2018 J2 League

Meiji Yasuda J2 League
Season 2018
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2019 →

The 2018 Meiji Yasuda J2 League season will be the 47th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 20th season since the establishment of J2 League.

Clubs

The participating clubs are listed in the following table:

Club Name Home Town(s) Note(s)
Albirex Niigata Niigata & Seiro, Niigata Relegated from J1
Omiya Ardija Saitama, Saitama Relegated from J1
Avispa Fukuoka Fukuoka City, Fukuoka
Ehime FC All cities/towns in Ehime[lower-alpha 1]
Fagiano Okayama All cities/towns in Okayama[lower-alpha 2]
FC Gifu All cities/towns in Gifu[lower-alpha 3]
JEF United Chiba Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba
Kamatamare Sanuki Takamatsu, Kagawa
Kyoto Sanga Southwestern cities/towns in Kyoto[lower-alpha 4]
Machida Zelvia Machida, Tokyo
Matsumoto Yamaga Central cities/towns in Nagano[lower-alpha 5]
Mito HollyHock Mito, Ibaraki
Montedio Yamagata All cities/towns in Yamagata[lower-alpha 6]
Oita Trinita Ōita, Ōita
Renofa Yamaguchi All cities/towns in Yamaguchi[lower-alpha 7]
Roasso Kumamoto Kumamoto, Kumamoto
Tochigi SC Utsunomiya, Tochigi Promoted from J3
Tokushima Vortis All cities/towns in Tokushima[lower-alpha 8]
Ventforet Kofu All Yamanashi Prefecture[lower-alpha 9] Relegated from J1
Tokyo Verdy All cities/towns in Tokyo
Yokohama FC Yokohama, Kanagawa
Zweigen Kanazawa Kanazawa, Ishikawa
  1. ↑ centering on Matsuyama
  2. ↑ centering on Okayama, Kurashiki, Tsuyama
  3. ↑ centering on Gifu
  4. ↑ Kyoto, Uji, Joyo, Kyotanabe, Muko, Nagaokakyo, Kizugawa, Kameoka, Nantan, Kyotanba
  5. ↑ Matsumoto, Azumino, Yamagata, Shiojiri, Omachi, Ikeda
  6. ↑ centering on Yamagata, Tendo, Tsuruoka
  7. ↑ centering on Yamaguchi, Shimonoseki, Sanyoonoda, Ube
  8. ↑ centering on Tokushima, Naruto, Mima, Matsushige, Itano, Aizumi, Kitajima
  9. ↑ centering on Kofu and Nirasaki

Personnel and kits

Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer
Albirex Niigata Japan Masakazu Suzuki Japan Ryota Isomura Adidas
Avispa Fukuoka Japan Masami Ihara Japan Hisashi Jogo Yonex
Ehime FC Japan Shuichi Mase Japan Kazuhisa Kawahara Mizuno
Fagiano Okayama Japan Tetsu Nagasawa Japan Kohei Kiyama Penalty
FC Gifu Japan Takeshi Oki Japan Yuto Ono New Balance
JEF United Chiba Argentina Juan Esnáider Japan Naoya Kondo Kappa
Kamatamare Sanuki Japan Makoto Kitano Japan Kazumasa Takagi ATHLETA
Kyoto Sanga Japan Takanori Nunobe Japan Yuta Someya Wacoal
Machida Zelvia Japan Naoki Soma North Korea Ri Han-jae SVOLME
Matsumoto Yamaga Japan Yasuharu Sorimachi Japan Masaki Iida Adidas
Mito HollyHock Japan Shigetoshi Hasebe Japan Junya Hosokawa GAViC
Montedio Yamagata Japan Takashi Kiyama Japan Takumi Yamada New Balance
Oita Trinita Japan Tomohiro Katanosaka Japan Akira Takeuchi Puma
Omiya Ardija Japan Masatada Ishii Japan Kosuke Kikuchi Under Armour
Renofa Yamaguchi Japan Masahiro Shimoda Japan Hidetoshi Miyuki Finta
Roasso Kumamoto Japan Hiroki Shibuya Japan Akihiro Sato Puma
Tochigi SC Japan Yuji Yokoyama Japan Koji Hirose ATHLETA
Tokushima Vortis Spain Ricardo Rodríguez Japan Ken Iwao Mizuno
Tokyo Verdy Spain Miguel Ángel Lotina Japan Akira Ibayashi ATHLETA
Ventforet Kofu Japan Tatsuma Yoshida Japan Hideomi Yamamoto Mizuno
Yokohama FC Brazil Edson Tavares Japan Kensuke Sato SOCCER JUNKY
Zweigen Kanazawa Japan Masaaki Yanagishita Japan Tomonobu Hiroi Adidas

    Managerial changes

    Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of
    appointment
    Ventforet Kofu Japan Tatsuma Yoshida 30 April 2018[1] Japan Nobuhiro Ueno 30 April 2018
    Kyoto Sanga Japan Takanori Nunobe 11 May 2018[2] Serbia Boško Gjurovski 11 May 2018
    Ehime FC Japan Shuichi Mase 15 May 2018[3] Japan Kenta Kawai 15 May 2018
    Albirex Niigata Japan Masakazu Suzuki 8 August 2018[4]

    Foreign players

    The total number of foreign players is restricted to five per club. Clubs can register up to four foreign players for a single match-day squad, of which a maximum of three are allowed from nations outside the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.

    Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Other Former
    Albirex Niigata Brazil Alex Muralha Brazil Cauê Brazil Jonathan Reis Brazil Thalles South Korea Song Ju-hun Brazil Bruno Meneghel
    Omiya Ardija Brazil Marcelo Toscano Brazil Mateus Republic of Macedonia David Babunski Sweden Robin Simović South Korea Kim Dong-su Brazil Cauê
    Avispa Fukuoka Brazil Dudu Brazil Léo Mineiro South Korea Won Du-jae South Korea Yu In-soo Brazil Euller
    Brazil Túlio de Melo
    Ehime FC South Korea Park Seung-su South Korea Woo Sang-ho
    Fagiano Okayama Brazil Ricardo Santos South Korea Choi Jung-won South Korea Jeong Chung-geun South Korea Lee Kyung-tae South Korea Lee Yong-jae
    FC Gifu Argentina Ezequiel Ham Brazil Michael New Zealand Ryan De Vries South Korea Jeon San-hae Spain Víctor Ibáñez South Korea Woo Sang-ho
    JEF United Chiba Argentina Joaquín Larrivey Argentina Diego Rodríguez Australia Jason Geria Brazil Hebert Paraguay Jorge Salinas
    Kamatamare Sanuki Brazil Alex South Korea Park Chan-yong South Korea Song Young-min
    Kyoto Sanga Brazil Juninho Brazil Kaio China Wu Shaocong South Korea Kim Cheol-ho Uruguay Renzo López Uruguay Matías Caseras
    Brazil Alexandre
    Machida Zelvia Republic of Macedonia Dorian Babunski Peru Romero Frank South Korea Jung Han-cheol North Korea Ri Han-jae
    Matsumoto Yamaga Brazil Dinei Brazil Paulinho Brazil Serginho South Korea Goh Dong Min South Korea Jo Jin-woo Singapore Anders Aplin
    Mito HollyHock Brazil Batista Brazil Diego Brazil Jefferson Baiano Costa Rica Danny Carvajal
    Montedio Yamagata Brazil Álvaro Brazil Bruno Lopes Brazil Felipe Alves Brazil Jairo
    Oita Trinita Brazil Willian South Korea Mun Kyung-gun North Korea Hwang Song-su South Korea Lim Seung-gyeom
    Renofa Yamaguchi Brazil Julinho Brazil Renan Brazil Washington Brazil Gerson
    South Korea Min Kyung-jun
    Roasso Kumamoto South Korea Lim Jin-woo South Korea Yang Sang-jun North Korea An Byong-jun
    Tochigi SC　 Brazil Alex Brazil Paulao Brazil Henik Brazil Mendes Switzerland Johnny Leoni Australia Diogo Ferreira
    Slovenia Nejc Pečnik
    Tokushima Vortis Brazil Bueno Nigeria Peter Utaka South Korea Kim Jong-pil Spain David Barral Spain Sisinio Brazil Nathan Júnior
    Costa Rica Danny Carvajal
    Ventforet Kofu Brazil Diego Brazil Éder Lima Brazil Ferrugem Brazil Junior Barros South Korea Byeon Jun-byum Brazil Dinei
    Brazil Lins
    Tokyo Verdy Brazil Alan Pinheiro Brazil Douglas Brazil Leandro North Korea Ri Yong-jik Spain Carlos Martínez
    Yokohama FC Brazil Bruno Meneghel Brazil Leandro Domingues Netherlands Calvin Jong-a-Pin Norway Ibba Laajab South Korea Bae Seung-jin South Korea Jeong Chung-geun
    Zweigen Kanazawa Brazil Allan Brazil Rodrigo Maranhão

    Top scorers

    As of match played 5th September 2018.[5]
    Rank Player Club Goals
    1
    		 Japan Genki Omae Omiya Ardija
    19
    2
    		 Japan Ado Onaiwu Renofa Yamaguchi
    18
    3
    		 Japan Takayuki Funayama JEF United Chiba
    13
    Norway Ibba Yokohama FC
    5
    		 Japan Kyogo Furuhashi FC Gifu
    11
    Brazil Douglas Vieira Tokyo Verdy
    7
    5 players
    10

    References

    1. ↑ http://www.ventforet.jp/news/press_release/515714
    2. ↑ http://www.sanga-fc.jp/news/p/12954/
    3. ↑ http://www.ehimefc.com/efc/topics.php?stpId=105249
    4. ↑ http://www.albirex.co.jp/news/top_team/55740
    5. ↑ https://www.jleague.jp/en/stats/goal.html?s=J2
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