The 2015 Meiji Yasuda J1 League (2015 明治安田生命J1リーグ) season was the 50th season of top-flight football in Japan and the 23rd since the establishment of the J.League in 1992. This was first season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1.
For a five-year period starting in 2015, the J.League changed to a newly conceived multistage system, with the year split into two halves and a third and final championship stage. The winners of the first and second stages and the highest ranking club of the aggregate table (other than the first or second stage winners) will qualify for the Championship Stage. Sanfrecce Hiroshima won the Championship Stage and advanced to the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup as the host nation's entrant.
Clubs
Club nameHome town(s)StadiumCapacityNote(s) Albirex Niigata Niigata & Seirō, Niigata Denka Big Swan Stadium 42,300 FC Tokyo Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium 49,970 Gamba Osaka Suita, Osaka Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium 21,000 2015 AFC Champions League participant (as 2014 J.League Division 1 winners) Kashima Antlers Kashima, Ibaraki Kashima Soccer Stadium 40,728 2015 AFC Champions League participant (as 2014 J.League Division 1 third-placed team) Kashiwa Reysol Kashiwa, Chiba Kashiwa Soccer Stadium 15,900 2015 AFC Champions League play-off participant (as 2014 J.League Division 1 fourth-placed team) Kawasaki Frontale Kawasaki, Kanagawa Todoroki Athletics Stadium 26,232 Matsumoto Yamaga Matsumoto, Nagano Matsumotodaira Football Stadium 20,000 Promoted from J.League Division 2 in 2014 (as runners-up) Montedio Yamagata All cities/towns in Yamagata ND Soft Stadium 20,315 Promoted from J.League Division 2 in 2014 (through a play-off system) Nagoya Grampus Nagoya, Aichi Paloma Mizuho Stadium 27,000 Sagan Tosu Tosu, Saga Tosu Stadium 24,490 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshima Hiroshima Big Arch 50,000 Shimizu S-Pulse Shizuoka IAI Stadium Nihondaira 20,339 Shonan Bellmare Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Shonan Stadium Hiratsuka 18,500 Promoted from J.League Division 2 in 2014 (as winners) Urawa Red Diamonds Saitama Saitama Stadium 63,700 2015 AFC Champions League participant (as 2014 J.League Division 1 runners-up) 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 Yokohama F. Marinos Yokohama & Yokosuka Nissan Stadium 72,327
Personnel and kits Club nameHead coachKit manufacturerFront shirt sponsor Albirex Niigata Masaaki Yanagishita Adidas Kameda Seika FC Tokyo Massimo Ficcadenti Umbro Lifeval Gamba Osaka Kenta Hasegawa Umbro Panasonic Kashima Antlers Masatada Ishii Nike Lixil Kashiwa Reysol Tatsuma Yoshida Yonex Hitachi Kawasaki Frontale Yahiro Kazama Puma Fujitsu (home) Arrows (away) Matsumoto Yamaga Yasuharu Sorimachi Adidas Epson Montedio Yamagata Nobuhiro Ishizaki New Balance ABeam Consulting Nagoya Grampus Akira Nishino Le Coq Sportif Toyota Sagan Tosu Hitoshi Morishita New Balance DHC Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hajime Moriyasu Nike EDION Shimizu S-Pulse Kazuaki Tasaka Puma Suzuyo Shonan Bellmare Cho Kwi-jae Penalty ENERES Urawa Red Diamonds Mihailo Petrović Nike Polus Vegalta Sendai Susumu Watanabe Adidas Iris Ohyama Ventforet Kofu Satoru Sakuma Mizuno Hakubaku Vissel Kobe Nelsinho Baptista Asics Rakuten Yokohama F. Marinos Erick Mombaerts Adidas Nissan
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerDate of separationManner of departureIncoming managerDate of announcement Ventforet Kofu Yasuhiro Higuchi 13 May Mutual consent Satoru Sakuma 13 May Kashima Antlers Toninho Cerezo 21 July Sacked Masatada Ishii 21 July Shimizu S-Pulse Katsumi Oenoki 1 August Resigned Kazuaki Tasaka 11 August
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player Non-visa foreign Type-C contract Former players Albirex Niigata Bruno Cortez Léo Silva Rafael Silva Lim You-hwan Rafael Ratão FC Tokyo Vlada Avramov Francisco Sandaza Nathan Burns Michele Canini Lassad Nouioui Gamba Osaka Lins Patric Oh Jae-suk Kim Jung-ya Kashima Antlers Davi Dinei Hwang Seok-ho Caio Kashiwa Reysol Cristiano Dudu Éderson Kim Chang-soo Leandro Kawasaki Frontale Arthur Maia Elsinho Renatinho An Byong-jun Matsumoto Yamaga Eric Obina Willians Kim Bo-kyung Doriva Montedio Yamagata Alceu Diego Souza Kim Byeom-yong Frank Romero Nagoya Grampus Leandro Domingues Danilson Córdoba Milivoje Novaković Gustavo Sagan Tosu Baek Sung-dong Choi Sung-keun Kim Min-hyeok Kim Min-woo Sanfrecce Hiroshima Douglas Mihael Mikić Byeon Jun-byum Shimizu S-Pulse Dejan Jaković Calvin Jong-a-Pin Peter Utaka Mitch Duke Jong Tae-se Shonan Bellmare André Bahia Thiago Quirino Kim Jong-pil Lee Ho-seung Alison Bruno Correa Fábio Amorim Guima Urawa Red Diamonds Zlatan Ljubijankić Vegalta Sendai Felipe Ramon Lopes Wilson Kim Min-tae Ryang Yong-gi Daniel Schmidt Ventforet Kofu Baré Maranhão Marquinhos Paraná Adriano Bruno Dybal William Henrique Vissel Kobe Leandro Marquinhos Pedro Júnior Jung Woo-young Bueno Ferrugem Yokohama F. Marinos Ademilson Fábio Rafinha
Format changes Teams play a single round-robin in the first stage and a single round-robin in the second stage. After that an overall table is calculated and a championship stage is played. The winners of the first and second stages and any team that finishes in the top 3 of the overall rankings advance to the championship stage. The team that finishes atop the overall table automatically qualifies for the final, while the remaining teams play-off for the other spot in the final.
League table First stage
Second stage
Overall table
Positions by round
First stage
Second stage
Overall
Championship stage Meiji Yasuda 2015 J.League Championship (明治安田生命 2015 Jリーグチャンピオンシップ) The Championship stage consisted of a knockout tournament involving the champions of the First and Second Stages, and any team that finishes in the top 3 of the overall table. The team with the best aggregate record earned a bye to the final. The remaining teams playoff for the other spot in the final.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima won 4–3 on aggregate.
Results
First stage
Second stage
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Yoshito ŌkuboKawasaki Frontale 232 DouglasSanfrecce Hiroshima 213 Takashi UsamiGamba Osaka 194 Yohei ToyodaSagan Tosu 165 CristianoKashiwa Reysol 146 Yuki MutoUrawa Red Diamonds 13 7 PatricGamba Osaka 12 Hisato SatoSanfrecce Hiroshima Shinzo KorokiUrawa Red Diamonds10 Genki OmaeShimizu S-Pulse 11 Updated to games played on 22 November 2015
Source: J.League Data
Awards
Individual
AwardRecipientClubMost Valuable Player Toshihiro AoyamaSanfrecce HiroshimaRookie of the Year Takuma AsanoSanfrecce HiroshimaManager of the Year Hajime MoriyasuSanfrecce HiroshimaTop Scorer Yoshito ŌkuboKawasaki Frontale
Best Eleven PositionFootballerClubNationalityGKShusaku Nishikawa (4)Urawa Red DiamondsDFKosuke Ota (2)FC TokyoDFMasato Morishige (3)FC TokyoDFTomoaki Makino (2)Urawa Red DiamondsDFTsukasa Shiotani (2)Sanfrecce HiroshimaMFMu Kanazaki (1)Kashima AntlersMFToshihiro Aoyama (3)Sanfrecce HiroshimaMFYasuhito Endō (12)Gamba OsakaFWDouglas (1)Sanfrecce HiroshimaFWTakashi Usami (2)Gamba OsakaFWYoshito Ōkubo (3)Kawasaki Frontale * The number in brackets denotes the number of times that the footballer has appeared in the Best 11.
Attendances
References