2021 J1 League

The 2021 J1 League, also known as the 2021 Meiji Yasuda J1 League (Japanese: 2021 明治安田生命J1リーグ, Hepburn: 2021 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J1 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, will be the 29th season of the J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1993. The league will begin on 26 February and scheduled to end on 4 December 2021.

J1 League
Season2021
Dates26 February – 4 December 2021
← 2020
2022 →

The season before

Kawasaki Frontale won the third title in their history in 2020, clinching the title with four games to play after a roaring 5–0 home win against runners-up, Gamba Osaka.[1]

There were no relegated teams last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact.[2] Instead, four relegations are in place for this season, bringing back the number of teams from 20 to 18.[3]

Two teams were promoted from the J2 League. Tokushima Vortis won the title and clinched a second promotion to J1 (the first came in 2013), while Avispa Fukuoka equalled the tally of points and got second place, coming back to J1 after five seasons.[4]

Clubs
Locations of the 2021 J1 League teams
2021 J1 League teams in Greater Tokyo Area
2021 J1 League teams in Keihanshin
Club Location Stadium Capacity Last Season
Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Hokkaido Sapporo Dome
Sapporo Atsubetsu Stadium		 41,484
20,861		 J1 (12th)
Vegalta Sendai Miyagi Prefecture Yurtec Stadium Sendai 19,694 J1 (17th)
Kashima Antlers Ibaraki Prefecture Kashima Soccer Stadium 40,728 J1 (5th)
Urawa Red Diamonds Saitama Prefecture Saitama Stadium 2002 63,700 J1 (10th)
Kashiwa Reysol Chiba Prefecture Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium 15,900 J1 (7th)
FC Tokyo Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium 49,970 J1 (6th)
Yokohama FC Kanagawa Prefecture MItsuzawa Stadium 15,046 J1 (15th)
Yokohama F. Marinos Nissan Stadium 72,327 J1 (9th)
Kawasaki Frontale Todoroki Stadium 26,232 J1 (champions)
Shonan Bellmare BMW Stadium Hiratsuka 18,500 J1 (18th)
Shimizu S-Pulse Shizuoka Prefecture IAI Stadium 20,339 J1 (16th)
Nagoya Grampus Aichi Prefecture Toyota Stadium 45,000 J1 (3rd)
Gamba Osaka Osaka Prefecture Panasonic Stadium Suita 39,694 J1 (2nd)
Cerezo Osaka Yanmar Stadium 47,853 J1 (4th)
Vissel Kobe Hyōgo Prefecture Noevir Stadium 30,132 J1 (14th)
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshima Prefecture Edion Stadium 36,894 J1 (8th)
Tokushima Vortis Tokushima Prefecture Pocarisweat Stadium 20,441 J2 (champions)
Avispa Fukuoka Fukuoka Prefecture Best Denki Stadium 22,563 J2 (2nd)
Sagan Tosu Saga Prefecture Ekimae Stadium 24,130 J1 (13th)
Oita Trinita Ōita Prefecture Showa Denko Dome Oita 40,000 J1 (11th)

Personnel and kits
Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer
Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Mihailo Petrović Hiroki Miyazawa Mizuno
Vegalta Sendai Makoto Teguramori Simão Mate Adidas
Kashima Antlers Antônio Carlos Zago Kento Misao Nike
Urawa Red Diamonds Ricardo Rodriguez[5] Shusaku Nishikawa Nike
Kashiwa Reysol Nelsinho Baptista Hidekazu Otani YONEX
FC Tokyo Kenta Hasegawa Keigo Higashi New Balance
Yokohama FC Takahiro Shimotaira[6] Yuta Minami Soccer Junky
Yokohama F. Marinos Ange Postecoglou Takuya Kida Adidas
Kawasaki Frontale Toru Oniki Shogo Taniguchi Puma
Shonan Bellmare Bin Ukishima[7] Takuya Okamoto Penalty
Shimizu S-Pulse Miguel Ángel Lotina[8] Ryo Takeuchi Puma
Nagoya Grampus Massimo Ficcadenti Yuichi Maruyama Mizuno
Gamba Osaka Tsuneyasu Miyamoto Genta Miura Umbro
Cerezo Osaka Levir Culpi Hiroshi Kiyotake Puma
Vissel Kobe Atsuhiro Miura Andrés Iniesta Asics
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshi Jofuku Sho Sasaki Nike
Tokushima Vortis Dani Poyatos[9] Ken Iwao Mizuno
Avispa Fukuoka Shigetoshi Hasebe[10] Hiroyuki Mae YONEX
Sagan Tosu Kim Myung-hwi TBA New Balance
Oita Trinita Tomohiro Katanosaka Shun Takagi Puma

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.[11] 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. [12]
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Player 7 Former players
Consadole Sapporo Anderson Lopes Lucas Fernandes Douglas Oliveira Jay Bothroyd Gabriel Okechukwu Kim Min-tae Chanathip Songkrasin
Vegalta Sendai Isaac Cuenca Jakub Słowik Simão Mate Junior Emmanuel Oti Essigba Quenten Martinus Nedeljko Stojisic
Kashima Antlers Léo Silva Everaldo Juan Alano Arthur Caíke Diego Pituca Kwoun Sun-tae
Urawa Red Diamonds Leonardo Thomas Deng
FC Tokyo Adaílton Arthur Silva Diego Oliveira Leandro Bruno Uvini Joan Oumari
Kawasaki Frontale Leandro Damião Jesiel João Schmidt Jung Sung-ryong Lee Kyung-tae
Yokohama F. Marinos Marcos Júnior Thiago Martins Élber Léo Ceará Theerathon Bunmathan
Shonan Bellmare Riuler Wellington Welinton Júnior Tarik Elyounoussi
Kashiwa Reysol Cristiano Dodi Rodrigo Richardson Matheus Sávio Kim Seung-gyu Ippei Shinozuka
Shimizu S-Pulse Thiago Santana Carlinhos Junior Elsinho Renato Augusto Valdo William Matheus Erick Noriega
Yokohama FC Maguinho Kléber Calvin Jong-a-Pin Han Ho-gang
Nagoya Grampus Gabriel Xavier Mateus Mitchell Langerak
Gamba Osaka Patric Leandro Pereira Tiago Alves Kim Young-gwon Ju Se-jong Shin Won-ho
Cerezo Osaka Tiago Pagnussat Adam Taggart Kim Jin-hyeon Đặng Văn Lâm
Vissel Kobe Douglas Lincoln Thomas Vermaelen Andrés Iniesta Sergi Samper
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Douglas Vieira Ezequiel Rhayner Júnior Santos
Sagan Tosu Eduardo Ismael Dunga Chikeluba Ofoedu Park Il-gyu Hwang Seok-ho Ryang Yong-gi Kim Min-ho
Avispa Fukuoka Douglas Grolli Bruno Mendes Carlos Gutiérrez Juanma Emil Salomonsson Jordy Croux
Tokushima Vortis Diego Dušan Cvetinović Cristian Battocchio
Oita Trinita

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Kashima Antlers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage and FIFA Club World Cup first round
2 Avispa Fukuoka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage
3 Shonan Bellmare 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for AFC Champions League play-off round
4 Cerezo Osaka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Consadole Sapporo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 Yokohama F. Marinos 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Kawasaki Frontale 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 Gamba Osaka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 Nagoya Grampus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 Urawa Red Diamonds 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 Kashiwa Reysol 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 Sagan Tosu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 Shimizu S-Pulse 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 FC Tokyo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 Oita Trinita 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 Tokushima Vortis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to J2 League
18 Vegalta Sendai 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
19 Vissel Kobe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
20 Yokohama FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on 26 February 2021. Source: Meiji Yasuda J1 League
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.

    See also

    References
    1. "Football: Kawasaki Frontale crowned champions after 5-0 win over Gamba". Kyodonews.net. 25 November 2020.
    2. Orlowitz, Dan (19 March 2020). "J. League to skip relegation as schedule threatened by coronavirus". The Japan Times.
    3. "Number of clubs promoted and relegated at the end of the 2021 season" (Press release). Japan Professional Football League. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
    4. "Football: Tokushima crowned J2 champs despite loss to Fukuoka". Kyodonews.net. 20 December 2020.
    5. https://www.urawa-reds.co.jp/static/ttt/171009.html
    6. https://www.yokohamafc.com/2020/12/20/202012201700/
    7. http://www.bellmare.co.jp/251392
    8. https://www.soccerdigestweb.com/news/detail/id=83849
    9. https://as.com/futbol/2020/12/24/internacional/1608806482_530773.html?id_externo_rsoc=CM_ES_TW
    10. https://www.avispa.co.jp/?p=36108
    11. "「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.
    12. "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.
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