2021 J3 League

The 2021 J3 League, referred to as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 8th season of J3 League under its current name.

Roasso Kumamoto won the J3 title for the first time in their history, in their debut campaign at the J3 League, just three years after being relegation from the J2 League. They were promoted to the 2022 J2 League alongside Iwate Grulla Morioka. Iwate team won promotion for the J2 League for the first time.

Overview

There were no relegations from J2 League in 2020 and the number of teams decreased for 2021.

This is first season without three U-23 teams from J1 in 2021 season. Four teams from J2 League automatically relegation for 2021 and two teams from J3 League automatically promotion. J3 League has been scheduled for an expansion to 18 clubs before the 2022 season. This is the last season played with 15 teams.

Changes from the previous season

Promoted from 2020 JFL Promoted to 2021 J2 League Withdrawn / DisbandedTegevajaro Miyazaki Blaublitz AkitaSC SagamiharaCerezo Osaka U-23Gamba Osaka U-23FC Tokyo U-23

2020 was also the last season where U-23 teams played in the professional setup. After two separate stints involving youth clubs in this division. First it was the J.League U-22 Selection in 2014 and 2015, and then three U-23 teams were involved from 2016 to 2020. FC Tokyo U-23 pulled out of the competition prior to the start of the 2020 season. Cerezo Osaka U-23 and Gamba Osaka U-23 were disbanded at the end of 2020 after completing the full season.

Blaublitz Akita and SC Sagamihara were promoted to J2 League, the later being the last club from the original clubs which started the maiden season in 2014 to be promoted from the third division.

One new team was promoted to the professional ranks of Japanese football, Tegevajaro Miyazaki, as runners-up in the 2020 JFL season and were promoted.

Participating clubs

Club name Home town Stadium Capacity Last season LicenceAzul Claro NumazuNumazuAshitaka Stadium10,000J3（12th）J3All cities/towns in GifuGifu Nagaragawa Stadium26,109J3（5th）J1FC ImabariImabariArigato Service Dream Stadium5,000J3（6th）J2Fukushima United FCFukushimaToho Stadium21,000J3（13th）J3Gainare TottoriAll cities/towns in TottoriAxis Bird Stadium16,033J3（8th）J2Iwate Grulla MoriokaAll cities/towns in IwateIwagin Stadium4,946J3（11th）J2Kamatamare SanukiAll cities/towns in KagawaPikara Stadium30,099J3（16th） J2Kagoshima UnitedKagoshimaShiranami Stadium19,934J3（4th）J1Kataller ToyamaAll cities/towns in ToyamaToyama Athletic Stadium25,251J3（9th）J1Fujieda MYFCCities/towns in Shizuoka PrefectureFujieda Soccer Field13,000J3（10th）J3Nagano ParceiroNaganoNagano U Stadium15,491J3（3rd）J2Roasso KumamotoKumamoto, KumamotoEgao Kenko Stadium32,000J3（7th）J1Tegevajaro MiyazakiMiyazaki & Shintomi, MiyazakiUnilever Stadium Shintomi5,000 Promoted from JFL（2nd）J3Vanraure HachinohePrifoods Stadium5,200J3（15th）J3YSCC YokohamaYokohamaNippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium15,454J3（17th）J3

Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Azul Claro Numazu Masataka Imai Masayuki Tokutake Puma FC Gifu Takayoshi Amma Kentaro Kai RAZZOLI FC Imabari Keiichiro Nuno Keishi Kusumi Adidas Fukushima United FC Yu Tokisaki Makoto Kawanishi Hiroto Morooka Tomoyasu Yoshida hummel Gainare Tottori Kim Jong-song Masataka Kani Soccer Junky Iwate Grulla Morioka Yutaka Akita Yusuke Muta Under Armour Kagoshima United FC Yasuaki Oshima Noriyuki Sakemoto ANGUA Kamatamare Sanuki Zdravko Zemunović Akira Takeuchi ATHLETA Kataller Toyama Nobuhiro Ishizaki Yohei Nishibe GOLDWin Fujieda MYFC Yasuharu Kurata Takuya Sugimoto gol. Nagano Parceiro Yuji Yokoyama TBA Penalty Roasso Kumamoto Takeshi Oki Tomotaka Okamoto Puma Tegevajaro Miyazaki Naruyuki Naito Kenji Dai YONEX Vanraure Hachinohe Masahiro Kuzuno Teppei Chikaishi hummel YSCC Yokohama / Yuki Stalph Kento Dodate younger

Managerial changes Team Outgoing Exit date Position in table Incoming Incoming date Announced on Departed on Announced on Arrived on Kamatamare Sanuki Nobuyuki UenoyamaResigns31 March 202131 March 202115th Toshihiro Nishimura (Interim)1 April 20211 April 2021 Kamatamare Sanuki Toshihiro NishimuraEnd of Interim period11 April 202111 April 202115th Zdravko Zemunovic12 April 202112 April 2021Gainare Tottori Riki TakagiDismissed6 May 20214 May 202112th Kim Jong-song10 May 202110 May 2021FC Imabari Lluís PlanagumàDismissed 19 May 202118 May 202113th Kazuaki Hashikawa (Interim)19 May 202119 May 2021FC Imabari Kazuaki HashikawaEnd of Interim period23 May 202123 May 202113th Keiichiro Nuno24 May 202124 May 2021Kagoshima United Arthur PapasResigned28 May 202128 May 20219th Yasuaki Oshima28 May 202128 May 2021Fujieda MYFC Yasuharu KurataResigned12 July 202112 July 202112th Daisuke Sudo12 July 202112 July 2021FC Imabari Keiichiro NunoResigned29 September 202129 September 202112th Kazuaki Hashikawa29 September 202129 September 2021

League table

Stadiums Primary venues used in the J3 League: Vanraure Hachinohe Iwate Grulla Morioka Fukushima United FC YSCC Yokohama Nagano ParceiroPrifoods Stadium Iwagin Stadium Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium Nagano U Stadium Capacity: 5,124 Capacity: 5,046 Capacity: 6,464 Capacity: 15,440 Capacity: 15,515 Kataller Toyama Fujieda MYFC Azul Claro Numazu FC Gifu Gainare TottoriToyama Stadium Fujieda Soccer Stadium Ashitaka Park Stadium Axis Bird Stadium Capacity: 18,588 Capacity: 5,056 Capacity: 5,104 Capacity: 16,310 Capacity: 11,999 Kamatamare Sanuki FC Imabari Roasso Kumamoto Tegevajaro Miyazaki Kagoshima United FCPikara Stadium Egao Kenko Stadium Unilever Stadium Shintomi Shiranami Stadium Capacity: 22,338 Capacity: 5,063 Capacity: 30,449 Capacity: 5,354 Capacity: 12,606

Season statistics Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals1 Shota KawanishiFC Gifu132 Kosuke FujiokaTegevajaro Miyazaki103 Yohei OnoKataller Toyama9 Naoki SandaNagano Parceiro Rei YonezawaKagoshima United FC Yuya TaguchiGainare Tottori Hiroki HiguchiFukushima United Kaito UmedaTegevajaro Miyazaki4 Toshiki TakahashiRoasso Kumamoto8 Origbaajo IsmailaFukushima United5 Ömer Tokac Fukushima United7 Ryo WatanabeAzul Claro Numazu

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Naoki SandaNagano ParceiroGainare Tottori1–8 (A)13 June 2021

Attendances

2021 J3 League

Bron en licentie