The was the 35th season of the main competition for under-18 teams in Japan, the 14th after rebranding the competition to the current "Premier League" format, and the 3rd season with 24 clubs participating in the league.
West champions Ohzu High School and East champions Yokohama FC were the zonal winners, playing each other in the final. Ohzu eventually won it by 3–0. They became the first side from Kumamoto, the second side from Kyushu, the first high school overall and the first public high school to ever reach the final and/or win the tournament since the establishment of the Premier League.
Changes from the previous season Promoted from the Prince LeaguesRelegated by bottom-league finish (East)Relegated by bottom-league finish (West)Kashima AntlersTeikyo Nagaoka HSFagiano OkayamaKagoshima Josei HSAsahikawa Jitsugyo HSYokohama F. MarinosJúbilo IwataRiseisha HS
Participating clubs As usual, the teams were allocated to each division by the JFA based on geographical positions. Yokohama FC U-18s was the only team to be relocated, switching from the West to the East on 2024, a year after relocating to the West.
Premier League East TeamPrefecture2023 recordAomori Yamada High SchoolAomori1stShoshi High SchoolFukushima2ndKashima AntlersIbaraki Play-offs winMaebashi Ikuei High SchoolGunma8thShohei High SchoolSaitama7thOmiya ArdijaSaitama9thRKU Kashiwa High SchoolChiba6thKashiwa ReysolChiba4thIchiritsu Funabashi High SchoolChiba5thFC TokyoTokyo10thKawasaki FrontaleKanagawa3rdYokohama FCKanagawa5th (WEST)
Premier League West TeamPrefecture2023 recordTeikyo Nagaoka High SchoolNiigata Play-offs winShizuoka Gakuen High SchoolShizuoka3rdNagoya GrampusAichi8thVissel KobeHyogo2ndYonago Kita High SchoolTottori7thFagiano OkayamaOkayama Play-offs winSanfrecce HiroshimaHiroshima1stHigashi Fukuoka High SchoolFukuoka6thSagan TosuSaga9thOhzu High SchoolKumamoto4thKagoshima Josei High SchoolKagoshima Play-offs winKamimura Gakuen High SchoolKagoshima10th
League table Premier League East
Premier League West
Premier League Play-offs Qualified for the stage the 16 top-ranked teams of the nine Prince League divisions, with each region having its amount of qualifying slots predetermined by the JFA.
Kanto's Prince League was the only one to qualify three teams from, whereas Tohoku, Tokai, Kansai, Chugoku and Kyushu qualified two teams each, and just one each qualified from Hokkaido and Shikoku. They were divided into four blocks, with their respective block winners (or 2nd round winners; highlighted in bold) qualifying for the next season's Premier League.
The match pairings were determined by a draw, conducted on 2 December 2024.
The play-offs slots were determined and announced on 28 February. Three teams qualified from Kanto, two from Tohoku, Tokai, Kansai, Chugoku and Kyushu, alongside one from Hokkaido, Hokushin'etsu and Shikoku Prince Leagues. The final team to qualify for the play-offs was decided on 1 December 2024, as Urawa clinched their spot on Kanto's last round.
Block A
Block B
Block C
Block D
Final
GK 21 Tsukasa OgameDF 3 Kota Kosuki (c) DF 13 Rai OkawaDF 22 Sota TsukudaDF 28 Ihaku IedaMF 10 Tomoki Asami MF 11 Shota NakadaiMF 18 Tessei Shibakusa MF 20 Ryosuke Iwasaki MF 27 Manato KannoFW 9 Keitaro ShojiSubstitutes:GK 1 Toma SakuraiDF 5 Riku FukazawaDF 24 Yu Serizawa MF 7 Ayumu SasaMF 25 Sota Akimoto MF 37 Haruya Suzuki MF 39 Hiromu Yokka Manager: Takumi Wada GK 1 Yuta BonoRB 3 Yuma Noguchi CB 5 Natsuki Goto (c)CB 4 Kai MurakamiLB 2 Yuto OgamiRM 11 Yugo Masui CM 8 Takumi HataCM 10 Yudai ShimamotoLM 7 Kennosuke Nakamura CF 6 Tasuku Kanematsu ST 9 Keiji YamashitaSubstitutes:GK 16 Aoi MurakamiDF 22 Hideaki Matsuno DF 24 Yumu NonakaMF 15 Kyoji FukushimaMF 17 Kohaku Soyama MF 20 Akifumi Mizoguchi FW 19 Shodai Iwanaka Manager: Tomohiro Yamashiro
Assistant referees: Tomohiro Ota Yusuke Ise Fourth official: Ryu MashioMatch rules 90 minutes. Extra-time if scores still level at the end of regulation time. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level at the end of extra time. Seven named substitutes. Maximum of five substitutions during regulation time, with one more substition allowed if the match needs to go into extra-time.
Top scorers East RankPlayerClubGoals 1 Kelly Ononoju Maebashi Ikuei 10 Mohamad Sadiki Wade Kashiwa Reysol Minato Yoshida Kashima Antlers 4 Kota Sato Maebashi Ikuei 9 Futo Yoshihara Kashiwa Reysol 6 Yutaro Onda Kawasaki Frontale 8 Kansuke Ouchi Shoshi 8 Hayate Cho Kashima Antlers 7 Yu Kasuya RKU Kashiwa Kantaro Maeda Yokohama FC Keitaro Shoji Yokohama FC
West RankPlayerClubGoals 1 Keiji Yamashita Ohzu 20 2 Aren Inoue Sanfrecce Hiroshima 17 3 Gaku Nawata Kamimura Gakuen 14 Ritsu Onishi Nagoya Grampus Shungo Sugiura Nagoya Grampus 6 Daichi Suzuki Sagan Tosu 12 Yudai Shimamoto Ohzu 8 Tasuku Kanematsu Ohzu 11 Takumi Yasuno Teikyo Nagaoka Ran Yoshioka Vissel Kobe
References
See also
Japan Football Association (JFA) League Japanese association football league system Prince Takamado Cup
External links Official website