2020 J2 League

The 2020 J2 League, also known as the 2020 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (Japanese: 2020 明治安田生命J2リーグ, Hepburn: 2020 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J2 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of J2 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1993. The league started on 21 February 2020. For this season, the league was planned to have a season break to avoid a clash with 2020 Summer Olympics due to be starting from June to August, as the Olympics were postponed by a year.^[1]

Meiji Yasuda J2 League

Season	2020
Dates	20 February 27 June – 20 December 2020
Champions	Tokushima Vortis (1st title)
Promoted	Tokushima Vortis Avispa Fukuoka
Relegated	none (for season 2020 only)
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,119 (2.42 per match)
Top goalscorer	Peter Utaka (22 goals)
Biggest home win	6-0 F.C. Ryukyu v Ehime F.C. JEF United Chiba v Zweigen Kanazawa
Biggest away win	1-6 Matsumoto Yamaga v F.C. Ryukyu
Highest scoring	3-5 Albirex Niigata v Zweigen Kanazawa
Longest winning run	12 Avispa Fukuoka
Longest unbeaten run	15 Avispa Fukuoka
Longest winless run	11 Renofa Yamaguchi
Longest losing run	7 Renofa Yamaguchi
Highest attendance	14,526 Júbilo Iwata v Montedio Yamagata
Lowest attendance	0 due to Covid-19
Total attendance	1,269,962
Average attendance	2,754
← 2019 2021 → All statistics correct as of 20 December 2020.

Effects of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

On 25 February, all J.League matches until March 15 were postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2] After that, it was announced that it would be postponed until 29 March.^[3] On 19 March, the J.League announced no relegation would take place for the 2020 season, with the J1 League expanding to 20 clubs for the 2021 season.^[4] On 25 March, a further announcement declared that the league would be suspended from 3 April to 6 May.^[5]

On 3 April, a decision to start over the official game schedule, which aimed to gradually resume J3 from 25 April, J2 from 2 May, and J1 from 9 May. Note that, considering a new schedule in the future, but it would resume it at least one month later and later in the month.^[6]

On 29 May, the J.League announced a resumption of matches on 27 June.^[7] On 9 June, the league issued a further announcement about the schedule of the 2020 season.^[8] On 15 June, a new announcement about the New dates was published. The first 2 rounds of matches in each league (J2 2nd-3rd series) were held without spectators. After 10 July, as a rule, the maximum number of people was 5,000 (stadiums with lower capacity were those with less than 50% of the capacity of people, and forbade away supporters). After August, the maximum stadium capacity was 50%, and it would be a “high alert spectator match”.^[9]

After the 11th J.League extraordinary executive committee on 20 July, it was announced that the "super strict alert audience game" would be extended to 10 August in view of the spread of coronavirus infection.^[10]

Clubs

Albirex Niigata

Fukuoka

Ehime

Okayama

Kanazawa

Kyoto

Iwata

Matsumoto

Yamaguchi

Tokushima

Nagasaki

Giravanz
Kitakyushu

FC Ryukyu

Yamagata

Ventforet
Kofu

Mito

Chiba

Omiya
Ardija

Machida

Tokyo

Tochigi SC

Gunma

Locations of the 2020 J2 League teams

After spending only one season in J2, Kashiwa Reysol were crowned champions and were promoted to 2020 J1 League along with the runners-up Yokohama FC. The 2019 J3 League champions Giravanz Kitakyushu and runners-up Thespakusatsu Gunma entered the league as the promoted teams, replacing Kagoshima United and FC Gifu who were relegated to 2020 J3 League. Those teams that qualified for promotion playoffs in 2019 were unable to defeat their opponent and thus remained in the 2020 season.

Giravanz Kitakyushu returned to J2 after spending three seasons in J3, while Thespakusatsu Gunma return after spending two seasons.

Meanwhile, Matsumoto Yamaga and Júbilo Iwata joined the 2020 J2 League as relegated teams from 2019 J1 League having placed 17th and 18th respectively.

Club Name	Home Town	Stadium	Capacity	Last season	licence
Albirex Niigata	Niigata & Seiro, Niigata	Denka Big Swan Stadium	42,300	J2 (10th)	J1
Avispa Fukuoka	Fukuoka City, Fukuoka	Level5 Stadium	22,563	J2 (16th)	J1
Ehime FC	All cities/towns in Ehime[a]	Ningineer Stadium	20,000	J2 (19th)	J1
Fagiano Okayama	All cities/towns in Okayama[b]	City Light Stadium	20,000	J2 (9th)	J1
Giravanz Kitakyushu	Kitakyushu, Fukuoka	Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu	15,066	Promoted from J3 (champions)	J1
JEF United Chiba	Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba	Fukuda Denshi Arena	18,500	J2 (17th)	J1
Júbilo Iwata	Iwata, Shizuoka	Yamaha Stadium	15,165	Relegated from J1 (18th)	J1
Kyoto Sanga	Cities/towns in Kyoto[c]	Sanga Stadium by Kyocera	21,600	J2 (8th)	J1
Machida Zelvia	Machida, Tokyo	Machida Athletic Stadium	10,600	J2 (18th)	J1
Matsumoto Yamaga	Cities/towns in Nagano[d]	Sunpro Alwin	20,396	Relegated from J1 (17th)	J1
Mito HollyHock	Cities/towns in Ibaraki[e]	K's denki Stadium Mito	12,000	J2 (7th)	J2
Montedio Yamagata	All cities/towns in Yamagata[f]	ND Soft Stadium	20,315	J2 (6th)	J1
Omiya Ardija	Saitama, Saitama	NACK5 Stadium Omiya	15,500	J2 (3rd)	J1
Renofa Yamaguchi	All cities/towns in Yamaguchi	Yamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium	20,000	J2 (15th)	J1
FC Ryukyu	All cities/towns in Okinawa[g]	Tapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium	25,000	J2 (14th)	J1
Tochigi SC	Utsunomiya, Tochigi	Tochigi Green Stadium	18,025	J2 (20th)	J1
Thespakusatsu Gunma	All cities/towns in Gunma[h]	Shoda Shoyu Stadium Gunma	15,253	Promoted from J3 (2nd）	J1
Tokushima Vortis	All cities/towns in Tokushima[i]	Pocarisweat Stadium	20,441	J2 (4th)	J1
V-Varen Nagasaki	All cities/towns in Nagasaki Prefecture[j]	Nagasaki Athletic Stadium	20,246	J2 (12th)	J1
Ventforet Kofu	All cities/towns in Yamanashi Prefecture[k]	Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium	17,000	J2 (5th)	J1
Tokyo Verdy	All cities/towns in Tokyo	Ajinomoto Stadium	49,970	J2 (13th)	J1
Zweigen Kanazawa	All cities/towns in Ishikawa[l]	Ishikawa Kanazawa Stadium	20,000	J2 (11th)	J1

1. centering on Matsuyama
2. centering on Okayama, Kurashiki, Tsuyama
3. Kyoto, Uji, Joyo, Kyotanabe, Muko, Nagaokakyo, Kizugawa, Kameoka, Nantan, Kyotanba, Fukuchiyama, Maizuru, Ayabe
4. Matsumoto, Azumino, Yamagata, Shiojiri, Omachi, Ikeda, Ikusaka, Minowa, Asahi
5. Mito, Hitachinaka, Kasama, Naka, Omitama, Ibaraki, Shirosato, Oarai, Tokai
6. centering on Yamagata, Tendo, Tsuruoka
7. centering on Okinawa
8. centering on Kusatsu and Maebashi
9. centering on Tokushima, Naruto, Mima, Matsushige, Itano, Aizumi, Kitajima
10. centering on Nagasaki and Isahaya
11. centering on Kofu and Nirasaki
12. centering on Kanazawa, Nonoichi, Kahoku, Tsubata, Tsubata

Personnel and kits

Club	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer
Albirex Niigata	Albert Puig[11]		Adidas
Avispa Fukuoka	Shigetoshi Hasebe[12]		YONEX
Ehime FC	Kenta Kawai[13]		Mizuno
Fagiano Okayama	Kenji Arima[14]		Penalty
Giravanz Kitakyushu	Shinji Kobayashi[15]		Penalty
JEF United Chiba	Yoon Jong-hwan[16]		Kappa
Júbilo Iwata	Fernando Jubero[17]		Puma
Kyoto Sanga	Noritada Saneyoshi[18]		Puma
Machida Zelvia	Ranko Popović[19]		SVOLME
Matsumoto Yamaga	Keiichiro Nuno[20]		Adidas
Mito HollyHock	Tadahiro Akiba[21]		GAViC
Montedio Yamagata	Kiyotaka Ishimaru[22]		Penalty
Omiya Ardija	Takuya Takagi[23]		Under Armour
Renofa Yamaguchi	Masahiro Shimoda[24]		Finta
FC Ryukyu	Yasuhiro Higuchi[25]		sfida
Tochigi SC	Kazuaki Tasaka[26]		ATHLETA
Thespakusatsu Gunma	Ryosuke Okuno[27]		Kelme
Tokushima Vortis	Ricardo Rodríguez[28]		Mizuno
V-Varen Nagasaki	Makoto Teguramori[29]		Umbro
Ventforet Kofu	Akira Ito[30]		Mizuno
Tokyo Verdy	Hideki Nagai[31]		ATHLETA
Zweigen Kanazawa	Masaaki Yanagishita[32]		Adidas

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Matsumoto Yamaga	Keiichiro Nuno	Dismissal	25 September 2020[33]	Kei Shibata	25 September 2020[34]
Júbilo Iwata	Fernando Jubero	Dismissal	1 October 2020[35]	Masakazu Suzuki	2 October 2020[36]

Foreign players

As of 2020 season, there are no more restrictions on a number of signed foreign players, but clubs can only register up to five foreign players for a single match-day squad.^[37] Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.

• Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Player 6	Player 7	Former players
Montedio Yamagata	Vinícius Araújo	Min Seong-jun
Mito HollyHock	Halef Pitbull
Tochigi SC	Woo Sang-ho							Han Yong-thae
Thespakusatsu Gunma
Omiya Ardija	Nermin Haskić	Vitālijs Maksimenko	Filip Kljajić	Ippei Shinozuka	Ibba Laajab
JEF United Chiba	Alan Pinheiro	Kléber	Jang Min-gyu	Jason Geria	Hebert
Tokyo Verdy	Leandro	Klebinho	Matheus Vidotto
Machida Zelvia	Alen Mašović	Ri Han-jae	Dorian Babunski	Jeong Chung-geun	Stefan Šćepović	Erick Noriega
Ventforet Kofu	Dudu		Rafael Marques
Matsumoto Yamaga	Augusto César	Serginho	Alvaro	Jael	Han Yong-thae
Albirex Niigata	Jong Tae-se	Silvinho	Gonzalo González	Pedro Manzi	Mauro dos Santos			Fábio
Zweigen Kanazawa	Rodolfo	Lucão
Jubilo Iwata	Lulinha	Lukian	Juan Forlín	Fozil Musaev
Kyoto Sanga	Renan Mota	Juninho	Jordy Buijs	Peter Utaka
Fagiano Okayama	Paulinho	Léo Mineiro	Lee Yong-jae	Yu Yong-hyeon	Lee Kyeong-tae	Choi Jung-won	Hadi Fayyadh
Renofa Yamaguchi	Renan	Henik	Iury	Sandro
Tokushima Vortis	Diego	Dušan Cvetinović
Ehime FC	Sisi
Avispa Fukuoka	Douglas Grolli	Jon Ander Serantes	Carlos Gutiérrez	Juanma	Emil Salomonsson
Giravanz Kitakyushu
V-Varen Nagasaki	Caio César	Freire	Luan	Víctor Ibarbo	Edigar Junio
FC Ryukyu	Felipe Tavares	Danny Carvajal	Lee Ji-seong	Ri Yong-jik	Cao Văn Triền	Trần Danh Trung

League table

It was decided on 19 March to change the format regarding the rules for promotion/relegation for the end of the season for the J1, J2 and J3 leagues,^[38] such that there would be no relegation this season, that two clubs from the J2 League would be promoted to the 2021 J1 League, and that two clubs from the J3 League would be promoted to the 2021 J2 League (subject to licensing regulations). It was also announced that the J1/J2 play-offs would not be held.^[39]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Tokushima Vortis (C, P)	42	25	9	8	67	33	+34	84	Promotion to 2021 J1 League 2020 Emperor's Cup quarter-finals
2	Avispa Fukuoka (P)	42	25	9	8	51	29	+22	84	Promotion to 2021 J1 League
3	V-Varen Nagasaki	42	23	11	8	66	39	+27	80
4	Ventforet Kofu	42	16	17	9	50	41	+9	65
5	Giravanz Kitakyushu	42	19	8	15	59	51	+8	65
6	Júbilo Iwata	42	16	15	11	58	47	+11	63
7	Montedio Yamagata	42	17	11	14	59	42	+17	62
8	Kyoto Sanga	42	16	11	15	47	45	+2	59
9	Mito HollyHock	42	16	10	16	68	62	+6	58
10	Tochigi SC	42	15	13	14	41	39	+2	58
11	Albirex Niigata	42	14	15	13	55	55	0	57
12	Tokyo Verdy	42	13	15	14	48	48	0	54
13	Matsumoto Yamaga	42	13	15	14	44	52	−8	54
14	JEF United Chiba	42	15	8	19	47	51	−4	53
15	Omiya Ardija	42	14	11	17	43	52	−9	53
16	FC Ryukyu	42	14	8	20	58	61	−3	50
17	Fagiano Okayama	42	12	14	16	39	49	−10	50
18	Zweigen Kanazawa	42	12	13	17	57	67	−10	49
19	Machida Zelvia	42	12	13	17	41	52	−11	49
20	Thespakusatsu Gunma	42	15	4	23	40	62	−22	49
21	Ehime FC	42	8	10	24	38	68	−30	34
22	Renofa Yamaguchi	42	9	6	27	43	74	−31	33

Source: Meiji Yasuda J2 League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Head-to-head points; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Head-to-head goal scored; 6) Number of wins; 7) Goals scored; 8) Fair-play points
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

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	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Tokushima Vortis	2	8																	3														1									1
Avispa Fukuoka	9	6																	8														2									2
V-Varen Nagasaki	10	2																	2														3									3
Ventforet Kofu	12	15																	4														4									4
Albirex Niigata	1	3																	7														5									11
Giravanz Kitakyushu	18	20																	1														6									5
Montedio Yamagata	20	14																	16														7									7
Kyoto Sanga	17	10																	5														8									8
Júbilo Iwata	3	12																	6														9									6
Tochigi SC	15	21																	11														10									10
Tokyo Verdy	22	19																	9														11									12
Zweigen Kanazawa	16	18																	12														12									18
Fagiano Okayama	7	4																	17														13									17
Mito HollyHock	13	9																	14														14									9
Machida Zelvia	11	16																	10														15									19
JEF United Chiba	6	13																	15														16									14
Omiya Ardija	4	1																	13														17									15
FC Ryukyu	19	17																	19														18									16
Matsumoto Yamaga	5	7																	18														19									13
Thespakusatsu Gunma	21	22																	21														20									20
Ehime FC	14	11																	20														21									21
Renofa Yamaguchi	8	5																	22														22									22

	Leader and qualification for 2021 J1 League
	Runner-up and qualification for 2021 J1 League

Source: Meiji Yasuda J2 League

Top scorers

Source:^[40]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Peter Utaka	Kyoto Sanga	22
2	Akira Silvano Disaro	Giravanz Kitakyushu	18
3	Yuki Kakita	Tokushima Vortis	17
4	Kazuma Yamaguchi	Mito HollyHock	15
5	Vinícius Araújo	Montedio Yamagata	14
6	Masato Nakayama	Mito HollyHock	13
	Takuma Abe	FC Ryukyu
	Mutsuki Kato	Zweigen Kanazawa
9	Kazuma Takai	Renofa Yamaguchi	11
	Daiya Tono	Avispa Fukuoka
11	Dudu	Ventforet Kofu	10
	Lukian	Júbilo Iwata
	Lucão	Zweigen Kanazawa
	Koya Kazama	FC Ryukyu

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Albirex Niigata	65,355	8,369	0	4,668	−68.5%†
2	V-Varen Nagasaki	44,568	9,436	0	3,714	−52.0%†
3	Jubilo Iwata	44,998	14,526	0	3,214	−79.0%†
4	Giravanz Kitakyushu	41,283	13,574	0	3,176	−47.5%‡
5	Matsumoto Yamaga	37,101	4,877	0	3,092	−82.2%†
6	Kyoto Sanga	32,164	4,133	0	2,924	−62.8%†
7	Fagiano Okayama	42,816	12,434	0	2,854	−69.8%†
8	Montedio Yamagata	35,186	5,435	0	2,707	−67.3%†
9	Tokushima Vortis	34,308	9,033	0	2,639	−54.0%†
10	JEF United Chiba	33,936	9,701	0	2,610	−73.1%†
11	Avispa Fukuoka	32,771	9,006	0	2,521	−63.9%†
12	Renofa Yamaguchi	23,707	8,424	0	1,976	−64.9%†
13	Mito HollyHock	25,670	7,029	0	1,975	−67.6%†
14	Tokyo Verdy	23,512	4,161	0	1,959	−63.5%†
15	Omiya Ardija	25,049	3,029	0	1,927	−79.7%†
16	Ventforet Kofu	25,345	2,390	0	1,810	−78.1%†
17	Thespakusatsu Gunma	22,216	11,038	0	1,709	−52.4%‡
18	Tochigi SC	21,543	2,701	0	1,657	−67.8%†
19	Ehime FC	22,084	5,681	0	1,577	−58.3%†
20	Zweigen Kanazawa	19,625	2,764	0	1,510	−71.0%†
21	Machida Zelvia	17,241	6,421	0	1,232	−73.9%†
22	FC Ryukyu	7,625	1,464	0	635	−87.2%†
	League total	678,103	14,526	0	2,371	−67.0%†

Updated to games played on 14 October 2020
Source: J. League Data
Notes:
^† Last year in J1 League
^‡ Last year in J3 League。

See also

• Japan Football Association (JFA)
• J.League
• 2020 J1 League (I)
• 2020 J2 League (II)
• 2020 J3 League (III)
• 2020 Japan Football League (IV)
• 2020 Japanese Regional Leagues (V/VI)
• 2020 Fuji Xerox Super Cup (Super Cup)
• 2020 Emperor's Cup (National Cup)
• 2020 J.League YBC Levain Cup (League Cup)