Meiji Yasuda J3 League
Season2015
ChampionsRenofa Yamaguchi
PromotedRenofa Yamaguchi
Machida Zelvia
Matches played234
Goals scored586 (2.5 per match)
Top goalscorerKazuhito Kishida (32 goals)
Highest attendance9,040
(Sagamihara vs YSCC Yokohama, 25 October)
Lowest attendance461
(YSCC Yokohama vs Tottori, 13 November)
Average attendance2,432
← 2014
2016 →

The 2015 Meiji Yasuda J3 League (2015 明治安田生命J3リーグ) was the 19th season of the third tier in Japanese football, and the 2nd season of the professional J3 League.

Clubs

2015 J3 League is located in Japan
Grulla Morioka
Blaublitz Akita
Fukushima United
Nagano Parceiro
Kataller Toyama
Fujieda MYFC
Gainare Tottori
FC Ryukyu
Machida Zelvia
SC Sagamihara
YSCC Yokohama
Renofa Yamaguchi
Locations of the 2015 J3 League teams

To participate, a club must have held an associate membership, or have submitted an application before 30 June 2014, and then passed an inspection to obtain a participation license issued by J.League Council. J.League has confirmed the following clubs participating in the 2015 J3 season:

Club Name Home Town Notes
Blaublitz Akita All cities/towns in Akita
Fukushima United Fukushima
Gainare Tottori All cities/towns in Tottori Withdrew a J2 license due to financial reasons.[1]
Grulla Morioka Morioka, Iwate
Kataller Toyama All cities/towns in Toyama Relegated from 2014 J2, eligible for J2 promotion
Fujieda MYFC Fujieda, Shizuoka
Nagano Parceiro Nagano Eligible for J2 promotion
FC Ryukyu All cities/towns in Okinawa
SC Sagamihara Sagamihara, Kanagawa
YSCC Yokohama Yokohama, Kanagawa
Machida Zelvia Machida, Tokyo Eligible for J2 promotion
Renofa Yamaguchi Yamaguchi Promoted from 2014 JFL, eligible for J2 promotion
J.League U-22 Selection n/a A special team, composed of best J1 and J2 youngsters to prepare them for the 2016 Olympics. Folded by the JFA after the season.[2]

Competition rules

The league is played in three rounds, each team playing a total of 36 matches. J.League U-22 Selection played all their matches on the road.[3]

Each team must have at least 3 players holding professional contracts. Two foreign players are allowed per team, plus 1 more from the ASEAN partner country of J. League. The matchday roster will consist of 16 players, and up to 5 substitutes will be allowed in a game.[3]

Promotion and relegation

Rules for promotion to J2 are largely similar to those of Japan Football League in the recent seasons: to be promoted, a club must hold a J2 license and finish in top 2 of the league. The U-22 team is not eligible for promotion regardless of their final position. The champions will be promoted directly, in exchange with 22nd-placed J2 club, and the runners-up will participate in the playoffs with 21st J2 club. If either or both top 2 finishers are ineligible for promotion, the playoffs and/or direct exchange will not be held in accordance to the exact positions of promotion-eligible clubs.[3]

No relegation to JFL is planned. Up to 2 clubs may be promoted if they are licensed by J. League for J3 participation and finish in top 4 of JFL.

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Manager1 Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Blaublitz Akita Shuichi Mase Toshio Shimakawa Athleta TDK
Fukushima United Keisuke Kurihara Kazuto Ishido Hummel TOHO BANK
Gainare Tottori Masanobu Matsunami Ryosuke Kawanabe Hummel Tottori Gas Co.
Grulla Morioka Naoki Naruo Kenta Matsuda SVOLME PalcoHome
Kataller Toyama Yasuyuki Kishino Taijiro Mori Goldwin YKK
Fujieda MYFC Atsuto Oishi Hiroki Narabayashi Razzoli Chang
Nagano Parceiro Naohiko Minobe Yuji Unozawa DUELO Hokto
Renofa Yamaguchi Nobuhiro Ueno Kiyohiro Hirabayashi FINTA upr
FC Ryukyu Norihiro Satsukawa Satoshi Nakayama mitre GOO
SC Sagamihara Keiju Karashima Naohiro Takahara gol. Gion
YSCC Yokohama Kenji Arima Akio Yoshida SVOLME Kaspersky
Machida Zelvia Naoki Soma Ri Han-jae SVOLME Eagle Kenso
J.League U-22 Selection Tsutomu Takahata Various Adidas None

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Date of separation Manner of departure Incoming manager Date of announcement
Nagano Parceiro Japan Naohiko Minobe 5 August Resigned on health issues[4] Japan Hajime Eto 5 August
Kataller Toyama Japan Yasuyuki Kishino 27 August Mutual consent[5] Japan Shigeo Sawairi (acting) 27 August
SC Sagamihara Japan Keiju Karashima 2 November Resigned[6] Japan Yoshika Matsubara 2 November

Foreign players

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Asian Player Non-Visa Foreign Type-C Contract
Blaublitz Akita Chile Agustin Ortega Brazil Leonardo
Fukushima United South Korea Kim Kong Chyong North Korea Kim Hong-yeon
Gainare Tottori Brazil Fernandinho
Grulla Morioka South Korea Jung Hoon-sung
Kataller Toyama Malaysia Tam Sheang Tsung South Korea Lee Jae-won
Fujieda MYFC South Korea Park Iru-gyu
Nagano Parceiro South Korea Kim Yeong-gi South Korea Ko Kyung-dae East Timor Murilo
Renofa Yamaguchi South Korea Kim Jeong-seok South Korea Choi Ju-yong
FC Ryukyu Burkina Faso Mac South Korea Park Riki
SC Sagamihara Brazil Leozinho Brazil Toró United States Mobi Fehr
YSCC Yokohama None
Machida Zelvia South Korea Bae Dae-won North Korea Ri Han-jae South Korea Lee Min-soo
J.League U-22 Selection1 N/A

Note:

^1 A special team, composed of best J1 and J2 youngsters to prepare them for the 2016 Olympics

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Renofa Yamaguchi (C, P) 36 25 3 8 96 36 +60 78 Promotion to 2016 J2 League
2 Machida Zelvia (P) 36 23 9 4 52 18 +34 78 Qualification to J2 League promotion playoffs[a]
3 Nagano Parceiro 36 21 7 8 46 28 +18 70
4 SC Sagamihara 36 17 7 12 59 51 +8 58
5 Kataller Toyama 36 14 10 12 37 36 +1 52
6 Gainare Tottori 36 14 8 14 47 41 +6 50
7 Fukushima United 36 13 10 13 42 48 −6 49
8 Blaublitz Akita 36 12 9 15 37 40 −3 45
9 FC Ryukyu 36 12 9 15 45 51 −6 45
10 Fujieda MYFC 36 11 4 21 37 61 −24 37
11 Grulla Morioka 36 8 11 17 36 47 −11 35
12 J.League U-22 Selection (W) 36 7 7 22 28 71 −43 28 Folded by JFA after the season.
13 YSCC Yokohama 36 7 6 23 24 58 −34 27
Updated to match(es) played on 23 November 2015. Source: JLeague.jp
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4th) head-to-head results; 5th) disciplinary points; 6th) draw
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (W) Withdrawn
Notes:
  1. ^ Only teams that hold a J2 license are eligible for promotion.


Results

Rounds 1–13

Home \ Away BLA FUK GAI GRU KAT MYF PAR REN RYU SGM YSC ZEL J22
Blaublitz Akita 1–2 1–0 1–2 3–0 0–1 1–0
Fukushima United 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–2 3–4 1–4
Gainare Tottori 1–2 2–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–0
Grulla Morioka 0–1 0–0 2–0 0–2 2–2 0–0 1–2
Kataller Toyama 1–0 1–2 1–0 0–1 2–0 1–2 2–1
Fujieda MYFC 0–2 0–1 0–0 0–2 1–1 1–1
Nagano Parceiro 1–0 0–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 2–0
Renofa Yamaguchi 2–1 4–0 1–0 3–0 4–3 2–0 8–0
FC Ryukyu 2–0 1–1 3–1 0–0 0–1 2–1
SC Sagamihara 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–1 2–1 3–0
YSCC Yokohama 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–4 0–1 0–0
Machida Zelvia 0–1 1–1 2–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 6–0
J.League U-22
Updated to match(es) played on 24 May 2015. Source: J. League data
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Rounds 14–26

Home \ Away BLA FUK GAI GRU KAT MYF PAR REN RYU SGM YSC ZEL J22
Blaublitz Akita 2–3 1–2 1–1 0–0 1–2 0–1 0–0
Fukushima United 1–0 1–1 0–3 1–1 1–1 1–1
Gainare Tottori 2–1 1–2 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–1
Grulla Morioka 0–0 0–2 0–1 2–1 2–3 1–1 5–0
Kataller Toyama 1–0 2–5 0–1 0–0 1–1 0–0
Fujieda MYFC 3–0 1–4 2–1 0–4 0–1 2–0
Nagano Parceiro 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–1
Renofa Yamaguchi 3–1 3–0 3–2 5–0 6–1 1–2 3–0
FC Ryukyu 2–1 1–2 2–1 1–1 2–1 2–1
SC Sagamihara 3–1 2–1 5–0 0–3 1–1 0–1 1–2
YSCC Yokohama 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–2 0–1 0–3
Machida Zelvia 0–1 1–0 4–0 2–0 2–0 2–1 3–1
J.League U-22
Updated to match(es) played on 16 August 2015. Source: J. League data
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Rounds 27–39

Home \ Away BLA FUK GAI GRU KAT MYF PAR REN RYU SGM YSC ZEL J22
Blaublitz Akita 1–1 3–1 3–3 2–2 1–0 1–0
Fukushima United 1–2 2–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 3–0 3–0
Gainare Tottori 0–1 1–1 2–2 3–0 6–2 1–1 0–1
Grulla Morioka 0–1 3–1 1–2 1–4 1–1 1–0
Kataller Toyama 0–2 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 0–0 2–1
Fujieda MYFC 3–1 4–2 2–1 1–3 2–3 1–2 1–4
Nagano Parceiro 1–0 2–2 2–1 2–1 5–1 1–1 2–1
Renofa Yamaguchi 1–2 2–3 1–2 5–0 4–0 0–0
FC Ryukyu 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 4–6 0–2 6–0
SC Sagamihara 0–2 2–2 5–1 2–0 0–2 3–2
YSCC Yokohama 1–3 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–2 4–0
Machida Zelvia 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–3 1–0 1–0
J.League U-22
Updated to match(es) played on 23 November 2015. Source: J. League data
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion/relegation playoffs

2015 J2/J3 Play-Offs (2015 J2・J3入れ替え戦)

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Oita Trinita 1–3 Machida Zelvia 1–2 0-1
Machida Zelvia2–1Oita Trinita
K. Suzuki 45+2', 72' Report Daniel 22'
Machida Municipal Athletic Stadium, Machida, Tokyo
Attendance: 8,629
Oita Trinita0–1Machida Zelvia
Report K. Suzuki 58' (pen)
Ōita Bank Dome, Ōita
Attendance: 14,217

Machida Zelvia was promoted to J2 League.
Oita Trinita was relegated to J3 League.

Top scorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Japan Kazuhito Kishida Renofa Yamaguchi
32
2 Japan Takaki Fukumitsu
19
3 Japan Yatsunori Shimaya
16
4 Japan Tsugutoshi Oishi Fujieda MYFC
14
5 Japan Koji Suzuki Machida Zelvia 12
Japan Yuki Sato Nagano Parceiro
7 Japan Hiroki Higuchi SC Sagamihara
11
8 Japan Kyohei Maeyama Blaublitz Akita 10
Japan Takafumi Suzuki Machida Zelvia
Japan Masato Nakayama Gainare Tottori
11 Japan Keita Tanaka FC Ryukyu
9

Updated to games played on 23 November 2015
Source: Meiji Yasuda J3 League Stats & Data - Ranking:Goals

Attendances

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Nagano Parceiro 94,665 8,681 3,159 4,733 +31.7%†
2 Renofa Yamaguchi 87,348 8,474 1,697 4,367 +90.1%‡
3 Machida Zelvia 75,312 7,803 2,005 3,766 +20.2%†
4 SC Sagamihara 62,533 9,040 1,660 3,291 +5.0%†
5 Kataller Toyama 56,392 4,542 1,870 2,820 −33.9%†
6 Blaublitz Akita 37,955 3,233 1,237 1,998 +12.7%†
7 Gainare Tottori 38,637 4,013 1,096 1,932 −37.0%†
8 FC Ryukyu 28,466 8,993 673 1,498 +7.2%†
9 Fukushima United 24,497 3,207 692 1,289 −2.4%†
10 Grulla Morioka 24,784 3,025 635 1,239 −18.6%†
11 Fujieda MYFC 20,962 1,516 618 1,103 −16.4%†
12 YSCC Yokohama 17,465 1,723 461 919 −9.7%†
League total 569,016 9,040 461 2,432 +8.2%†

Updated to games played on 23 November 2015
Source: J.League data
Notes:
† Team played previous season in J2.
‡ Team played previous season in JFL.

References

  1. ^ "弊クラブの経営状況に関する記者会見を行いました".
  2. ^ "JFA holds 10th Council meeting". Japan Football Association (in Japanese). 19 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  3. ^ a b c ２０１４Ｊ３リーグ 大会方式および試合方式について [Playing system and rules of 2014 J3 League] (PDF) (in Japanese), J.League, 17 December 2013, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2013, retrieved 30 December 2013
  4. ^ "AC長野パルセイロ". parceiro.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2015-08-05.
  5. ^ "ニュース - KATALLER TOYAMA OFFICIAL WEB SITE". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
  6. ^ "SC相模原 オフィシャルブログ » 辛島監督退任および松原新監督就任のお知らせ". Archived from the original on 2015-11-03. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
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