The 1996 J.League season was the fourth season since the establishment of the J.League. The season began on March 16 and ended on November 9.
Clubs
The following sixteen clubs participated in J.League during the 1996 season. Of these clubs, Kyoto Purple Sanga, and Avispa Fukuoka were newly promoted teams from Japan Football League.
Avispa Fukuoka Bellmare Hiratsuka Cerezo Osaka Gamba Osaka JEF United Ichihara Júbilo Iwata Kashima Antlers Kashiwa Reysol Kyoto Purple Sanga Nagoya Grampus Eight Sanfrecce Hiroshima Shimizu S-Pulse Urawa Red Diamonds Verdy Kawasaki Yokohama Flügels Yokohama Marinos
Personnel Club Head coachAvispa Fukuoka Hidehiko ShimizuBellmare Hiratsuka Shigeharu UekiCerezo Osaka Hiroshi SowaGamba Osaka Josip KužeJEF United Ichihara Yasuhiko OkuderaJúbilo Iwata Hans OoftKashima Antlers João CarlosKashiwa Reysol Nicanor de CarvalhoKyoto Purple Sanga George YonashiroNagoya Grampus Eight José CostaSanfrecce Hiroshima Wim JansenShimizu S-Pulse Osvaldo ArdilesUrawa Red Diamonds Holger OsieckVerdy Kawasaki Emerson LeãoYokohama Flügels Otacílio GonçalvesYokohama Marinos Hiroshi Hayano
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Non-visa foreign Former players Avispa Fukuoka Carlos Mayor Hugo Maradona Pedro Troglio Richart Báez Bellmare Hiratsuka Almir Betinho Paulinho McLaren Simão Zé Luiz Cerezo Osaka Francisco Narcizio Gilmar Guga Marquinhos Sérgio Manoel Gamba Osaka Mladen Mladenović Vjekoslav Škrinjar Boban Babunski Hans Gillhaus Akhrik Tsveiba Sergei Aleinikov Oleh Protasov JEF United Ichihara Ivan Hašek Nenad Maslovar Peter Bosz Wynton Rufer Sandro Júbilo Iwata Dunga Salvatore Schillaci Gerald Vanenburg Dido Havenaar Kashima Antlers Carlos Mozer Jorginho Mazinho Rodrigo Carbone Rodrigo Mendes Leonardo Kashiwa Reysol Antônio Carlos Zago Careca Edílson Valdir Wagner Kyoto Purple Sanga Edmílson Matias José Alexandre Luiz Carlos Raudnei Sérgio Soares Baltazar Flávio Campos Nagoya Grampus Eight Alexandre Torres Dragan Stojković Franck Durix Donald-Olivier Sié Tomasz Frankowski Sanfrecce Hiroshima Antônio Carlos Pieter Huistra Noh Jung-yoon Shimizu S-Pulse Fernando Oliva Santos Daniele Massaro Ademir Toninho Urawa Red Diamonds Brian Steen Nielsen Basile Boli Guido Buchwald Uwe Bein Verdy Kawasaki Argel Fuchs Bismarck Magrão Ko Ishikawa Caíco Donizete Pantera Yokohama Flügels César Sampaio Denilson Evair Zinho Yokohama Marinos Alberto Acosta Darío Figueroa David Bisconti Gustavo Zapata Néstor Gorosito
Format In the 1996 season, the league abolished the split-season format and followed a single-season format; sixteen clubs played in double round-robin format, a total of 30 games per club. The games went to golden-goal extra time and penalties if needed after regulation. A club received 3 points for any win, 1 point for PK loss, and 0 pts for regulation or extra time loss. The clubs were ranked by points, 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 was declared season champion.
Changes in competition format Number of competing clubs increased from 14 to 16 Followed single-season format instead of split-season format Suntory Final Series was held this year, instead of Suntory Championship Number of games per club reduced to 30 from 52 games per season
Final standings
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Kazuyoshi MiuraVerdy Kawasaki232 EdílsonKashiwa Reysol213 EvairYokohama Flügels204 Salvatore SchillaciJúbilo Iwata155 MagrãoVerdy Kawasaki136 Ivan HašekJEF United Ichihara12 Yoshiyuki HasegawaKashima Antlers8 MazinhoKashima Antlers11 Mladen MladenovićGamba Osaka Dragan StojkovićNagoya Grampus Eight Koji NoguchiBellmare Hiratsuka Masayuki OkanoUrawa Red Diamonds Takuya TakagiSanfrecce Hiroshima Yasuyuki MoriyamaNagoya Grampus Eight
Awards
Individual awards AwardRecipientClubMost Valuable Player JorginhoKashima AntlersRookie of the Year Toshihide SaitoShimizu S-PulseManager of the Year Nicanor de CarvalhoKashiwa ReysolTop Scorer Kazuyoshi MiuraVerdy Kawasaki
Best Eleven PosFootballerClubNationalityGKSeigo NarazakiYokohama FlügelsDFGuido BuchwaldUrawa Red DiamondsDFMasami IharaYokohama MarinosDFNaoki SomaKashima AntlersMFJorginhoKashima AntlersMFHiroshi NanamiJúbilo IwataMFMasakiyo MaezonoYokohama FlügelsMFMotohiro YamaguchiYokohama FlügelsFWDragan StojkovićNagoya Grampus EightFWKazuyoshi MiuraVerdy KawasakiFWMasayuki OkanoUrawa Red Diamonds
See also J.League Jikkyou Winning Eleven '97 (PlayStation video game based on the 1996 season)
External links J. League 1996 (RSSSF)