2011 Japan Football League

The 2011 Japan Football League (Japanese: 第13回日本フットボールリーグ, Hepburn: Dai Jūsan-kai Nihon Futtobōru Rīgu) was the thirteenth season of the Japan Football League, the third tier of the Japanese football league system. It was scheduled to begin at 13 March 2011 and to end at 27 November 2011;[1] however, the start of the season has been delayed to 23 April due to the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. As a result, the ending date of the season was moved to 11 December.[2][3]

Japan Football League
Season2011
ChampionsSagawa Shiga
3rd JFL title
3rd D3 title
PromotedMachida Zelvia
Matsumoto Yamaga
RelegatedArte Takasaki (withdrawn)
JEF Reserves (withdrawn)
Matches played289
Goals scored792 (2.74 per match)
Top goalscorerMasatoshi Matsuda (20 goals)
Highest attendance11,956
Yamaga vs Sony
Lowest attendance91
Printing vs Lock
Average attendance1,682
← 2010
2012 →

Overview
2011 JFL teams

At the end of the 2010 season, two new clubs, Kamatamare Sanuki and Nagano Parceiro, were promoted from the Japanese Regional Leagues by virtue of their final placing in the Regional League promotion series.

Kamatamare Sanuki were approved as J. League associate members at the annual meeting in February. Applications by Zweigen Kanazawa and FC Ryukyu were given "continuous deliberations" status with further efforts required to obtain the membership.

The earthquake and tsunami led to significant changes in competition schedule. Besides the postponement of the tournament, Sony Sendai, who were the most affected by disaster and couldn't recover in time, asked the league to put them on temporary hiatus.[4] Missing the first eleven rounds (7th to 17th), Sony re-joined the league on 3 July and continued participation from then on. The final tournament schedule is as follows:[1][5]

  • Every team in the league will play 33 games: Two against each other (home and away) and one against Sony Sendai according to the schedule of the second half of the tournament (rounds 18th to 34th).
  • Sony Sendai will play 17 games against every other team in the second half of the tournament.
  • Sony Sendai will also participate in the rescheduled games of rounds 1–6, called "Matches for reconstruction assistance of Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami" (東日本大震災 災害復興支援試合). Although those games are treated as official JFL matches, they will not be included into the league results.
  • For the purpose of determining the relegated teams, Sony Sendai can add points gained in six aforementioned "reconstruction" games to their official 17-match outcome. Thus, Sony Sendai will be judged by 23 matches, while every other team – by 33.

On 3 August JEF Reserves had submitted a request of withdrawal from the league at the end of the season due to difficult financial conditions and poor performances of the team. The request was approved by the league Board on 12 September.[6]

In the penultimate round Sagawa Shiga won their third JFL championship in only five years of existence, firmly placing themselves among the strongest amateur teams in Japan. Two clubs, Machida Zelvia and Matsumoto Yamaga were promoted to J. League.

By virtue of their placing in the Regional League promotion series, three clubs were promoted to JFL at the end of the season: YSCC Yokohama, Fujieda MYFC, and Hoyo AC Elan Oita. Because of JEF Reserves' withdrawal, no additional promotion and relegation play-offs were held.

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Sagawa Shiga (C) 33 23 1 9 60 34 +26 70
2 Nagano Parceiro 33 19 6 8 51 27 +24 63
3 Machida Zelvia (P) 33 18 7 8 61 28 +33 61 Promotion to 2012 J. League Division 2[lower-alpha 1]
4 Matsumoto Yamaga[lower-alpha 2] (P) 33 17 8 8 60 38 +22 59
5 V-Varen Nagasaki 33 15 11 7 61 44 +17 56
6 Honda FC 33 15 7 11 40 36 +4 52
7 Zweigen Kanazawa 33 13 8 12 49 40 +9 47
8 Honda Lock[lower-alpha 3] 33 12 11 10 47 45 +2 47
9 FC Ryukyu[lower-alpha 3] 33 14 4 15 47 51 −4 46
10 Tochigi Uva 33 12 9 12 40 43 −3 45
11 Kamatamare Sanuki 33 11 7 15 39 49 −10 40
12 SP Kyoto 33 11 5 17 43 61 −18 38
13 MIO Biwako Kusatsu 33 11 5 17 43 65 −22 38
14 Blaublitz Akita 33 10 7 16 38 52 −14 37
15 Yokogawa Musashino 33 9 9 15 33 37 −4 36
16 Arte Takasaki (R) 33 9 7 17 39 55 −16 34 Withdrawn[lower-alpha 4]
17 JEF Reserves (R) 33 4 7 22 27 63 −36 19 Withdrawn[lower-alpha 5]
18 Sony Sendai 17 3 7 7 14 24 −10 16
Updated to match(es) played on 11 December 2011. Source: Japan Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Must hold J. League Associate Membership, pass a final inspection by J. League and finish no less than in fourth place to be promoted. V-Varen Nagasaki, though being an associate members, have announced that their stadium is not matching the J. League standards so they are not eligible for the promotion until the completion of necessary renovations. The target date is set for 2013 season.[7] Because the maximum capacity of Division 2 set by J. League is 22 teams, no more than two clubs can be promoted.
  2. J. League Associate Membership and passed a final inspection by J. League.
  3. FC Ryukyu and Honda Lock occupied top 2 places at the end of the 17th round (11th week) and were seeded for 2011 Emperor's Cup.[8] These clubs were automatically qualified for the tournament, while each of other JFL clubs had to go through the prefectural qualifier.
  4. Arte Takasaki decided to withdraw from JFL and fold the club after the end of the season, when clubs promoted from regional leagues were already determined. JFL decided that the next season will be contested by 17 clubs (i.e. without supplying an additional club from a regional league).[9]
  5. JEF Reserves had submitted a request of withdrawal from the league at the end of the season regardless of team's performance. It was approved by league board on 12 September.[6]

Results
Home \ Away ART BLA HON LOC JER KAM MIO PAR PRI RYU SSH SON UVA VVN YAM YMC ZEL ZWE
Arte Takasaki 2–2 1–3 2–2 2–1 2–3 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–2 4–3 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–5 1–1 0–1 0–3
Blaublitz Akita 0–1 0–2 0–3 2–1 2–0 1–2 0–2 2–3 0–1 1–2 1–0 2–1 0–2 3–2 0–1 2–1 1–3
Honda FC 2–1 1–0 3–3 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–3 2–1 2–1 0–1 0–0 2–0 0–2 3–0 0–2 0–4 2–1
Honda Lock 1–1 1–1 3–2 2–0 1–0 2–1 1–2 6–1 0–4 0–3 2–2 1–3 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–1
JEF Reserves 2–3 1–1 1–2 0–3 3–3 3–1 0–1 2–3 0–2 3–1 0–1 1–2 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–2
Kamatamare Sanuki 3–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 1–0 3–2 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 4–2 1–0 0–3 1–2
MIO Biwako Kusatsu 3–1 1–2 1–0 0–2 1–0 2–1 3–1 2–2 1–2 1–4 1–1 0–6 0–2 4–1 1–6 2–0
Nagano Parceiro 1–0 4–1 0–0 1–1 4–0 2–1 4–1 0–0 3–1 0–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–3
SP Kyoto 2–2 2–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 4–1 0–2 1–2 1–2 2–3 1–1 2–1 0–2 0–0
FC Ryukyu 3–2 0–1 1–0 0–2 0–2 2–0 1–4 0–4 0–4 2–1 4–0 4–0 1–3 0–1 1–1 0–0 1–1
Sagawa Shiga 2–0 2–1 3–2 1–2 4–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 1–2 2–1 2–0 2–1 0–1 2–1 1–0 3–3 0–1
Sony Sendai 1–1[lower-alpha 1] 1–1 0–0 3–0 1–1 0–2 1–1[lower-alpha 1] 0–0[lower-alpha 1] 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–4
Tochigi Uva 0–1 1–1 1–3 1–0 3–0 1–0 3–2 0–2 1–0 2–2 1–3 3–2 4–0 1–2 1–0 1–0 0–1
V-Varen Nagasaki 1–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 3–3 0–1 2–1 0–2 6–0 1–3 2–1 0–1[lower-alpha 1] 2–2 1–1 1–0 5–1 0–2
Matsumoto Yamaga 1–2 1–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–2 3–2 2–1 6–0 1–0 1–2 0–3[lower-alpha 1] 3–1 1–1 2–2 2–0 2–0
Yokogawa Musashino 0–1 3–3 0–1 0–0 4–0 0–1 0–0 0–2 2–0 1–2 0–1 1–1[lower-alpha 2] 0–1 3–4 0–2 0–0 3–3
Machida Zelvia 1–3 1–1 1–0 4–0 1–0 2–0 6–0 2–2 2–0 5–1 2–1 0–0[lower-alpha 1] 0–0 3–0 3–1 1–2 2–0
Zweigen Kanazawa 1–0 1–2 1–0 2–3 4–0 1–2 1–1 1–2 4–1 0–3 0–2 1–1 3–3 1–2 0–1 1–1
Updated to match(es) played on 11 December 2011. Source: Japan Football League: First round, second round
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. The postponed Sony Sendai matches from rounds 1–6, called "Matches for reconstruction assistance of 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami" (東日本大震災 災害復興支援試合). Those games are treated as official JFL matches but are not included into the final results.
  2. The game was originally scheduled to 7 August, but was abandoned after the first half (0–0) because of the heavy thunderstorm. The remaining 45 minutes were played on 19 October.

Top scorers
Rank Scorer Club Goals[10]
1 Masatoshi Matsuda Blaublitz Akita 20
2 Ryota Arimitsu V-Varen Nagasaki 19
Tetsuya Kijima Matsumoto Yamaga 19
4 Yoshinori Katsumata Machida Zelvia 16
5 Yuji Unozawa Nagano Parceiro 15
6 Shoma Mizunaga V-Varen Nagasaki 14
Shunta Takahashi FC Ryukyu 14
Masaru Takeuchi Tochigi Uva 14
9 Dragan Dimić Machida Zelvia 13
10 Shohei Kiyohara Sagawa Shiga 12

Attendance
Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Matsumoto Yamaga 126,830 11,956 4,032 7,461 +46.9%†
2 Machida Zelvia 59,757 8,113 1,326 3,515 +0.3%†
3 Kamatamare Sanuki 48,393 11,178 1,065 3,025 +67.0%†
4 Zweigen Kanazawa 40,070 11,234 446 2,504 +61.8%†
5 Nagano Parceiro 36,494 3,849 1,030 2,281 +41.9%†
6 FC Ryukyu 31,620 3,017 363 1,860 +4.7%†
7 V-Varen Nagasaki 25,717 3,187 625 1,513 −40.1%†
8 Blaublitz Akita 21,666 3,624 793 1,274 +1.4%†
9 Sagawa Shiga 19,576 3,450 115 1,152 −2.6%†
10 Honda FC 15,107 2,481 172 889 +14.0%†
11 Yokogawa Musashino 12,179 1,648 229 716 −7.7%†
12 Sony Sendai 8,155 1,282 440 680 −10.5%†
13 Honda Lock 10,838 1,552 440 677 +26.1%†
14 MIO Biwako Kusatsu 10,724 1,263 189 670 −15.5%†
15 Tochigi Uva 9,032 1,436 295 531 −29.2%†
16 Arte Takasaki 7,775 1,727 212 457 +6.3%†
17 SP Kyoto 6,516 1,162 91 383 −4.7%†
18 JEF Reserves 5,757 782 171 360 +11.1%†
League total 496,206 11,956 91 1,682 +14.9%†

Updated to games played on 11 December 2011
Source: Japan Football League: First round, second round
Notes:
† Team played previous season in Regional Leagues.

References
  1. "The 13th Japan Football League" (in Japanese). Japan Football League. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  2. 第１３回ＪＦＬ前期第１節　全９試合　開催中止のお知らせ (in Japanese). Japan Football League. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  3. 第１３回ＪＦＬ 前期第２節〜第３節　開催中止のお知らせ (in Japanese). Japan Football League. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  4. 第１３回ＪＦＬ大会方式変更点 (in Japanese). Japan Football League. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  5. ソニー仙台ＦＣの今季活動ならびに第１３回ＪＦＬ大会方式について (in Japanese). Japan Football League. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  6. お知らせ「ジェフリザーブズ、ＪＦＬからの退会について」 (in Japanese). Japan Football League. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  7. Preliminary results of J. League admission (Jリーグ入会予備審査の結果について) Archived 25 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine, official V-Varen Nagasaki website, dated 16 September 2010.
  8. About 2011 Emperor's Cup JFL Seeds (第91回天皇杯全日本サッカー選手権大会 ＪＦＬシードチームにＦＣ琉球とホンダロックＳＣが決定), Japan Football Association, dated 7 July 2011.
  9. アルテ高崎、ＪＦＬからの退会について [Withdrawal of Arte Takasaki from JFL] (in Japanese). Japan Football League. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  10. "JFL Top Scorers". jfl.or.jp. Japan Football League. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
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