The 1998 J.League season was the sixth season of the J.League. The league began in March 21 and ended in November 14. For this year, the division was contested by 18 teams. Júbilo Iwata won the first stage and Kashima Antlers won the second stage. Kashima Antlers won the J.League title after winning both matches in the Suntory Championship.
Clubs
The following 18 clubs participated in J.League during the 1998 season. Of these clubs, Consadole Sapporo was the only newly promoted team from Japan Football League.
Avispa Fukuoka Bellmare Hiratsuka Cerezo Osaka Consadole Sapporo 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 Vissel Kobe Yokohama Flügels Yokohama Marinos
Personnel Club Head coachAvispa Fukuoka Takaji MoriBellmare Hiratsuka Shigeharu UekiCerezo Osaka Yasutaro MatsukiConsadole Sapporo Hugo FernándezGamba Osaka Frédéric AntonettiJEF United Ichihara Jan VersleijenJúbilo Iwata Valmir LouruzKashima Antlers Zé MárioKashiwa Reysol Akira NishinoKyoto Purple Sanga Hidehiko ShimizuNagoya Grampus Eight Koji TanakaSanfrecce Hiroshima Eddie ThomsonShimizu S-Pulse Osvaldo ArdilesUrawa Red Diamonds Hiromi HaraVerdy Kawasaki Ryoichi KawakatsuVissel Kobe Harumi KoriYokohama Flügels Gert EngelsYokohama Marinos Xabier Azkargorta
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Non-visa foreign Former players Avispa Fukuoka Fernando Dragan Đukanović Miodrag Božović Juan Carlos Villamayor Marcos Aurélio Michael Obiku Pablo Maqueda Bellmare Hiratsuka Cláudio Ricardinho Pavel Badea Hong Myung-bo Park Kyung-hwan Cerezo Osaka Pericles Pintado Radivoje Manić Hwang Sun-hong Ha Seok-ju Ko Jeong-woon Consadole Sapporo Hugo Maradona Pereira Walter Jorge Dely Valdés Dido Havenaar Gamba Osaka Anto Drobnjak Nebojša Krupniković Claude Dambury Amir Karić Patrick Mboma Boban Babunski JEF United Ichihara Matthew Bingley Nenad Maslovar Arnold Scholten Kim Dae-eui Kim Hwang-jung Júbilo Iwata Adilson Batista Dedimar Dunga Alessandro Cambalhota Kashima Antlers Bismarck Jorginho Mazinho Ricardo Kashiwa Reysol Basílio Bentinho Buiú Hristo Stoichkov Duda Elpídio Silva Marcão Kyoto Purple Sanga Edmílson Matias Junior Paulo Silas Park Kang-jo Nagoya Grampus Eight Alexandre Torres Dragan Stojković Bernard Allou Tarik Oulida Ko Ishikawa Valdo Sanfrecce Hiroshima Aurelio Vidmar Hayden Foxe Tony Popovic Don Goodman Graham Arnold Ian Crook Shimizu S-Pulse Fernando Oliva Fabinho Santos Alex Urawa Red Diamonds Željko Petrović Giuseppe Zappella Txiki Begiristain Alfred Nijhuis Verdy Kawasaki Daniel da Silva Fumagalli Henrique Moacir Euller Edwin Ifeanyi Vissel Kobe Ha Seok-ju Kim Do-hoon Albert Tomàs Michael Yano Matthew Bingley Budimir Vujačić Yokohama Flügels César Sampaio Marco Ferreira Paulo Futre Igor Lediakhov Anderson Gils Yokohama Marinos Julio César Baldivieso Dušan Petković Jon Andoni Goikoetxea Julio Salinas
Standings First stage
Second stage
Playoffs
Suntory Championship
Relegation playoffs On the aggregate table, JEF United Ichihara, Avispa Fukuoka, and Vissel Kobe had earned within the 15th-18th places in the tables for both 1997 and 1998, while Consadole Sapporo had achieved within the same span on its sole season on the J.League. (Gamba Osaka, who had finished between Sapporo and Kobe, was reprieved because of the collapse and resignation of Yokohama Flügels.) These clubs thus were entered in an elimination promotion/relegation tournament along with Japan Football League runners-up Kawasaki Frontale, who unlike champions Tokyo Gas had a base more qualifiable for the J.League.
First round
Kawasaki forms J.League Division 2 the next season. Fukuoka advances to the next round.
Second round The winners of this round stay in J.League Division 1 and the losers play a final elimination series to determine the club relegated to Division 2.
Final round
Fukuoka stays in J.League Division 1. Consadole is relegated to new J.League Division 2.
Awards
Individual awards AwardRecipientClubMost Valuable Player Masashi NakayamaJúbilo IwataRookie of the Year Shinji OnoUrawa Red DiamondsManager of the Year Osvaldo ArdilesShimizu S-PulseTop Scorer Masashi NakayamaJúbilo Iwata
Best Eleven PosFootballerClubNationalityGKSeigo NarazakiYokohama FlügelsDFMakoto TanakaJúbilo IwataDFNaoki SomaKashima AntlersDFYutaka AkitaKashima AntlersMFDungaJúbilo IwataMFDaisuke OkuJúbilo IwataMFHiroshi NanamiJúbilo IwataMFShinji OnoUrawa Red DiamondsMFToshiya FujitaJúbilo IwataFWAtsushi YanagisawaKashima AntlersFWMasashi NakayamaJúbilo Iwata
References