2023 J2 League

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Season2023
Dates18 February – 12 November
ChampionsMachida Zelvia
PromotedMachida Zelvia
Júbilo Iwata
Tokyo Verdy
J2 League
Season2023
Dates18 February – 12 November
ChampionsMachida Zelvia
PromotedMachida Zelvia
Júbilo Iwata
Tokyo Verdy
RelegatedOmiya Ardija
Zweigen Kanazawa
Matches462
Goals1,179 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorerJuanma
(26 goals)
Biggest home winShimizu S-Pulse 9–1 Iwaki FC
(7 May)
Biggest away winRenofa Yamaguchi 0–6 Shimizu S-Pulse
(16 April)
V-Varen Nagasaki 0–6 Machida Zelvia
(23 September)
Iwaki FC 1–7 Shimizu S-Pulse
(21 October)
Highest scoringShimizu S-Pulse 9–1 Iwaki FC
(7 May)
Longest winning runJEF United Chiba
(7 matches)
Longest unbeaten runShimizu S-Pulse
(13 matches)
Longest winless runOmiya Ardija
(15 matches)
Longest losing runMontedio Yamagata
(8 matches)
Highest attendance47,628
Shimizu S-Pulse 2–2 JEF United Chiba
(16 July)
Lowest attendance1,493
Thespakusatsu Gunma 1–1 Roasso Kumamoto
(5 July)
Total attendance3,189,482[1]
Average attendance6,904
← 2022
2024 →

The 2023 J2 League, also known as the 2023 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (Japanese: 2023 明治安田生命J2リーグ, Hepburn: 2023 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J2 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 25th season of the J2 League, the second-tier Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999.

This was the last season to be played with 22 participating clubs, as the number of clubs was reduced to 20 from the 2024 season.[2]

FC Ryukyu and Iwate Grulla Morioka were relegated to the 2023 J3 League, finishing the previous J2 League season as 21st and 22nd-placed team, respectively.

Relegated from J1, both Shimizu S-Pulse and Júbilo Iwata were the only Shizuoka-based J1 teams last season. Now, they return to J2 after spending six and one season, respectively, at the top flight.

J3 winners Iwaki FC and runners-up Fujieda MYFC were both promoted from the J3 League. Both teams make their debut in J2 League, with Iwaki being promoted to the J2 just a season after being promoted to J3.

For the first time ever since the 2004 season, three teams from the same prefecture participate in the J2 League, as Shimizu S-Pulse, Júbilo Iwata and Fujieda MYFC are all based on Shizuoka Prefecture.

Participating clubs

Foreign players

League table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Machida Zelvia (C, P) 42 26 9 7 79 35 +44 87 Promotion to the 2024 J1 League
2 Júbilo Iwata (P) 42 21 12 9 74 44 +30 75
3 Tokyo Verdy (O, P) 42 21 12 9 57 31 +26 75 Qualification for the promotion play-offs
4 Shimizu S-Pulse 42 20 14 8 78 34 +44 74
5 Montedio Yamagata 42 21 4 17 64 54 +10 67
6 JEF United Chiba 42 19 10 13 61 53 +8 67
7 V-Varen Nagasaki 42 18 11 13 70 56 +14 65
8 Ventforet Kofu 42 18 10 14 60 50 +10 64
9 Oita Trinita 42 17 11 14 54 56 −2 62
10 Fagiano Okayama 42 13 19 10 49 49 0 58
11 Thespakusatsu Gunma 42 14 15 13 44 44 0 57
12 Fujieda MYFC 42 14 10 18 61 72 −11 52
13 Blaublitz Akita 42 12 15 15 37 44 −7 51
14 Roasso Kumamoto 42 13 10 19 52 53 −1 49
15 Tokushima Vortis 42 10 19 13 43 53 −10 49
16 Vegalta Sendai 42 12 12 18 48 61 −13 48
17 Mito HollyHock 42 11 14 17 49 66 −17 47
18 Iwaki FC 42 12 11 19 45 69 −24 47
19 Tochigi SC 42 10 14 18 39 47 −8 44
20 Renofa Yamaguchi 42 10 14 18 37 67 −30 44
21 Omiya Ardija (R) 42 11 6 25 37 71 −34 39 Relegation to 2024 J3 League
22 Zweigen Kanazawa (R) 42 9 8 25 41 70 −29 35
Source: Meiji Yasuda J2 League, J.League Data Site
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goal scored; 7) Fair-play points.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Play-offs

The usual format was applied in the 2023 season. Promotion play-offs, officially called the 2023 J.League Road To J1 Play-offs (Japanese: 2023 J1昇格プレーオフ), was held from the semi-finals, where the match-ups were previously semi-determined. Based on the J2 placements at the end of the regular season, the third-placed team played against the sixth-placed, while the fourth-placed team played against the fifth-placed. The winners of the semi-finals played the final, with the winners promoted to the J1.

If a match was tied in the play-offs, the team with the higher rank won. The rank order was: J2's third, fourth, fifth, and sixth-placed teams.[13]

For the 2023 season, three teams were to be promoted to the 2024 J1 League with no relegation playoffs between the leagues.

Semi-finals Final
      
3 Tokyo Verdy 2
6 JEF United Chiba 1
3 Tokyo Verdy 1
4 Shimizu S-Pulse 1
4 Shimizu S-Pulse 0
5 Montedio Yamagata 0

Semi-finals

Shimizu S-Pulse0–0Montedio Yamagata
Report
Attendance: 15,742
Referee: Takuto Okabe
Tokyo Verdy2–1JEF United Chiba
 Report Komori 78'
Attendance: 25,150
Referee: Hajime Matsuo

Final

Tokyo Verdy1–1Shimizu S-Pulse
Someno 90+6' (pen.) Report Thiago Santana 63' (pen.)
Attendance: 53,264
Referee: Akihiko Ikeuchi

Season statistics

Goal contributions

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals[15]
1 Spain Juanma Delgado V-Varen Nagasaki 26
2 Brazil Erik Machida Zelvia 18
3 Brazil Carlinhos Júnior Shimizu S-Pulse 15
4 Japan Hiiro Komori JEF United Chiba 13
Japan Kaito Mori Tokushima Vortis
Portugal Tiago Alves Montedio Yamagata
Japan Ryo Watanabe Fujieda MYFC

Top assists

RankPlayerClubAssists[16]
1 Japan Takashi Inui Shimizu S-Pulse 10
Japan Yuto Suzuki Júbilo Iwata
3 Japan Rei Hirakawa Roasso Kumamoto 9
Japan Ryo Sato Thespakusatsu Gunma
Japan Hidetoshi Takeda Mito HollyHock

Clean sheets

RankPlayerClubClean sheets[17]
1 Brazil Matheus Vidotto Tokyo Verdy 23
2 Japan Shuichi Gonda Shimizu S-Pulse 19
3 Japan Masatoshi Kushibiki Thespakusatsu Gunma 16
4 Japan Kentaro Kakoi Blaublitz Akita 14
5 Japan Go Hatano V-Varen Nagasaki 11
Japan William Popp Machida Zelvia
Spain José Aurelio Suárez Tokushima Vortis

Discipline

Player

Club

  • Most yellow cards: 69 [20] (V-Varen Nagasaki)
  • Most red cards: 7 [21] (Fujieda MYFC)

Awards

Monthly awards

Month Manager of the Month Monthly MVP Goal of the Month Refs.
ManagerClubPlayerClubPlayerClub
February/March Japan Go Kuroda Machida Zelvia Brazil Erik Machida Zelvia Japan Akira Silvano Disaro Shimizu S-Pulse [22]
April Brazil Fábio Carille V-Varen Nagasaki Spain Juanma Delgado V-Varen Nagasaki Japan Shunta Araki Machida Zelvia [23][24][25]
May Japan Go Kuroda Machida Zelvia Japan Kaito Mori Tokushima Vortis Japan Shunya Yoneda V-Varen Nagasaki [26]
June Japan Akinobu Yokouchi Júbilo Iwata Brazil Erik Machida Zelvia Japan Kaito Umeda Mito HollyHock [27][28][29]
July Japan Yuzo Tamura Iwaki FC Japan Hiroto Iwabuchi Iwaki FC Japan Takashi Inui Shimizu S-Pulse [30][31][32]
August Japan Tadahiro Akiba Shimizu S-Pulse Japan Yoshinori Suzuki Shimizu S-Pulse Japan Keita Nakamura V-Varen Nagasaki [33][34][35]
September Japan Yoshiyuki Kobayashi JEF United Chiba Japan Taishi Taguchi JEF United Chiba Japan Junya Suzuki Machida Zelvia [36][37][38]
October Japan Hiroshi Jofuku Tokyo Verdy Japan Zento Uno Machida Zelvia Japan Kazaki Nakagawa Fujieda MYFC [39][40][41]
November Japan Akinobu Yokouchi Júbilo Iwata Japan Masaya Matsumoto Júbilo Iwata Japan Hikaru Nakahara Tokyo Verdy [42]

Attendances

#Football clubHome gamesAverage attendance[43]
1Shimizu S-Pulse2112,083
2Vegalta Sendai219,495
3Júbilo Iwata219,447
4JEF United218,675
5Oita Trinita218,083
6Tokyo Verdy218,070
7Montedio Yamagata217,490
8Machida Zelvia217,478
9Fagiano Okayama217,248
10Ventforet Kofu217,045
11V-Varen Nagasaki216,760
12Omiya Ardija216,675
13Tochigi SC216,282
14Roasso Kumamoto216,251
15Tokushima Vortis216,002
16Mito HollyHock215,262
17Zweigen Kanazawa215,235
18Renofa Yamaguchi215,214
19Fujieda MYFC215,062
20Iwaki FC214,878
21Thespakusatsu Gunma214,876
22Blaublitz Akita214,388

See also

References

External links

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