2021 J2 League

The 2021 J2 League, also known as the 2021 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (Japanese: 2021 明治安田生命J2リーグ, Hepburn: 2021 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J2 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, will be the 23rd season of J2 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999. The league will start on February 27th, 2021.[1]

Meiji Yasuda J2 League
Season2021
Dates27 February - 5 December 2021
Relegated4 (for season 2021 only)
Matches played462
← 2020
2022 →
All statistics correct as of January 31st, 2021.

Clubs
Locations of the 2021 J2 League teams
Greater Tokyo Area J2 League teams

With no relegations from J1 League, the second division will host the same number of teams, since there were no relegations to J3 League in 2020, but there were two promotions from the third division. This year, though, will see four relegations to J3 to match the four relegations from J1.

Tokushima Vortis left the second division after six seasons, coming back to J1, this time winning the title and topping the table in 2020. Despite losing in the last match against rivals and runners-up Avispa Fukuoka, both clubs assured themselves the promotion to J1 with one game still to be played.[2]

Meanwhile, in J3 League, two teams won promotion to J2: Blaublitz Akita stormed their way to J2, winning their second title in J3, but this time also getting promoted to J2 (unlike what happened in 2017, when they won, but didn't hold a J2 license). In the last match of the season, SC Sagamihara overcame Nagano Parceiro and clinched their first promotion ever, leaving the third division after seven seasons.[3]

Club Name Home Town Stadium Capacity Last season licence
Albirex Niigata Niigata & Seiro, Niigata Denka Big Swan Stadium 42,300 J2 (11th) J1
Blaublitz Akita Akita Soyu Stadium 20,125 Promoted from J3 (Champions) J2
Ehime FC All cities/towns in Ehime[lower-alpha 1] Ningineer Stadium 20,000 J2 (21st) J1
Fagiano Okayama All cities/towns in Okayama[lower-alpha 2] City Light Stadium 20,000 J2 (17th) J1
Giravanz Kitakyushu Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu 15,066 J2 (5th) J1
JEF United Chiba Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba Fukuda Denshi Arena 18,500 J2 (14th) J1
Júbilo Iwata Iwata, Shizuoka Yamaha Stadium 15,165 J2 (6th) J1
Kyoto Sanga Cities/towns in Kyoto[lower-alpha 3] Sanga Stadium by Kyocera 21,600 J2 (8th) J1
Machida Zelvia Machida, Tokyo Machida Athletic Stadium 10,600 J2 (19th) J1
Matsumoto Yamaga Cities/towns in Nagano[lower-alpha 4] Sunpro Alwin 20,396 J2 (13th) J1
Mito HollyHock Cities/towns in Ibaraki[lower-alpha 5] K's denki Stadium Mito 12,000 J2 (9th) J2
Montedio Yamagata All cities/towns in Yamagata[lower-alpha 6] ND Soft Stadium 20,315 J2 (7th) J1
Omiya Ardija Saitama, Saitama NACK5 Stadium Omiya 15,500 J2 (15th) J1
Renofa Yamaguchi All cities/towns in Yamaguchi Yamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium 20,000 J2 (22nd) J1
FC Ryukyu All cities/towns in Okinawa[lower-alpha 7] Tapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium 25,000 J2 (16th) J1
SC Sagamihara Sagamihara Gion Stadium 15,300 Promoted from J3 (Runners-up) J2
Tochigi SC Utsunomiya, Tochigi Tochigi Green Stadium 18,025 J2 (10th) J1
Thespakusatsu Gunma All cities/towns in Gunma[lower-alpha 8] Shoda Shoyu Stadium Gunma 15,253 J2 (20th) J1
V-Varen Nagasaki All cities/towns in Nagasaki Prefecture[lower-alpha 9] Nagasaki Athletic Stadium 20,246 J2 (3rd) J1
Ventforet Kofu All cities/towns in Yamanashi Prefecture[lower-alpha 10] Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium 17,000 J2 (4th) J1
Tokyo Verdy All cities/towns in Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium 49,970 J2 (12th) J1
Zweigen Kanazawa All cities/towns in Ishikawa[lower-alpha 11] Ishikawa Kanazawa Stadium 20,000 J2 (18th) J1
  1. centering on Matsuyama
  2. centering on Okayama, Kurashiki, Tsuyama
  3. Kyoto, Uji, Joyo, Kyotanabe, Muko, Nagaokakyo, Kizugawa, Kameoka, Nantan, Kyotanba, Fukuchiyama, Maizuru, Ayabe
  4. Matsumoto, Azumino, Yamagata, Shiojiri, Omachi, Ikeda, Ikusaka, Minowa, Asahi
  5. Mito, Hitachinaka, Kasama, Naka, Omitama, Ibaraki, Shirosato, Oarai, Tokai
  6. centering on Yamagata, Tendo, Tsuruoka
  7. centering on Okinawa
  8. centering on Kusatsu and Maebashi
  9. centering on Nagasaki and Isahaya
  10. centering on Kofu and Nirasaki
  11. centering on Kanazawa, Nonoichi, Kahoku, Tsubata, Tsubata

Personnel and kits
Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer
Albirex Niigata Albert Puig TBA Adidas
Blaublitz Akita Ken Yoshida[4] Naoyuki Yamada ATHLETA
Ehime FC Shigenari Izumi[5] Takanori Maeno Mizuno
Fagiano Okayama Kenji Arima TBA Penalty
Giravanz Kitakyushu Shinji Kobayashi TBA Penalty
JEF United Chiba Yoon Jong-hwan TBA Kappa
Júbilo Iwata Masakazu Suzuki[6] Kentaro Oi Puma
Kyoto Sanga Cho Kwi-jea TBA Puma
Machida Zelvia Ranko Popović Hiroki Mizumoto SVOLME
Matsumoto Yamaga Kei Shibata[7] Hayuma Tanaka Adidas
Mito HollyHock Tadahiro Akiba[8] Masato Nakayama soccer junky
Montedio Yamagata Kiyotaka Ishimaru Takumi Yamada Penalty
Omiya Ardija Ken Iwase[9] Yuta Mikado Under Armour
Renofa Yamaguchi Susumu Watanabe Joji Ikegami Finta
FC Ryukyu Yasuhiro Higuchi Kazumasa Uesato sfida
SC Sagamihara Fumitake Miura TBA gol.
Tochigi SC Kazuaki Tasaka TBA ATHLETA
Thespakusatsu Gunma Ryosuke Okuno Kodai Watanabe Kelme
V-Varen Nagasaki Takayuki Yoshida[10] Hiroki Akino Umbro
Ventforet Kofu Akira Ito Ryohei Arai Mizuno
Tokyo Verdy Hideki Nagai Tomohiro Taira ATHLETA
Zweigen Kanazawa Masaaki Yanagishita Tomonobu Hiroi Adidas

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 Former players
Montedio Yamagata Vinícius Araújo Min Seong-jun Víctor Ibáñez
Mito HollyHock Jefferson Tabinas
Tochigi SC Juninho
Thespakusatsu Gunma
Omiya Ardija Nermin Haskić Filip Kljajić Ibba Laajab
JEF United Chiba Saldanha Jang Min-gyu
Tokyo Verdy Matheus Vidotto
Machida Zelvia Alen Mašović Jong Tae-se Dudu
Ventforet Kofu Mendes Willian Lira Paulo Baya
Matsumoto Yamaga Goh Dong-min Lucão Han Yong-thae
Albirex Niigata Gonzalo González
Zweigen Kanazawa Rodolfo
Jubilo Iwata Fabián González Lukian
Kyoto Sanga Jordy Buijs Peter Utaka
Fagiano Okayama Paulinho Lee Yong-jae Yu Yong-hyeon
Renofa Yamaguchi Renan Henik
Blaublitz Akita
Ehime FC
SC Sagamihara Yuri Mamute Jeong In-gwon Eduardo Kunde Agenor
Giravanz Kitakyushu
V-Varen Nagasaki Caio César Freire Luan Víctor Ibarbo Edigar Junio
FC Ryukyu Felipe Tavares Danny Carvajal Ramon Ri Yong-jik

League table

Unlike last season, J. League has then decided to have four relegations to balance the number of teams in place for the 2022 season. While in 2020 no relegation was in place, 2021 will see four teams dropped to J3, re-establishing the number of teams in the third division to at least 17.[13]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Albirex Niigata 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion to J1 League
2 Blaublitz Akita 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion to J1 League
3 Ehime FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Fagiano Okayama 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Giravanz Kitakyushu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 JEF United Chiba 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Júbilo Iwata 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 Kyoto Sanga 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 Machida Zelvia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 Matsumoto Yamaga 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 Mito HollyHock 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 Montedio Yamagata 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 Omiya Ardija 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 Renofa Yamaguchi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 FC Ryukyu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 SC Sagamihara 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 Thespakusatsu Gunma 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
18 Tochigi SC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
19 Tokyo Verdy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to J3 League
20 Ventforet Kofu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 V-Varen Nagasaki 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 Zweigen Kanazawa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on 27 February 2021. Source: Meiji Yasuda J2 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. https://www.jleague.jp/en/news/article/19251/
  2. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20201220/p2g/00m/0sp/066000c
  3. https://globoesporte.globo.com/blogs/futebol-no-japao/post/2020/12/26/analise-da-temporada-2020-da-j3.ghtml
  4. https://blaublitz.jp/whatsnew/61785.html
  5. https://ehimefc.com/topics/topic14122.html
  6. https://www.jubilo-iwata.co.jp/newslist/detail/?nw_seq=7601
  7. https://www.yamaga-fc.com/archives/228646
  8. https://www.mito-hollyhock.net/news/p=6165/
  9. https://www.ardija.co.jp/news/detail/17086.html
  10. https://www.v-varen.com/news/130214.html
  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.
  13. https://www.jleague.jp/en/news/article/18943/
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