2021 Japan Football League

The was the eighth season of the nationwide fourth tier of Japanese football, and the 23rd season since the establishment of Japan Football League.

Clubs

For the first time since 2012, 17 clubs have taken part in the JFL season. Last year no relegations were in place in J3, the league had the intent of seeing two more teams joining from the start, but only Tegevajaro Miyazaki got promoted with one game to play and joined J3 for the 2021 season. That’s because Verspah Oita, who won the JFL for the first time in their history, were not promoted as they did not hold a J3 license, while Sony Sendai and Honda FC, who finished 3rd and 4th respectively, also didn’t hold a J3 license.

FC Tiamo Hirakata and FC Kariya won promotion to the JFL by qualifying in the top two spots of the 44th Regional Pro Series. For the Hirataka-based side it was the first time in JFL, but Kariya are back after a twelve-year long hiatus.

There are six teams eligible for promotion with J3 licenses; these are highlighted in green in the following table.

Club name Home town StadiumCapacityPosition NotesHonda FC Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Honda Miyakoda Soccer Stadium2,506 JFL (4th) Miyazaki, Miyazaki Hinata Athletic Stadium20,000 JFL (12th) Iwaki FC Iwaki, Fukushima Iwaki Green Field5,600 JFL (7th) 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders FC Kariya Kariya, Aichi Wave Stadium Kariya4,002 RPS 2nd Winners of TASL and runners-up in 44th RPS Kochi United SC Kōchi, Kōchi Kōchi Haruno Athletic Stadium25,000 JFL (14th) Maruyasu Okazaki Okazaki, Aichi Okazaki Ryūhoku Stadium5,000 JFL (16th) Matsue City FC Matsue, Shimane Matsue Municipal Athletic Stadium24,000 JFL (10th) MIO Biwako Shiga Kusatsu, Shiga Higashiōmi Nunobiki Green Stadium5,060 JFL (9th) Applied for 100 Year Plan status Nara Club All cities/towns in Nara Rohto Field Nara30,600 JFL (13th) 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders Higashiōsaka, Osaka Hanazono Rugby Stadium 2nd Ground1,722 JFL (8th) 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders Aomori, Aomori Kakuhiro Group Athletic Stadium20,809 JFL (15th) 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders Sony Sendai Tagajō, Miyagi Miyagi Seikyō Megumino Soccer Stadium10,000 JFL (3rd) Suzuka Point Getters Suzuka, Mie AGF Suzuka Athletic Stadium1,450 JFL (5th) 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders FC Tiamo Hirakata Hirakata, Osaka Hirakata Municipal Athletic Stadium2,500 RPS 1st Winners of KSL and 44th RPS Tokyo Musashino United FC Musashino, Tokyo Musashino Municipal Athletic Stadium5,188 JFL (11th) Renamed from "Tokyo Musashino City FC" Veertien Mie All cities/towns in Mie Asahi Gas Energy Tōin Stadium5,142 JFL (6th) 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders Verspah Oita Yufu & Beppu, Ōita Shōwa Denkō Soccer/Rugby Field4,700 JFL (1st) 2020 champions, 100 Year Plan status

Personnel and kits Club Manager Kit manufacturerHonda FC Hiroyuki Abe Umbro Yosuke Miyaji Kappa Iwaki FC Yuzo Tamura Under Armour FC Kariya Kazuhiro Murata bonera Kochi United SC Akihiro Nishimura bonera Maruyasu Okazaki Hiroyasu Ibata ATHLETA Matsue City FC Noriaki Sanenobu soccer junky MIO Biwako Shiga Hiroshi Otsuki JOGARBOLA Nara Club Julián Marín Bazalo SQUADRA Shinya Tsukahara bonera Ryo Adachi Umbro Sony Sendai FC Gen Nakamura Umbro Suzuka Point Getters Yasutoshi Miura ATHLETA FC Tiamo Hirakata Yoshizumi Ogawa JOGARBOLA Tokyo Musashino United FC Hisayuki Ikegami Yonex Veertien Mie Yoshihiko Yamamoto Lwond Verspah Oita Takashi Yamahashi YASUDA

Managerial changes Team Outgoing Exit date Position in table Incoming Incoming date Announced on Departed on Announced on Arrived onVeertien Mie Nobuhiro UenoSacked21 June 202121 June 202112th Yoshihiko Yamamoto22 June 202122 June 2021Suzuka Point Getters Mila MartínezMutual consent5 July 20215 July 202114th Tsukasa Ozawa (interim)5 July 20215 July 2021Suzuka Point Getters Tsukasa Ozawa (interim)Interim completed15 July 202115 July 202111th Yasutoshi Miura15 July 202115 July 2021FC Kariya Koji Kadota (interim)Sacked16 July 202116 July 202117th Ryo Iizuka16 July 202116 July 2021Maruyasu Okazaki Ryuji KitamuraAppointed technical director20 July 202131 July 202111th Hiroyasu Ibata27 July 20211 August 2021FC Kariya Ryo Iizuka (interim)Interim completed2 August 20212 August 202117th Kazuhiro Murata2 August 20212 August 2021

League table

Regional Leagues Relegation Playoffs

Honda Lock remains in the JFL; FC Ise-Shima remains in the Tōkai Adult Soccer League Division 1.

FC Kariya was relegated to the Tōkai Adult Soccer League Division 1; Criacao Shinjuku was promoted to the JFL.

Season statistics Top scorers . RankPlayerClubGoals1 Yuki OkazakiHonda FC162 Motoki FujiwaraSony Sendai FC12 Reon KodamaHonda FC Ryo SatoFC Tiamo Hirakata Kohei MatsumotoFC Tiamo Hirakata6 Daigo FurukawaIwaki FC11

2021 Japan Football League

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