The 2004 J.League Division 1 season was the 12th season of the J.League Division 1. The league fixture began on March 13 and ended on December 12. The Suntory Championship took place on December 5 and 11, followed by the first ever J. League promotion/relegation series on December 4 and 12.
General Promotion and relegation At the end of the 2003 season, Albirex Niigata and Sanfrecce Hiroshima were promoted to J1. At the end of the 2003 season, Vegalta Sendai and Kyoto Purple Sanga were relegated to J2.
Changes in competition formats This was the last J.League Division 1 season to be competed in two stages (or two halves). This was also the last J.League Division 1 season with 16 clubs. Next season, the division was expanded to 18 clubs.
Changes in clubs none
Clubs
The following sixteen clubs participated in J.League Division 1 during 2004 season. Of these clubs, Albirex Niigata and Sanfrecce Hiroshima were newly promoted from Division 2.
Albirex Niigata Cerezo Osaka FC Tokyo Gamba Osaka JEF United Ichihara Júbilo Iwata Kashima Antlers Kashiwa Reysol Nagoya Grampus Eight Oita Trinita Sanfrecce Hiroshima Shimizu S-Pulse Tokyo Verdy 1969 Urawa Red Diamonds Vissel Kobe Yokohama F. Marinos
Personnel Club Head coachAlbirex Niigata Yasuharu SorimachiCerezo Osaka Shinji KobayashiFC Tokyo Hiromi HaraGamba Osaka Akira NishinoJEF United Ichihara Ivica OsimJúbilo Iwata Masakazu SuzukiKashima Antlers Toninho CerezoKashiwa Reysol Hiroshi HayanoNagoya Grampus Eight Nelsinho BaptistaOita Trinita Han BergerSanfrecce Hiroshima Takeshi OnoShimizu S-Pulse Nobuhiro IshizakiTokyo Verdy 1969 Osvaldo ArdilesUrawa Red Diamonds Guido BuchwaldVissel Kobe Hiroshi KatoYokohama F. Marinos Takeshi Okada
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Non-visa foreign Type-C contract Former players Albirex Niigata Edmílson Fabinho Santos Oséas An Yong-hak Roberto César Anderson Batatais Cerezo Osaka Mario Garba Miodrag Anđelković Davorin Kablar Ivan Radeljić Krunoslav Lovrek FC Tokyo Jean Kelly Lucas Severino Oh Jang-eun Gamba Osaka Fernandinho Magrão Sidiclei JEF United Ichihara Marquinhos Sandro Željko Milinovič Kim Dong-soo Júbilo Iwata Gavião Rodrigo Gral Kashima Antlers Baron Fábio Júnior Fernando Kashiwa Reysol Ricardinho Zé Roberto Ever Palacios Dudu Cearense Nagoya Grampus Eight Claiton Marques Ueslei Chong Yong-de Jorginho Andrej Panadić Oita Trinita Magno Alves Patrick Zwaanswijk Sandro Richard Witschge Sanfrecce Hiroshima Beto Ricardo Tiago Ri Han-jae César Sampaio Shimizu S-Pulse Clemerson Cho Jae-jin Fabinho Paulo Jamelli Tokyo Verdy 1969 Claudio Úbeda Hugo Lee Woo-jin Patrick Mboma Urawa Red Diamonds Emerson Sheik Nenê Alpay Özalan Yuriy Nikiforov Vissel Kobe Roger Machado Patrick Mboma Pavel Horváth Park Kang-jo Leandrão İlhan Mansız Yokohama F. Marinos Dutra Ahn Jung-hwan Yoo Sang-chul
Format In the 2004 season, the league was conducted split-season format, 1st Stage and 2nd Stage. In each stage, sixteen clubs played in a single round-robin format, a total of 15 games per club (per stage). A club received 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The club were ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order: Goal differential Goals scored Head-to-head results A draw would be conducted, if necessary. The club that finished at the top of the table is declared stage champion and qualifies for the Suntory Championship. The first stage winner, hosts the first leg in the championship series. If a single club wins both stages, the club is declared the season champions and championship series will not be held. Meanwhile, the last-placed (16th-placed) club must play Pro/Rele Series at the end of the season.
Changes in competition format No direct relegation this year, due to expansion of Division 1 in the following season Last-placed (16th placed) club plays Pro/Rele Series at the end of the season
First stage Table
Results
Second stage Table
Results
Suntory Championship Yokohama F. Marinos won the first stage and thus hosted the first game. They won the first leg by 1–0 thanks to Ryuji Kawai's goal. In the second leg, Alessandro Santos scored from the free kick in 76th minute to level the aggregate score. The clubs played in sudden death extra time, however neither club could break the scoreline. Yokohama upset the home club in the penalties winning them and series overall.
Overall table
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals; 1 Emerson SheikUrawa Red Diamonds2 Masashi OguroGamba Osaka3 MarquesNagoya Grampus Eight17 Ryūji BandoVissel Kobe5 Rodrigo GralJúbilo Iwata6 EdmílsonAlbirex Niigata15 Yoshito ŌkuboCerezo Osaka8 MarquinhosJEF United Ichihara12 Ahn Jung-hwanYokohama F. Marinos10 Lucas SeverinoFC Tokyo11 Magno AlvesOita Trinita
Attendance figures
Awards Individual
AwardRecipientClubPlayer of the Year Yuji NakazawaYokohama F. MarinosYoung Player of the Year Takayuki MorimotoTokyo Verdy 1969Manager of the Year Takeshi OkadaYokohama F. MarinosTop Scorer Emerson SheikUrawa Red Diamonds
Best Eleven
PositionFootballerClubNationalityGKYoichi Doi (1)FC TokyoDFDutra (2)Yokohama F. MarinosDFMarcus Tulio Tanaka (1)Urawa Red DiamondsDFYuji Nakazawa (3)Yokohama F. MarinosMFDaisuke Oku (3)Yokohama F. MarinosMFMakoto Hasebe (1)Urawa Red DiamondsMFMitsuo Ogasawara (4)Kashima AntlersMFYasuhito Endō (2)Gamba OsakaFWEmerson Sheik (3)Urawa Red DiamondsFWMarques (1)Nagoya Grampus EightFWMasashi Oguro (1)Gamba Osaka * The number in brackets denotes the number of times that the footballer has appeared in the Best 11.
References