2021–22 WE League season

The 2021–22 WE League, also known as the 2021–22 Yogibo WE League (Japanese: 2021–22 Yogibo WEリーグ, Hepburn: 2021–22 Yogibo WE Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 1st season of the WE League, the top Japanese women's professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2020. The league began on 2 September 2021 and ended on 21 May 2022.

WE League

Season	2021–22
Dates	12 September 2021 – 21 May 2022
Champions	INAC Kobe Leonessa 1st WE League title 4th Japanese title
Matches played	110
Goals scored	260 (2.36 per match)
Top goalscorer	Yuika Sugasawa (Urawa Red Diamonds) (14 goals)
Biggest home win	INAC Kobe Leonessa 5–0 Omiya Ardija Ventus (12 Sep)[1]
Biggest away win	Omiya Ardija Ventus 1–4 Urawa Red Diamonds (2 Oct)[2]
Highest scoring	Nojima Stella Kanagawa 2–4 Albirex Niigata (20 Nov)[3] (6 goals)
Longest winning run	8 matches INAC Kobe Leonessa
Longest unbeaten run	9 matches INAC Kobe Leonessa
Longest winless run	10 matches Nojima Stella Kanagawa
Longest losing run	5 matches AS Elfen Saitama
← 2020 Nadeshiko League 2022–23 → All statistics correct as of 22 May 2022.

Organisation

The WE League is Japan's first fully professional women's soccer league, and 2021–22 is the WE League's inaugural season.

Competition

Preseason

Preseason ran from 24 April 2021 to 19 June 2021 prior to the Tokyo Olympics. In the first preseason match, INAC Kobe Leonessa defeated AC Nagano Parceiro 3–0.^[4]

Regular season

The regular season started on 12 September 2021^[5] and finished on 21 May 2022.^[6]

Clubs

Stadiums and locations

Club Stadium Capacity MyNavi Sendai Yurtec Stadium Sendai 19,694 Q&A Stadium Miyagi 49,133 Urawa Red Diamonds Urawa Komaba Stadium 21,500 Omiya Ardija Ventus NACK5 Stadium Omiya 15,500 AS Elfen Saitama Kumagaya Athletic Stadium 15,392 JEF United Chiba Fukuda Denshi Arena 19,781 ZA Oripri Stadium 14,051 Tokyo Verdy Beleza Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka 7,258 Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara Gion Stadium 15,300 AC Nagano Parceiro Nagano U Stadium 15,491 Albirex Niigata Denka Big Swan Stadium 42,300 Niigata Athletic Stadium 18,671 INAC Kobe Leonessa Noevir Stadium Kobe 30,132 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina Hiroshima Koiki Park Football Stadium 6,000

Sendai Ventus Elfen Chiba Nagano Niigata Kobe Regina Tokyo clubs: Urawa Beleza Stella Locations of WE League clubs Urawa Beleza Stella Locations of WE League clubs in and near Tokyo

Personnel and kits

Club	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Kit sponsor
MyNavi Sendai	Takeo Matsuda	Haruka Hamada	X-girl	Mynavi Corporation
Urawa Red Diamonds	Naoki Kusunose	Hanae Shibata	Nike	POLUS Co., Ltd.
Omiya Ardija Ventus	Takeyuki Okamoto	Saori Ariyoshi	X-girl	ahamo
AS Elfen Saitama	Etsuko Handa	Emi Yamamoto	X-girl	Chifure Holdings Co., Ltd.
JEF United Chiba	Shinji Sarusawa	Kanae Hayashi	X-girl	Yakult Honsha
Tokyo Verdy Beleza	Kazuhiko Takemoto	Risa Shimizu	ATHLETA	Task Force Co., Ltd.
Nojima Stella Kanagawa	Makoto Kitano	Arisa Matsubara	X-girl	Television Kanagawa
AC Nagano Parceiro	Tadashi Ogasahara	Kyoka Goshima	X-girl	Hokto
Albirex Niigata	Daisuke Muramatsu		X-girl	Kameda Seika
INAC Kobe Leonessa	Kei Hoshikawa	Emi Nakajima	hummel	Earth Corporation
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina	Shin Nakamura	Yukari Kinga	Nike	EDION

Foreign players

The JFA subsidizes salaries for players from Southeast Asian member federations, while the league itself subsidizes players from top-ranked FIFA countries.^[7]

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3
MyNavi Sendai
Urawa Red Diamonds
Omiya Ardija Ventus	Grace Cutler
AS Elfen Saitama	Sarina Bolden
JEF United Chiba	Quinley Quezada	Cheng Ssu-yu
Tokyo Verdy Beleza
Nojima Stella Kanagawa	Cindy König	Uchechi Sunday
AC Nagano Parceiro
Albirex Niigata	Lee Hyo-kyeong
INAC Kobe Leonessa	Stina Johannes
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	INAC Kobe Leonessa	20	16	2	2	35	9	+26	50	League Winner
2	Urawa Red Diamonds	20	13	3	4	40	24	+16	42
3	Tokyo Verdy Beleza	20	10	4	6	32	18	+14	34
4	JEF United Chiba	20	9	7	4	26	18	+8	34
5	Mynavi Sendai	20	9	4	7	25	16	+9	31
6	Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina	20	7	4	9	24	26	−2	25
7	AC Nagano Parceiro	20	5	6	9	15	24	−9	21
8	Albirex Niigata	20	4	7	9	20	30	−10	19
9	Omiya Ardija Ventus	20	3	9	8	17	31	−14	18
10	Nojima Stella Kanagawa	20	2	7	11	13	31	−18	13
11	AS Elfen Saitama	20	2	7	11	13	33	−20	13

Source: WE League, WE League Data Site
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.

Results

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
INAC Kobe Leonessa	1	4	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1		1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Urawa Red Diamonds	4	1	2	2	2	3	4	4	3	3		3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2
Tokyo Verdy Beleza	8	7	5	4	4	4	2	3	5	5		4	2	2	2	2	2	4	5	3	3	3
JEF United Chiba	7	6	10	10	10	7	5	5	4	4		5	5	5	5	4	4	3	3	4	4	4
MyNavi Sendai	5	3	4	3	3	2	3	2	2	2		2	4	4	4	5	5	5	4	5	5	5
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina	2	5	7	7	9	5	7	6	8	8		8	9	9	9	10	9	8	8	6	6	6
AC Nagano Parceiro	3	2	3	5	7	9	5	7	6	6		7	7	7	8	8	8	9	9	7	7	7
Albirex Niigata	9	8	6	6	5	8	9	10	10	9		9	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	9	8	8
Omiya Ardija Ventus	11	11	9	9	8	10	10	8	7	7		6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	8	9	9
Nojima Stella Kanagawa	5	9	8	8	6	6	8	9	9	10		10	10	10	10	9	11	11	11	11	10	10
AS Elfen Saitama	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11		11	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	11	11

	Leader

Updated to match(es) played on 22 May 2022. Source: WE League (in English)

Results 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
Albirex Niigata	L	D	W	D	WAD	L	L	L	L	W	L	WAD	D	D	W	L	W	L	L	D	D	D
MyNavi Sendai	D	W	D	W	D	W	WAD	W	L	D	L	W	WAD	L	W	L	L	W	W	L	L	W
AC Nagano Parceiro	W	D	D	L	L	L	W	L	W	WAD	W	L	D	WAD	L	D	L	L	D	W	D	L
INAC Kobe Leonessa	W	WAD	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	L	D	W	W	WAD	W	W	W	W	W	L	W
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina	W	L	L	D	L	W	D	WAD	L	D	W	L	L	L	L	WAD	W	W	L	W	D	W
Urawa Red Diamonds	W	W	WAD	W	W	L	L	L	W	D	W	W	D	W	W	L	WAD	W	W	W	W	D
Nojima Stella Kanagawa	D	L	D	WAD	W	L	D	L	L	L	L	D	D	L	L	W	L	WAD	D	L	D	L
Tokyo Verdy Beleza	L	D	W	W	L	W	W	L	WAD	D	W	W	W	W	W	L	L	L	WAD	D	W	D
JEF United Chiba	WAD	D	L	L	D	W	W	W	W	D	D	L	L	W	W	W	D	W	D	WAD	W	D
Omiya Ardija Ventus	L	D	D	L	W	WAD	L	W	D	D	D	D	L	D	L	W	D	L	L	L	WAD	L
AS Elfen Saitama	L	D	L	L	L	L	L	W	D	D	WAD	D	W	L	L	D	W	L	D	L	L	WAD

	Win
	Draw
	Lose
	WE ACTION DAY (WAD)

Updated to match(es) played on 22 May 2022. Source: WE League (in English)

All match results

Home \ Away	MYN	RED	VEN	ELF	JEF	BEL	STE	PAR	ALB	LEO	REG
MyNavi Sendai			0–0[8]		1–1[9]	1–0[10]	0–0[11]			1–1[12]	4–0[13]
Urawa Red Diamonds	3–1[14]				2–0[15]		2–0[16]	2–0[17]	2–0[18]	0–2[19]	1–2[20]
Omiya Ardija Ventus	0–1[21]	1–4[2]		0–0[22]			0–0[23]	1–3[24]	1–1[25]		4–1[26]
AS Elfen	0–3[27]	1–1[28]					1–1[29]	1–0[30]		0–1[31]	0–3[2]
JEF United Chiba		2–1[32]	1–1[33]	1–1[34]		0–3[35]	2–0[36]	0–0[37]
Tokyo Verdy Beleza		1–2[38]	0–0[39]	4–1[3]				4–0[40]	2–0[41]		2–0[42]
Nojima Stella Kanagawa			0–1[43]	1–0[44]				0–0[45]	2–4[46]
AC Nagano Parceiro					0–2[47]	0–0[48]				0–2[49]	2–1[50]
Albirex Niigata	0–3[51]			2–1[52]	0–1[53]			1–3[54]
INAC Kobe Leonessa			5–0[1]	1–1[55]	2–0[56]	1–0[57]	1–0[58]		1–0[59]		3–2[60]
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina	0–2[61]				1–1[62]		0–0[63]		1–1[64]

Updated to match(es) played on 1 May 2022. Source: WE League (in English)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

As of 22 May 2022

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[65][66]
1	Yuika Sugasawa	Urawa Red Diamonds	14 (1 player)
2	Mina Tanaka	INAC Kobe Leonessa	12 (1 player)
3	Mami Ueno	Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina	11 (1 player)
4	Akari Shiraki	MyNavi Sendai	8 (2 players)
	Ayaka Michigami	Albirex Niigata
6	Miyu Yakata	MyNavi Sendai	7 (1 player)
7	Ayaka Inoue	Omiya Ardija Ventus	6 (6 players)
	Natsuki Kishikawa	JEF United Chiba
	Haruka Osawa	JEF United Chiba
	Remina Chiba	JEF United Chiba
	Riko Ueki	Tokyo Verdy Beleza
	Yui Narumiya	INAC Kobe Leonessa
(12 players)

Pre-season matches

Overview

• Source:^[67][68]
• Title: 2021 WE League pre-season matches
• Dates: 24 April – 19 June 2021
• Rules and regulations: match duration; 90 minutes (45 minutes each half)
• Number of matches: 22
• Official website: 2021 WE League pre-season matches (in Japanese)

Results

INAC Kobe Leonessa v AC Nagano Parceiro

24 April 2021 (2021-04-24) Match 1	INAC Kobe Leonessa	3–0	AC Nagano Parceiro	Sakai, Osaka
13:00 UTC+9	Yui Narumiya 23', 41' Fukina Mizuno 90+2'	Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)		Stadium: Natural Grass Main Field S1 Attendance: 262 Referee: Haruna Kanematsu

Urawa Red Diamonds v MyNavi Sendai

24 April 2021 (2021-04-24) Match 2	Urawa Red Diamonds	1–1	MyNavi Sendai	Saitama, Saitama
14:00 UTC+9	Yuika Sugasawa 37' (pen.)	Report (WE League (in Japanese and English)	Hinata Miyazawa 72'	Stadium: Urawa Komaba Stadium Attendance: 1,504 Referee: Asaka Koizumi

Albirex Niigata v Nojima Stella Kanagawa

25 April 2021 (2021-04-25) Match 3	Albirex Niigata	6–0	Nojima Stella Kanagawa	Niigata, Niigata
14:00 UTC+9	Ayaka Michigami 34', 39' Yuri Kawamura 45' Yume Takikawa 66' Fuka Kono 84', 90+2'	Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)		Stadium: Denka Big Swan Stadium Attendance: 678 Referee: Azusa Sugino

JEF United Chiba v Omiya Ardija Ventus

29 April 2021 (2021-04-29) Match 4	JEF United Chiba	0–1	Omiya Ardija Ventus	Ichihara, Chiba
13:00 UTC+9		Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	Yuki Sakai 45+2'	Stadium: ZA Oripri Stadium Attendance: 362 Referee: Miu Sone

AC Nagano Parceiro v Albirex Niigata

29 April 2021 (2021-04-29) Match 5	AC Nagano Parceiro	1–2	Albirex Niigata	Saku, Nagano
13:00 UTC+9	Hinako Murakami 73'	Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	Moemi Ishibuchi 3' Natsuki Nagasawa 53'	Stadium: Saku Athletic Stadium Attendance: 280 Referee: Kazue Kusadokoro

Nojima Stella Kanagawa v Urawa Red Diamonds

29 April 2021 (2021-04-29) Match 6	Nojima Stella Kanagawa	1–5	Urawa Red Diamonds	Sagamihara, Kanagawa
14:00 UTC+9	Minami Ishida 49'	Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	Yuika Sugasawa 2' (o.g.) 34', 69' Yuzuho Shiokoshi 51', 67'	Stadium: Sagamihara Gion Stadium Attendance: 485 Referee: Fusako Kajiyama

AS Elfen Saitama v INAC Kobe Leonessa

4 May 2021 (2021-05-04) Match 7	AS Elfen Saitama	0–1	INAC Kobe Leonessa	Kumagaya, Saitama
14:00 UTC+9		Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	Fukina Mizuno 4'	Stadium: Kumagaya Athletic Stadium Attendance: 991 Referee: Emi Chiba

AC Nagano Parceiro v Nojima Stella Kanagawa

8 May 2021 (2021-05-08) Match 8	AC Nagano Parceiro	1–0	Nojima Stella Kanagawa	Saku, Nagano
13:00 UTC+9	Yukino Inamura 90+3'	Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)		Stadium: Saku Athletic Stadium Attendance: 277 Referee: Asaka Koizumi

Omiya Ardija Ventus v Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina

8 May 2021 (2021-05-08) Match 9	Omiya Ardija Ventus	0–1	Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina	Saitama, Saitama
14:00 UTC+9		Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	Mami Ueno 35'	Stadium: NACK5 Stadium Omiya Attendance: 2,834 Referee: Yoshimi Yamashita

Tokyo Verdy Beleza v JEF United Chiba

8 May 2021 (2021-05-08) Match 10	Tokyo Verdy Beleza	0–1	JEF United Chiba	Chōfu, Tokyo
14:00 UTC+9		Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	Yuka Anzai 8'	Stadium: AGF Field Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors) Referee: Haruna Kanematsu

MyNavi Sendai v AS Elfen Saitama

9 May 2021 (2021-05-09) Match 11	MyNavi Sendai	0–0	AS Elfen Saitama	Kakuda, Miyagi
13:00 UTC+9		Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)		Stadium: Kakuda athletic field Attendance: 478 Referee: Azusa Sugino

INAC Kobe Leonessa v Urawa Red Diamonds

22 May 2021 (2021-05-22) Match 12	INAC Kobe Leonessa	2–0	Urawa Red Diamonds	Kobe, Hyōgo
13:00 UTC+9	Moriya Miyabi 48' Maria Kikuchi 89'	Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)		Stadium: Noevir Stadium Kobe[69] Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors)[69] Referee: Fusako Kajiyama

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina v JEF United Chiba

22 May 2021 (2021-05-22) Match 13	Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina	2–0	JEF United Chiba	Hiroshima, Hiroshima
13:00 UTC+9	Chihiro Yamaguchi 50' Konomi Taniguchi 72'	Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)		Stadium: Hiroshima Koiki Park Football Stadium No.1 Attendance: 1,075 Referee: Saki Nakamoto

Omiya Ardija Ventus v Tokyo Verdy Beleza

22 May 2021 (2021-05-22) Match 14	Omiya Ardija Ventus	0–4	Tokyo Verdy Beleza	Saitama, Saitama
14:00 UTC+9		Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	Riko Ueki 30', 84', 86' Asato Miyagawa 67'	Stadium: NACK5 Stadium Omiya Attendance: 2,856 Referee: Mariko Iwaki

Albirex Niigata v AS Elfen Saitama

22 May 2021 (2021-05-22) Match 15	Albirex Niigata	3–1	AS Elfen Saitama	Niigata, Niigata
14:00 UTC+9	Ayaka Michigami 27', 57' Fuka Kono 59'	Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	Riko Yoshida 35'	Stadium: Denka Big Swan Stadium Attendance: 586 Referee: Saori Takahashi

JEF United Chiba v MyNavi Sendai

29 May 2021 (2021-05-29) Match 16	JEF United Chiba	1–2	MyNavi Sendai	Chiba, Chiba
12:00 UTC+9	Arisa Minamino 90+1'	Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	Akari Shiraki 22' Miyu Yakata 32'	Stadium: Fukuda Denshi Arena Attendance: 550 Referee: Minako Asakura

Nojima Stella Kanagawa v Omiya Ardija Ventus

29 May 2021 (2021-05-29) Match 17	Nojima Stella Kanagawa	0–1	Omiya Ardija Ventus	Sagamihara, Kanagawa
13:00 UTC+9		Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	Ayaka Inoue 32'	Stadium: Sagamihara Gion Stadium Attendance: 485 Referee: Haruna Kanematsu

Urawa Red Diamonds v Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina

29 May 2021 (2021-05-29) Match 18	Urawa Red Diamonds	2–2	Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina	Saitama, Saitama
14:00 UTC+9	Mayu Sasaki 53' Yuzuho Shiokoshi 55'	Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	Mami Ueno 14' Yo Tachibana 84'	Stadium: Urawa Komaba Stadium Attendance: 1,431 Referee: Junko Kirihara

Tokyo Verdy Beleza v Albirex Niigata

30 May 2021 (2021-05-30) Match 19	Tokyo Verdy Beleza	4–0	Albirex Niigata	Kita, Tokyo
14:00 UTC+9	Nanami Kitamura 37', 57' Rikako Kobayashi 42' Risa Shimizu 65'	Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)		Stadium: Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka Attendance: 1,888 Referee: Mari Miyazaki

MyNavi Sendai v Tokyo Verdy Beleza

5 June 2021 (2021-06-05) Match 20	MyNavi Sendai	2–1	Tokyo Verdy Beleza	Ishinomaki, Miyagi
13:00 UTC+9	Miyu Yakata 40' Mayu Ikejiri 64'	Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	Jun Endo 77'	Stadium: Ishinomaki football field Attendance: 488 Referee: Azusa Sugino

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina v INAC Kobe Leonessa

5 June 2021 (2021-06-05) Match 21	Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina	0–1	INAC Kobe Leonessa	Hiroshima, Hiroshima
14:00 UTC+9[70]		Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	? 64' (o.g.)	Stadium: Hiroshima Koiki Park Football Stadium No.1 Attendance: 1,573 Referee: Michiko Fujita

AS Elfen Saitama v AC Nagano Parceiro

19 June 2021 (2021-06-19) Match 22	AS Elfen Saitama	1–2	AC Nagano Parceiro	Kumagaya, Saitama
14:00 UTC+9	Emi Yamamoto 16'	Report (WE League) (in Japanese and English)	Shiho Tomari 50', 77'	Stadium: Kumagaya Athletic Stadium Attendance: 701 Referee: Hisae Yoshizawa

See also

• Asia portal
• Japan portal
• Sports portal
• Association football portal
• Women's association football portal

National association

• Japan Football Association (JFA)

National league(s)

• Nadeshiko League

National cup(s)

• Empress's Cup
• Nadeshiko League Cup

National team(s)

• Japan women's national football team