2017 J2 League

The 2017 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (2017 明治安田生命J2リーグ) season was the 46th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 19th season since the establishment of J2 League.

Meiji Yasuda J2 League

Season	2017
Champions	Shonan Bellmare 2nd J2 title 4th D2 title
Promoted	Shonan Bellmare V-Varen Nagasaki Nagoya Grampus
Relegated	Thespakusatsu Gunma
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,198 (2.59 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ibba Laajab (Yokohama FC) (25 goals)[1]
Highest attendance	36,755[2] Nagoya 1–1 Kyoto (3 May 2017)
Lowest attendance	1,191[2] Sanuki 0-0 Yamagata (22 Oct 2017)
Average attendance	6,970
← 2016 2018 →

Clubs

Fukuoka

Ehime

Okayama

Gifu

Nagoya

Sanuki

Kanazawa

Kyoto

Yamaguchi

Kumamoto

Oita

Tokushima

Nagasaki

Matsumoto

Yamagata

Mito

Gunma

Chiba

Machida

Tokyo

Shonan

Yokohama

Locations of the 2017 J2 League teams

The participating clubs are listed in the following table:

Club name	Home town(s)	Note(s)
Avispa Fukuoka	Fukuoka City, Fukuoka	Relegated from J1 League in 2016
Ehime FC	All cities/towns in Ehime[a]
Fagiano Okayama	All cities/towns in Okayama[b]
FC Gifu	All cities/towns in Gifu[c]
JEF United Chiba	Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba
Kamatamare Sanuki	Takamatsu, Kagawa
Kyoto Sanga	Southwestern cities/towns in Kyoto[d]
Machida Zelvia	Machida, Tokyo
Matsumoto Yamaga	Central cities/towns in Nagano[e]
Mito HollyHock	Mito, Ibaraki
Montedio Yamagata	All cities/towns in Yamagata[f]
Nagoya Grampus	All Aichi Prefecture[g]	Relegated from J1 League in 2016
Oita Trinita	Ōita	Promoted from J3 League in 2016
Renofa Yamaguchi	All cities/towns in Yamaguchi[h]
Roasso Kumamoto	Kumamoto
Shonan Bellmare	Shonan part of Kanagawa[i]	Relegated from J1 League in 2016
Thespakusatsu Gunma	All cities/towns in Gunma[j]
Tokushima Vortis	All cities/towns in Tokushima[k]
Tokyo Verdy	All cities/towns in Tokyo
V-Varen Nagasaki	All cities/towns in Nagasaki[l]
Yokohama FC	Yokohama, Kanagawa
Zweigen Kanazawa	Kanazawa	Won J2-J3 Relegation Playoff

1. centering on Matsuyama
2. centering on Okayama, Kurashiki, Tsuyama
3. centering on Gifu
4. Kyoto, Uji, Joyo, Kyōtanabe, Mukō, Nagaokakyō, Kizugawa, Kameoka, Nantan, Kyotanba
5. Matsumoto, Nagano, Azumino, Yamagata, Shiojiri, Ōmachi, Ikeda
6. centering on Yamagata, Tendō, Tsuruoka
7. centering on Nagoya, Toyota, Miyoshi
8. centering on Yamaguchi, Shimonoseki, Sanyoonoda, Ube
9. Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, Atsugi, Isehara, Odawara, Chigasaki, Hadano, Fujisawa, Ōiso, Samukawa, Ninomiya, Kamakura, Minamiashigara, Oi, Kaisei, Nakai, Hakone, Matsuda, Manazuru, Yamakita, Yugawara
10. centering on Kusatsu, Maebashi
11. centering on Tokushima, Naruto, Mima, Matsushige, Itano, Aizumi, Kitajima
12. centering on Nagasaki, Isahaya

Personnel and kits

Club	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer
Avispa Fukuoka	Masami Ihara	Yuta Mikado	ATHLETA
Ehime FC	Shuichi Mase	Shuto Kojima	Mizuno
Fagiano Okayama	Tetsu Nagasawa	Kohei Kiyama	Penalty
FC Gifu	Takeshi Oki	Yoshihiro Shoji	New Balance
JEF United Chiba	Juan Esnáider	Naoya Kondo	Kappa
Kamatamare Sanuki	Makoto Kitano	Kenta Shimizu	ATHLETA
Kyoto Sanga	Takanori Nunobe	Takanori Sugeno	Wacoal
Machida Zelvia	Naoki Soma	Ri Han-jae	SVOLME
Matsumoto Yamaga	Yasuharu Sorimachi	Masaki Iida	Adidas
Mito HollyHock	Takayuki Nishigaya	Keisuke Funatani	GAViC
Montedio Yamagata	Takashi Kiyama	Takuya Honda	New Balance
Nagoya Grampus	Yahiro Kazama	Hisato Sato	Mizuno
Oita Trinita	Tomohiro Katanosaka	Satoru Yamagishi	Puma
Renofa Yamaguchi	Carlos Mayor	Yuya Torikai	Finta
Roasso Kumamoto	Hiroyuki Kiyokawa	Takuya Sonoda	Puma
Shonan Bellmare	Cho Kwi-jea	Kaoru Takayama	Penalty
Thespakusatsu Gunma	Hitoshi Morishita	Yuya Yamagishi	Finta
Tokushima Vortis	Ricardo Rodríguez	Ken Iwao	Mizuno
Tokyo Verdy	Miguel Ángel Lotina	Akira Ibayashi	ATHLETA
V-Varen Nagasaki	Takuya Takagi	Yusuke Murakami	hummel
Yokohama FC	Hitoshi Nakata	Kensuke Sato	SOCCER JUNKY
Zweigen Kanazawa	Masaaki Yanagishita	Tomonobu Hiroi	Adidas

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Date of separation	Manner of departure	Incoming manager	Date of announcement
Nagoya Grampus	Boško Gjurovski	6 November 2016[3]	End of caretaker spell	Yahiro Kazama	4 January 2017[4]
Renofa Yamaguchi	Nobuhiro Ueno	23 May 2017[5]	Sacked	Carlos Mayor	5 June 2017[6]
Roasso Kumamoto	Hiroyuki Kiyokawa	14 June 2017[7]	Sacked	Tomoyoshi Ikeya	14 June 2017
Yokohama FC	Hitoshi Nakata	15 October 2017[8]	Sacked	Edson Tavares	24 October 2017[9]

Foreign players

Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the summer transfer window.

Clubs	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Other	Former
Nagoya Grampus	Felipe Garcia	Gabriel Xavier	Washington	Lim Seung-gyeom	Robin Simović		Charles
Shonan Bellmare	Tando Velaphi	André Bahia	Dinei	Dragan Mrđa			Chiquinho
Avispa Fukuoka	Euller	Gilsinho	Wellington	Willian Popp	Won Du-jae		Danilson Córdoba
Ehime FC	Ju Feng	Park Seung-su
Fagiano Okayama	Nicolás Orsini	Jang Suk-won	Kim Jong-min	Lee Kyung-tae	Park Hyung-jin
FC Gifu	Cristian	Henik	Sisinio	Víctor Ibáñez
Oita Trinita	Chiquinho
Mito HollyHock	Paulão						Kwon Young-jin
JEF United Chiba	Joaquín Larrivey	Luis Ojeda	Eduardo Aranda	Jorge Salinas	Kim Byeom-yong		Lee Joo-young
Kamatamare Sanuki	Alex	Allan	Evson	Lee Joo-young	Yoon Seon-ho	Ri Yong-jik
Montedio Yamagata	Lee Je-seung						Koo Bon-hyeok
Renofa Yamaguchi	Abel Luciatti	Leonardo Ramos	Marcelo Vidal	Park Chan-yong
Roasso Kumamoto	Gustavo	Júnior Fell	Morbeck	Lim Jin-woo	Yang Sang-jun	An Byong-jun
Kyoto Sanga	Kevin Oris	Ha Sung-min	Lee Yong-jae
Thespakusatsu Gunma	Matheus	Choi Joon-gi	Kang Su-il	Yeo Sung-hye	Park Gon	Park Seung-ri	Han Ho-dong
Tokyo Verdy	Alan Pinheiro	Douglas	Carlos Martínez
V-Varen Nagasaki	Juanma	Miguel Pallardó	Song Young-Min
Tokushima Vortis	Carlinhos	Nikola Vasiljević	Kim Jong-pil				Nikola Ašćerić
Matsumoto Yamaga	Davi	Diego	Paulinho	Serginho	Goh Dong Min		Yeo Sung-hye
Yokohama FC	Leandro Domingues	Calvin Jong-a-Pin	Ibba Laajab	Jeong Chung-geun
Machida Zelvia	Boris Tatar	Kim Song-gi				Ri Han-jae
Zweigen Kanazawa	Byeon Jun-byum	Kim Tea-sung					Mendes

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Shonan Bellmare (C, P)	42	24	11	7	58	36	+22	83	Promotion to 2018 J1 League
2	V-Varen Nagasaki (P)	42	24	8	10	59	41	+18	80
3	Nagoya Grampus (O, P)	42	23	6	13	85	65	+20	75	Qualification for promotion playoffs[a]
4	Avispa Fukuoka	42	21	11	10	54	36	+18	74
5	Tokyo Verdy	42	20	10	12	64	49	+15	70
6	JEF United Chiba	42	20	8	14	70	58	+12	68
7	Tokushima Vortis	42	18	13	11	71	45	+26	67
8	Matsumoto Yamaga	42	19	9	14	61	45	+16	66
9	Oita Trinita	42	17	13	12	58	50	+8	64
10	Yokohama FC	42	17	12	13	60	49	+11	63
11	Montedio Yamagata	42	14	17	11	45	47	−2	59
12	Kyoto Sanga	42	14	15	13	55	47	+8	57
13	Fagiano Okayama	42	13	16	13	44	49	−5	55
14	Mito HollyHock	42	14	12	16	45	48	−3	54
15	Ehime FC	42	14	9	19	54	68	−14	51
16	Machida Zelvia	42	11	17	14	53	53	0	50
17	Zweigen Kanazawa	42	13	10	19	49	67	−18	49
18	FC Gifu	42	11	13	18	56	68	−12	46
19	Kamatamare Sanuki	42	8	14	20	41	61	−20	38
20	Renofa Yamaguchi	42	11	5	26	48	69	−21	38
21	Roasso Kumamoto	42	9	10	23	36	59	−23	37
22	Thespakusatsu Gunma (R)	42	5	5	32	32	88	−56	20	Relegation to 2018 J3 League[b]

Updated to match(es) played on 28 November 2017. Source: 2017 MEIJI YASUDA J2 LEAGUE League table
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Only teams that meet J1 license criteria can participate in promotion playoffs. If one or more teams fail to meet the criteria, only eligible teams that finished 3rd to 6th will participate and no replacement teams will be added.
2. Direct exchange between J2 and J3 is subject to eligibility of J2-licensed teams in top 2 of 2017 J3 League.

Results

Home \ Away	AVI	BEL	EHI	FAG	GIF	GRA	HOL	JEF	KAM	MON	REN	ROS	SAN	SPA	TRI	VVN	VER	VOR	YAM	YFC	ZEL	ZWE
Avispa Fukuoka		2–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	3–1	0–0	0–1	3–1	2–0	2–1	2–1	2–1	1–3	1–2	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–3	0–2
Shonan Bellmare	0–3		1–0	1–1	3–3	2–1	3–0	2–0	1–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	3–1	0–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–1	2–2	1–1	4–2
Ehime FC	0–1	0–1		2–0	2–0	1–2	0–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–1	1–0	0–2	4–2	2–2	1–0	0–3	1–3	0–0	2–3	1–1	1–0
Fagiano Okayama	1–1	0–2	0–1		1–1	0–1	3–0	2–1	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	0–3	2–0	0–1	3–2	0–0	2–1	1–1	0–1
FC Gifu	1–2	1–1	2–1	1–1		2–6	2–1	4–6	0–1	1–1	2–2	1–2	3–2	2–0	1–2	4–4	1–2	0–2	0–1	1–2	0–2	1–0
Nagoya Grampus	3–1	3–2	7–4	2–0	1–1		2–1	0–3	2–1	1–0	0–2	5–1	1–1	4–2	0–1	2–0	4–1	0–2	5–2	2–3	2–1	2–3
Mito HollyHock	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–1		3–1	2–1	0–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	4–0	2–0	0–2	3–2	1–1	0–1	0–0	3–2	4–0
JEF United Chiba	0–0	0–1	4–2	3–1	1–3	2–0	2–1		4–3	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	4–1	5–0	2–2	2–0	5–1	2–1	2–1	2–0
Kamatamare Sanuki	2–2	3–0	2–2	1–1	1–3	0–2	2–0	1–1		0–0	1–3	0–0	0–4	1–2	0–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	2–2	1–0
Montedio Yamagata	0–0	3–0	2–2	1–1	4–1	0–0	0–0	2–2	0–0		3–2	0–1	2–2	1–0	3–2	0–0	1–0	1–6	1–0	2–0	1–3	2–1
Renofa Yamaguchi	1–2	3–5	1–1	0–1	0–1	1–3	1–0	0–1	1–0	2–0		1–2	1–1	3–2	2–3	0–3	0–2	1–1	1–2	1–2	0–1	0–1
Roasso Kumamoto	1–1	0–1	2–1	0–1	0–0	0–1	2–3	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–2		0–3	1–2	0–1	0–2	4–0	1–1	2–0	1–4	0–1	1–4
Kyoto Sanga	0–1	0–0	3–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–2	1–2	2–1		1–0	2–2	0–1	0–1	1–0	1–1	2–2	2–2	1–3
Thespakusatsu Gunma	1–3	0–2	0–3	1–2	0–2	1–4	0–1	2–0	1–2	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–1		0–4	1–4	1–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–1	1–1
Oita Trinita	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	3–3	4–1	0–0	1–2	2–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–3	1–0		1–2	0–2	0–1	0–0	2–2	1–3	1–0
V-Varen Nagasaki	0–1	0–2	2–0	3–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	3–1	2–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	4–0	2–1		1–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	2–1
Tokyo Verdy	0–0	2–3	3–3	1–1	1–0	2–1	4–0	3–0	3–3	3–1	1–2	1–0	1–2	3–1	1–0	2–1		2–1	1–2	1–1	3–1	2–1
Tokushima Vortis	2–1	0–1	4–1	3–3	1–1	2–2	2–3	0–1	1–1	1–1	5–0	3–0	1–1	4–1	1–0	3–1	1–0		0–2	2–2	2–2	1–1
Matsumoto Yamaga	0–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	2–1	1–2	0–1	3–1	4–0	3–2	2–3	1–0	0–1	3–0	0–2	3–0	1–1	3–1		3–1	1–1	4–0
Yokohama FC	1–3	0–1	4–0	1–1	1–0	1–2	1–0	4–0	2–1	0–1	1–0	2–0	2–0	1–0	1–2	2–1	1–1	0–2	1–0		2–2	2–0
Machida Zelvia	0–1	0–0	1–2	1–1	0–1	3–4	2–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	0–1	2–1	0–2	2–0	2–2	1–1	2–4	0–1	1–2	1–0		1–1
Zweigen Kanazawa	0–5	0–0	1–2	1–2	0–1	3–4	2–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	2–2	1–1	2–4	0–1	0–4	3–2	2–2

Updated to match(es) played on 19 November 2017. Source: J.League Data
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

J1 League Promotion Playoffs

2017 J.League Road To J1 Play-Offs (2017 J1昇格プレーオフ)

	Semifinals					Final
	3	Nagoya Grampus	4
	6	JEF United Chiba	2
						3	Nagoya Grampus	0
						4	Avispa Fukuoka	0
	4	Avispa Fukuoka	1
	5	Tokyo Verdy	0

Semifinals

---

26 November 2017 (2017-11-26)

13:00

Avispa Fukuoka	1–0	Tokyo Verdy
Yamase 14'	Report

Egao Kenkō Stadium, Kumamoto

Attendance: 9,019

---

26 November 2017 (2017-11-26)

16:00

Nagoya Grampus	4–2	JEF United
Taguchi 61' Simović 66', 86', 90+6'	Report	Larrivey 45+2', 90'

Paloma Mizuho Stadium, Nagoya, Aichi

Attendance: 18,350

Final

---

3 December 2017 (2017-12-03)

16:00

Nagoya Grampus	0–0	Avispa Fukuoka
	Report

Toyota Stadium, Toyota, Aichi

Attendance: 37,959

Nagoya Grampus was promoted to J1 League.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of match played 19 November 2017.^[1]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Ibba Laajab	Yokohama FC	25
2	Daiki Watari	Tokushima Vortis	23
3	Wellington	Avispa Fukuoka	19
	Hiroyuki Takasaki	Matsumoto Yamaga
	Joaquin Larrivey	JEF United Chiba
6	Alan Pinheiro	Tokyo Verdy	14
	Yusuke Goto	Oita Trinita
8	Tulio	Kyoto Sanga	13
	Robin Simovic	Nagoya Grampus
	Douglas Vieira	Tokyo Verdy
	Daizen Maeda	Mito HollyHock

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Nagoya Grampus	322,672	36,755	7,046	15,365	−13.3%†
2	Matsumoto Yamaga	255,076	15,872	8,982	12,146	−10.9%†
3	JEF United Chiba	209,637	15,994	6,230	9,983	−3.0%†
4	Avispa Fukuoka	200,546	16,336	6,021	9,550	−25.7%†
5	Fagiano Okayama	198,883	12,286	6,275	9,471	−5.5%†
6	Shonan Bellmare	177,527	12,480	4,453	8,454	−26.7%†
7	Oita Trinita	169,328	11,370	6,136	8,063	+3.8%‡
8	FC Gifu	146,518	17,027	3,650	6,977	+23.2%†
9	Kyoto Sanga	141,705	10,750	4,896	6,748	+3.4%†
10	Montedio Yamagata	138,232	12,743	3,707	6,582	+5.2%†
11	Roasso Kumamoto	137,698	13,990	3,944	6,557	+18.3%†
12	Tokyo Verdy	130,334	14,541	2,786	6,206	+14.9%†
13	Yokohama FC	125,301	13,244	2,284	5,967	+22.0%†
14	V-Varen Nagasaki	124,756	22,407	3,189	5,941	+13.7%†
15	Renofa Yamaguchi	114,538	9,651	3,369	5,454	−18.0%†
16	Tokushima Vortis	104,577	7,583	3,106	4,979	+9.1%†
17	Mito HollyHock	103,549	9,240	3,023	4,931	−8.1%†
18	Zweigen Kanazawa	92,336	11,173	2,780	4,397	+5.2%†
19	Machida Zelvia	85,177	8,124	2,383	4,056	−20.8%†
20	Ehime FC	81,193	7,117	1,958	3,866	−5.5%†
21	Thespakusatsu Gunma	80,465	6,828	1,402	3,832	−19.2%†
22	Kamatamare Sanuki	79,908	7,994	1,191	3,805	+3.2%†
	League total	3,219,936	36,755	1,191	6,970	0.0%†

Updated to games played on 19 November 2017
Source: J. League Data
Notes:
^† Last year in J1 League.^‡ Last year in J3 League.