2018 Japan Football League

The 2018 Japan Football League (Japanese: 第20回日本フットボールリーグ, Hepburn: Dai Nijikkai Nihon Futtobōru Rīgu) was the fifth season of the fourth tier in Japanese football, and the 20th season since the establishment of Japan Football League. The season ran from 11 March to 18 November 2018.[1]

Japan Football League
Season2018
ChampionsHonda FC
8th JFL title
4th D4 title
PromotedVanraure Hachinohe
RelegatedCobaltore Onagawa
Matches played240
Goals scored674 (2.81 per match)
Top goalscorerShogo Omachi
Honda FC (18 goals)
Highest attendance5,241
FC Imabari v Honda Lock SC (18 November)
Lowest attendance111
ReinMeer Aomori v Honda Lock SC (14 July)
Average attendance907
← 2017
2019 →

Clubs

Sixteen clubs participated in this season of Japan Football League. The list was announced on 15 January 2018.[2]

Club Name Home Town Position Notes
Cobaltore Onagawa Onagawa, Miyagi RPS 1st Promoted from TSL after 1st place in 41st Regional Promotion Series
FC Imabari Imabari, Ehime 6th J.League 100 Year Plan club status and J3 license holders
FC Osaka All cities/towns in Osaka 4th
Honda FC Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 1st Defending champions of 2017
Honda Lock Miyazaki, Miyazaki 8th
Maruyasu Okazaki Okazaki, Aichi 9th
MIO Biwako Shiga Kusatsu, Shiga 13th
Nara Club All cities/towns in Nara[lower-alpha 1] 7th J.League 100 Year Plan club status and J3 license holders
ReinMeer Aomori Aomori, Aomori 2nd
Ryutsu Keizai Dragons Ryūgasaki, Ibaraki 10th
Sony Sendai Tagajō, Miyagi 3rd
Tegevajaro Miyazaki Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Miyazaki RPS 2nd Promoted from KSL after 2nd place in 41st Regional Promotion Series
Tokyo Musashino City Musashino, Tokyo 11th J.League 100 Year Plan club status
Vanraure Hachinohe Eastern cities/towns in Aomori[lower-alpha 2] 5th J.League 100 Year Plan club status and J3 license holders
Veertien Mie All cities/towns in Mie[lower-alpha 3] 12th
Verspah Oita Yufu & Ōita, Ōita 14th
  1. centering on Nara
  2. Hachinohe, Towada, Gonohe, Sannohe, Takko, Hashikami, Nanbu, Shingo, Oirase, Misawa, Shichinohe, Rokunohe, Tohoku, Noheji, Yokohama, Rokkasho
  3. centering on Kuwana & Yokkaichi

Personnel and kits
Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer
Cobaltore Onagawa Tatsuya Murata Seiya Narita Mizuno
FC Imabari Hirofumi Yoshitake Ryoichi Kanai Adidas
FC Osaka Haruo Wada Tomoyuki Iwamoto New Balance
Honda FC Hiroyasu Ibata Yuya Suzuki Umbro
Honda Lock Kenji Taniguchi Naoya Oyama Kappa
Maruyasu Okazaki Ryuji Kitamura Keita Sugimoto Penalty
MIO Biwako Shiga Masafumi Nakaguchi vacant Nike
Nara Club Norihiro Satsukawa Shinichi Mukai SQUADRA
ReinMeer Aomori Tatsuya Mochizuki Kanta Takahashi Umbro
Ryutsu Keizai Dragons Shunichi Nakajima vacant Adidas
Sony Sendai Shinji Honda Yuta Akimoto Umbro
Tegevajaro Miyazaki Nobuhiro Ishizaki Hideo Tanaka Penalty
Tokyo Musashino City Kim Jong-song Koji Ishihara Yonex
Vanraure Hachinohe Masahiro Kuzuno Takafumi Sudo ATHLETA
Veertien Mie Eishi Kaizu Katsuhisa Inamori Mizuno
Verspah Oita Shigemitsu Sudo Makoto Nakamura WARRIX

    Change in rules

    This season was the last to use the two-stage format, similar to the one J.League had in its early years and used in 2015 and 2016. Two single round-robin stages were held, and winners of each stage determined the champion in the post-season home and away championship playoffs. After five seasons, the JFL reverted to a one-stage double round-robin starting in 2019.[3]

    League table
    Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
    1 Honda FC (C) 30 25 4 1 76 25 +51 79
    2 FC Osaka 30 18 3 9 54 34 +20 57
    3 Vanraure Hachinohe (P) 30 16 8 6 43 21 +22 56 Promotion to 2019 J3 League[lower-alpha 1]
    4 Sony Sendai 30 16 4 10 67 43 +24 52
    5 FC Imabari 30 14 7 9 63 32 +31 49
    6 Tokyo Musashino City 30 14 7 9 49 36 +13 49
    7 MIO Biwako Shiga 30 13 7 10 38 35 +3 46
    8 Nara Club 30 12 6 12 33 32 +1 42
    9 Verspah Oita 30 11 6 13 29 38 −9 39
    10 ReinMeer Aomori 30 10 7 13 38 48 −10 37
    11 Veertien Mie 30 9 8 13 40 52 −12 35
    12 Tegevajaro Miyazaki 30 9 5 16 43 60 −17 32
    13 Maruyasu Okazaki 30 8 7 15 33 46 −13 31
    14 Honda Lock 30 6 11 13 29 52 −23 29
    15 Ryutsu Keizai Dragons 30 4 7 19 20 50 −30 19
    16 Cobaltore Onagawa (R) 30 4 5 21 18 65 −47 17 Relegation to 2019 Regional Leagues
    Source: JFL website (in Japanese)
    Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4th) head-to-head results; 5th) disciplinary points; 6th) draw
    (C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
    Notes:
    1. To qualify for promotion, a club must hold a 100 Year Plan status, obtain J3 license (marked in bold in the table), and finish both in the top 4 of the JFL, and either 1st or 2nd among the promotion-eligible clubs.

    Top scorers
    As of match played 18 November 2018.[4]
    Rank Player Club Goals
    1
    		 Shogo Omachi Honda FC
    18
    2
    		 Koji Ishihara Tokyo Musashino City FC
    17
    3
    		 Shogo Fujimaki Veertien Mie
    16
    Motoki Fujiwara Sony Sendai FC
    5
    		 Kazuki Sakamoto MIO Biwako Shiga
    15
    Jun Arima FC Imabari
    7
    		 Shota Suzuki Sony Sendai FC
    14
    Ryōta Kuwajima FC Imabari
    9
    		 Sachio Hamada ReinMeer Aomori FC
    13
    10
    		 Shoma Mizunaga Tegevajaro Miyazaki
    12

    Attendances
    Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
    1 FC Imabari 46,219 4,805 2,006 3,081 +41.3%†
    2 Vanraure Hachinohe 33,114 4,075 1,107 2,208 +4.8%†
    3 Nara Club 26,925 2,443 994 1,795 +24.0%†
    4 Veertien Mie 12,732 1,263 594 849 +7.2%†
    5 Tokyo Musashino City FC 12,657 1,413 495 844 +19.5%†
    6 Honda FC 12,288 1,753 489 819 −4.9%†
    7 FC Osaka 11,823 1,923 241 788 +32.0%†
    8 Verspah Oita 8,734 1,414 236 582 +43.0%†
    9 Cobaltore Onagawa 8,056 1,313 207 537 n/a†
    10 ReinMeer Aomori 7,696 1,337 111 513 −28.8%†
    11 MIO Biwako Shiga 7,674 1,526 182 512 −21.4%†
    12 Sony Sendai FC 7,014 1,006 190 468 +32.6%†
    13 Dragons Ryugasaki 6,903 727 161 460 +48.4%†
    14 Tegevajaro Miyazaki 6,052 831 203 403 n/a†
    15 FC Maruyasu Okazaki 5,343 658 208 356 −9.6%†
    16 Honda Lock SC 4,581 626 160 305 −7.3%†
    League total 217,721 4,805 111 907 +13.8%†

    Updated to games played on 18 November 2018
    Source: JFL

    Promotion from Regional Leagues

    Matsue City FC and Suzuka Unlimited

    References
    1. "第２０回日本フットボールリーグ大会方式のお知らせ" (in Japanese). Japan Football League. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
    2. "第２０回日本フットボールリーグ参加チーム" (in Japanese). Japan Football League. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
    3. "お知らせ「２０１９年度以降シーズンの大会方式について」" [Notice about the convention method of the season from 2019] (in Japanese). Japan Football League. 5 July 2018.
    4. http://www.jfl.or.jp/jfl-pc/view/s.php?a=1275
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