The J.League 1993 season was the inaugural season of the J.League. The league fixtures began on 15 May and ended on 15 December. The first ever Suntory Championship took place in the following year, 9 and 16 January 1994.
Clubs
Ten clubs participated in J.League during 1993 season: Club name Hometown Stadium (majority games) Capacity Head coach Gamba Osaka Osaka, Osaka Osaka Expo '70 Stadium 21,000 Kunishige KamamotoJEF United Ichihara Chiba, Chiba Ichihara Seaside Stadium 14,051 Yoshikazu NagaiKashima Antlers Kashima, Ibaraki Kashima Soccer Stadium 37,638 Masakatsu MiyamotoNagoya Grampus Eight Nagoya, Aichi Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium 11,900 Ryuzo HirakiSanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshima, Hiroshima Coca-Cola West Hiroshima Stadium 13,800 Stuart BaxterShimizu S-Pulse Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture Nihondaira Sports Stadium 20,248 Émerson LeãoUrawa Red Diamonds Saitama, Greater Tokyo Area Urawa Komaba Stadium 21,500 Takaji MoriVerdy Kawasaki Kawasaki, Kanagawa Todoroki Athletics Stadium 26,232 Yasutaro MatsukiYokohama Flügels Yokohama Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium 15,454 Shu KamoYokohama Marinos Yokohama Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium 15,454 Hidehiko Shimizu
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Non-visa foreign Former player(s) Gamba Osaka Sergei Aleinikov Flávio Campos Luís Müller Rinaldo Kiril Metkov Jia Xiuquan JEF United Ichihara František Mysliveček Pavel Řehák Frank Ordenewitz Pierre Littbarski Sandro Shin Che-bon Kashima Antlers Alcindo Carlos Regis Santos Zico Nagoya Grampus Eight Elivélton Garça Jorginho Pita Gary Lineker Dido Havenaar Sanfrecce Hiroshima Pavel Černý Lee Baxter Noh Jung-yoon Jan Jönsson Jean-Paul Vonderburg Dan Calichman Andrey Shimizu S-Pulse Celso Edu Manga Marcão Marco Antônio Sidmar Toninho Ademir Urawa Red Diamonds Marcelo Trivisonno Michael Rummenigge Uwe Rahn Miroslav Mentel Edwin Uehara Marcelo Morales Victor Ferreyra Verdy Kawasaki Bismarck Márcio Amoroso Paulinho Paulo Pereira Erik van Rossum Ko Ishikawa Gène Hanssen Henny Meijer Yokohama Flügels Fernando Moner Aldro Angelo Edu Marangon Jaime Rodríguez Raúl Amarilla Yokohama Marinos David Bisconti Gustavo Zapata Ramón Díaz Everton
Format In the first year, the league followed split-season format, and each halves (or stages) were known as Suntory Series and NICOS Series for sponsorship purposes. In each series, ten clubs played in double round-robin format, a total of 18 games per club (per series). The games went to golden-goal extra time and penalties if needed after regulation. The clubs were ranked by number of wins, and tie breakers are, in the following order: Goal differential Goals scored Head-to-head results Extra match or a coin toss 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 the same club win both stages, the runners-up of each stages plays against each other and the winners challenges the stage winner at the championship game.
Results
Standings
Suntory Series (1st Stage) Standings
NICOS Series (2nd stage) Standings
Suntory Championship '93
Verdy Kawasaki won the series on 3-1 aggregate.
Overall standings
Honours Competition Champion Runners-up 3rd placeDomestic leagueJ.League Suntory SeriesKashima AntlersVerdy KawasakiYokohama MarinosJ.League NICOS SeriesVerdy KawasakiShimizu S-PulseYokohama MarinosSuntory ChampionshipVerdy KawasakiKashima Antlersn/aCup competitionsEmperor's CupYokohama FlügelsKashima AntlersShimizu S-PulseSanfrecce HiroshimaNabisco CupVerdy KawasakiShimizu S-PulseYokohama FlügelsGamba OsakaXEROX Super CupNot held
Average attendance In its first year, the league averaged 17,976 fans and had over 3.2 million fans total over the course of the season. The following chart shows the league ranked in terms of average attendance:
Team name Total attendance Average attendance Verdy Kawasaki 454,237 25,235 Gamba Osaka 388,286 21,571 JEF United Ichihara 364,922 20,273 Nagoya Grampus Eight 357,451 19,858 Shimizu S-Pulse 332,312 18,462 Yokohama Marinos 302,054 16,781 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 299,586 16,644 Yokohama Flügels 278,346 15,464 Kashima Antlers 252,291 14,016 Urawa Red Diamonds 206,265 11,459 Total 3,235,750 17,976
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Ramón DíazYokohama Marinos282 AlcindoKashima Antlers223 Kazuyoshi MiuraVerdy Kawasaki204 Nobuhiro TakedaVerdy Kawasaki175 Pavel ŘehákJEF United Ichihara166 Edu MangaShimizu S-Pulse137 Akihiro NagashimaGamba Osaka12
Awards MVP Kazuyoshi Miura - (Verdy Kawasaki) Rookie of the Year Masaaki Sawanobori - (Shimizu S-Pulse) Manager of the Year Yasutaro Matsuki - (Verdy Kawasaki) Top Scorer Ramón Díaz - (Yokohama Marinos)
Best XI Position Player TeamGK Shigetatsu Matsunaga Yokohama MarinosDF Pereira Verdy KawasakiDF Tetsuji Hashiratani Verdy KawasakiDF Takumi Horiike Shimizu S-PulseDF Masami Ihara Yokohama MarinosDF Shunzo Ono Kashima AntlersMF Santos Kashima AntlersMF Yasuto Honda Kashima AntlersMF Ruy Ramos Verdy KawasakiFW Ramón Díaz Yokohama MarinosFW Kazuyoshi Miura Verdy Kawasaki
References
Source: J. League 1993 (RSSSF)