The 2010 J.League Division 1 season was the 46th season of the top-flight club football in Japan and the 18th season since the establishment of J1 League. The season began on March 6 and ended on December 4.
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, the bottom three clubs were relegated to J2 League by default.
Nagoya Grampus won their first ever Japanese championship. This was also the first time since the advent of the J.League that the top scorer scored less than 20 goals; the honour of scoring 17 goals was shared between Nagoya's Joshua Kennedy and Júbilo Iwata's Ryoichi Maeda. Additionally, this was also the first Japanese top division season in which clubs from the Kantō region did not place among the top three.
Clubs
The following eighteen clubs participated in J.League Division 1 during the 2010 season. Of these clubs, Vegalta Sendai, Cerezo Osaka and Shonan Bellmare were newly promoted clubs. For the first time since 1995 season, all top-flight teams are located on a single island (Honshū).
Club nameHome town(s)Note(s)Albirex NiigataNiigata & Seirō, NiigataCerezo OsakaOsakaPromoted from J2 League in 2009FC TokyoTokyoGamba OsakaSuita, Osaka2010 ACL participantJúbilo IwataIwata, ShizuokaKashima AntlersSouthwestern cities/towns of Ibaraki2010 ACL participantThree-time defending championsKawasaki FrontaleKawasaki, Kanagawa2010 ACL participantKyoto SangaSouthwestern cities/town in KyotoMontedio YamagataAll cities/towns in YamagataNagoya GrampusNagoya, AichiOmiya ArdijaSaitamaSanfrecce HiroshimaHiroshima2010 ACL participantShonan BellmareSouthcentral cities/towns in KanagawaPromoted from J2 League in 2009Shimizu S-PulseShizuokaUrawa Red DiamondsSaitamaVegalta SendaiSendai, MiyagiPromoted from J2 League in 2009Vissel KobeKobe, HyōgoYokohama F. MarinosYokohama & Yokosuka
Personnel Club Head coach Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Albirex Niigata Hisashi Kurosaki Adidas Kameda SeikaCerezo Osaka Levir Culpi Mizuno YanmarFC Tokyo Kiyoshi Okuma Adidas LifevalGamba Osaka Akira Nishino Umbro PanasonicJúbilo Iwata Masaaki Yanagishita Puma YamahaKashima Antlers Oswaldo de Oliveira Nike TOSTEMKawasaki Frontale Tsutomu Takahata Asics FujitsuKyoto Sanga Yutaka Akita Wacoal KyoceraMontedio Yamagata Shinji Kobayashi Puma TsuyahimeNagoya Grampus Dragan Stojković Le Coq Sportif ToyotaOmiya Ardija Jun Suzuki Under Armour NTT DocomoSanfrecce Hiroshima Mihailo Petrović Mizuno DeodeoShimizu S-Pulse Kenta Hasegawa Puma SuzuyoShonan Bellmare Yasuharu Sorimachi A-Line La ParlerUrawa Red Diamonds Volker Finke Nike SavasVegalta Sendai Makoto Teguramori Asics IRIS OHYAMAVissel Kobe Masahiro Wada Asics RakutenYokohama F. Marinos Kazushi Kimura Nike Nissan
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player Non-visa foreign Type-C contract Former players Albirex Niigata João Paulo Márcio Richardes Michael Cho Young-cheol Fagner Bruno Suzuki Cerezo Osaka Adriano Amaral Martinez Kim Jin-hyeon FC Tokyo Ricardinho Kim Young-gwon Seo Yong-duk Gamba Osaka Dodô Lucas Severino Cho Jae-jin Lee Keun-ho Pedro Júnior Zé Carlos Júbilo Iwata Gilsinho Lee Woo-jin Park Joo-ho Hwang Song-su Lee Keun-ho Kashima Antlers Fellype Gabriel Gilton Marquinhos Lee Jung-soo Kawasaki Frontale Juninho Renatinho Vitor Júnior Jong Tae-se Kyoto Sanga Diego Souza Junior Dutra Thiego Kwak Tae-hwi Kim Song-yong Montedio Yamagata Han Dong-won Kim Byung-suk Kim Kun-hoan Nagoya Grampus Magnum Danilson Córdoba Igor Burzanović Joshua Kennedy Omiya Ardija Rafael Marques Mato Neretljak Lee Chun-soo Lee Ho An Yong-hak Dudu Seo Yong-duk Sanfrecce Hiroshima Ilian Stoyanov Mihael Mikić Shonan Bellmare Emerson Paulista Jean Valdo Han Kook-young Kim Yeong-gi Choi Seung-in Shimizu S-Pulse Frode Johnsen Eddy Bosnar Urawa Red Diamonds Edmílson Robson Ponte Wilfried Sanou Matthew Spiranovic Vegalta Sendai Elizeu Fernandinho Park Ju-sung Park Sung-ho Ryang Yong-gi Reinaldo Alagoano Vissel Kobe Edmilson Alves Popó Raphael Botti Lee Jae-min Park Kang-jo Yokohama F. Marinos Pablo Bastianini Jeong Dong-ho
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 J.League Division 2. The top three clubs will qualify to AFC Champions League in the following year.
Changes from previous year Regular season schedule had two months break after May 16 games, due to 2010 FIFA World Cup. The season was resumed from July 17, with exceptions for clubs advancing to the Round of 16 of 2010 AFC Champions League, which 11th-week matches were rescheduled to July 14.
League table
Results
Top scorers
RankScorerClubGoals1 Joshua KennedyNagoya Grampus17 Ryoichi MaedaJúbilo Iwata3 EdmílsonUrawa Red Diamonds16 Márcio RichardesAlbirex Niigata5 AdrianoCerezo Osaka14 JuninhoKawasaki Frontale Shoki HiraiGamba Osaka8 Jungo FujimotoShimizu S-Pulse13 Keiji TamadaNagoya Grampus Shinji OkazakiShimizu S-Pulse
Awards MVP Seigo Narazaki
Top scorers Joshua Kennedy & Ryoichi Maeda
Best XI Position PlayerGK Seigo NarazakiDF Marcus Tulio TanakaDF Takahiro MasukawaDF Tomoaki MakinoMF Márcio RichardesMF Danilson CórdobaMF Jungo FujimotoMF Kengo NakamuraMF Yasuhito EndōFW Joshua KennedyFW Ryoichi Maeda
Attendances
References