2013 J.League Division 2

The 2013 J.League Division 2 season was the 42nd season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 15th season since the establishment of J2 League. The regular season began on 3 March and ended on 24 November, followed by the promotion play-offs among four clubs ranked between 3rd and 6th at the end of regular season. Gamba Osaka became champions, and Vissel Kobe became runners-up, both returned to J1 immediately after one season at J2. The other promoted team was third runners-up (fourth placers) Tokushima Vortis, who won the promotion playoff final, defeating Kyoto Sanga FC. With the win, Vortis made their J1 debut, becoming the first professional Shikoku football club to compete in the top division of their national league.

J.League Division 2

Season	2013
Champions	Gamba Osaka 1st J2 title 2nd D2 title
Promoted	Gamba Osaka Vissel Kobe Tokushima Vortis
Relegated	Gainare Tottori
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,212 (2.62 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kempes (22 goals)
Highest attendance	24,813 Sapporo vs Kitakyushu
Lowest attendance	1,104 Ehime vs Kumamoto
Average attendance	6,665
← 2012 2014 →

Clubs

Ventforet Kofu and Shonan Bellmare, champions and runners-up in the previous season, and Oita Trinita, winners of the promotion play-offs for 2012, were promoted to J1, then Consadole Sapporo, Vissel Kobe, and Gamba Osaka were relegated to J2 instead. Sapporo returned to J2 only after one season in the top-flight, and Kobe returned to J2 second time after 2006 season, while Gamba suffered their very first relegation to the second-tier after J.League Division 2 was established in 1999, and the first relegation since their former organization, Matsushita Electric Soccer Club, were relegated after the 1986–87 season of JSL.

V-Varen Nagasaki, champions of the 2012 Japan Football League, were promoted to J2 while F.C. Machida Zelvia, promoted to J2 from the previous season and ranked 22nd, were relegated back to 2013 Japan Football League only after spending one season in J2.

In February, Thespa Kusatsu changed their name to Thespakusatsu Gunma.

Avispa Fukuoka

Consadole Sapporo

Ehime FC

Fagiano Okayama

FC Gifu

Gainare Tottori

Giravanz Kitakyushu

Kataller Toyama

Matsumoto Yamaga

Mito Hollyock

Montedio Yamagata

Roasso Kumamoto

Thespa Kusatsu

Tochigi SC

Tokushima Vortis

V-Varen Nagasaki

Greater Tokyo Area

Keihanshin Area

Greater Tokyo teams
JEF Chiba
Tokyo Verdy
Yokohama FC

Keihanshin teams
Gamba Osaka
Kyoto Sanga
Vissel Kobe

Locations of the 2013 J.League 2 teams

The participant clubs were as follows:

Club name	Home town(s)	Stadium	Capacity	Note(s)
Avispa Fukuoka	Fukuoka	Best Denki Stadium	22,563
Consadole Sapporo	Sapporo, Hokkaidō	Sapporo Dome	41,484	Relegated from J1 League in 2012
Ehime FC	All cities/towns in Ehime	Ningineer Stadium	20,000
Fagiano Okayama	All cities/towns in Okayama	City Light Stadium	20,000
Gainare Tottori	All cities/towns in Tottori	Axis Bird Stadium	16,033
Gamba Osaka	Suita, Osaka	Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium	21,000	Relegated from J1 League in 2012
FC Gifu	All cities/towns in Gifu	Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium	26,109
Giravanz Kitakyushu	Kitakyushu, Fukuoka	Honjo Athletic Stadium	10,000
Mito HollyHock	Mito, Ibaraki	K's denki Stadium Mito	12,000
JEF United Chiba	Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba	Fukuda Denshi Arena	19,781
Kataller Toyama	All cities/towns in Toyama	Toyama Athletic Recreation Park Stadium	28,494
Montedio Yamagata	All cities/towns in Yamagata	ND Soft Stadium	20,315
Roasso Kumamoto	Kumamoto	Umakana-Yokana Stadium	32,000
Kyoto Sanga	Southwestern cities/towns in Kyoto	Kyoto Nishikyogoku Stadium	20,242
Thespakusatsu Gunma	All cities/towns in Gunma	Shoda Shoyu Stadium	15,253
Tochigi SC	Utsunomiya, Tochigi	Tochigi Green Stadium	18,025
Tokyo Verdy	All cities/towns in Tokyo	Ajinomoto Stadium	49,970
Vissel Kobe	Kobe, Hyōgo	Home's Stadium	30,132	Relegated from J1 League in 2012
Tokushima Vortis	All cities/towns in Tokushima	Pocarisweat Stadium	17,924
V-Varen Nagasaki	All cities/towns in Nagasaki	Nagasaki Stadium	20,246	Champions of JFL in 2012
Matsumoto Yamaga	Matsumoto, Nagano	Matsumotodaira Park Stadium	20,396
Yokohama FC	Yokohama, Kanagawa	NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium	15,046

Foreign Players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	AFC player	Type-C contract	Non-visa foreign	Former players
Avispa Fukuoka	Bratislav Punoševac	Kim Min-je	Oh Chang-hyun	Park Kun	Jang Jung-won	Kim Yeong-gi	Osmar
Consadole Sapporo	Félix	Paulão	Lee Ho-seung	Lê Công Vinh	Jo Sung-jin		Tele
Ehime FC	Alair	Osmar	Ante Tomić	Han Hee-hoon
Fagiano Okayama	Kim Min-kyun				Piakai Henkel	Go Daimu	Lee Jae-gwan
Gainare Tottori	Eduardo	Ansger Otto		Im Dong-hyeon			Bruno Rafael Fefo Reginaldo
Gamba Osaka	Adi Rocha	Paulinho		Oh Jae-suk			Leandro
FC Gifu	Stipe Plazibat	Kayne Vincent	Blazhe Ilijoski	Do Dong-hyun		Ri Han-jae	Daniel Lemos Fábio Martins Desmond N'Ze
Giravanz Kitakyushu	Ahn Young-kyu	Kim Dong-hee	Nam Il-woo		Lee Keun-ho
Mito HollyHock	Kim Yong-gi
JEF United Chiba	Kempes	Kim Hyun-hun		Nam Seung-woo			Jair
Kataller Toyama	Kim Sung-ju	Seo Yong-duk		Yang Hae-joon
Montedio Yamagata	Kim Byeom-yong	Álvaro Peña		Lee Tae-ho
Roasso Kumamoto	Douglas	Fábio Pena	Hugo Almeida	Noh Hyung-goo			Jefferson Pablo
Kyoto Sanga	Wilfried Sanou	Miloš Bajalica		Oh Seung-hoon		Kang Song-ho Hwang Dae-Seong
Thespakusatsu Gunma	Daniel Lovinho	Eder		Kwon Han-Jin		Hwang Song-su Hwang Dae-Jun	Júnior Alves
Tochigi SC	Cristiano	Paulinho	Sabia	Cha Young-hwan
Tokyo Verdy				Kim Jong-Pil			Nicollas Bae Dae-won
Tokushima Vortis	Alex	Douglas		Kim Jong-min		Ri Yong-jik

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Gamba Osaka (C, P)	42	25	12	5	99	46	+53	87	Promotion to 2014 J.League Division 1
2	Vissel Kobe (P)	42	25	8	9	78	41	+37	83
3	Kyoto Sanga	42	20	10	12	68	46	+22	70	Qualification for Promotion Playoffs[a]
4	Tokushima Vortis (O, P)	42	20	7	15	56	51	+5	67
5	JEF United Chiba	42	18	12	12	68	49	+19	66
6	V-Varen Nagasaki	42	19	9	14	48	40	+8	66
7	Matsumoto Yamaga	42	19	9	14	54	54	0	66
8	Consadole Sapporo	42	20	4	18	60	49	+11	64
9	Tochigi SC	42	17	12	13	61	55	+6	63
10	Montedio Yamagata	42	16	11	15	74	61	+13	59
11	Yokohama FC	42	15	13	14	49	46	+3	58
12	Fagiano Okayama	42	13	17	12	52	48	+4	56
13	Tokyo Verdy	42	14	14	14	52	58	−6	56
14	Avispa Fukuoka	42	15	11	16	47	54	−7	56
15	Mito HollyHock	42	14	13	15	50	58	−8	55	Ineligible for promotion
16	Giravanz Kitakyushu	42	13	10	19	50	60	−10	49
17	Ehime FC	42	12	11	19	43	52	−9	47
18	Kataller Toyama	42	11	11	20	45	59	−14	44
19	Roasso Kumamoto	42	10	13	19	40	70	−30	43
20	Thespakusatsu Gunma	42	9	13	20	43	61	−18	40
21	FC Gifu	42	9	10	23	37	80	−43	37	Ineligible for promotion
22	Gainare Tottori (R)	42	5	16	21	38	74	−36	31	Qualification for Relegation Playoffs[b]

Updated to match(es) played on 8 December 2013. Source: J.League Division 2
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Only teams that meet J1 criteria can participate in promotion playoffs. If one or more teams fail to meet the criteria, only eligible teams that finished 3rd to 6th participate and no replacement teams are added.
2. Promotion/relegation play-offs between J2 and JFL tooke place between Kamatamare Sanuki, 2nd-placed club of 2013 Japan Football League with J. League Associate Membership, and 22nd-ranked club of 2013 J2 season.

Results

Home \ Away	AVI	CON	EHI	FAG	GAI	GAM	GIF	GIR	HOL	JEF	KAT	MON	ROS	SAN	SPA	TOC	VVN	VER	VIS	VOR	YAM	YFC
Avispa Fukuoka		0–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–3	2–1	2–1	1–1	3–4	1–4	2–1	1–1	1–2	1–0	2–0	2–1	2–3	0–0	1–0	0–1	1–5
Consadole Sapporo	3–0		3–0	2–2	3–0	1–3	4–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	3–1	1–3	0–1	1–3	0–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–2	2–0
Ehime FC	2–2	3–2		0–1	1–0	1–2	0–0	3–0	2–2	0–1	0–0	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	3–0	0–2	4–0	2–4	0–2	1–1	0–1
Fagiano Okayama	1–1	3–2	1–1		2–0	2–3	1–2	0–0	1–1	3–0	1–3	4–3	2–3	1–1	2–0	1–3	1–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	0–0
Gainare Tottori	0–0	0–2	1–1	0–0		1–7	3–4	2–3	3–1	2–2	2–3	0–6	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	0–3	1–1	1–2	0–1	1–0	0–0
Gamba Osaka	1–0	3–0	0–1	1–1	1–1		2–0	1–1	5–0	1–1	3–1	3–2	4–0	3–3	5–1	3–0	1–2	0–0	3–2	2–0	1–0	0–0
FC Gifu	0–2	0–3	1–1	0–0	2–1	2–8		3–1	1–4	0–1	2–3	1–1	0–0	0–3	0–0	0–1	2–1	1–2	1–0	0–1	1–2	0–2
Giravanz Kitakyushu	0–2	1–2	1–0	2–1	2–1	0–1	2–0		0–2	1–0	1–2	1–2	7–0	1–1	3–2	0–2	1–2	1–1	2–3	0–2	1–2	1–1
Mito HollyHock	0–0	1–3	0–1	1–0	2–2	0–2	4–1	2–2		2–0	1–0	1–3	1–1	2–1	1–1	4–3	0–0	1–0	0–2	0–0	1–2	2–2
JEF United Chiba	1–1	0–1	2–0	0–0	1–1	3–0	1–1	6–1	2–0		3–2	1–3	6–0	1–2	2–2	1–1	0–2	2–1	2–1	1–2	1–0	1–1
Kataller Toyama	1–2	3–1	1–0	0–0	1–1	0–4	1–2	0–0	2–1	1–2		1–3	1–2	1–0	0–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–1	0–1
Montedio Yamagata	2–1	0–1	3–0	1–2	2–3	0–1	2–2	0–1	2–1	0–3	3–1		1–0	1–2	1–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	3–2	2–2	4–1	5–1
Roasso Kumamoto	1–1	2–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	2–2	1–1	1–2	3–2	0–3	1–1	1–1		1–3	2–3	1–4	1–0	2–1	1–2	0–1	0–3	0–1
Kyoto Sanga	2–1	2–0	4–1	2–4	3–0	0–2	2–0	1–2	0–1	3–3	3–2	1–1	2–0		2–1	1–2	2–0	0–0	4–1	1–2	0–1	0–1
Thespakusatsu Gunma	0–1	2–0	2–1	2–1	0–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–2	1–1	2–2	1–0	2–3		0–1	1–2	0–1	2–2	4–1	3–0	1–0
Tochigi SC	2–0	4–3	0–1	1–0	1–1	4–2	2–0	3–2	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	0–1	2–2	3–0		2–2	4–2	2–2	0–1	0–1	0–0
V-Varen Nagasaki	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–3	3–0	1–0	0–2	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	2–0		2–1	0–2	0–1	0–1	2–0
Tokyo Verdy	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	3–0	3–3	3–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–2	2–0	1–1	0–5	2–1	3–3	2–1		2–1	1–1	1–3	1–3
Vissel Kobe	4–0	1–0	2–0	3–3	0–1	2–0	4–0	2–1	1–1	2–2	1–0	1–0	3–0	0–0	4–1	2–0	2–0	2–1		3–2	7–0	1–0
Tokushima Vortis	2–1	1–0	3–2	2–0	2–1	1–5	3–1	1–2	3–1	1–2	2–0	2–2	0–3	1–1	4–1	0–1	1–2	2–1	0–1		2–0	0–1
Matsumoto Yamaga	2–1	2–4	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–2	1–2	1–1	2–0	3–2	3–0	2–3	1–2	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–0	1–2	0–0		0–1
Yokohama FC	0–1	0–2	0–0	0–1	2–1	2–2	2–2	1–2	4–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	3–1	1–2	2–3	1–2	2–2	1–3

Updated to match(es) played on 24 November 2013. Source: J. League Division 2
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

Promotion Playoffs to Division 1

2013 J.League Road To J1 play-offs (2013 J1昇格プレーオフ)
Teams that finished 3rd to 6th participate in play-off series for the last J1 promotion berth.

	Semifinals					Final
	3	Kyoto Sanga	0
	6	V-Varen Nagasaki	0
						3	Kyoto Sanga	0
						4	Tokushima Vortis	2
	4	Tokushima Vortis	1
	5	JEF United Chiba	1

Semifinals

---

1 December 2013 (2013-12-01)

14:04

Kyoto Sanga	0–0	V-Varen Nagasaki
	Report

Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium, Ukyō-ku, Kyoto

Attendance: 12,387

Referee: Ryuji Sato

---

1 December 2013 (2013-12-01)

14:04

Tokushima Vortis	1–1	JEF United Chiba
Douglas 37'	Report	40' Yamaguchi

Pocarisweat Stadium, Naruto, Tokushima

Attendance: 9,301

Referee: Toshimitsu Yoshida

If the score was tied after 90 minutes, no extra time was played and the winner was the team with the best league ranking.

Final

---

8 December 2013 (2013-12-08)

15:30

Kyoto Sanga	0–2	Tokushima Vortis
	Report	Chiyotanda 39' Tsuda 43'

National Olympic Stadium, Shinjuku, Tokyo

Attendance: 23,266

Referee: Nobutsugu Murakami

Tokushima Vortis were promoted to 2014 J.League Division 1

JFL Relegation Playoffs

2013 J2/JFL play-offs (2013 J2・JFL入れ替え戦)
The last-placed Gainare Tottori faced 2013 Japan Football League runners-up Kamatamare Sanuki in a two-legged playoff series.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Gainare Tottori	1–2	Kamatamare Sanuki	1–1	0–1

---

1 December 2013 (2013-12-01)

13:03

Kamatamare Sanuki	1–1	Gainare Tottori
Takahashi 47'	Report	50' Mori

Kagawa Marugame Stadium, Marugame, Kagawa

Attendance: 5,793

Referee: Yosuke Kubota

---

8 December 2013 (2013-12-08)

13:00

Gainare Tottori	0–1	Kamatamare Sanuki
	Report	Takahashi 20'

Tottori Bank Bird Stadium, Tottori

Attendance: 6,313

Referee: Koichiro Fukushima

Gainare Tottori was relegated to 2014 J3 League
Kamatamare Sanuki was promoted to 2014 J.League Division 2

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Kempes	JEF United Chiba	22
2	Takashi Usami	Gamba Osaka	19
3	Yoshihiro Uchimura	Consadole Sapporo	17
4	Cristiano	Tochigi SC	16
	Keijiro Ogawa	Vissel Kobe	16
	Popó	Vissel Kobe	16
	Sabiá	Tochigi SC	16
8	Tomohiro Tsuda	Tokushima Vortis	14
9	Ryuichi Hirashige	Thespakusatsu Gunma	13
	Leandro	Gamba Osaka[1]	13

Updated to games played on 24 November 2013
Source: J. League

Awards

Player of the Month

Month	Player	Club
March	Popó	Vissel Kobe
April	Leandro	Gamba Osaka
May	Oh Seung-Hoon	Kyoto Sanga
June	Ryohei Hayashi	Montedio Yamagata
July	Koji Yamase	Kyoto Sanga
August	Takashi Usami	Gamba Osaka
September	Keijiro Ogawa	Vissel Kobe
October	Kempes	JEF United Chiba
November

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Gamba Osaka	257,996	18,041	8,045	12,286	−16.9%†
2	Vissel Kobe	241,841	23,012	4,151	11,516	−21.3%†
3	Matsumoto Yamaga	231,866	17,148	7,153	11,041	+15.8%†
4	Consadole Sapporo	211,568	24,813	4,837	10,075	−16.1%†
5	JEF United Chiba	210,078	15,982	6,511	10,004	+7.8%†
6	Fagiano Okayama	180,056	18,269	6,234	8,574	+7.4%†
7	Kyoto Sanga	165,717	15,380	4,314	7,891	+8.5%†
8	Montedio Yamagata	147,416	17,223	4,433	7,020	−4.6%†
9	Tokyo Verdy	133,201	18,705	2,539	6,343	+18.8%†
10	Roasso Kumamoto	130,769	12,003	3,339	6,227	+6.4%†
11	V-Varen Nagasaki	129,517	18,153	2,093	6,167	+68.7%‡
12	Yokohama FC	127,354	12,490	2,139	6,064	+0.4%†
13	Avispa Fukuoka	120,270	14,526	2,640	5,727	+2.5%†
14	Tochigi SC	103,360	10,687	2,103	4,922	+27.8%†
15	Mito HollyHock	97,237	10,025	2,513	4,630	+16.5%†
16	FC Gifu	95,032	11,719	2,341	4,525	+6.0%†
17	Kataller Toyama	93,960	13,639	2,315	4,474	+34.6%†
18	Tokushima Vortis	91,303	8,897	1,875	4,348	+8.9%†
19	Gainare Tottori	86,033	10,096	1,530	4,097	+30.8%†
20	Ehime FC	82,952	10,381	1,104	3,950	+8.8%†
21	Thespakusatsu Gunma	74,990	7,810	1,472	3,571	+6.9%†
22	Giravanz Kitakyushu	66,665	7,207	1,607	3,175	−5.1%†
	League total	3,079,181	23,012	1,104	6,665	+14.8%†

Updated to games played on 24 November 2013
Source: J. League Division 2
Notes:
^† Team played previous season in J1.
^‡ Team played previous season in JFL.