2020 Japan Football League

The 2020 Japan Football League (Japanese: 第22回日本フットボールリーグ[第22回 JFL 2020], Hepburn: Dai Nijūnikai Nihon Futtobōru Rīgu [Dai Nijūnikai JFL 2020]) is the eight season of the fourth tier in Japanese football, and the 22nd season since the establishment of Japan Football League.

Japan Football League
Season2020
DatesJuly 18 - November 28
ChampionsVerspah Oita
PromotedTegevajaro Miyazaki
Relegatednone (for season 2020 only)
Matches played120
Goals scored330 (2.75 per match)
Top goalscorerTatsuma Sakai (Matsue City)
Kazuki Sakamoto (MIO Biwako Shiga)
9 goals
Highest attendanceTegevajaro Miyazaki v Iwaki FC
2,203
29 Nov. 2020
Lowest attendance23 games played with
zero attendance due to Covid-19
Average attendance442
← 2019
2021 →

Postponement of the beginning of the season

On February 27, Opening Game and match day 2 were postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

On March 16, it was announced match day 3 would be postponed.[2] On March 25, it was announced Match day 4, Match day 5 would be postponed.[3]

On April 7, it was announced Match day 6 would also be postponed.[4]

On April 15 it was finally decided that only the second half of the season would be played beginning on the scheduled date, July 18. No promotions or relegations will happen and the winners and runners-up of the Japanese Regional Series will be automatically promoted, meaning that the 2021 season will be held with 18 clubs.[5]

On June 24, the JFL announced new dates. The league match for this season started on July 18. Match days 16 and 17, and each home game opening game were held as a without spectator match.[6]

Clubs
JFL map 2020

Sixteen clubs will feature in this season of Japan Football League. There were some changes: FC Imabari got promoted to J3, after finishing third in 2019, while Ryutsu Keizai Dragons was relegated after playing for five seasons at this level.[7][8] Matsue City FC, who finished second-last place, were fated to go back to Japanese Regional Leagues as well, but avoided the drop thanks to FC Imabari going up to J3 League.

There are two new clubs in the JFL, debuting at this level after finishing in the top two in the 2019 Japanese Regional Series: Iwaki FC dominated the final stage, while Kochi United SC overcame the other two teams – Ococias Kyoto AC and Fukui United FC – to get the final spot for this seasons JFL.[9][10]

Club Name Home Town Position Notes
Honda FC Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 1st 2019 Champions
Honda Lock Miyazaki, Miyazaki 6th
Iwaki FC Iwaki, Fukushima RPS 1st Winners of TSL and 43rd RPS, 100 Year Plan-status and J3 license holders
Kochi United SC Kōchi, Kōchi RPS 2nd Winners of SSL and runners-up of 43rd RPS
Maruyasu Okazaki Okazaki, Aichi 11th
Matsue City FC Matsue, Shimane 15th
MIO Biwako Shiga Kusatsu, Shiga 9th Applied for 100 Year Plan-status
Nara Club All cities/towns in Nara[lower-alpha 1] 14th 100 Year Plan-status and J3 license holders
FC Osaka Higashiōsaka, Osaka 8th 100 Year Plan-status and J3 license holders
ReinMeer Aomori Aomori, Aomori 13th 100 Year Plan-status and J3 license holders
Sony Sendai Tagajō, Miyagi 2nd
Suzuka Point Getters Suzuka, Mie 12th Applied for 100 Year Plan-status
Tegevajaro Miyazaki Miyazaki & Shintomi, Miyazaki 5th 100 Year Plan-status and J3 license holders
Tokyo Musashino City Musashino, Tokyo 4th No more 100 Year Plan-status, withdrew J3 license
Veertien Mie All cities/towns in Mie[lower-alpha 2] 10th 100 Year Plan-status and J3 license holders
Verspah Oita Yufu & Ōita, Ōita 7th

Personnel and kits
Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer
Honda FC Hiroyasu Ibata Yuya Suzuki Umbro
Honda Lock SC Shinya Shirakawa Naoya Oyama Kappa
Iwaki FC Yuzo Tamura Masaru Hidaka Under Armour
Kochi United SC Akihiro Nishimura Tsubasa Yokotake bonera
Maruyasu Okazaki Ryuji Kitamura Teruyuki Moniwa ATHLETA
Matsue City FC Noriaki Sanenobu Yuzuru Tabira GAViC
MIO Biwako Shiga Hiroshi Otsuki Ryo Nishiguchi JOGARBOLA
Nara Club Maiki Hayashi Shinichi Mukai SQUADRA
FC Osaka Shinya Tsukahara Tomoyuki Iwamoto bonera
ReinMeer Aomori Tatsuya Mochizuki Kanta Takahashi Umbro
Sony Sendai FC Gen Nakamura Kenta Ogihara Umbro
Suzuka Point Getters Milagros Martínez Domínguez Kohei Fujita ATHLETA
Tegevajaro Miyazaki Keiji Kuraishi Kenta Ishii Penalty
Tokyo Musashino City Hisayuki Ikegami Koji Ishihara Yonex
Veertien Mie Nobuhiro Ueno Hitoshi Nishimura Puma
Verspah Oita Shigemitsu Sudo Kosei Uryu YASUDA
  1. centering on Nara
  2. centering on Kuwana & Yokkaichi

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Verspah Oita 15 10 2 3 27 16 +11 32
2 Tegevajaro Miyazaki (P) 15 8 4 3 26 15 +11 28 Promotion to 2021 J3 League[lower-alpha 1]
3 Sony Sendai 15 8 2 5 25 22 +3 26
4 Honda FC 15 5 7 3 20 12 +8 22
5 Suzuka Point Getters 15 6 3 6 23 19 +4 21
6 Veertien Mie 15 6 3 6 17 16 +1 21
7 Iwaki FC 15 6 3 6 24 24 0 21
8 FC Osaka 15 6 2 7 24 24 0 20
9 MIO Biwako Shiga 15 6 2 7 23 27 −4 20
10 Matsue City FC 15 6 2 7 18 24 −6 20
11 Tokyo Musashino City 15 5 4 6 15 17 −2 19
12 Honda Lock 15 5 4 6 19 25 −6 19
13 Nara Club 15 5 3 7 21 21 0 18
14 Kochi United SC 15 4 4 7 17 20 −3 16
15 ReinMeer Aomori 15 4 4 7 17 26 −9 16
16 Maruyasu Okazaki 15 4 3 8 14 22 −8 15
Updated to match(es) played on 2nd December 2020. Source: JFL website (in Japanese)
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) head-to-head results; 4th) goals scored; 5th) disciplinary points; 6th) draw; 7th) lottery [11]
(P) Promoted.
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 matches played November 29th, 2020.[12]
Rank Player Club Goals
1
 Tatsuma Sakai Matsue City FC
9
Kazuki Sakamoto MIO Biwako Shiga
3
 Motoki Fujiwara Sony Sendai FC
7
Jin Shioya Veertien Mie
5
 Shoma Mizunaga Tegevajaro Miyazaki
6
Kaima Akahoshi Kochi United SC
7
 8 players
5

Promotion and relegation

Despite the JFL announcing that there would be no promotion or relegation of clubs, the J. League agreed to admit Tegevajaro Miyazaki to the J3 League on November 24, 2020, after Miyazaki finished in the top four positions. Miyazaki ultimately finished runners-up.

FC TIAMO Hirakata and FC Kariya were promoted from the Regional Leagues as Regional Promotion Series champions and runners-up respectively. Kariya returns to the JFL after being relegated back in 2006.

See also

References
  1. "新型コロナウイルスの影響による、開幕戦延期のお知らせ" (Press release) (in Japanese). 日本フットボールリーグ. February 27, 2020. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  2. "新型コロナウイルスの影響による、第３節延期のお知らせ" (Press release) (in Japanese). 日本フットボールリーグ. March 16, 2020. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  3. "新型コロナウイルスの影響による、第４節、第５節の開催可否について" (Press release) (in Japanese). 日本フットボールリーグ. March 16, 2020. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  4. "新型コロナウイルスの影響による、第６節の開催可否について" (Press release) (in Japanese). 日本フットボールリーグ. April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  5. "第22回日本フットボールリーグ日程及び大会方式の変更のお知らせ" (Press release) (in Japanese). 日本フットボールリーグ. April 15, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  6. "【ＪＦＬオフィシャルサイト】第２２回ＪＦＬ試合日程【リモートマッチ（無観客試合）】対象試合）" (Press release) (in Japanese). 日本フットボールリーグ. June 24, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  7. "FC今治、来季J3昇格が正式決定！　理事会で承認、四国4つめのJクラブに". Football Channel (in Japanese). November 18, 2019.
  8. "【レビュー転載】天皇杯茨城県予選準決勝 つくばFC×流通経済大学ドラゴンズ龍ケ崎（2019/04/21）". Note (in Japanese). November 11, 2019.
  9. "【いわきＦＣ・ＪＦＬへの軌跡】実力Ｊリーグレベル！16チーム". Minyu-Net (in Japanese). November 27, 2019.
  10. "お知らせ「第２２回日本フットボールリーグ新入会チームについて」" (in Japanese). JFL. December 5, 2019.
  11. "第22回開催に伴う事項について" (Press release) (in Japanese). 日本フットボールリーグ. June 24, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  12. http://www.jfl.or.jp/jfl-pc/view/s.php?a=1544
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