanded
Tegevajaro Miyazaki Blaublitz Akita
SC Sagamihara		 Cerezo Osaka U-23
Gamba Osaka U-23
FC Tokyo U-23

2020 was also the last season where U-23 teams played in the professional setup. After two separate stints involving youth clubs in this division. First it was the J.League U-22 Selection in 2014 and 2015, and then three U-23 teams were involved from 2016 to 2020. FC Tokyo U-23 pulled out of the competition prior to the start of the 2020 season. Cerezo Osaka U-23 and Gamba Osaka U-23 were disbanded at the end of 2020 after completing the full season.[1]

Blaublitz Akita and SC Sagamihara were promoted to J2 League, the later being the last club from the original clubs which started the maiden season in 2014 to be promoted from the third division.

One new team was promoted to the professional ranks of Japanese football, Tegevajaro Miyazaki, as runners-up in the 2020 JFL season and were promoted.[2]

Participating clubs

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Locations of the 2021 J3 League teams
Club Name Home Town Stadium Capacity Last season Licence
Azul Claro Numazu Numazu Ashitaka Stadium 10,000 J3（12th） J3
FC Gifu All cities/towns in Gifu[a] Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium 26,109 J3（5th） J1
FC Imabari Imabari Arigato Service Dream Stadium 5,000 J3（6th） J2
Fukushima United FC Fukushima Toho Stadium 21,000 J3（13th） J3
Gainare Tottori All cities/towns in Tottori [b] Axis Bird Stadium 16,033 J3（8th） J2
Iwate Grulla Morioka All cities/towns in Iwate Iwagin Stadium 4,946 J3（11th） J2
Kamatamare Sanuki All cities/towns in Kagawa [c] Pikara Stadium 30,099 J3（16th） J2
Kagoshima United Kagoshima Shiranami Stadium 19,934 J3（4th） J1
Kataller Toyama All cities/towns in Toyama[d] Toyama Athletic Stadium 25,251 J3（9th） J1
Fujieda MYFC Cities/towns in Shizuoka Prefecture[e] Fujieda Soccer Field 13,000 J3（10th） J3
Nagano Parceiro Nagano Nagano U Stadium 15,491 J3（3rd） J2
Roasso Kumamoto Kumamoto, Kumamoto Egao Kenko Stadium 32,000 J3（7th） J1
Tegevajaro Miyazaki Miyazaki & Shintomi, Miyazaki Unilever Stadium Shintomi 5,000 Promoted from JFL（2nd） J3
Vanraure Hachinohe Eastern cities/towns in Aomori[f] Prifoods Stadium 5,200 J3（15th） J3
YSCC Yokohama Yokohama Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium 15,454 J3（17th） J3
  1. ^ centering on Gifu
  2. ^ centering on Tottori, Yonago, Kurayoshi, Sakaiminato
  3. ^ centering on Takamatsu, Marugame
  4. ^ centering on Toyama
  5. ^ Fujieda, Shimada, Yaizu, Makinohara, Yoshida, Kawanehonmachi
  6. ^ Hachinohe, Towada, Gonohe, Sannohe, Takko, Hashikami, Nanbu, Shingo, Oirase, Misawa, Shichinohe, Rokunohe, Tohoku, Noheji, Yokohama, Rokkasho

Personnel and kits

Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer
Azul Claro Numazu Japan Masataka Imai Japan Masayuki Tokutake Germany Puma
FC Gifu Japan Takayoshi Amma[3] Japan Kentaro Kai Japan RAZZOLI
FC Imabari Japan Keiichiro Nuno Japan Keishi Kusumi Germany Adidas
Fukushima United FC Japan Yu Tokisaki[4] Japan Makoto Kawanishi
Japan Hiroto Morooka
Japan Tomoyasu Yoshida 		Denmark hummel
Gainare Tottori North Korea Kim Jong-song Japan Masataka Kani Japan Soccer Junky
Iwate Grulla Morioka Japan Yutaka Akita Japan Yusuke Muta United States Under Armour
Kagoshima United FC Japan Yasuaki Oshima Japan Noriyuki Sakemoto Japan ANGUA
Kamatamare Sanuki Serbia Zdravko Zemunović[5] Japan Akira Takeuchi Brazil ATHLETA
Kataller Toyama Japan Nobuhiro Ishizaki[6] Japan Yohei Nishibe Japan GOLDWin
Fujieda MYFC Japan Yasuharu Kurata[7] Japan Takuya Sugimoto Japan gol.
Nagano Parceiro Japan Yuji Yokoyama TBA Brazil Penalty
Roasso Kumamoto Japan Takeshi Oki Japan Tomotaka Okamoto Germany Puma
Tegevajaro Miyazaki Japan Naruyuki Naito[8] Japan Kenji Dai Japan YONEX
Vanraure Hachinohe Japan Masahiro Kuzuno[9] Japan Teppei Chikaishi Denmark hummel
YSCC Yokohama Japan/Germany Yuki Stalph Japan Kento Dodate Japan younger

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing Manner Exit date Position in table Incoming Incoming date Ref.
Announced on Departed on Announced on Arrived on
Kamatamare Sanuki Japan Nobuyuki Uenoyama Resigns 31 March 2021 31 March 2021 15th Japan Toshihiro Nishimura (Interim) 1 April 2021 1 April 2021 [10]
Kamatamare Sanuki Japan Toshihiro Nishimura End of Interim period 11 April 2021 11 April 2021 15th Serbia Zdravko Zemunovic 12 April 2021 12 April 2021 [11]
Gainare Tottori Japan Riki Takagi Dismissed 6 May 2021 4 May 2021 12th North Korea Kim Jong-song 10 May 2021 10 May 2021 [12][13]
FC Imabari Spain Lluís Planagumà Dismissed 19 May 2021 18 May 2021 13th Japan Kazuaki Hashikawa (Interim) 19 May 2021 19 May 2021 [14]
FC Imabari Japan Kazuaki Hashikawa End of Interim period 23 May 2021 23 May 2021 13th Japan Keiichiro Nuno 24 May 2021 24 May 2021 [15]
Kagoshima United Australia Arthur Papas Resigned 28 May 2021 28 May 2021 9th Japan Yasuaki Oshima 28 May 2021 28 May 2021 [16]
Fujieda MYFC Japan Yasuharu Kurata Resigned 12 July 2021 12 July 2021 12th Japan Daisuke Sudo 12 July 2021 12 July 2021 [17]
FC Imabari Japan Keiichiro Nuno Resigned 29 September 2021 29 September 2021 12th Japan Kazuaki Hashikawa 29 September 2021 29 September 2021 [18][19]

League table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Roasso Kumamoto (C, P) 28 15 9 4 39 20 +19 54 Promotion to J2 League[a]
2 Iwate Grulla Morioka (P) 28 15 8 5 43 28 +15 53
3 Tegevajaro Miyazaki[b] 28 16 5 7 44 31 +13 53
4 Kataller Toyama 28 13 7 8 40 34 +6 46
5 Fukushima United[b] 28 13 6 9 41 32 +9 45[c]
6 FC Gifu 28 12 5 11 38 35 +3 41
7 Kagoshima United 28 11 7 10 34 35 −1 40
8 YSCC Yokohama 28 11 7 10 31 33 −2 40
9 Nagano Parceiro 28 8 12 8 35 28 +7 36
10 Fujieda MYFC 28 8 8 12 42 42 0 32
11 FC Imabari[b] 28 7 9 12 34 33 +1 30
12 Gainare Tottori 28 9 2 17 36 53 −17 29
13 Vanraure Hachinohe 28 7 8 13 24 44 −20 29[c]
14 Azul Claro Numazu[b] 28 7 6 15 32 44 −12 27
15 Kamatamare Sanuki 28 4 9 15 20 41 −21 21
Source: 2021 MEIJI YASUDA J3 LEAGUE League table, J.League Data Site
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Head-to-head points; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Head-to-head goal scored; 6) Number of wins; 7) Goals scored; 8) Fair-play points
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. ^ Only teams that hold a J2 license are eligible for promotion.
  2. ^ a b c d The team held neither a J1 nor J2 license, and so was ineligible for promotion to the J2 League.
  3. ^ a b The match between Fukushima United and Vanraure Hachinohe resulted in a 2–0 win for Fukushima, but was changed to an awarded 0–3 scoreline by the J.League, after Fukushima allowed a player who had not received a negative test to play in the game.[20] The original result was restored following a decision by the JFA Appeal Committee.[21]

Stadiums

Primary venues used in the J3 League:

Vanraure Hachinohe Iwate Grulla Morioka Fukushima United FC YSCC Yokohama Nagano Parceiro
Prifoods Stadium Iwagin Stadium Toho Stadium Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium Nagano U Stadium
Capacity: 5,124 Capacity: 5,046 Capacity: 6,464 Capacity: 15,440 Capacity: 15,515
Kataller Toyama Fujieda MYFC Azul Claro Numazu FC Gifu Gainare Tottori
Toyama Stadium Fujieda Soccer Stadium Ashitaka Park Stadium Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium Axis Bird Stadium
Capacity: 18,588 Capacity: 5,056 Capacity: 5,104 Capacity: 16,310 Capacity: 11,999
Kamatamare Sanuki FC Imabari Roasso Kumamoto Tegevajaro Miyazaki Kagoshima United FC
Pikara Stadium Arigato Service Dream Stadium Egao Kenko Stadium Unilever Stadium Shintomi Shiranami Stadium
Capacity: 22,338 Capacity: 5,063 Capacity: 30,449 Capacity: 5,354 Capacity: 12,606

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of December 5th, 2021[22]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Japan Shota Kawanishi FC Gifu 13
2 Japan Kosuke Fujioka Tegevajaro Miyazaki 10
3 Japan Yohei Ono Kataller Toyama 9
Japan Naoki Sanda Nagano Parceiro
Japan Rei Yonezawa Kagoshima United FC
Japan Yuya Taguchi Gainare Tottori
Japan Hiroki Higuchi Fukushima United
Japan Kaito Umeda Tegevajaro Miyazaki
4 Japan Toshiki Takahashi Roasso Kumamoto 8
Nigeria Origbaajo Ismaila Fukushima United
5 Japan Ömer Tokac Fukushima United 7
Japan Ryo Watanabe Azul Claro Numazu

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date
Japan Naoki Sanda Nagano Parceiro Gainare Tottori 1–8 (A)[23] 13 June 2021

Attendances

See also

  • Japan Football Association (JFA)
  • Main article: List of football stadiums in Japan
League
Cup(s)

References

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  2. ^ "２０２１Ｊリーグ クラブ編成：Ｊリーグ.jp".
  3. ^ "安間貴義氏、ＦＣ岐阜監督就任のお知らせ | FC岐阜オフィシャルサイト".
  4. ^ "福島ユナイテッドFC TOPチーム新監督就任について". 福島ユナイテッドFC 公式サイト｜FUKUSHIMA UNITED FC OFFICIAL WEBSITE.
  5. ^ "New Manager appointed for Kamatamare Sanuki". www.kamatamare.jp. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  6. ^ "石﨑信弘新監督就任のお知らせ".
  7. ^ "倉田安治氏 監督就任のお知らせ｜藤枝MYFC". 藤枝MYFC.
  8. ^ "内藤 就行 監督就任のお知らせ – テゲバジャーロ宮崎－オフィシャルサイト". www.tegevajaro.com.
  9. ^ "葛野昌宏氏 ヴァンラーレ八戸監督就任のお知らせ | ヴァンラーレ八戸FCオフィシャルサイト". December 21, 2020.
  10. ^ "Manager Resigns". www.kamatamare.jp. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  11. ^ "New Manager/Coach announced". www.kamatamare.jp. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Gainare Tottori announce Takagi's Dismissal". www.gainare.co.jp. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Gainare Tottori announce Kim's appointment". www.gainare.co.jp/. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Interim manager announced". fcimabari.com/. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  15. ^ "New manager for FC Imabari". fcimabari.com/. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  16. ^ "Arthur Pappas Resigns". kufc.co.jp/. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Coach resigns". myfc.co.jp. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  18. ^ "Coach resigns". www.fcimabari.com. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  19. ^ "New coach announced". www.fcimabari.com. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  20. ^ "Jリーグがエントリー不備で3チームを処分…福島は勝ち試合が0–3負け試合に". web.gekisaka.jp (in Japanese). 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  21. ^ "明治安田生命Ｊ３リーグ第8節 福島ユナイテッドＦＣ vs. ヴァンラーレ八戸の公式記録の訂正について". J.League.jp (in Japanese). 14 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  22. ^ "J. League Data Site".
  23. ^ "２０２１明治安田生命Ｊ３リーグ 第１１節 三田 尚希 選手（長野）ハットトリック達成". jleague.jp. 13 June 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.