The 2009 J.League Division 1 season was the 45th season of the top-flight club football in Japan and the 17th season since the establishment of J.League Division 1. The season started on March 7 and ended on December, 5.
A total of eighteen clubs participated in double round-robin format. At the end of the season, top three clubs received automatic qualification to the following years' AFC Champions League. Also starting this season, the bottom three clubs were relegated to J.League Division 2 by default.
Kashima Antlers became the first Japanese club win J.League Division 1 in three straight seasons.
Clubs
The following eighteen clubs participated in J.League Division 1 during the 2009 season. Of these clubs, Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Montedio Yamagata were newly promoted clubs.
Club nameHome town(s)Note(s)Albirex NiigataNiigata & Seirō, NiigataFC TokyoTokyoGamba OsakaSuita, Osaka2009 ACL participantJEF United ChibaChiba & Ichihara, ChibaJúbilo IwataIwata, ShizuokaKashima AntlersSouthwestern cities/towns of Ibaraki2009 ACL participantTwo-time defending championsKashiwa ReysolKashiwa, ChibaKawasaki FrontaleKawasaki, Kanagawa2009 ACL participantKyoto SangaSouthwestern cities/town in KyotoMontedio YamagataAll cities/towns in YamagataPromoted from J2 League in 2008Nagoya GrampusNagoya, Aichi2009 ACL participantOita TrinitaAll cities/towns in ŌitaOmiya ArdijaSaitamaSanfrecce HiroshimaHiroshimaPromoted from J2 League in 2008Shimizu S-PulseShizuokaUrawa Red DiamondsSaitamaVissel KobeKobe, HyōgoYokohama F. MarinosYokohama & Yokosuka
Personnel Club Head coachKit manufacturerShirt sponsorAlbirex Niigata Jun SuzukiAdidasKameda SeikaFC Tokyo Hiroshi JofukuAdidasEneosGamba Osaka Akira NishinoUmbroPanasonicJEF United Chiba Atsuhiko EjiriKappaFuji ElectricJúbilo Iwata Masaaki YanagishitaPumaYamahaKashima Antlers Oswaldo de OliveiraNikeTostemKashiwa Reysol Nelsinho BaptistaUmbroHitachiKawasaki Frontale Takashi SekizukaAsicsFujitsuKyoto Purple Sanga Hisashi KatoCW-XKyoceraMontedio Yamagata Shinji KobayashiPumaTsuyahimeNagoya Grampus Dragan StojkovićLe Coq SportifToyotaOita Trinita Ranko PopovićPumaNoneOmiya Ardija Chang Woe-ryongUnder ArmourNTT DocomoSanfrecce Hiroshima Mihailo PetrovićMizunoDeodeoShimizu S-Pulse Kenta HasegawaPumaSuzuyoUrawa Red Diamonds Volker FinkeNikeSAVASVissel Kobe Toshiya MiuraAsicsRakutenYokohama F. Marinos Kokichi KimuraNikeNissan
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player Non-visa foreign Type-C contract Former players Albirex Niigata Éverton Santos Gilton Márcio Richardes Cho Young-cheol Bruno Suzuki Pedro Júnior FC Tokyo Bruno Quadros Caboré Gamba Osaka Lucas Severino Pedro Júnior Cho Jae-jin Leandro Park Dong-hyuk JEF United Chiba Alex Michael Neto Baiano Eddy Bosnar Júbilo Iwata Gilsinho Lee Keun-ho Ferrugem Kashima Antlers Danilo Marquinhos Park Joo-ho Kashiwa Reysol Anselmo Ramon França Popó Park Dong-hyuk Adebayo Adigun Alceu Kawasaki Frontale Juninho Renatinho Vitor Júnior Jong Tae-se Kyoto Sanga Diego Souza Sidiclei Lee Jung-soo Kim Song-yong Paulinho Montedio Yamagata Jajá Léo San Kim Byung-suk Fagner André Silva Nagoya Grampus Magnum Igor Burzanović Miloš Bajalica Joshua Kennedy Davi Oita Trinita Edmilson Alves Fernandinho Ueslei Choi Jung-han Roberto Omiya Ardija Dudu Rafael Marques Mato Neretljak Park Won-jae Seo Yong-duk Dênis Marques Klemen Lavrič Sanfrecce Hiroshima Ilian Stoyanov Mihael Mikić Ri Han-jae Shimizu S-Pulse Marcos Paulo Frode Johnsen Kim Dong-sub Urawa Red Diamonds Edmílson Robson Ponte Mohammed Faisal Vissel Kobe Alan Bahia Marcel Raphael Botti Kim Nam-il Park Kang-jo Yokohama F. Marinos Kim Kun-hoan Jeong Dong-ho
League format Eighteen clubs will play in double round-robin (home and away) format, a total of 34 games each. A club receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order: Goal differential Goals scored Head-to-head results Disciplinary points A draw would be conducted, if necessary. However, if two clubs are tied at the first place, both clubs will be declared as the champions. The bottom three clubs will be relegated to J2 League. The top three clubs will qualify to AFC Champions League in the following year. Changes from previous year Bottom three clubs are relegated by default; during 2004–2008 season, the 16th-place club needed to win playoffs to avoid relegation. The fourth foreign player slot (AFC player slot) is introduced.
League table
Results
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Ryoichi MaedaJúbilo Iwata202 EdmílsonUrawa Red Diamonds17 JuninhoKawasaki Frontale4 Hisato SatōSanfrecce Hiroshima15 Naohiro IshikawaFC Tokyo 6 Shinji OkazakiShimizu S-Pulse14 Jong Tae-seKawasaki Frontale8 MarquinhosKashima Antlers13 Pedro JúniorGamba OsakaTransferred from Albirex Niigata after 24th week Kazuma WatanabeYokohama F. Marinos Notes:
Attendances
Awards Individual awards AwardRecipientClubMost Valuable Player Mitsuo OgasawaraKashima AntlersRookie of the Year Kazuma WatanabeYokohama F. MarinosManager of the Year Oswaldo de OliveiraKashima AntlersTop Scorer Ryoichi MaedaJúbilo Iwata
Best eleven PosFootballerClubNationalityGKEiji KawashimaKawasaki FrontaleDFAtsuto UchidaKashima AntlersDFDaiki IwamasaKashima AntlersDFMarcus Tulio TanakaNagoya GrampusDFYuto NagatomoFC TokyoMFKengo NakamuraKawasaki FrontaleMFMitsuo OgasawaraKashima AntlersMFNaohiro IshikawaFC TokyoMFYasuhito EndōGamba OsakaFWRyoichi MaedaJúbilo IwataFWShinji OkazakiShimizu S-Pulse
References