2014 J.League Division 1

The 2014 J.League Division 1 season was the 49th season of top-flight football in Japan, and the 22nd since the establishment of the J.League in 1992. The season began on 1 March and ended on 8 December. Sanfrecce Hiroshima were the defending champions.

J.League Division 1

Season	2014
Champions	Gamba Osaka 2nd J.League title 2nd Japanese title
Relegated	Omiya Ardija Cerezo Osaka Tokushima Vortis
Champions League	Gamba Osaka Urawa Red Diamonds Kashima Antlers
Matches played	306
Goals scored	774 (2.53 per match)
Top goalscorer	Yoshito Ōkubo (18 goals)
Highest attendance	56,758 Reds vs Gamba
Lowest attendance	0 Reds vs S-Pulse
Average attendance	17,240
← 2013 2015 →

Due to Japan's participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, there was an extended break to allow for preparation after the 14th-week matches on 17 and 18 May, with the league resuming on 15 July for four clubs who participated in the 2014 AFC Champions League to play rescheduled 12th-week matches, and 19 July for other 14 clubs.^[1]

2014 saw the league played via a home and away system over a single season for the last time until at least 2020. From 2015 the league will revert to an Apertura and Clausura system, with a multi-team play-off 'super stage' to decide the champions, similar to the format used when the J.League began.^[2]

The league was won by Gamba Osaka, who won their second J.League title following a 0–0 away draw against Tokushima Vortis. They became the second league champions (after Kashiwa Reysol) to win the first division after being promoted as second division champions.

Clubs

18 teams competed in this year's competition. Both Gamba Osaka and Vissel Kobe returned to J1 after a single season outside the top flight; they finished as the 2013 J.League Division 2 champions and runners-up, respectively. Tokushima Vortis, who finished fourth in the regular season and won the promotion playoff, will make their top-flight debut, becoming the first club from Shikoku to do so. Those three teams replaced Oita Trinita, Shonan Bellmare and Júbilo Iwata; Júbilo were relegated from J1 for the first time after twenty seasons in the top tier, while Bellmare and Trinita were bumped down after cameo appearances in J1.

Albirex Niigata

Greater Tokyo Area†

Keihanshin Area‡

Nagoya Grampus

Sagan Tosu

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Shimizu S-Pulse

Tokushima Vortis

Vegalta Sendai

† Greater Tokyo teams
FC Tokyo
Kashima Antlers
Kashiwa Reysol
Kawasaki Frontale
Omiya Ardija
Urawa Red Diamonds
Ventforet Kofu
Yokohama F. Marinos

‡ Keihanshin teams
Cerezo Osaka
Gamba Osaka
Vissel Kobe

Locations of the 2014 J.League 1 teams

Club name	Hometown(s)	Stadium	Capacity	Note(s)
Albirex Niigata	Niigata & Seirō, Niigata	Denka Big Swan Stadium	42,300
Cerezo Osaka	Osaka	Nagai Stadium	47,816	2014 AFC Champions League participant (as 2013 J.League Division 1 fourth-place team)
FC Tokyo	Tokyo	Ajinomoto Stadium	49,970
Gamba Osaka	Suita, Osaka	Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium	21,000	Promoted from J.League Division 2 in 2013 (as champions)
Kashima Antlers	Kashima, Ibaraki	Kashima Soccer Stadium	40,728
Kashiwa Reysol	Kashiwa, Chiba	Kashiwa Soccer Stadium	15,900
Kawasaki Frontale	Kawasaki, Kanagawa	Todoroki Athletics Stadium	26,232	2014 AFC Champions League participant (as 2013 J.League Division 1 third-place team)
Nagoya Grampus	Nagoya, Aichi	Paloma Mizuho Stadium	27,000
Omiya Ardija	Ōmiya, Saitama	NACK5 Stadium	15,500
Sagan Tosu	Tosu, Saga	Tosu Stadium	24,490
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Hiroshima	Hiroshima Big Arch	50,000	2014 AFC Champions League participant (as 2013 J.League Division 1 winners)
Shimizu S-Pulse	Shizuoka	IAI Stadium Nihondaira	20,339
Tokushima Vortis	All cities/towns in Tokushima	Pocarisweat Stadium	20,441	Promoted from J.League Division 2 in 2013 (through a play-off system)
Urawa Red Diamonds	Urawa, Saitama	Saitama Stadium	63,700
Vegalta Sendai	Sendai, Miyagi	Yurtec Stadium	19,694
Ventforet Kofu	Kōfu, Yamanashi	Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium	17,000
Vissel Kobe	Kobe, Hyōgo	Misaki Park Stadium	30,132	Promoted from J.League Division 2 in 2013 (as runners-up)
Yokohama F. Marinos	Yokohama, Kanagawa & Yokosuka, Kanagawa	Nissan Stadium	72,327	2014 AFC Champions League participant (as 2013 J.League Division 1 runners-up)

Personnel and kits

Club name	Head coach	Kit manufacturer	Front shirt sponsor
Albirex Niigata	Masaaki Yanagishita	Adidas	Kameda Seika
Cerezo Osaka	Yuji Okuma	Mizuno	Yanmar
FC Tokyo	Massimo Ficcadenti	Adidas	Lifeval
Gamba Osaka	Kenta Hasegawa	Umbro	Panasonic
Kashima Antlers	Toninho Cerezo	Nike	Lixil
Kashiwa Reysol	Nelsinho Baptista	Yonex	Hitachi
Kawasaki Frontale	Yahiro Kazama	Puma	Fujitsu
Nagoya Grampus	Akira Nishino	Le Coq Sportif	Toyota
Omiya Ardija	Hiroki Shibuya	Under Armour	NTT Docomo
Sagan Tosu	Megumu Yoshida	Warrior	DHC
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Hajime Moriyasu	Nike	EDION
Shimizu S-Pulse	Katsumi Oenoki	Puma	Suzuyo
Tokushima Vortis	Shinji Kobayashi	Mizuno	Pocari Sweat
Urawa Red Diamonds	Mihailo Petrović	Nike	Polus
Vegalta Sendai	Susumu Watanabe	Asics	Iris Ohyama
Ventforet Kofu	Hiroshi Jofuku	Mizuno	Hakubaku
Vissel Kobe	Ryo Adachi	Asics	Rakuten
Yokohama F. Marinos	Yasuhiro Higuchi	Adidas	Nissan

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Incoming manager
Vegalta Sendai	Graham Arnold	Mutual consent	Susumu Watanabe
Cerezo Osaka	Ranko Popović		Marco Pezzaiuoli
Shimizu S-Pulse	Afshin Ghotbi		Katsumi Oenoki
Sagan Tosu	Yoon Jong-hwan	Sacked	Megumu Yoshida
Omiya Ardija	Kiyoshi Okuma		Hiroki Shibuya
Cerezo Osaka	Marco Pezzaiuoli		Yuji Okuma

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	AFC player	Non-visa foreign	Type-C contract[3]	Former player(s)
Albirex Niigata	Léo Silva	Rafael Silva	Lee Myung-jae	Song Ju-hun	Michael Fitzgerald		Roger Gaúcho Kim Jin-su
Cerezo Osaka	Cacau	Kim Jin-hyeon	Diego Forlán	Kim Sung-joon		Gu Sung-yun	Mitch Nichols Gojko Kačar
FC Tokyo	Edu	Michele Canini					Matheus Ferraz Kwak Hee-ju
Gamba Osaka	Lins	Patric		Oh Jae-suk			Evson
Kashima Antlers	Davi	Jorge Wagner	Luís Alberto		Caio		Jair
Kashiwa Reysol	Dudu	Eduardo	Leandro	Kim Chang-soo			Leandro Domingues Han Kook-young
Kawasaki Frontale	Jeci	Paulinho	Renatinho		An Byong-jun
Nagoya Grampus	Leandro Domingues	Régis	Danilson Córdoba	Joshua Kennedy		Gustavo
Omiya Ardija	Carlinhos Paraíba	Dragan Mrđa	Zlatan Ljubijankić	Cho Won-hee		Mateus	Dženan Radončić
Sagan Tosu	Choi Sung-keun	Kim Min-hyeok		Kim Min-woo
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Mihael Mikić	Byeon Jun-byum	Hwang Seok-ho	Park Hyung-jin
Shimizu S-Pulse	Dejan Jaković	Calvin Jong-a-Pin	Milivoje Novaković	Lee Ki-je	Bueno
Tokushima Vortis	Adriano	Alex	Julián Estiven Vélez	Kim Jong-min	Ri Yong-jik	Son Se-hwan	Douglas Kleiton Domingues
Urawa Red Diamonds	Márcio Richardes
Vegalta Sendai	Ramon Lopes	Wilson			Ryang Yong-gi Daniel Schmidt		Danny Vukovic Michael McGlinchey
Ventforet Kofu	Cristiano	Marquinhos Paraná	Thiago Quirino	Irfan Bachdim			Gilsinho
Vissel Kobe	Fábio Simplício	Marquinhos	Pedro Júnior	Jung Woo-young
Yokohama F. Marinos	Fábio	Rafinha

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Gamba Osaka (C)	34	19	6	9	59	31	+28	63	Qualification for 2015 AFC Champions League group stage[a]
2	Urawa Red Diamonds	34	18	8	8	52	32	+20	62
3	Kashima Antlers	34	18	6	10	64	39	+25	60
4	Kashiwa Reysol	34	17	9	8	48	40	+8	60	Qualification for 2015 AFC Champions League Third qualifying round[a]
5	Sagan Tosu	34	19	3	12	41	33	+8	60
6	Kawasaki Frontale	34	16	7	11	56	43	+13	55
7	Yokohama F. Marinos	34	14	9	11	37	29	+8	51
8	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	34	13	11	10	44	37	+7	50
9	FC Tokyo	34	12	12	10	47	33	+14	48
10	Nagoya Grampus	34	13	9	12	47	48	−1	48
11	Vissel Kobe	34	11	12	11	49	50	−1	45
12	Albirex Niigata	34	12	8	14	30	36	−6	44
13	Ventforet Kofu	34	9	14	11	27	31	−4	41
14	Vegalta Sendai	34	9	11	14	35	50	−15	38
15	Shimizu S-Pulse	34	10	6	18	42	60	−18	36
16	Omiya Ardija (R)	34	9	8	17	44	60	−16	35	Relegation to 2015 J2 League
17	Cerezo Osaka (R)	34	7	10	17	36	48	−12	31
18	Tokushima Vortis (R)	34	3	5	26	16	74	−58	14

Updated to match(es) played on 8 December 2014. Source: J.League Data
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Because Gamba Osaka also won the 2014 Emperor's Cup, the group stage spot has been given to third-placed Kashima Antlers, while ACL qualification spot was awarded to the fourth-placed Kashiwa Reysol.

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
Gamba Osaka	14	5	9	11	14	16	15	13	14	15	16	15	11	16	13	11	8	6	5	7	8	7	5	5	5	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1
Urawa Red Diamonds	6	9	5	5	11	6	4	3	5	4	1	2	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2
Kashima Antlers	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	4	1	1	2	3	7	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	4	3	2	3	4	4	3	3	3	3	3
Kashiwa Reysol	10	12	14	10	12	9	9	10	9	6	6	7	4	5	6	7	9	8	9	6	7	6	8	9	8	9	9	8	7	6	6	5	5	4
Sagan Tosu	1	1	4	9	4	8	5	5	3	5	3	1	1	2	2	2	2	1	1	3	2	2	3	3	4	5	5	3	5	5	4	4	4	5
Kawasaki Frontale	8	14	16	14	9	4	7	8	8	9	7	8	6	8	3	3	3	3	3	2	4	4	2	2	2	3	4	5	3	4	5	6	6	6
Yokohama F. Marinos	3	3	2	3	5	7	10	11	13	14	11	12	15	12	9	8	10	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	8	10	10	7	7	7
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	6	4	7	6	3	2	1	2	4	2	4	4	5	6	7	5	5	7	6	8	9	9	9	7	9	8	8	7	9	8	8	9	9	8
FC Tokyo	10	12	13	16	15	12	13	12	10	10	12	13	12	10	10	9	7	5	7	5	5	8	7	8	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	8	8	9
Nagoya Grampus	12	7	6	4	6	11	12	15	15	13	14	11	13	15	15	14	14	15	16	14	14	14	12	12	11	12	12	12	12	12	11	12	11	10
Vissel Kobe	8	11	8	12	7	3	3	1	2	3	5	6	3	3	5	6	6	9	8	9	6	5	6	6	7	7	7	9	10	9	9	10	10	11
Albirex Niigata	5	10	10	6	8	10	6	7	7	7	8	5	8	7	8	10	11	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	12	11	11	11	11	11	12	11	12	12
Ventforet Kofu	17	15	15	13	13	15	16	14	12	12	13	14	16	14	16	16	16	14	14	15	15	15	15	15	13	13	14	15	16	13	13	13	13	13
Vegalta Sendai	13	16	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	14	11	11	12	13	13	13	12	12	13	14	14	14	15	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	14
Shimizu S-Pulse	4	8	12	15	16	14	11	6	6	8	10	10	9	9	12	15	12	12	12	13	13	12	13	13	15	17	16	16	15	16	15	15	15	15
Omiya Ardija	16	16	11	8	10	13	14	16	16	16	15	16	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	16	15	14	14	15	16	16	16	16
Cerezo Osaka	15	5	3	2	2	5	8	9	11	11	9	9	10	13	14	13	15	16	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	14	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17
Tokushima Vortis	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18

	Leader and qualification to 2015 AFC Champions League group stage
	Qualification to 2015 AFC Champions League group stage
	Qualification to 2015 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off
	Relegation to 2015 J2 League

Updated to match(es) played on 8 December 2014. Source: J. League data site
Note 1: Matchday 12 results for 2014 AFC Champions League Participants (Sanfrecce Hiroshima vs. Yokohama F. Marinos, Cerezo Osaka vs. Kawasaki Frontale), held on 15 July 2014, are included in Matchday 15 ranking. Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Kawasaki Frontale and Cerezo Osaka qualified to the Round of 16 of the 2014 AFC Champions League, in which the First Leg matches overlap with matches for Matchday 12

Results

Home \ Away	ALB	ANT	ARD	CER	FMA	FRO	GAM	GRA	RED	REY	SAG	SFR	SSP	TOK	VEG	VEN	VIS	VOR
Albirex Niigata		1–2	2–1	1–0	0–0	3–0	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	1–0	0–0	1–1	1–2
Kashima Antlers	1–2		2–2	0–2	1–0	2–1	2–3	1–2	1–1	2–3	0–1	5–1	2–1	2–2	2–0	1–0	2–3	1–0
Omiya Ardija	2–2	2–1		2–0	2–3	1–3	0–2	1–2	0–2	1–2	1–3	3–3	2–1	1–0	4–0	0–2	0–3	1–3
Cerezo Osaka	0–0	1–4	1–1		2–2	1–2	2–2	1–2	1–0	2–0	0–1	0–1	4–1	0–0	0–1	1–3	1–2	3–1
Yokohama F. Marinos	1–0	1–3	2–0	0–0		2–0	2–0	0–2	0–1	2–2	1–2	1–0	1–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	1–1	3–0
Kawasaki Frontale	1–0	4–1	3–4	5–4	0–3		2–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–3	0–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	4–0
Gamba Osaka	5–0	0–2	2–1	2–0	2–0	1–0		0–1	0–1	1–2	4–1	1–1	4–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	3–0
Nagoya Grampus	0–1	2–3	2–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–2		1–2	1–1	2–3	2–5	2–3	2–2	0–0	2–0	2–1	1–1
Urawa Red Diamonds	1–0	1–1	4–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–2	1–2		3–1	0–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	4–0	0–0	2–2	2–1
Kashiwa Reysol	1–0	1–0	2–2	2–1	0–0	4–1	1–0	0–1	3–2		2–0	0–0	3–1	1–1	0–0	3–0	2–0	2–0
Sagan Tosu	0–2	0–3	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–0		1–2	2–2	0–2	2–1	2–0	2–1	5–0
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	2–0	0–3	1–1	0–0	1–2	2–1	0–1	4–0	0–2	5–2	1–0		1–1	1–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1
Shimizu S-Pulse	2–1	1–3	2–0	3–0	0–1	0–2	0–3	2–2	1–4	3–0	0–1	1–3		1–3	1–0	0–0	1–1	1–0
FC Tokyo	1–3	1–1	0–1	2–0	1–1	0–4	3–0	0–1	4–4	4–0	2–1	2–1	4–0		3–0	1–1	1–1	4–0
Vegalta Sendai	1–2	0–1	2–2	3–3	1–2	0–0	0–0	3–3	4–2	1–2	0–3	1–0	3–2	1–0		1–1	4–3	2–1
Ventforet Kofu	1–1	0–4	0–1	0–0	1–0	2–1	3–3	2–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	2–0	0–1	0–0	0–0		2–0	0–1
Vissel Kobe	1–0	0–0	2–1	2–2	1–2	1–2	1–5	1–3	3–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	3–1	2–1	2–1	1–0		3–0
Tokushima Vortis	1–2	0–5	0–2	0–2	0–3	0–4	0–0	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–1	0–1	0–4	0–0	0–1	2–2	2–2

Updated to match(es) played on 8 December 2014. Source: J. League Data
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Yoshito Ōkubo	Kawasaki Frontale	18
2	Yohei Toyoda	Sagan Tosu	15
3	Marquinhos	Vissel Kobe	14
4	Pedro Júnior	Vissel Kobe	13
	Yoshinori Muto	FC Tokyo
	Milivoje Novaković	Shimizu S-Pulse
8	Kensuke Nagai	Nagoya Grampus	12
	Shinzo Koroki	Urawa Red Diamonds
	Yu Kobayashi	Kawasaki Frontale
11	Edu	FC Tokyo	11
	Leandro	Kashiwa Reysol
	Hisato Satō	Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Updated to games played on 8 December 2014
Source: J. League Data

Awards

Individual

Award	Recipient	Club
Most Valuable Player	Yasuhito Endō	Gamba Osaka
Rookie of the Year	Caio	Kashima Antlers
Manager of the Year	Kenta Hasegawa	Gamba Osaka
Top Scorer	Yoshito Ōkubo	Kawasaki Frontale

Best Eleven

Position	Footballer	Club	Nationality
GK	Shusaku Nishikawa (3)	Urawa Red Diamonds	Japan
DF	Kosuke Ota (1)	FC Tokyo	Japan
DF	Masato Morishige (2)	FC Tokyo	Japan
DF	Tsukasa Shiotani (1)	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Japan
MF	Léo Silva (1)	Albirex Niigata	Brazil
MF	Gaku Shibasaki (1)	Kashima Antlers	Japan
MF	Yasuhito Endō (11)	Gamba Osaka	Japan
MF	Yoshinori Muto (1)	FC Tokyo	Japan
FW	Patric (1)	Gamba Osaka	Brazil
FW	Takashi Usami (1)	Gamba Osaka	Japan
FW	Yoshito Ōkubo (2)	Kawasaki Frontale	Japan

* The number in brackets denotes the number of times that the footballer has appeared in the Best 11.

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Urawa Red Diamonds	603,770	56,758	0	35,516	−4.3%†
2	FC Tokyo	428,184	42,059	13,048	25,187	+0.5%†
3	Yokohama F. Marinos	392,496	40,571	11,088	23,088	−16.0%†
4	Albirex Niigata	390,648	35,533	2,104	22,979	−12.0%†
5	Cerezo Osaka	367,651	42,723	10,262	21,627	+14.9%†
6	Kashima Antlers	300,310	32,099	8,840	17,665	+7.6%†
7	Nagoya Grampus	284,474	38,966	5,599	16,733	+3.7%†
8	Kawasaki Frontale	283,241	19,668	10,609	16,661	+0.1%†
9	Vegalta Sendai	257,949	18,914	11,144	15,173	+2.1%†
10	Vissel Kobe	255,185	25,382	9,375	15,010	+30.3%†
11	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	254,951	24,734	9,515	14,997	−7.5%†
12	Gamba Osaka	250,738	19,569	10,898	14,749	+20.0%†
13	Shimizu S-Pulse	241,577	19,824	8,539	14,210	+0.5%†
14	Sagan Tosu	240,323	23,277	8,276	14,137	+22.8%†
15	Ventforet Kofu	206,904	36,505	5,416	12,170	−3.5%†
16	Omiya Ardija	183,791	14,182	7,001	10,811	−2.9%†
17	Kashiwa Reysol	182,161	14,623	6,115	10,715	−14.6%†
18	Tokushima Vortis	151,034	17,274	3,594	8,884	+104.3%†
	League total	5,275,387	56,758	0	17,240	+0.1%†

Updated to games played on 8 December 2014
Source: J. League Data
Notes:
^† Team played previous season in J2.