2021 J2 League

The 2021 J2 League, also known as the 2021 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (2021 明治安田生命J2リーグ, 2021 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J2 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 23rd season of J2 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999. The league started on 27 February 2021 and ended on 5 December.[1]

J2 League
Season2021
Dates27 February – 5 December
ChampionsJúbilo Iwata
1st J2 title
3rd D2 title
PromotedJúbilo Iwata
Kyoto Sanga
RelegatedSC Sagamihara
Ehime FC
Giravanz Kitakyushu
Matsumoto Yamaga
Matches played462
Goals scored1,102 (2.39 per match)
Top goalscorerLukian (22 goals)
Highest attendance14,759
Lowest attendance559
(excluding matches played behind closed doors)
Total attendance1,806,409
Average attendance3,910
← 2020
2022 →

Clubs
Locations of the 2021 J2 League teams
Greater Tokyo Area J2 League teams

With no relegations from J1 League, the second division hosted the same number of teams, since there were also no relegations to J3 League in 2020, but there were two promotions from the third division. This year, though, saw four relegations to J3 to match the four relegations from J1.

Tokushima Vortis left the second division after six seasons, coming back to J1, this time winning the title and topping the table in 2020. Despite losing in the last match against rivals and runners-up Avispa Fukuoka, both clubs assured themselves of the promotion to J1 with one game still to be played.[2]

Meanwhile, in J3 League, two teams won promotion to J2: Blaublitz Akita stormed their way to J2, winning their second title in J3, but this time also getting promoted to J2 (unlike what happened in 2017, when they won, but did not hold a J2 license; this was their first appearance in the second tier since 1986). In the last match of the season, SC Sagamihara overcame Nagano Parceiro and clinched their first promotion ever, leaving the third division after seven seasons.[3]

Club NameHome TownStadiumCapacityLast seasonLicense
Albirex Niigata Niigata & Seiro, Niigata Denka Big Swan Stadium 42,300 J2 (11th) J1
Blaublitz Akita Akita Soyu Stadium 20,125 Promoted from J3 (Champions) J2
Ehime FC All cities/towns in Ehime[lower-alpha 1] Ningineer Stadium 20,000 J2 (21st) J1
Fagiano Okayama All cities/towns in Okayama[lower-alpha 2] City Light Stadium 20,000 J2 (17th) J1
Giravanz Kitakyushu Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu 15,066 J2 (5th) J1
JEF United Chiba Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba Fukuda Denshi Arena 18,500 J2 (14th) J1
Júbilo Iwata Iwata, Shizuoka Yamaha Stadium 15,165 J2 (6th) J1
Kyoto Sanga Cities/towns in Kyoto[lower-alpha 3] Sanga Stadium by Kyocera 21,600 J2 (8th) J1
Machida Zelvia Machida, Tokyo Machida Athletic Stadium 10,600 J2 (19th) J1
Matsumoto Yamaga Cities/towns in Nagano[lower-alpha 4] Sunpro Alwin 20,396 J2 (13th) J1
Mito HollyHock Cities/towns in Ibaraki[lower-alpha 5] K's denki Stadium Mito 12,000 J2 (9th) J2
Montedio Yamagata All cities/towns in Yamagata[lower-alpha 6] ND Soft Stadium 20,315 J2 (7th) J1
Omiya Ardija Saitama, Saitama NACK5 Stadium Omiya 15,500 J2 (15th) J1
Renofa Yamaguchi All cities/towns in Yamaguchi Yamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium 20,000 J2 (22nd) J1
FC Ryukyu All cities/towns in Okinawa[lower-alpha 7] Tapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium 25,000 J2 (16th) J1
SC Sagamihara Sagamihara Gion Stadium 15,300 Promoted from J3 (Runners-up) J2
Tochigi SC Utsunomiya, Tochigi Kanseki Stadium Tochigi 25,244 J2 (10th) J1
Thespakusatsu Gunma All cities/towns in Gunma[lower-alpha 8] Shoda Shoyu Stadium Gunma 15,253 J2 (20th) J1
V-Varen Nagasaki All cities/towns in Nagasaki Prefecture[lower-alpha 9] Nagasaki Athletic Stadium 20,246 J2 (3rd) J1
Ventforet Kofu All cities/towns in Yamanashi Prefecture[lower-alpha 10] Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium 17,000 J2 (4th) J1
Tokyo Verdy All cities/towns in Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium 49,970 J2 (12th) J1
Zweigen Kanazawa All cities/towns in Ishikawa[lower-alpha 11] Ishikawa Kanazawa Stadium 20,000 J2 (18th) J1
  1. centering on Matsuyama
  2. centering on Okayama, Kurashiki, Tsuyama
  3. Kyoto, Uji, Joyo, Kyotanabe, Muko, Nagaokakyo, Kizugawa, Kameoka, Nantan, Kyotanba, Fukuchiyama, Maizuru, Ayabe
  4. Matsumoto, Azumino, Yamagata, Shiojiri, Omachi, Ikeda, Ikusaka, Minowa, Asahi
  5. Mito, Hitachinaka, Kasama, Naka, Omitama, Ibaraki, Shirosato, Oarai, Tokai
  6. centering on Yamagata, Tendo, Tsuruoka
  7. centering on Okinawa
  8. centering on Kusatsu and Maebashi
  9. centering on Nagasaki and Isahaya
  10. centering on Kofu and Nirasaki
  11. centering on Kanazawa, Nonoichi, Kahoku, Tsubata, Tsubata

Personnel and kits
ClubManagerCaptainKit manufacturer
Albirex Niigata Albert Puig / Michael Fitzgerald
Yuto Horigome
Yuzuru Shimada		 Adidas
Blaublitz Akita Ken Yoshida[4] Ryota Nakamura ATHLETA
Ehime FC Noritada Saneyoshi[5] Takanori Maeno Mizuno
Fagiano Okayama Kenji Arima TBA Penalty
Giravanz Kitakyushu Shinji Kobayashi Kota Muramatsu Penalty
JEF United Chiba Yoon Jong-hwan Daisuke Suzuki Kappa
Júbilo Iwata Masakazu Suzuki[6] Kentaro Oi Puma
Kyoto Sanga Cho Kwi-jae Temma Matsuda Puma
Machida Zelvia Ranko Popović Hiroki Mizumoto SVOLME
Matsumoto Yamaga Kei Shibata[7] Hayuma Tanaka Adidas
Mito HollyHock Tadahiro Akiba[8] Masato Nakayama soccer junky
Montedio Yamagata Peter Cklamovski Takumi Yamada Penalty
Omiya Ardija Ken Iwase[9] Yuta Mikado Under Armour
Renofa Yamaguchi Susumu Watanabe Joji Ikegami Finta
FC Ryukyu Tetsuhiro Kina[10] Kazumasa Uesato sfida
SC Sagamihara Fumitake Miura Jiro Kamata gol.
Tochigi SC Kazuaki Tasaka TBA ATHLETA
Thespakusatsu Gunma Ryosuke Okuno Kodai Watanabe Kelme
V-Varen Nagasaki Takayuki Yoshida[11] Hiroki Akino Umbro
Ventforet Kofu Akira Ito Ryohei Arai Mizuno
Tokyo Verdy Hideki Nagai Tomohiro Taira ATHLETA
Zweigen Kanazawa Masaaki Yanagishita Tomonobu Hiroi hummel

Managerial changes
TeamOutgoingManner Exit datePosition in tableIncomingIncoming date Ref.
Announced onDeparted onAnnounced onArrived on
Ehime FC Shigenari Izumi Resigned 4 April 2021 4 April 2021 22nd Noritada Saneyoshi 7 April 2021 7 April 2021 [12][5]
V-Varen Nagasaki Takayuki Yoshida Demoted to Assistant Coach 3 May 2021 3 May 2021 11th Kazuki Sato (Caretaker) 3 May 2021 4 May 2021 [13]
V-Varen Nagasaki Kazuki Sato End of term 3 May 2021 6 May 2021 15th Hiroshi Matsuda 3 May 2021 6 May 2021 [14]
FC Ryukyu Yasuhiro Higuchi Sacked 20 October 2021 20 October 2021 8th Tetsuhiro Kina 20 October 2021 20 October 2021 [15][16]

Foreign players

As of 2021 season, there are no more restrictions on a number of signed foreign players, but clubs can only register up to five foreign players for a single match-day squad.[17] Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.

  • Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
  • Player's name in italics indicates the player has Japanese nationality in addition to their FIFA nationality, or is exempt from being treated as a foreign player due to having been born in Japan and being enrolled in, or having graduated from school in the country.[18]
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Former players
Montedio Yamagata Vinícius Araújo Min Seong-jun Víctor Ibáñez Quenten Martinus
Mito HollyHock Jefferson Tabinas
Tochigi SC Juninho
Thespakusatsu Gunma
Omiya Ardija Nermin Haskić Filip Kljajić Ibba Laajab
JEF United Chiba Saldanha Jang Min-gyu
Tokyo Verdy Matheus Vidotto Jaílton Paraíba
Machida Zelvia Jong Tae-se Dudu
Ventforet Kofu Mendes Willian Lira Paulo Baya
Matsumoto Yamaga Goh Dong-min Lucão Serginho
Albirex Niigata Gonzalo González Kazuyoshi Shimabuku
Zweigen Kanazawa Rodolfo
Jubilo Iwata Fabián González Lukian Alexei Koșelev
Kyoto Sanga Jordy Buijs Peter Utaka Origbaajo Ismaila
Fagiano Okayama Paulinho Lee Yong-jae Yu Yong-hyeon Brenner Mitchell Duke
Renofa Yamaguchi Renan Henik
Blaublitz Akita
Ehime FC
SC Sagamihara Yuri Mamute Eduardo Kunde Agenor
Giravanz Kitakyushu
V-Varen Nagasaki Caio César Freire Luan Víctor Ibarbo Edigar Junio Wellington Rato
FC Ryukyu Felipe Tavares Danny Carvajal Ramon Ri Yong-jik Sittichok Paso Vinícius Faria

League table

Unlike last season, J. League has then decided to have four relegations to balance the number of teams in place for the 2022 season. While in 2020 no relegation was in place, 2021 saw four teams dropped to J3, re-establishing the number of teams in the third division to at least 17.[19]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Júbilo Iwata (C) 42 27 10 5 75 42 +33 91 Promotion to J1 League
2 Kyoto Sanga 42 24 12 6 59 31 +28 84
3 Ventforet Kofu 42 23 11 8 65 38 +27 80
4 V-Varen Nagasaki 42 23 9 10 69 44 +25 78
5 Machida Zelvia 42 20 12 10 64 38 +26 72
6 Albirex Niigata 42 18 14 10 61 40 +21 68
7 Montedio Yamagata 42 20 8 14 61 49 +12 68
8 JEF United Chiba 42 17 15 10 48 36 +12 66
9 FC Ryukyu 42 18 11 13 57 47 +10 65
10 Mito HollyHock 42 16 11 15 59 50 +9 59
11 Fagiano Okayama 42 15 14 13 40 36 +4 59
12 Tokyo Verdy 42 16 10 16 62 66 −4 58
13 Blaublitz Akita 42 11 14 17 41 53 −12 47
14 Tochigi SC 42 10 15 17 37 51 −14 45
15 Renofa Yamaguchi 42 10 13 19 37 51 −14 43
16 Omiya Ardija 42 9 15 18 51 56 −5 42
17 Zweigen Kanazawa 42 10 11 21 39 60 −21 41
18 Thespakusatsu Gunma 42 9 14 19 35 56 −21 41
19 SC Sagamihara[lower-alpha 1] 42 8 14 20 33 54 −21 38 Relegation to J3 League
20 Ehime FC 42 7 14 21 38 67 −29 35
21 Giravanz Kitakyushu 42 7 14 21 35 66 −31 35
22 Matsumoto Yamaga 42 7 13 22 36 71 −35 34
Source: Meiji Yasuda J2 League, J.League Data Site
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goal scored; 7) Fair-play points.
(C) Champion
Notes:
  1. Since Sagamihara did not hold a J1 license, the club was ineligible for promotion to the 2022 J1 League.

Season statistics

Top scorers
As of September 23rd, 2021.[20]
RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Lukian Júbilo Iwata 17
2 Peter Utaka Kyoto Sanga 15
3 Junki Koike Tokyo Verdy 14
4 Edigar Junio V-Varen Nagasaki 13
5 Kaito Taniguchi Albirex Niigata 11
6 Jin Izumisawa Ventforet Kofu 10
Yoshiaki Takagi Albirex Niigata
8 Masato Nakayama Mito HollyHock 9
Yoshiki Fujimoto Ehime FC
10 Tomoya Miki JEF United Chiba 8
Shunsuke Ota Machida Zelvia

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Yoshiaki Takagi Albirex Niigata Tokyo Verdy 7–0 (H)[21][22] 27 March 2021
Peter Utaka Kyoto Sanga Giravanz Kitakyushu 6–1 (H) 17 April 2021
Kunitomo Suzuki Matsumoto Yamaga Ventforet Kofu 3–3 (H)
Koki Kiyotake FC Ryukyu Matsumoto Yamaga 4–0 (H) 26 June 2021
Kaina Yoshio Machida Zelvia Ehime FC 5–0 (H) 27 June 2021
Asahi Uenaka V-Varen Nagasaki Montedio Yamagata 5–1 (H) 14 September 2021
Edigar Junio V-Varen Nagasaki Machida Zelvia 3–3 (A) 18 September 2021
Vinícius Araújo4 Montedio Yamagata Giravanz Kitakyushu 4–0 (H) 5 December 2021
  • 4 Player scored 4 goals

See also
League
Cup(s)

References
  1. "News".
  2. "Soccer: Tokushima crowned J2 champs despite loss to Fukuoka". The Mainichi. Kyodo. 20 December 2020. Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  3. "Análise da temporada 2020 da J3". Globo Esporte.
  4. "吉田謙監督 2021シーズン続投のお知らせ | ブラウブリッツ秋田". ブラウブリッツ秋田 公式ホームページ.
  5. "Ehime FC New Team Coach". ehimefc.com/. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  6. "鈴木 政一監督 続投のお知らせ". www.jubilo-iwata.co.jp.
  7. "柴田 峡 監督 契約更新のお知らせ". 松本山雅FC. December 12, 2020.
  8. "秋葉忠宏監督 契約更新のお知らせ". December 15, 2020.
  9. "岩瀬健 監督 就任のお知らせ | 大宮アルディージャ公式サイト". www.ardija.co.jp.
  10. "Tetsuhiro Kina appointed as manager". fcryukyu.com/. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  11. "吉田 孝行新監督就任のお知らせ | V・ファーレン長崎".
  12. "Shigenori Izumi, Director, Resigns". ehimefc.com. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  13. "Manager change notice". www.v-varen.com. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  14. "Manager change notice". www.v-varen.com. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  15. "Yasuhiro Higuchi dismissed". fcryukyu.com. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  16. "Tetsuhiro Kina appointment manager". fcryukyu.com. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  17. "「ホームグロウン制度」の導入と「外国籍選手枠」の変更について". J.LEAGUE.jp. Archived from the original on 2018-12-23.
  18. "プロサッカー選手の契約、登録および移籍に関する規則" (PDF). jfa.jp.
  19. "News".
  20. "J. League Data Site".
  21. "Consadole Sapporo vs. Vissel Kobe - 20 March 2021". Soccerway. 20 March 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  22. "Overview | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo v Vissel Kobe, 2021 | J.LEAGUE". Japan Professional Football League. 20 March 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
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