The 2012 J.League Division 1 season was the 47th season of Japanese top-flight football and 20th since the establishment of the J.League. The season started on March 10 and finished on December 1.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima won the 2012 J.League Division 1 championship on 24 November and advanced to the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup as the host team, entering the qualifying play-off round. This was their first title in the J.League era and first league title since 1970, marking their sixth title overall. Additionally, this was the first time since 1966 that clubs from the traditional regions of Kantō, Tōkai or Kansai – the corridor from Tokyo to Osaka – did not make the top two, and this time it was a team from Tōhoku, Vegalta Sendai, who finished in second place despite leading the table most of the season.
Clubs Ventforet Kofu, Avispa Fukuoka and Montedio Yamagata were relegated at the end of the 2011 season after finishing in the bottom three places of the table. Avispa Fukuoka and Ventforet Kofu returned to J2 after only one season in the top flight, while Montedio Yamagata were relegated after three seasons in J1.
The three relegated teams were replaced by 2011 J.League Division 2 champions FC Tokyo, runners-up Sagan Tosu and third-placed team Consadole Sapporo. FC Tokyo made an immediate return to the top division, while Consadole Sapporo ended a three-year absence. In the end, Sagan Tosu reached J1 after thirteen seasons in the second division.
Club nameHome town(s)Note(s) Albirex Niigata Niigata & Seirō, Niigata Kashima Antlers Southwestern cities/towns of Ibaraki Omiya Ardija Omiya, Saitama Cerezo Osaka Osaka Consadole Sapporo Sapporo, Hokkaidō Promoted from J2 League (3rd place in J2 2011) Yokohama F. Marinos Yokohama, Kanagawa & Yokosuka, Kanagawa Kawasaki Frontale Kawasaki, Kanagawa Gamba Osaka Suita, Osaka 2012 ACL participant(3rd place in J1 2011) Nagoya Grampus Nagoya, Aichi 2012 ACL participant(Runners-up in J1 2011) Júbilo Iwata Iwata, Shizuoka Urawa Red Diamonds Urawa, Saitama Kashiwa Reysol Kashiwa, Chiba 2012 ACL participant2011 Defending Champions Shizuoka Sagan Tosu Tosu, Saga Promoted from J2 League(Runners-up in J2 2011) Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshima FC Tokyo Tokyo Promoted from J2 League (Champions in J2 2011)2012 ACL participant (2011 Emperor's Cup winners) Vegalta Sendai Sendai, Miyagi Vissel Kobe Kobe, Hyōgo
Personnel and kits Club Head coach Kit manufacturer Front shirt sponsorAlbirex Niigata Masaaki Yanagishita Adidas Kameda SeikaCerezo Osaka Levir Culpi Mizuno YanmarConsadole Sapporo Nobuhiro Ishizaki Kappa Shiroi KoibitoFC Tokyo Ranko Popović Adidas LifevalGamba Osaka Masanobu Matsunami Umbro PanasonicJúbilo Iwata Hitoshi Morishita Puma YamahaKashima Antlers Jorginho Nike LixilKashiwa Reysol Nelsinho Baptista Yonex HitachiKawasaki Frontale Yahiro Kazama Puma FujitsuNagoya Grampus Dragan Stojković Le Coq Sportif ToyotaOmiya Ardija Zdenko Verdenik Under Armour NTT DocomoSagan Tosu Yoon Jong-hwan Umbro DHCSanfrecce Hiroshima Hajime Moriyasu Nike EDIONShimizu S-Pulse Afshin Ghotbi Puma SuzuyoUrawa Red Diamonds Mihailo Petrović Nike SavasVegalta Sendai Makoto Teguramori Asics Iris OhyamaVissel Kobe Ryo Adachi Asics RakutenYokohama F. Marinos Yasuhiro Higuchi Adidas Nissan
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player Non-visa foreign Type-C contract Former player(s) Albirex Niigata Alan Mineiro Bruno Lopes Michael Kim Jin-su Bruno Suzuki Kim Sung-ju Cerezo Osaka Fábio Simplício Heberty Kempes Kim Jin-hyeon Kim Song-gi Gu Sung-yun Branquinho Kim Bo-kyung Consadole Sapporo Jade North Ramón Tele Kim Jae-hwan Alcides Junior Thiago Quirino FC Tokyo Edmílson Lucas Severino Nemanja Vučićević Jang Hyun-soo Gamba Osaka Eduardo Diniz Leandro Paulinho Kim Jung-ya Rafinha Lee Seung-yeoul Júbilo Iwata Rodrigo Souto Baek Sung-dong Cho Byung-kuk Han Sang-woon Hwang Song-su Kashima Antlers Juninho Junior Dutra Renato Cajá Alex Kashiwa Reysol Jorge Wagner Leandro Domingues Neto Baiano Kweon Han-jin An Yong-hak Ricardo Lobo Kawasaki Frontale Jeci Renatinho Renê Santos Nagoya Grampus Daniel Tijolo Danilson Córdoba Joshua Kennedy Omiya Ardija Carlinhos Paraíba Milivoje Novaković Zlatan Ljubijankić Cho Young-cheol Lee Keun-ho Rafael Marques Kim Young-gwon Sagan Tosu Tozin Kim Kun-hoan Kim Min-woo Yeo Sung-hae Sanfrecce Hiroshima Mihael Mikić Hwang Seok-ho Lee Dae-heon Shimizu S-Pulse Calvin Jong-a-Pin Kim Hyun-sung Lee Ki-je Kang Song-ho Alex Brosque Jymmy Urawa Red Diamonds Márcio Richardes Popó Ranko Despotović Matthew Spiranovic Vegalta Sendai Deyvid Sacconi Wilson Park Ju-sung Ryang Yong-gi Vissel Kobe Anderson Carvalho Bae Chun-suk Lee Kwang-seon Park Kang-jo Fernando Andrade Yokohama F. Marinos Dutra Marquinhos
League table
Results
Season statistics
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Hisato SatōSanfrecce Hiroshima2 Yohei ToyodaSagan Tosu 3 LeandroGamba Osaka 14 Shingo AkamineVegalta Sendai 5 WilsonVegalta Sendai 13 Genki OmaeShimizu S-Pulse Masato KudoKashiwa Reysol Ryoichi MaedaJúbilo Iwata 9 Akihiro SatoGamba Osaka 11 Shinzo KorokiKashima Antlers Yoichiro KakitaniCerezo Osaka12 Leandro DominguesKashiwa Reysol 10 Lucas SeverinoFC Tokyo MarquinhosYokohama F. Marinos RenatinhoKawasaki Frontale Kensuke NagaiNagoya Grampus17 Márcio RichardesUrawa Red Diamonds 9 Hiroki YamadaJúbilo Iwata Keijiro OgawaVissel Kobe Marcus Tulio TanakaNagoya Grampus Toshiyuki TakagiShimizu S-Pulse Yuya OsakoKashima Antlers
Source: J. League Division 1
Attendances
Awards
Individual awards AwardRecipientClubMost Valuable Player Hisato SatōSanfrecce HiroshimaRookie of the Year Gaku ShibasakiKashima AntlersManager of the Year Hajime MoriyasuSanfrecce HiroshimaTop Scorer Hisato SatōSanfrecce Hiroshima
Best Eleven PosFootballerClubNationalityGKShusaku NishikawaSanfrecce HiroshimaDFHiroki MizumotoSanfrecce HiroshimaDFMarcus Tulio TanakaNagoya GrampusDFYūichi KomanoJúbilo IwataMFLeandro DominguesKashiwa ReysolMFToshihiro AoyamaSanfrecce HiroshimaMFYasuhito EndōGamba OsakaMFYojiro TakahagiSanfrecce HiroshimaFWWilsonVegalta SendaiFWHisato SatōSanfrecce HiroshimaFWYohei ToyodaSagan Tosu
References