2017 Japan Football League

The 2017 Japan Football League (Japanese: 第19回日本フットボールリーグ, Hepburn: Dai Jūkyū-kai Nihon Futtobōru Rīgu) was the fourth season of the nationwide fourth tier of Japanese football, and the 19th season since the establishment of Japan Football League.

Japan Football League

Season	2017
Champions	Honda FC
Relegated	Tochigi Uva FC Briobecca Urayasu
Matches played	240
Goals scored	669 (2.79 per match)
Top goalscorer	Shusuke Sakamoto Nara Club (18 goals)
Highest attendance	5,241 FC Imabari v Verspah Oita (10 September 2017)
Lowest attendance	100 Honda Lock SC
Average attendance	797
← 2016 2018 →

Clubs

Sixteen clubs participated in this season of Japan Football League. The list was announced on 16 January 2017.^[1]

Club name	Home town	Kit Manufacturer	Notes
Briobecca Urayasu	Urayasu, Chiba	Nike
FC Imabari	Imabari, Ehime	Adidas	J.League 100 Year Plan club status holders[2] Promoted from Shikoku Soccer League after 1st place in 40th Regional Promotion Series
Honda FC	Hamamatsu, Shizuoka	Umbro	Defending champions of 2016
Honda Lock	Miyazaki, Miyazaki	Kappa
Maruyasu Okazaki	Okazaki, Aichi	Penalty
MIO Biwako Shiga	Kusatsu, Shiga	Nike
Nara Club	All cities/towns in Nara[a]	Squadra	J.League 100 Year Plan club status and J3 license holders
FC Osaka	All cities/towns in Osaka	Mitre
ReinMeer Aomori	Aomori, Aomori	Under Armour
Ryutsu Keizai Dragons	Ryūgasaki, Ibaraki	Adidas
Sony Sendai	Tagajō, Miyagi	Umbro
Tokyo Musashino City	Musashino, Tokyo	Yonex	J.League 100 Year Plan club status holders
Tochigi Uva	Tochigi, Tochigi	Mitre	J.League 100 Year Plan club status holders
Vanraure Hachinohe	Eastern cities/towns in Aomori[b]	Athleta	J.League 100 Year Plan club status and J3 license holders
Veertien Mie	All cities/towns in Mie[c]	Mizuno	Promoted from Tōkai Adult Soccer League Div. 1 after 2nd place in 40th Regional Promotion Series
Verspah Oita	Yufu & Ōita, Ōita	Warrix Sports

1. centering on Nara
2. Hachinohe, Towada, Gonohe, Sannohe, Takko, Hashikami, Nanbu, Shingo, Oirase, Misawa, Shichinohe, Rokunohe, Tohoku, Noheji, Yokohama, Rokkasho
3. centering on Kuwana & Yokkaichi

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Honda FC (C)	30	21	7	2	72	20	+52	70	[a]
2	ReinMeer Aomori	30	17	10	3	44	28	+16	61
3	Sony Sendai	30	18	5	7	64	36	+28	59
4	FC Osaka	30	16	7	7	59	32	+27	55
5	Vanraure Hachinohe	30	15	6	9	41	31	+10	51
6	FC Imabari	30	12	12	6	54	36	+18	48
7	Nara Club	30	10	10	10	41	51	−10	40
8	Honda Lock	30	9	7	14	36	46	−10	34
9	Maruyasu Okazaki	30	9	7	14	35	46	−11	34
10	Ryutsu Keizai Dragons	30	8	10	12	38	51	−13	34
11	Tokyo Musashino City	30	8	9	13	44	47	−3	33
12	Veertien Mie	30	7	8	15	35	46	−11	29
13	MIO Biwako Shiga	30	6	9	15	33	51	−18	27
14	Verspah Oita	30	5	12	13	27	46	−19	27
15	Briobecca Urayasu (R)	30	6	8	16	24	46	−22	26	Relegation to 2018 Regional Leagues
16	Tochigi Uva (R)	30	5	9	16	22	56	−34	24

Updated to match(es) played on 13 November 2017. Source: JFL website (in Japanese)
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Disciplinary points; 6) Draw
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. To qualify for promotion, a club must hold a 100 Year Plan status, obtain J3 license (marked in bold in the table), and finish both in the top 4 of the JFL, and either 1st or 2nd among the promotion-eligible clubs.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of match played 13 November 2017.^[3]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Shusuke Sakamoto	Nara Club	18
2	Ryota Kuwajima	FC Imabari	17
	Jun Arima	Sony Sendai FC
4	Shogo Omachi	Honda FC	16
5	Koji Ishihara	Tokyo Musashino City FC	15
6	Tatsuya Furuhashi	Honda FC	14
7	Yuta Uchino	Sony Sendai FC	13
8	Makoto Kawanishi	FC Osaka	12
9	Taichi Nakamura	ReinMeer Aomori	11
10	Junki Yokono		10
	Shogo Fujimaki	Veertien Mie
	Junya Kitano

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	FC Imabari	32,724	5,241	764	2,182	n/a†
2	Vanraure Hachinohe	31,596	4,122	719	2,106	+20.1%†
3	Nara Club	21,703	2,868	763	1,447	−4.0%†
4	Honda FC	12,915	1,504	477	861	+8.4%†
5	Veertien Mie	11,879	1,343	242	792	n/a†
6	ReinMeer Aomori	10,819	2,098	353	721	+2.4%†
7	Tokyo Musashino City	10,595	1,438	307	706	−17.2%†
8	MIO Biwako Shiga	9,771	1,955	191	651	−4.3%†
9	FC Osaka	8,960	1,523	232	597	−33.4%†
10	Briobecca Urayasu	7,579	1,049	234	505	+5.0%†
11	Verspah Oita	6,108	746	223	407	−16.6%†
12	Maruyasu Okazaki	5,911	703	159	394	+3.1%†
13	Tochigi Uva	5,844	1,116	179	390	−3.0%†
14	Sony Sendai	5,298	566	171	353	−51.7%†
15	Honda Lock	4,930	746	100	329	−11.6%†
16	Ryutsu Keizai Dragons	4,644	691	137	310	−20.1%†
	League total	191,276	5,241	100	797	−2.4%†

Updated to games played on 3 December
Source: Japan Football League (1st stage, 2nd stage)
Notes:
^† Team played previous season in Regional Leagues.

Promotion from Regional Leagues

Cobaltore Onagawa and Tegevajaro Miyazaki