The 2020 J1 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This was sixth season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1. The league began on 21 February and eventually ended on 19 December 2020. The league was planned to have a season break to avoid clashing with the 2020 Summer Olympics, but the Olympics were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.
Yokohama F. Marinos were the defending champions while Kashiwa Reysol and Yokohama FC entered the league as promoted teams from the 2019 J2 League, replacing Júbilo Iwata and Matsumoto Yamaga who were relegated to the 2020 J2 League.
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic On 25 February, all J.League matches until 15 March were postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. After that, it was announced that it would be postponed further until 29 March. On 19 March, the J.League announced no relegation would take place for the 2020 season, with the J1 League expanding to 20 clubs for the 2021 season. On 25 March, the league announced that it would be suspended again from 3 April to 6 May.
On 3 April, the Japan Professional Football League decided to resume the league, gradually resumed J3 from 25 April, J2 from 2 May, and J1 from 9 May. However, the league was postponed again.
On 29 May, the JPFL decided to resume the season on 27 June. The season is projected to resume on 4 July. On 9 June, the JPFL announced the new schedule of the 2020 season. On 15 June, it was announced that the first 2 matches in each league (J1, J2, and J3) would be held without spectators. After 10 July, as a general rule, the maximum number of people allowed is 5,000. The stadiums with less than 10,000 capacity would have up to 50% of the capacity. Away supporters are not allowed. After August, the maximum stadium capacity was 50%, and there would be "high alert spectator matches".
After the 11th J.League extraordinary executive committee meeting on 20 July, it was announced that the "super strict alert audience game" extended to 10 August in view of the spread of coronavirus infection.
Clubs
For the 2020 season, there were only two changes in the league. Kashiwa Reysol returned as the 2019 J2 League champions and Yokohama FC as runners-up after 13 seasons absence from the top tier of Japanese football. They replaced Matsumoto Yamaga (one season in J1) and Júbilo Iwata (four seasons in J1), who were relegated to the 2020 J2 League.
Meanwhile, Shonan Bellmare remained in the J1 League after defeating Tokushima Vortis in the 2019 J2 League play-off final. +ClubLocationStadiumCapacityLast seasonHokkaido Consadole SapporoHokkaidoSapporo DomeSapporo Atsubetsu Stadium41,48420,861J1 (10th)Vegalta SendaiMiyagi PrefectureYurtec Stadium Sendai19,694J1 (11th)Kashima AntlersIbaraki PrefectureKashima Soccer Stadium40,728J1 (3rd)Urawa Red DiamondsSaitama PrefectureSaitama Stadium 200263,700J1 (14th)Kashiwa ReysolChiba PrefectureHitachi Kashiwa Stadium15,900 J2 (champions)FC TokyoTokyoAjinomoto Stadium49,970J1 (2nd)Yokohama FCKanagawa PrefectureMitsuzawa Stadium15,046 J2 (2nd)Yokohama F. MarinosNissan Stadium72,327J1 (champions)Shonan BellmareBMW Stadium Hiratsuka18,500J1 (16th)Kawasaki FrontaleTodoroki Stadium26,232J1 (4th)Shimizu S-PulseShizuoka PrefectureIAI Stadium Nihondaira20,339J1 (12th)Nagoya GrampusAichi PrefecturePaloma Mizuho StadiumToyota Stadium27,001 45,000J1 (13th)Gamba OsakaOsaka PrefecturePanasonic Stadium Suita39,694J1 (7th)Cerezo OsakaYanmar Stadium47,853J1 (5th)Vissel KobeHyōgo PrefectureNoevir Stadium Kobe30,132J1 (8th)Sanfrecce HiroshimaHiroshima PrefectureEdion Stadium36,894J1 (6th)Oita TrinitaŌita PrefectureShowa Denko Dome Oita40,000J1 (9th)Sagan TosuSaga PrefectureEkimae Stadium24,130J1 (15th)
Personnel and kits Club Manager Kit manufacturer Front shirt sponsor Cerezo Osaka Miguel Ángel Lotina Puma Yanmar FC Tokyo Kenta Hasegawa Umbro XFLAG Gamba Osaka Tsuneyasu Miyamoto Umbro Panasonic Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Mihailo Petrović Kappa Ishiya Kashima Antlers Antônio Carlos Zago Nike Lixil Kashiwa Reysol Nelsinho Baptista Yonex Hitachi Kawasaki Frontale Toru Oniki Puma Fujitsu Nagoya Grampus Massimo Ficcadenti Mizuno Toyota Oita Trinita Tomohiro Katanosaka Puma Daihatsu Kyushu Sagan Tosu Kim Myung-hwi New Balance Kimura Information TechnologySanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshi Jofuku Nike EDION Shimizu S-Pulse Hiroaki Hiraoka Puma Suzuyo Shonan Bellmare Bin Ukishima Penalty Meldia Urawa Red Diamonds Tsuyoshi Otsuki Nike Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Vegalta Sendai Takashi Kiyama Adidas Iris Ohyama Vissel Kobe Atsuhiro Miura Asics Rakuten Yokohama FC Takahiro Shimotaira Soccer Junky Onodera Group Yokohama F. Marinos Ange Postecoglou Adidas Nissan
Managerial changes
TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate of appointment Vissel Kobe Thorsten Fink Change of director 21 September 2020 Atsuhiro Miura 25 September 2020 Shimizu S-Pulse Peter Cklamovski Sacked 1 November 2020 Hiroaki Hiraoka 1 November 2020
Foreign players As of 2019 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. 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.
ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5Player 6 Player 7Player 8Player 9Player 10Former players Cerezo Osaka Leandro Desábato Pierce Waring Bruno Mendes Matej Jonjić Ahn Joon-soo Kim Jin-hyeon Tawan Khotrsupho Lucas Mineiro FC Tokyo Adaílton Arthur Silva Diego Oliveira Leandro Joan Oumari Gamba Osaka Ademilson Patric Jefferson Tabinas Kim Young-gwon Lee Yun-oh Shin Won-ho Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Anderson Lopes Douglas Oliveira Lucas Fernandes Jay Bothroyd Hugo Vieira Kim Min-tae Chanathip Songkrasin Kawin Thamsatchanan Gu Sung-yun Kashima Antlers Everaldo Juan Alano Léo Silva Kwoun Sun-tae Kashiwa Reysol Cristiano Matheus Sávio Richardson Michael Olunga Kim Seung-gyu Júnior Santos Kawasaki Frontale Diogo Mateus Jesiel Leandro Damião Jung Sung-ryong Nagoya Grampus Mitchell Langerak Gabriel Xavier João Schmidt Mateus Oh Jae-suk Oita Trinita Mun Kyung-gun Sagan Tosu Eduardo Tiago Alves Wang Jianan Ryang Yong-gi An Yong-woo Cho Dong-geon Kim Min-ho Park Il-gyu Park Jeong-su Renzo López Sanfrecce Hiroshima Douglas Vieira Ezequiel Leandro Pereira Rhayner Shimizu S-Pulse Carlinhos Júnior Elsinho Junior Dutra Neto Volpi Renato Augusto Valdo Hwang Seok-ho Teerasil Dangda Shonan Bellmare Riuler Tarik Elyounoussi Urawa Red Diamonds Thomas Deng Ewerton Leonardo Quenten Martinus Fabrício Maurício Antônio Vegalta Sendai Pará Simão Mate Junior Jakub Słowik Alexandre Guedes Kim Jung-ya Isaac Cuenca Vissel Kobe Thomas Vermaelen Dankler Douglas Andrés Iniesta Sergi Samper Yokohama FC Leandro Domingues Maguinho Calvin Jong-a-Pin Yokohama F. Marinos Erik Júnior Santos Marcos Júnior Thiago Martins Theerathon Bunmathan Edigar Junio Park Il-gyu
League table It was decided on 19 March to change the format regarding the rules for promotion/relegation for the end of the season for the J1, J2 and J3 leagues, such that there would be no relegation this season, that two clubs from the J2 League would be promoted to the 2021 J1 League, and that two clubs from the J3 League would be promoted to the 2021 J2 League (subject to licensing regulations).
Results table
Season statistics Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Michael OlungaKashiwa Reysol282 EveraldoKashima Antlers183 Leandro PereiraSanfrecce Hiroshima154 Yu KobayashiKawasaki Frontale145 ErikYokohama F. Marinos13 Júnior Santos Leandro DamiãoKawasaki Frontale Kaoru Mitoma9 Kyogo FuruhashiVissel Kobe1210 LeonardoUrawa Red Diamonds11 Marcos JúniorYokohama F. Marinos Akihiro IenagaKawasaki Frontale
Hat-tricks PlayerClubAgainst ResultDate Michael OlungaKashiwa ReysolVegalta Sendai 5–1 (H) EveraldoKashima AntlersOita Trinita 4–1 (A) Naoki Maeda4Nagoya GrampusUrawa Red Diamonds 6–2 (H) Shun NagasawaVegalta SendaiGamba Osaka4–0 (A)14 November 2020 Júnior SantosYokohama F. MarinosUrawa Red Diamonds6–2 (H)14 November 2020 Akihiro IenagaKawasaki FrontaleGamba Osaka5–0 (H)25 November 2020 4 Player scored 4 goals
Attendances
Awards Award Winner Club Manager of the Year Toru Oniki Kawasaki Frontale Most Valuable Player Michael Olunga Kashiwa Reysol Rookie of the Year Ayumu Seko Cerezo Osaka Top Scorer Michael Olunga Kashiwa Reysol
+ J.League Best XI Goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong(Kawasaki Frontale) Defence Jesiel(Kawasaki Frontale) Shogo Taniguchi(Kawasaki Frontale) Kyohei Noborizato(Kawasaki Frontale) Miki Yamane(Kawasaki Frontale) Midfield Akihiro Ienaga(Kawasaki Frontale) Ao Tanaka(Kawasaki Frontale) Kaoru Mitoma(Kawasaki Frontale) Hidemasa Morita(Kawasaki Frontale) Attack Everaldo(Kashima Antlers) Michael Olunga(Kashiwa Reysol) </div>
References
External links Official website, JLeague.jp