The 2002 J.League Division 2 season was the 31st season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 4th season since the establishment of J.League Division 2.
Starting this season, extra-time rule was abolished and the league adopted the traditional 3-1-0 points system. The twelve clubs competed in the quadruple round-robin format. The top two received promotion to the J.League Division 1. There were no relegation to the third-tier Japan Football League.
Clubs
The following 12 clubs played in J.League Division 2 during 2002 season. Of these clubs, Cerezo Osaka and Avispa Fukuoka were relegated from J.League Division 1 last year.
Albirex Niigata Avispa Fukuoka Cerezo Osaka Kawasaki Frontale Mito HollyHock Montedio Yamagata Oita Trinita Omiya Ardija Sagan Tosu Shonan Bellmare Ventforet Kofu Yokohama FC
Personnel Club Head coachAlbirex Niigata Yasuharu SorimachiAvispa Fukuoka Shigekazu NakamuraCerezo Osaka Akihiro NishimuraKawasaki Frontale Nobuhiro IshizakiMito HollyHock Masaaki KannoMontedio Yamagata Koichi HashirataniOita Trinita Shinji KobayashiOmiya Ardija Henk DuutSagan Tosu Hiroshi SoejimaShonan Bellmare Koji TanakaVentforet Kofu Takeshi OkiYokohama FC Katsuyoshi Shinto
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Non-visa foreign Type-C contract Former players Albirex Niigata Beto Marcus Vinícius Serjão An Yong-hak Avispa Fukuoka Alen Avdić Zoltan Sabo Noh Jung-yoon David Bisconti Cerezo Osaka Almir Turković João Carlos Yoon Jong-hwan Chong Yong-de Kawasaki Frontale Bentinho Marlon Marquinho Alex Marcos Aurélio Mito HollyHock An Seon-jin Hwang Hak-sun Montedio Yamagata Oita Trinita Andradina Fabinho Santos Sandro Marcelo Mattos Kim Sung-kil Omiya Ardija Toninho Jorge Dely Valdés Fuat Usta Jorginho Sagan Tosu David Bisconti Erikson Noguchipinto Shonan Bellmare Ever Palacios Silva Ventforet Kofu Jorginho Alair Yokohama FC Fernando Moner
League format Twelve clubs played in quadruple round-robin format, a total of 44 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 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 top two clubs are promoted to J1.
Final league table
Top scorers PosPlayerClubGoalsPKGPShotsGoals per game 1st Marcus ViníciusAlbirex Niigata 19 4/5 36 139 0.55 2nd Yoshito ŌkuboCerezo Osaka 18 1/2 29 65 0.91 AndradinaOita Trinita 1/1 39 117 0.50 4th BentinhoKawasaki Frontale 16 3/3 36 176 0.44 5th Takayoshi OnoMito HollyHock 14 2/2 36 85 0.46 Hiroshi MoritaSagan Tosu 0/0 38 86 0.45 David Bisconti 4/4 39 92 0.42 8th Yasuo ManakaCerezo Osaka 13 1/1 28 67 1.05 Jorge Dely ValdésOmiya Ardija 2/2 32 72 0.46 10th Hiroaki MorishimaCerezo Osaka 12 0/0 37 75 0.34 MarlonKawasaki Frontale 0/0 23 74 0.58
Attendances
Source:
References