The 2016 Meiji Yasuda J1 League (2016 明治安田生命J1リーグ) season was the 51st season of top-flight football in Japan and the 24th since the establishment of the J.League in 1992. This was second season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1.
This season was the second since J.League changed its competition format to a newly conceived multistage system, with the year split into two halves and a third and final championship stage. The winners of the first and second stages and the highest ranking club of the aggregate table (other than the first or second stage winners) qualified for the Championship Stage. Kashima Antlers, the winner of the championship stage, advanced to the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup as the host nation's entrant.
Clubs
Club nameHome town(s)StadiumCapacityNote(s) Albirex Niigata Niigata City & Seirō, Niigata Denka Big Swan Stadium 42,300 15th in 2015 Avispa Fukuoka Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Level-5 Stadium 22,563 Promoted from J2 League in 2015 (through a play-off system) FC Tokyo Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium 49,970 2016 AFC Champions League participant (as 2015 J1 League fourth-placed team) Gamba Osaka Northern Osaka Prefecture Suita City Football Stadium 40,000 2016 AFC Champions League participant (as 2015 J1 League third-placed team and Emperor's Cup winners) Júbilo Iwata Iwata, Shizuoka Yamaha Stadium 15,165 Promoted from J2 League in 2015 Kashima Antlers Southeast Ibaraki Prefecture Kashima Soccer Stadium 40,728 5th in 2015 Kashiwa Reysol Kashiwa, Chiba Kashiwa Soccer Stadium 15,900 10th in 2015 Kawasaki Frontale Kawasaki, Kanagawa Todoroki Athletics Stadium 26,232 6th in 2015 Nagoya Grampus All Aichi Prefecture Paloma Mizuho Stadium 27,000 9th in 2015 Omiya Ardija Saitama City, Saitama NACK5 Stadium 15,500 Promoted from J2 League in 2015 Sagan Tosu Tosu, Saga Tosu Stadium 24,490 11th in 2015 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Hiroshima Big Arch 50,000 2016 AFC Champions League participant (as 2015 J1 League winners) Shonan Bellmare Shōnan part of Kanagawa Shonan Stadium Hiratsuka 18,500 8th in 2015 Urawa Red Diamonds Saitama City, Saitama Saitama Stadium 63,700 2016 AFC Champions League participant (as 2015 J1 League runners-up) Vegalta Sendai Sendai, Miyagi Yurtec Stadium 19,694 14th in 2015 Ventforet Kofu All Yamanashi Prefecture Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium 17,000 13th in 2015 Vissel Kobe Kobe, Hyōgo Misaki Park Stadium 30,132 12th in 2015 Yokohama F. Marinos Yokohama & Yokosuka, Kanagawa Nissan Stadium 72,327 7th in 2015
Personnel and kits Club nameHead coachKit manufacturerFront shirt sponsor Albirex Niigata Tatsuma Yoshida Adidas HAPPY Turn's Avispa Fukuoka Masami Ihara Athleta Fukuoka Jisho FC Tokyo Yoshiyuki Shinoda Umbro Lifeval Gamba Osaka Kenta Hasegawa Umbro Panasonic Júbilo Iwata Hiroshi Nanami Puma Yamaha Kashima Antlers Masatada Ishii Nike Lixil Kashiwa Reysol Takahiro Shimotaira Yonex Hitachi Kawasaki Frontale Yahiro Kazama Puma Fujitsu (home) Arrows (away) Nagoya Grampus Boško Gjurovski Le Coq Sportif Toyota Omiya Ardija Hiroki Shibuya Under Armour Docomo Hikari Sagan Tosu Massimo Ficcadenti New Balance DHC Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hajime Moriyasu Nike EDION Shonan Bellmare Cho Kwi-jae Penalty Sanei Architecture Planning Urawa Red Diamonds Mihailo Petrović Nike Polus Vegalta Sendai Susumu Watanabe Adidas Iris Ohyama Ventforet Kofu Satoru Sakuma Mizuno Hakubaku Vissel Kobe Nelsinho Baptista Asics Rakuten Yokohama F. Marinos Erick Mombaerts Adidas Nissan
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerDate of separationManner of departureIncoming managerDate of announcement Kashiwa Reysol Tatsuma YoshidaEnd of 2015 season Mutual consent Milton Mendes 30 October 2015 Nagoya Grampus Akira Nishino Mutual consent Takafumi Ogura 24 November 2015 Albirex Niigata Masaaki Yanagishita Mutual consent Tatsuma Yoshida 12 December 2015FC Tokyo Massimo Ficcadenti27 November 2015Signed by Sagan Tosu Hiroshi Jofuku28 December 2015Sagan Tosu Hitoshi Morishita7 January 2016Contract terminated Massimo Ficcadenti7 January 2016Kashiwa Reysol Milton Mendes12 March 2016Resigned Takahiro Shimotaira12 March 2016FC Tokyo Hiroshi Jofuku24 July 2016Sacked Yoshiyuki Shinoda26 July 2016Nagoya Grampus Takafumi Ogura23 August 2016Sacked Boško Gjurovski23 August 2016
Foreign players
Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player Non-visa foreign Type-C contract Former players Albirex Niigata Bruno Cortez Léo Silva Rafael Silva Leonardo Kalil Lim You-hwan Avispa Fukuoka Wellington Danilson Córdoba Kim Hyun-hun Lee Bum-young FC Tokyo Nathan Burns Muriqui Yu In-soo Ha Dae-sung Francisco Sandaza Gamba Osaka Ademilson Patric Oh Jae-suk Kim Jung-ya Júbilo Iwata Adaílton Jay Bothroyd Krzysztof Kamiński Avraam Papadopoulos Kashima Antlers Fabrício Hwang Seok-ho Bueno Caio Dinei Kashiwa Reysol Cristiano Diego Oliveira Dudu Éderson Juliano Mineiro Patrick Kawasaki Frontale Eduardo Eduardo Neto Elsinho Jung Sung-ryong Nagoya Grampus Ha Dae-sung Ludvig Öhman Robin Simović Lee Seung-hee Gustavo Omiya Ardija Mateus Dragan Mrđa Nejc Pecnik Sagan Tosu Aymen Tahar Moestafa El Kabir Kim Min-hyeok Kim Min-woo Baek Sung-dong Choi Sung-keun Sanfrecce Hiroshima Anderson Lopes Mihael Mikić Peter Utaka Kim Byeom-yong Shonan Bellmare André Bahia Dinei Weslley Tando Velaphi Park Tae-hwan Paulinho Thiago Quirino Urawa Red Diamonds Branko Ilić Zlatan Ljubijankić Vegalta Sendai Pablo Diogo Ramon Lopes Wilson Kim Min-tae Ryang Yong-gi Ventforet Kofu Davi Dudu Marquinhos Paraná Billy Celeski Cristiano Gilton Nilson Vissel Kobe Leandro Nílton Pedro Júnior Kim Seung-gyu Yokohama F. Marinos Fábio Kayke Quenten Martinus Park Jeong-su
Avraam Papadopoulos owns Australian citizenship and was counted as an Asian player.
Format Teams play a single round-robin in the first stage and a single round-robin in the second stage. After that an overall table is calculated and a championship stage is played. The winners of the first and second stages and any team that finishes in the top 3 of the overall rankings advance to the championship stage. The team that finishes atop the overall table automatically qualifies for the final, while the remaining teams play-off for the other spot in the final.
League table First stage
Second stage
Overall table
Positions by round
First stage
Second stage
Overall
Championship stage Meiji Yasuda 2016 J.League Championship (明治安田生命 2016 Jリーグチャンピオンシップ) The Championship stage consisted of a knockout tournament involving the champions of the First and Second stages, and any team that finishes in the top 3 of the overall table. The team with the best aggregate record earned a bye to the final. The remaining teams playoff for the other spot in the final.
2–2 on aggregate. Kashima Antlers won on away goals.
Results
First stage
Second stage
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals 1 LeandroVissel Kobe 19 Peter UtakaSanfrecce Hiroshima3 CristianoVentforet Kofu / Kashiwa Reysol 16 4 Yoshito Ōkubo Kawasaki Frontale 15 Yu Kobayashi 6 Jay BothroydJúbilo Iwata 14 Shinzo KorokiUrawa Red Diamonds8 Yohei ToyodaSagan Tosu 13 9 Diego OliveiraKashiwa Reysol 12 Kazuma WatanabeVissel Kobe Yuki MutoUrawa Red Diamonds Updated to games played on 3 November 2016
Source: J. League data site
Awards
Individual
AwardRecipientClubMost Valuable Player Kengo NakamuraKawasaki FrontaleRookie of the Year Yosuke IdeguchiGamba OsakaTop Scorer Leandro Peter UtakaVissel KobeSanfrecce Hiroshima
Best Eleven PositionFootballerClubNationalityGKShusaku Nishikawa Urawa Red DiamondsDFGen Shoji Kashima AntlersDFMasato Morishige FC TokyoDFTomoaki Makino Urawa Red DiamondsDFTsukasa Shiotani Sanfrecce HiroshimaMFKengo Nakamura Kawasaki FrontaleMFManabu Saitō Yokohama F. MarinosMFYōsuke Kashiwagi Urawa Red DiamondsMFYuki Abe Urawa Red DiamondsFWLeandroVissel KobeFWYu Kobayashi Kawasaki Frontale
Source:
Attendances These are the attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season. The table does not include the Championship stages attendances.
References