The 2014 J.League Division 1 season was the 49th season of top-flight football in Japan, and the 22nd since the establishment of the J.League in 1992. The season began on 1 March and ended on 8 December. Sanfrecce Hiroshima were the defending champions.
Due to Japan's participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, there was an extended break to allow for preparation after the 14th-week matches on 17 and 18 May, with the league resuming on 15 July for four clubs who participated in the 2014 AFC Champions League to play rescheduled 12th-week matches, and 19 July for other 14 clubs.
This season saw the league played via a home and away system over a single season for the last time until at least 2020. From 2015, the league would revert to an Apertura and Clausura system, with a multi-team play-off 'super stage' to decide the champions, similar to the format used when the J.League began.
The league was won by Gamba Osaka, who won their second J.League title following a 0–0 away draw against Tokushima Vortis. They became the second league champions (after Kashiwa Reysol) to win the first division after being promoted as second division champions.
Clubs 18 teams competed in this year's competition. Both Gamba Osaka and Vissel Kobe returned to J1 after a single season outside the top flight; they finished as the 2013 J.League Division 2 champions and runners-up, respectively. Tokushima Vortis, who finished fourth in the regular season and won the promotion playoff, will make their top-flight debut, becoming the first club from Shikoku to do so. Those three teams replaced Oita Trinita, Shonan Bellmare and Júbilo Iwata; Júbilo were relegated from J1 for the first time after twenty seasons in the top tier, while Bellmare and Trinita were bumped down after cameo appearances in J1.
Club nameHometown(s)StadiumCapacityNote(s) Albirex Niigata Niigata & Seirō, Niigata Denka Big Swan Stadium 42,300 Cerezo Osaka Osaka Nagai Stadium 47,816 2014 AFC Champions League participant (as 2013 J.League Division 1 fourth-place team) FC Tokyo Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium 49,970 Gamba Osaka Suita, Osaka Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium 21,000 Promoted from J.League Division 2 in 2013 (as champions) Kashima Antlers Kashima, Ibaraki Kashima Soccer Stadium 40,728 Kashiwa Reysol Kashiwa, Chiba Kashiwa Soccer Stadium 15,900 Kawasaki Frontale Kawasaki, Kanagawa Todoroki Athletics Stadium 26,232 2014 AFC Champions League participant (as 2013 J.League Division 1 third-place team) Nagoya Grampus Nagoya, Aichi Paloma Mizuho Stadium 27,000 Omiya Ardija Ōmiya, Saitama NACK5 Stadium 15,500 Sagan Tosu Tosu, Saga Tosu Stadium 24,490 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshima Hiroshima Big Arch 50,000 2014 AFC Champions League participant (as 2013 J.League Division 1 winners) Shimizu S-Pulse Shizuoka IAI Stadium Nihondaira 20,339 Tokushima Vortis All cities/towns in Tokushima Pocarisweat Stadium 20,441 Promoted from J.League Division 2 in 2013 (through a play-off system) Urawa Red Diamonds Urawa, Saitama Saitama Stadium 63,700 Vegalta Sendai Sendai, Miyagi Yurtec Stadium 19,694 Ventforet Kofu Kōfu, Yamanashi Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium 17,000 Vissel Kobe Kobe, Hyōgo Misaki Park Stadium 30,132 Promoted from J.League Division 2 in 2013 (as runners-up) Yokohama F. Marinos Yokohama, Kanagawa & Yokosuka, Kanagawa Nissan Stadium 72,327 2014 AFC Champions League participant (as 2013 J.League Division 1 runners-up)
Personnel and kits Club nameHead coachKit manufacturerFront shirt sponsor Albirex Niigata Masaaki Yanagishita Adidas Kameda Seika Cerezo Osaka Yuji Okuma Mizuno Yanmar FC Tokyo Massimo Ficcadenti Adidas Lifeval Gamba Osaka Kenta Hasegawa Umbro Panasonic Kashima Antlers Toninho Cerezo Nike Lixil Kashiwa Reysol Nelsinho Baptista Yonex Hitachi Kawasaki Frontale Yahiro Kazama Puma Fujitsu Nagoya Grampus Akira Nishino Le Coq Sportif Toyota Omiya Ardija Hiroki Shibuya Under Armour NTT Docomo Sagan Tosu Megumu Yoshida Warrior DHC Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hajime Moriyasu Nike EDION Shimizu S-Pulse Katsumi Oenoki Puma Suzuyo Tokushima Vortis Shinji Kobayashi Mizuno Pocari Sweat Urawa Red Diamonds Mihailo Petrović Nike Polus Vegalta Sendai Susumu Watanabe Asics Iris Ohyama Ventforet Kofu Hiroshi Jofuku Mizuno Hakubaku Vissel Kobe Ryo Adachi Asics Rakuten Yokohama F. Marinos Yasuhiro Higuchi Adidas Nissan
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureIncoming manager Vegalta Sendai Graham ArnoldMutual consent Susumu Watanabe Cerezo Osaka Ranko Popović Marco Pezzaiuoli Shimizu S-Pulse Afshin Ghotbi Katsumi Oenoki Sagan Tosu Yoon Jong-hwanSacked Megumu Yoshida Omiya Ardija Kiyoshi Okuma Hiroki Shibuya Cerezo Osaka Marco Pezzaiuoli Yuji Okuma
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player Non-visa foreign Type-C contract Former player(s) Albirex Niigata Léo Silva Rafael Silva Lee Myung-jae Song Ju-hun Michael Fitzgerald Roger Gaúcho Kim Jin-su Cerezo Osaka Cacau Kim Jin-hyeon Diego Forlán Kim Sung-joon Gu Sung-yun Mitch Nichols Gojko Kačar FC Tokyo Edu Michele Canini Matheus Ferraz Kwak Hee-ju Gamba Osaka Lins Patric Oh Jae-suk Evson Kashima Antlers Davi Jorge Wagner Luís Alberto Caio Jair Kashiwa Reysol Dudu Eduardo Leandro Kim Chang-soo Michael den Heijer Leandro Domingues Han Kook-young Kawasaki Frontale Jeci Paulinho Renatinho An Byong-jun Nagoya Grampus Leandro Domingues Régis Danilson Córdoba Joshua Kennedy Gustavo Omiya Ardija Carlinhos Paraíba Dragan Mrđa Zlatan Ljubijankić Cho Won-hee Mateus Dženan Radončić Sagan Tosu Choi Sung-keun Kim Min-hyeok Kim Min-woo Sanfrecce Hiroshima Mihael Mikić Byeon Jun-byum Hwang Seok-ho Park Hyung-jin Shimizu S-Pulse Dejan Jaković Calvin Jong-a-Pin Milivoje Novaković Lee Ki-je Bueno Tokushima Vortis Adriano Alex Julián Estiven Vélez Kim Jong-min Ri Yong-jik Son Se-hwan Douglas Kleiton Domingues Urawa Red Diamonds Márcio Richardes Vegalta Sendai Ramon Lopes Wilson Ryang Yong-gi Daniel Schmidt Danny Vukovic Michael McGlinchey Ventforet Kofu Cristiano Marquinhos Paraná Thiago Quirino Irfan Bachdim Gilsinho Vissel Kobe Fábio Simplício Marquinhos Pedro Júnior Jung Woo-young Yokohama F. Marinos Fábio Rafinha
League table
Positions by round
Results
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals 1 Yoshito ŌkuboKawasaki Frontale 2 Yohei ToyodaSagan Tosu 3 MarquinhosVissel Kobe 4 Pedro JúniorVissel Kobe 13 Yoshinori MutoFC Tokyo Milivoje NovakovićShimizu S-Pulse 8 Kensuke NagaiNagoya Grampus 12 Shinzo KorokiUrawa Red Diamonds Yu KobayashiKawasaki Frontale 11 EduFC Tokyo 11 LeandroKashiwa Reysol Hisato SatōSanfrecce Hiroshima Updated to games played on 8 December 2014 Source: J. League Data
Awards
Individual
AwardRecipientClubMost Valuable Player Yasuhito EndōGamba OsakaRookie of the Year CaioKashima AntlersManager of the Year Kenta HasegawaGamba OsakaTop Scorer Yoshito ŌkuboKawasaki Frontale
Best Eleven PositionFootballerClubNationalityGKShusaku Nishikawa (3)Urawa Red DiamondsDFKosuke Ota (1)FC TokyoDFMasato Morishige (2)FC TokyoDFTsukasa Shiotani (1)Sanfrecce HiroshimaMFLéo Silva (1)Albirex NiigataMFGaku Shibasaki (1)Kashima AntlersMFYasuhito Endō (11)Gamba OsakaMFYoshinori Muto (1)FC TokyoFWPatric (1)Gamba OsakaFWTakashi Usami (1)Gamba OsakaFWYoshito Ōkubo (2)Kawasaki Frontale * The number in brackets denotes the number of times that the footballer has appeared in the Best 11.
Attendances
References