Statistics of Japan Football League in the 1997 season.
Overview It was contested by 16 teams, and Consadole Sapporo won the championship.
As a result of Cosmo Oil Yokkaichi's closure the previous year, Jatco and Mito HollyHock were promoted before the season.
Clubs The following sixteen clubs participated in Japan Football League Division 1 during the 1997 season.
Brummell Sendai Consadole Sapporo Denso Fukushima Honda Motors Jatco Kawasaki Frontale Mito HollyHock Montedio Yamagata NTT Kanto Oita Trinity Otsuka FC Vortis Tokushima Sagan Tosu Seino Transportation Tokyo Gas Ventforet Kofu
Personnel Club Head coachBrummell Sendai Branko ElsnerConsadole Sapporo Hugo FernándezDenso Fukushima Honda Motors Kazuaki NagasawaJatco Kawasaki Frontale Kazuo SaitoMito HollyHock Yuji NakanoMontedio Yamagata Nobuhiro IshizakiNTT Kanto Norio SasakiOita Trinity Otsuka FC Vortis Tokushima EdinhoSagan Tosu Hiroshi SowaSeino Transportation Tokyo Gas Kiyoshi OkumaVentforet Kofu Yuji Tsukada
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Non-visa foreign Former players Brummell Sendai Slobodan Dubajić Gerhard Schmidt Peter Binkovski Pierre Littbarski Ante Šimundža Consadole Sapporo Hugo Maradona Pereira Jorge Dely Valdés Dido Havenaar David Soria Yoshinari Denso Fukushima Gwak Kyung-keun Honda Motors Marcus Vinícius Walter Sandro Jatco Kawasaki Frontale Betinho Rafael Scheidt Momodu Mutairu Mito HollyHock Montedio Yamagata Angelo Marquinho Sidiclei Aldro NTT Kanto Oita Trinity Choi Dae-shik Kim Byung-soo Lee Woo-young Otsuka FC Vortis Tokushima Sagan Tosu Mario López Pak Yong-ho Seino Transportation Tokyo Gas Amaral Edwin Ifeanyi Ventforet Kofu
League standings
Promotion and relegation Because Fukushima and Seino Transportation were disbanded, no relegation has occurred. At the end of the season, the winner and runner-up of Regional League promotion series, Sony Sendai and Albirex Niigata were promoted automatically.