The 2019 J1 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th season of the J1 League – the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1992. This was fifth season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1.
Kawasaki Frontale were the defending champions.
Clubs
A total of 18 clubs contested the league. There were only two changes from 2018, since Kashiwa Reysol and V-Varen Nagasaki were relegated to the 2019 J2 League while Júbilo Iwata defeated Tokyo Verdy in the promotion/relegation play-off. 2018 J2 League champions Matsumoto Yamaga returned to the J1 League after three seasons of absence, while Oita Trinita returned to the top tier after six seasons.
ClubLocationStadiumCapacityLast season Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Hokkaido Sapporo Dome Sapporo Atsubetsu Stadium 41,484 20,861 J1 (4th) Vegalta Sendai Miyagi Prefecture Yurtec Stadium Sendai 19,694 J1 (11th) Kashima Antlers Ibaraki Prefecture Kashima Soccer Stadium 40,728 J1 (3rd) Urawa Red Diamonds Saitama Prefecture Saitama Stadium 2002 63,700 J1 (5th) FC Tokyo Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium 49,970 J1 (6th) Kawasaki Frontale Kanagawa Prefecture Todoroki Athletics Stadium 26,232 J1 (champions) Yokohama F. Marinos Nissan Stadium Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium 72,327 15,046 J1 (12th) Shonan Bellmare Shonan BMW Stadium Hiratsuka 18,500 J1 (13th) Shimizu S-Pulse Shizuoka Prefecture IAI Stadium Nihondaira 20,339 J1 (8th) Júbilo Iwata Yamaha Stadium 15,165 J1 (16th) Nagoya Grampus Aichi Prefecture Paloma Mizuho Stadium Toyota Stadium 27,001 45,000 J1 (15th) Gamba Osaka Osaka Prefecture Panasonic Stadium Suita 39,694 J1 (9th) Cerezo Osaka Yanmar Stadium Nagai Kincho Stadium 47,853 18,007 J1 (7th) Vissel Kobe Hyōgo Prefecture Noevir Stadium Kobe 30,134 J1 (10th) Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshima Prefecture Edition Stadium Hiroshima 36,894 J1 (2nd) Sagan Tosu Saga Prefecture Best Amenity Stadium 24,130 J1 (14th) Matsumoto Yamaga Nagano Prefecture Sunpro Alwin 20,396 J2 (champions) Oita Trinita Ōita Prefecture Ōita Bank Dome 31,997 J2 (2nd)
Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Front shirt sponsor Cerezo Osaka Miguel Ángel Lotina Hiroshi Kiyotake Puma Yanmar FC Tokyo Kenta Hasegawa Keigo Higashi Umbro XFLAG Gamba Osaka Tsuneyasu Miyamoto Genta Miura Umbro Panasonic Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Mihailo Petrović Hiroki Miyazawa Kappa Ishiya Júbilo Iwata Fernando Jubero Nagisa Sakurauchi Puma Yamaha Kashima Antlers Go Oiwa Atsuto Uchida Nike Lixil Kawasaki Frontale Toru Oniki Yu Kobayashi Puma Fujitsu Matsumoto Yamaga Yasuharu Sorimachi Yuya Hashiuchi Adidas Epson Nagoya Grampus Massimo Ficcadenti Yuichi Maruyama Mizuno Toyota Oita Trinita Tomohiro Katanosaka Yoshinori Suzuki Puma Daihatsu Kyushu Sagan Tosu Kim Myung-hwi Akito Fukuta New Balance DHC Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshi Jofuku Toshihiro Aoyama Nike EDION Shimizu S-Pulse Yoshiyuki Shinoda Ryo Takeuchi Puma Suzuyo Shonan Bellmare Bin Ukishima Kazunari Ono Penalty Meldia Urawa Red Diamonds Tsuyoshi Otsuki Yōsuke Kashiwagi Nike Polus Vegalta Sendai Susumu Watanabe Kazuki Oiwa Adidas Iris Ohyama Vissel Kobe Thorsten Fink Andrés Iniesta Asics Rakuten Yokohama F. Marinos Ange Postecoglou Takuya Kida Adidas Nissan
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate ofappointment Vissel Kobe Juan Manuel LilloMutual consent 17 April 2019https://www.semana.com/deportes/articulo/juan-manuel-lillo-despedido-de-vissel-kobe/609725 Takayuki Yoshida 17 April 2019https://www.sport.es/es/noticias/liga-japonesa/vissel-kobe-iniesta-villa-cesa-lillo-7412137 Sagan Tosu Lluís Carreras 5 May 2019 Kim Myung-hwi 7 May 2019 Shimizu S-Pulse Jan Jönsson 12 May 2019 Yoshiyuki Shinoda 14 May 2019 Urawa Red Diamonds Oswaldo de Oliveira 28 May 2019 Tsuyoshi Otsuki 28 May 2019 Vissel Kobe Takayuki Yoshida 8 June 2019 Thorsten Fink 8 June 2019 Júbilo Iwata Hiroshi Nanami 30 June 2019 Hideto Suzuki 1 July 2019 Júbilo Iwata Hideto Suzuki Resigned for health reasons 15 August 2019 Fernando Jubero 20 August 2019 Nagoya Grampus Yahiro Kazama Sacked 23 September 2019 Massimo Ficcadenti 23 September 2019 Shonan Bellmare Cho Kwi-jae Resigned from mid-term 8 October 2019 Bin Ukishima 10 October 2019
Foreign players As of 2019 season, there are no more restrictions on a number of signed foreign players, but clubs can only register up to five foreign players for a single match-day squad. Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.
Players marked in bold indicate the players that were registered during the mid-season transfer window. Players marked in ITALICS indicate the players that left their respective clubs during the mid-season transfer window.
ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5Player 6Player 7Player 8Former players Cerezo Osaka Leandro Desábato Pierce Waring Bruno Mendes Souza Matej Jonjić Kim Jin-hyeon FC Tokyo Arthur Silva Diego Oliveira Jael Na Sang-ho Oh Jae-suk Yu In-soo Nattawut Suksum Jang Hyun-soo Gamba Osaka Ademilson Patric Kim Young-gwon David Concha Markel Susaeta Hwang Ui-jo Oh Jae-suk Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Anderson Lopes Lucas Fernandes Jay Bothroyd Gu Sung-yun Kim Min-tae Chanathip Songkrasin Júbilo Iwata Adaílton Fábio Lukian Lorenzo Ebecilio Krzysztof Kamiński Fozil Musaev Gerson Rodrigues Eren Albayrak Kashima Antlers Bueno Leandro Léo Silva Serginho Jung Seung-hyun Kwoun Sun-tae Kawasaki Frontale Jesiel Leandro Damião Maguinho Jung Sung-ryong Caio César Matsumoto Yamaga Eduardo Paulinho Serginho Isma Goh Dong-min Jo Jin-woo Leandro Pereira Nagoya Grampus Mitchell Langerak Eduardo Neto Gabriel Xavier Jô João Schmidt Mateus Oita Trinita Mun Kyung-gun Thitipan Puangchan Sagan Tosu Tiago Alves An Yong-woo Cho Dong-geon Kim Min-ho Park Jeong-su Isaac Cuenca Víctor Ibarbo Karlo Bručić Nino Galović Fernando Torres Sanfrecce Hiroshima Douglas Vieira Leandro Pereira Rhayner Emil Salomonsson Patric Besart Berisha Shimizu S-Pulse Douglas Elsinho Junior Dutra Renato Augusto Jong Tae-se Hwang Seok-ho Wanderson Shonan Bellmare Crislan Freire Ömer Tokaç Lelêu Rafael Dumas Urawa Red Diamonds Ewerton Fabrício Maurício Antônio Quenten Martinus Andrew Nabbout Vegalta Sendai Diogo Acosta Ramon Lopes Simão Mate Junior Ryang Yong-gi Jakub Słowik Kim Jung-ya Vissel Kobe Thomas Vermaelen Dankler Wellington Lukas Podolski Joan Oumari Andrés Iniesta David Villa Sergi Samper Kim Seung-gyu Yokohama F. Marinos Edigar Junio Erik Marcos Júnior Mateus Thiago Martins Dušan Cvetinović Park Il-gyu Theerathon Bunmathan Ippey Shinozuka
League table
Positions by round
Promotion–relegation playoffs
Shonan Bellmare remains in J1 League.Tokushima Vortis remains in J2 League.
Results table
Season statistics Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals Marcos JúniorYokohama F. Marinos Teruhito Nakagawa Diego OliveiraFC Tokyo DouglasShimizu S-Pulse Musashi SuzukiHokkaido Consadole Sapporo Yu KobayashiKawasaki Frontale David VillaVissel Kobe SerginhoKashima Antlers Shinzo KorokiUrawa Red Diamonds Edigar JunioYokohama F. Marinos
Hat-tricks PlayerClubAgainst ResultDate Anderson Lopes4Hokkaido Consadole SapporoShimizu S-Pulse 5–2 (H) Jay Bothroyd 8–0 (A) Lukas PodolskiVissel KobeJúbilo Iwata 4–1 (H) Note 4 Player scored 4 goals
Attendances
Awards Award Winner Club Manager of the Year Tomohiro Katanosaka Oita Trinita Most Valuable Player Teruhito Nakagawa Yokohama F. Marinos Rookie of the Year Ao Tanaka Kawasaki Frontale Top Scorer Marcos Júnior Teruhito Nakagawa Yokohama F. Marinos
+ J.League Best XI Goalkeeper Akihiro Hayashi(FC Tokyo) Defence Sei Muroya(FC Tokyo) Thiago Martins(Yokohama F. Marinos) Masato Morishige(FC Tokyo) Midfield Takuya Kida(Yokohama F. Marinos) Kento Hashimoto(FC Tokyo) Andrés Iniesta(Vissel Kobe) Teruhito Nakagawa(Yokohama F. Marinos) Attack Marcos Júnior(Yokohama F. Marinos) Diego Oliveira(FC Tokyo) Kensuke Nagai(FC Tokyo)
See also List of J1 League football transfers summer 2019
References