2008 J.League Division 1

The 2008 J.League Division 1 season is the 44th season of the top-flight club football in Japan and the 16th season since the establishment of J1 League. The season began on March 8 and ended on December 6.

J.League Division 1
Season2008
ChampionsKashima Antlers
6th J. League title
6th Japanese title
RelegatedTokyo Verdy
Consadole Sapporo
Champions LeagueKashima Antlers
Kawasaki Frontale
Nagoya Grampus
Gamba Osaka
(all to the group stage)
Matches played306
Goals scored783 (2.56 per match)
Top goalscorerMarquinhos (21 goal total)
Highest attendance61,246 (Round 1,
F. Marinos vs. Red Diamonds)
Lowest attendance6,125 (Round 23,
Ardija vs. F. Marinos)
Average attendance19,202
← 2007
2009 →

A total of eighteen clubs participated in double round-robin format. Starting this season, top three clubs received automatic qualification to the following years' AFC Champions League. The bottom two clubs were relegated to J2 League by default, while 16th-placed club had to defend their spot in the top-flight in the pro/rele series.

Clubs
Location of the clubs in Japan

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

Club Name Home Town(s) Note(s)
Albirex Niigata Niigata & Seirō, Niigata
Consadole Sapporo Sapporo, Hokkaido Promoted from J2 League in 2007
FC Tokyo Tokyo
Gamba Osaka Suita, Osaka 2008 ACL Participant
JEF United Chiba Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba
Júbilo Iwata Iwata, Shizuoka
Kashima Antlers Southwestern cities/towns of Ibaraki 2008 ACL Participant
The Defending Champions
Kashiwa Reysol Kashiwa, Chiba
Kawasaki Frontale Kawasaki, Kanagawa
Kyoto Sanga Southwestern cities/town in Kyoto Promoted from J2 League in 2007
Nagoya Grampus Nagoya, Aichi Renamed from Nagoya Grampus Eight
Oita Trinita All cities/towns in Ōita
Omiya Ardija Saitama
Shimizu S-Pulse Shizuoka
Urawa Red Diamonds Saitama 2008 ACL Participant
Tokyo Verdy Tokyo Promoted from J2 League in 2007
Renamed from Tokyo Verdy 1969
Vissel Kobe Kobe, Hyōgo
Yokohama F. Marinos Yokohama & Yokosuka

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

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Kashima Antlers (C) 34 18 9 7 56 30 +26 63 Qualification for 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage
2 Kawasaki Frontale 34 18 6 10 65 42 +23 60
3 Nagoya Grampus 34 17 8 9 48 35 +13 59
4 Oita Trinita 34 16 8 10 33 24 +9 56 Qualification for Pan-Pacific Championship 2009[lower-alpha 1]
5 Shimizu S-Pulse 34 16 7 11 50 42 +8 55
6 FC Tokyo 34 16 7 11 50 46 +4 55
7 Urawa Red Diamonds 34 15 8 11 50 42 +8 53
8 Gamba Osaka 34 14 8 12 46 49 −3 50 Qualification for 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage[lower-alpha 2]
9 Yokohama F. Marinos 34 13 9 12 43 32 +11 48
10 Vissel Kobe 34 12 11 11 39 38 +1 47
11 Kashiwa Reysol 34 13 7 14 48 45 +3 46
12 Omiya Ardija 34 12 7 15 36 45 −9 43
13 Albirex Niigata 34 11 9 14 32 46 −14 42
14 Kyoto Sanga 34 11 8 15 37 46 −9 41
15 JEF United Chiba 34 10 8 16 36 53 −17 38
16 Júbilo Iwata (O) 34 10 7 17 40 48 −8 37 2008 Promotion/Relegation Series
17 Tokyo Verdy (R) 34 10 7 17 38 50 −12 37 Relegation to 2009 J.League Division 2
18 Consadole Sapporo (R) 34 4 6 24 36 70 −34 18
Updated to match(es) played on December 6, 2008. Source: J. League Division 1
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Qualified as the winner of 2008 J.League Cup.
  2. Qualified as the winner of 2008 Emperor's Cup.

Results
Home \ Away ALB ANT ARD CON FRO GAM GRA JEF JÚB REY SAN SSP TOK TRI RED VER VIS FMA
Albirex Niigata 0–2 2–2 2–1 2–1 3–2 2–1 2–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 3–0 2–3 0–1 0–1 0–0 3–2 0–0
Kashima Antlers 0–0 2–0 4–0 1–1 0–0 1–2 4–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 4–1 1–0 1–1 4–1 2–2 2–1
Omiya Ardija 2–0 1–1 1–2 2–1 2–0 1–2 2–1 1–2 0–4 1–1 0–0 0–3 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–2 1–0
Consadole Sapporo 0–1 0–1 1–2 0–2 3–3 1–3 2–3 2–1 0–2 1–2 2–2 1–2 0–0 1–2 1–3 1–1 1–2
Kawasaki Frontale 4–1 3–2 2–3 3–1 4–0 1–1 2–0 2–2 3–2 0–1 2–1 0–1 3–0 0–1 1–1 4–0 2–1
Gamba Osaka 2–2 0–0 2–3 4–2 2–1 0–1 0–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 2–0 1–3 0–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–2
Nagoya Grampus 2–0 0–4 4–0 3–1 1–2 1–2 3–2 0–0 1–0 1–1 3–2 0–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 2–0
JEF United Chiba 0–0 3–1 2–4 0–3 0–1 0–1 2–1 1–2 0–1 1–0 1–2 4–2 1–0 3–2 2–0 1–1 0–3
Júbilo Iwata 1–0 1–2 0–1 5–0 1–4 3–0 2–1 0–0 3–3 2–0 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–2 1–1 0–1 0–1
Kashiwa Reysol 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–2 2–5 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 2–2 0–2 0–1 0–2 2–1 5–1 3–0 1–3
Kyoto Sanga 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 1–2 1–2 2–3 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–3 1–1 1–1 0–4 0–0 2–1 1–0
Shimizu S-Pulse 3–0 1–0 0–0 3–1 2–0 3–1 0–2 3–2 1–1 3–2 2–1 1–0 1–2 1–2 1–0 0–1 1–1
FC Tokyo 1–0 3–2 3–1 1–0 4–2 1–1 0–1 1–1 5–1 0–1 3–3 1–5 1–0 0–1 1–2 1–1 1–1
Oita Trinita 3–1 0–1 1–0 3–2 0–0 1–2 0–0 0–0 2–1 2–0 1–0 2–2 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–0
Urawa Red Diamonds 3–0 2–0 0–0 4–2 1–3 2–3 0–2 3–0 3–1 2–2 2–2 1–2 2–0 0–0 3–2 0–1 1–6
Tokyo Verdy 4–0 0–2 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–3 2–0 3–0 1–2 2–1 0–1 4–1 1–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 3–2
Vissel Kobe 1–1 1–2 1–0 1–1 4–1 2–1 1–2 0–1 3–2 0–2 4–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–0
Yokohama F. Marinos 0–1 0–2 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 0–0 3–0 0–1 2–0 1–3 1–1 3–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–1
Updated to match(es) played on December 6, 2008. Source: J. League Division 1
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Awards

Individual Awards
AwardRecipientClubNotes
Most Valuable Player MarquinhosKashima Antlers
Rookie of the Year Yoshizumi OgawaNagoya Grampus
Manager of the Year Oswaldo de OliveiraKashima Antlers
Top Scorer MarquinhosKashima Antlers21 goals.

Best Eleven
PosFootballerClubNationality
GKSeigo NarazakiNagoya Grampus Japan
DFDaiki IwamasaKashima Antlers Japan
DFAtsuto UchidaKashima Antlers Japan
DFMarcus Tulio TanakaNagoya Grampus Japan
DFYuji NakazawaYokohama F. Marinos Japan
DFSatoshi YamaguchiGamba Osaka Japan
MFKengo NakamuraKawasaki Frontale Japan
MFYoshizumi OgawaNagoya Grampus Japan
FWYasuhito EndōGamba Osaka Japan
FWMarquinhosKashima Antlers Brazil
FWAtsushi YanagisawaKyoto Sanga FC Japan

Attendance
Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Urawa Red Diamonds 809,353 57,050 16,225 47,609 +2.0%†
2 Albirex Niigata 586,325 40,359 22,740 34,490 −9.9%†
3 FC Tokyo 437,176 37,154 17,122 25,716 +1.7%†
4 Yokohama F. Marinos 402,593 61,246 9,583 23,682 −1.5%†
5 Oita Trinita 345,481 31,744 9,376 20,322 +2.8%†
6 Kashima Antlers 335,140 36,412 6,725 19,714 +21.4%†
7 Kawasaki Frontale 298,597 21,952 10,884 17,565 +1.3%†
8 Shimizu S-Pulse 282,190 20,330 13,855 16,599 +4.1%†
9 Nagoya Grampus 281,442 34,436 7,353 16,555 +6.2%†
10 Gamba Osaka 274,169 20,773 10,039 16,128 −7.5%†
11 Júbilo Iwata 262,911 27,866 8,216 15,465 −5.5%†
12 Tokyo Verdy 252,231 30,517 8,060 14,837 +102.5%†
13 Consadole Sapporo 247,305 28,901 7,010 14,547 +20.1%†
14 JEF United Chiba 239,436 17,152 8,694 14,084 −0.5%†
15 Kyoto Sanga 232,671 19,680 8,192 13,687 +106.5%†
16 Vissel Kobe 220,672 23,088 7,839 12,981 +4.2%†
17 Kashiwa Reysol 209,229 36,785 7,474 12,308 −5.1%†
18 Omiya Ardija 158,944 12,505 6,125 9,350 −18.4%†
League total 5,875,865 61,246 6,125 19,202 +0.7%†

Updated to games played on December 6, 2008
Source: J. League Division 1
Notes:
† Team played previous season in J2.

References
  1. "2008 J1 Top Scorers". j-league.or.jp. J-League. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
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