The J. League 2008 season is the 16th season since the establishment of the J. League. The season began on March 8 and ended on December 6, 2008.

[edit] General

[edit] Promotion and Relegation

• At the end of the 2007 season, Consadole Sapporo , Tokyo Verdy and Kyoto Sanga F.C. were promoted to J1
• At the end of the 2007 season, Sanfrecce Hiroshima , Ventforet Kofu and Yokohama F.C. were relegated to J2
• At the end of the 2007 season, Roasso Kumamoto and F.C. Gifu were promoted from the JFL.

[edit] Changes in Competition Formats

• The Division 2 was expanded to 15 clubs.
• The new J2 format will consist of triple round-robin instead of quadruple round-robin to reduce the games played by team to 42 games.

[edit] Changes in Clubs

• Nagoya Grampus Eight is renamed Nagoya Grampus.
• Tokyo Verdy 1969 is renamed Tokyo Verdy.
• Rosso Kumamoto is renamed Roasso Kumamoto before joining the League.

[edit] Honours

[edit] J. League Division 1 (J1)

[edit] 2008 J1 Clubs

Consadole Sapporo

Albirex Niigata

Kashima Antlers

Omiya
Ardija

F.C. Tokyo

Urawa Red
Diamonds

Tokyo Verdy

Kawasaki Frontale

Kashiwa Reysol

Yokohama F. Marinos

JEF United Chiba

Shimizu
S-Pulse

Júbilo
Iwata

Nagoya
Grampus

Kyoto Sanga

Gamba Osaka

Vissel Kobe

Oita Trinita

Following eighteen clubs played in J. League Division 1 during 2008 season. Of these clubs, Consadole Sapporo, Tokyo Verdy, and Kyoto Sanga F.C. are newly promoted clubs.

• Consadole Sapporo
• Kashima Antlers
• Urawa Red Diamonds
• Omiya Ardija
• JEF United Chiba
• Kashiwa Reysol
• F.C. Tokyo
• Tokyo Verdy †
• Kawasaki Frontale
• Yokohama F. Marinos
• Albirex Nigata
• Shimizu S-Pulse
• Júblio Iwata
• Nagoya Grampus ‡
• Kyoto Sanga F.C.
• Gamba Osaka
• Vissel Kobe
• Oita Trinita

† Tokyo Verdy 1969 changed to Tokyo Verdy from 2008 season
‡ Nagoya Grampus Eight became Nagoya Grampus from 2008 season

[edit] 2008 J1 Format

Eighteen clubs will play in double round-robin (home and away) format, a total of 34 games each. A club receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order:

• Goal differential
• Goals scored
• Head-to-head results
• Disciplinary points

A draw would be conducted, if necessary. However, if two clubs are tied at the first place, both clubs will be declared as the champions. The bottom two clubs will be relegated to J2, while the 16th placed club plays a two-legged Promotion/Relegation Series. The champions of this season qualifies to the AFC Champions League and one to three more clubs may also qualify.

Changes from Previous Year

• Introduction of Disciplinary points for tie breaker (2008-)
• Top three clubs will qualify to AFC Champions League
• The J. League will not qualify to the abolished A3 Champions Cup.

[edit] 2008 Final J1 Table

Updated to games played on December 6, 2008
Source: J. League
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored.
¹Qualified as the winner of J. League Cup 2008.
²Qualified as the winner of Emperor's Cup 2008.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (Q) = Qualified to respective phase of tournament; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

[edit] 2008 Final J1 Scoring Table

As of December 6, 2008

Pos	Player	Team	Gls	Shots	Pens	App
1	Marquinhos	Kashima Antlers	21	90	1/2	30
2	Davi	Consadole Sapporo	16	69	2/2	26
3	Chong Tese	Kawasaki Frontale	14	91	0/0	33
	Atsushi Yanagisawa	Kyoto Sanga		70	0/1	32
5	Alessandro	Albirex Niigata	13	75	3/3	30
6	Shingo Akamine	F.C. Tokyo	12	36	0/0	30
	Juninho	Kawasaki Frontale		125	1/2	32
	Frode Johnsen	Nagoya Grampus		72	4/4	34
9	7 Players Tied		11

[edit] Assists Table

Position	Player's name	Nationality	Club	Assists
1	Yoshizumi Ogawa	Japan	Nagoya Grampus	12
2	Kengo Nakamura	Japan	Kawasaki Frontale	11
-	Kota Ueda	Japan	Júbilo Iwata	11
4	Juninho	Brazil	Kawasaki Frontale	10
5	Claiton	Brazil	Consadole Sapporo	9
6	Yasuhito Endo	Japan	Gamba Osaka	8
-	Danilo	Brazil	Kashima Antlers	8
-	Akihiro Hyodo	Japan	Shimizu S-Pulse	8
9	Yoshito Okubo	Japan	Vissel Kobe	7
-	Lucas	Brazil	Gamba Osaka	7

[edit] J1 Attendances

[edit] J. League Division 2 (J2)

[edit] 2008 J2 Clubs

Montedio Yamagata

Vegalta Sendai

Thespa Kusatsu

Mito HollyHock

Ventforet Kofu

Shonan Bellmare

Yokohama F.C.

F.C. Gifu

Cerezo Osaka

Sanfrecce
Hiroshima

Tokushima Vortis

Ehime F.C.

Sagan
Tosu

Avispa
Fukuoka

Roasso Kumamoto

Following fifteen clubs played in J. League Division 2 during 2008 season. Of these clubs, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Ventforet Kofu, and Yokohama F.C. relegated from Division 1 last year. Also, Roasso Kumamoto and F.C. Gifu newly joined from Japan Football League.

• Vegalta Sendai
• Montedio Yamagata
• Mito HollyHock
• Thespa Kusatsu
• Yokohama F.C.
• Shonan Bellmare
• Ventforet Kofu
• F.C. Gifu
• Cerezo Osaka
• Sanfrecce Hiroshima
• Tokushima Vortis
• Ehime F.C.
• Avispa Fukuoka
• Sagan Tosu
• Roasso Kumamoto

[edit] 2008 J2 Format

Fifteen clubs will play in triple round-robin format, a total of 42 games each. A club receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order:

• Goal differential
• Goals scored
• Head-to-head results
• Disciplinary points

A draw would be conducted, if necessary. However, if two clubs are tied at the first place, both clubs will be declared as the champions. The top two clubs will be promoted to J1, while the 3rd placed club plays a two-legged Promotion/Relegation series.

Changes from Previous Year

• Thirteen participating clubs (2006-2007) to fifteen clubs (2008-)
• Quadruple round-robin format (1999-2007) to triple round-robin format (2008-)
• Introduction of Disciplinary points for tie breaker (2008-)

[edit] 2008 Final J2 Table

Updated to games played on December 6, 2008
Source: J. League
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (Q) = Qualified to respective phase of tournament; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

[edit] 2008 Final J2 Scoring Table

As of December 6, 2008

Pos	Player	Team	Gls	Shots	Pens	App
1	Hisato Satō	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	28	132	1/1	40
2	Yutaka Takahashi	Roasso Kumamoto	19	122	1/1	42
3	Naoki Ishihara	Shonan Bellmare	18	74	0/0	41
	Yoshihito Fujita	Sagan Tosu		104	2/2	38
5	Tomoyuki Arata	Mito HollyHock	17	117	1/1	42
6	Anderson	Yokohama F.C.	16	58	4/4	36
	Rui Komatsu	Cerezo Osaka		73	0/0	32
	Shinji Kagawa	Cerezo Osaka		90	0/0	35
9	3 Players Tied		14

[edit] Promotion & Relegation

[edit] Clubs Relegated (J1 to J2)

• Tokyo Verdy
• Consadele Sapporo

[edit] Clubs Promoted (J2 to J1)

• Sanfrecce Hiroshima
• Montedio Yamagata

[edit] Promotion and Relegation Series 2008

The series was played between Júbilo Iwata from J1 and Vegalta Sendai from J2 for the right to play in the J. League Division 1 in 2009. Iwata defeated Sendai with aggregate score of 3-2, becoming the first J1 team to win the Promotion/Relegation series since 2004 series when Kashiwa Reysol defeated Avispa Fukuoka.

December 10, 2008 19:00	Vegalta Sendai	1 – 1	Júbilo Iwata	Yurtec Stadium Sendai, Sendai Attendance: 18,974 Referee: Kenji Ogiya
	Nadson  41'	Report	Matsuura  53'

December 13, 2008 16:00	Júbilo Iwata	2 – 1	Vegalta Sendai	Yamaha Stadium, Iwata Attendance: 16,693 Referee: Masayoshi Okada
	Matsuura  41', 70'	Report	Ryang Yong-Gi  89'

[edit] External links

• J. League Official Site (English)