2015 J2 League

The 2015 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (2015 明治安田生命J2リーグ)[1] season was the 44th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 17th season since the establishment of J2 League. The season began on 8 March 2015 and ended on 23 November 2015.

Meiji Yasuda J2 League
Season2015
ChampionsOmiya Ardija
PromotedOmiya Ardija
Júbilo Iwata
Avispa Fukuoka
RelegatedOita Trinita
Tochigi SC
Matches played462
Goals scored1,014 (2.19 per match)
Top goalscorerJay Bothroyd (20 goals)
Highest attendance20,234
(Consadole vs Tochigi SC, 23 November)
Lowest attendance1,227
(Zweigen vs Ehime FC, 1 April)
Average attendance6,845
← 2014
2016 →

Clubs

Shonan Bellmare have stayed in the second division for just a year, winning promotion as the champions. Matsumoto Yamaga have spent only 3 seasons in J2 after promoted from Japan Football League in 2012, becoming the first club based in Nagano Prefecture which have promoted to the top flight. Sixth-placed Montedio Yamagata won the promotion playoffs and will return in the first division after playing in the J2 for 3 years. Tokushima Vortis were relegated from the J1 immediately after their inaugural promotion, while Cerezo Osaka and Omiya Ardija have suffered relegation respectively after five and ten years from their last presence in J2.

On the other end of the table, Zweigen Kanazawa have been promoted from 2014 J3 League as the champions of the inaugural season of the J3 League, replacing relegated Kataller Toyama.

Sapporo
Ehime
Gifu
Kyoto
Tochigi
Greater Tokyo Area
Chiba, Omiya, Tokyo, Yokohama
Locations of the 2015 J2 League teams

The participating clubs are listed in the following table:

Club Name Home Town(s) Note(s)
Omiya Ardija Omiya, Saitama Relegated from J1 League in 2014
Avispa Fukuoka Fukuoka
Cerezo Osaka Osaka Relegated from J1 League in 2014
Consadole Sapporo Sapporo, Hokkaidō
Ehime FC All cities/towns in Ehime
Fagiano Okayama All cities/towns in Okayama
FC Gifu All cities/towns in Gifu
Giravanz Kitakyushu Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Not eligible for J1 promotion
Mito HollyHock Mito, Ibaraki Not eligible for J1 promotion
JEF United Chiba Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba 2014 J2 League 2014 Play-off finalist
Júbilo Iwata Iwata, Shizuoka 2014 J2 League 2014 Play-off contestant
Kamatamare Sanuki Takamatsu, Kagawa Kagawa Not eligible for J1 promotion
Roasso Kumamoto Kumamoto
Kyoto Sanga Southwestern cities/towns in Kyoto
Thespakusatsu Gunma All cities/towns in Gunma Not eligible for J1 promotion
Tochigi SC Utsunomiya, Tochigi
Oita Trinita Ōita
V-Varen Nagasaki All cities/towns in Nagasaki
Tokyo Verdy All cities/towns in Tokyo
Tokushima Vortis All cities/towns in Tokushima Relegated from J1 League 2014
Yokohama FC Yokohama, Kanagawa
Zweigen Kanazawa Kanazawa Promoted from J3 League 2014

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Date of separation Manner of departure Incoming manager Date of announcement
Oita Trinita Kazuaki Tasaka 1 June Sacked[2] Nobuaki Yanagida 2 July
Mito HollyHock Tetsuji Hashiratani 7 June Sacked[3] Takayuki Nishigaya 27 June
Kyoto Sanga Masahiro Wada 10 July Sacked[4] Kiyotaka Ishimaru 10 July
Tochigi SC Yuji Sakakura 20 July Resigned[5] Yasuharu Kurata 21 July
Consadole Sapporo Ivica Barbarić 24 July Resigned[6] Shuhei Yomoda 24 July
Yokohama FC Miloš Rus 15 September Resigned[7] Hitoshi Nakata 15 September[8]
Cerezo Osaka Paulo Autuori 17 November Sacked[9] Kiyoshi Okuma 17 November[10]

Foreign players
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Asian Player Non-Visa Foreign Type-C Contract
Omiya Ardija Carlinhos Paraiba Mateus Dragan Mrđa
Avispa Fukuoka Moisés Wellington Lee Kwang-seon
Cerezo Osaka Edmílson Magno Cruz Pablo Felipe Kim Jin-hyeon
Consadole Sapporo Nildo Paulão Cristian Nazarit Gu Sung-yun Irfan Bachdim
Ehime FC Park Chan-yong Gang Yoon-goo Park Seong-su
Fagiano Okayama Hwang Jin-sung
FC Gifu Gilsinho Henik Leo Mineiro Yun Chang-su
Giravanz Kitakyushu
Mito HollyHock Song Ju-hun Park Kwang-il Kim Song-gi
JEF United Chiba Paulinho Nejc Pecnik Kim Hyun-hun An Byong-jun
Júbilo Iwata Adaílton Jay Bothroyd Krzysztof Kaminski
Kamatamare Sanuki Allan Evson Andrea Han Chang-joo
Roasso Kumamoto Anderson Kweon Han-jin Kim Byeong-yeon
Kyoto Sanga Daniel Lovinho Ferro Miloš Bajalica Kim Nam-il Hwang Te-song
Thespakusatsu Gunma Acleisson Hugo Tanque Yoon Young-seung Hwang Song-su Kaique
Tochigi SC Jhonatan Han Hee-hoon Lee Joo-young Park Hyung-jin
Oita Trinita Daniel Evandro Paulinho Kim Jeong-hyun
Tokyo Verdy Alan Pinheiro Bruno Coutinho Weslley Ko Kyung-joon
V-Varen Nagasaki Cho Min-woo Lee Yong-jae Ri Yong-jik
Tokushima Vortis Alex Estiven Kim Kyung-jung Kim Jong-min Son Se-hwan
Yokohama FC Rok Štraus Bae Hu-min Park Tae-hong Na Sung-soo An Yong-hak
Zweigen Kanazawa Jean Moser Mendes Cha Young-hwan

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Omiya Ardija (C, P) 42 26 8 8 72 37 +35 86 Promotion to 2016 J1 League
2 Júbilo Iwata (P) 42 24 10 8 72 43 +29 82
3 Avispa Fukuoka (O, P) 42 24 10 8 63 37 +26 82 Qualification to promotion playoffs[lower-alpha 1]
4 Cerezo Osaka 42 18 13 11 57 40 +17 67
5 Ehime FC 42 19 8 15 47 39 +8 65
6 V-Varen Nagasaki 42 15 15 12 42 33 +9 60
7 Giravanz Kitakyushu 42 18 5 19 59 58 +1 59
8 Tokyo Verdy 42 16 10 16 43 41 +2 58
9 JEF United Chiba 42 15 12 15 50 45 +5 57
10 Consadole Sapporo 42 14 15 13 47 43 +4 57
11 Fagiano Okayama 42 12 18 12 40 35 +5 54
12 Zweigen Kanazawa 42 12 18 12 46 43 +3 54
13 Roasso Kumamoto 42 13 14 15 42 45 −3 53
14 Tokushima Vortis 42 13 14 15 35 44 −9 53
15 Yokohama FC 42 13 13 16 33 58 −25 52
16 Kamatamare Sanuki 42 12 15 15 30 33 −3 51
17 Kyoto Sanga 42 12 14 16 45 51 −6 50
18 Thespakusatsu Gunma 42 13 9 20 34 56 −22 48
19 Mito HollyHock 42 10 16 16 40 47 −7 46
20 FC Gifu 42 12 7 23 37 71 −34 43
21 Oita Trinita (R) 42 8 14 20 41 51 −10 38 Qualification to relegation playoffs[lower-alpha 2]
22 Tochigi SC (R) 42 7 14 21 39 64 −25 35 Relegation to 2016 J3 League
Updated to match(es) played on 23 November 2015. Source: Meiji Yasuda J2 League Standing
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Only teams that meet J1 license criteria can participate in promotion playoffs. If one or more teams fail to meet the criteria, only eligible teams that finished 3rd to 6th will participate and no replacement teams will be added.
  2. The playoffs and direct exchange between J2 and J3 are subject to eligibility of J2-licensed teams in top 2 of 2015 J3 League.

Results
Home \ Away ARD AVI CER CON EHI FAG GIF GIR HOL JEF JÚB KAM ROS SAN SPA TOC TRI VVN VER VOR YFC ZWE
Omiya Ardija 2–0 1–2 1–1 1–0 3–0 5–0 2–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 3–2 2–1 0–2 1–2 3–0 1–0
Avispa Fukuoka 1–3 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 2–2 4–2 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–3 1–0 1–3 4–1 4–2 1–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 4–0 0–2
Cerezo Osaka 3–1 0–1 3–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–2 0–0 1–1 3–0 1–2 4–1 0–0 1–2 2–0 1–0 2–0 0–2
Consadole Sapporo 2–3 2–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 1–2 1–1 1–0 3–2 3–0 0–1 2–3 1–2 0–0 4–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–1
Ehime FC 3–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 3–0 2–3 0–2 1–0 0–2 1–0 0–1 3–2 3–0 0–0 2–0 0–0 2–1 3–0 3–0 1–1
Fagiano Okayama 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–2 3–0 0–1 3–0 1–0 1–2 1–2 3–0 2–0 3–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 0–3 0–0 0–0
FC Gifu 0–5 1–4 0–2 0–1 2–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–3 1–0 0–2 1–2 0–1 0–2
Giravanz Kitakyushu 1–2 0–1 0–3 1–1 3–2 2–3 2–1 2–2 3–1 2–3 2–0 2–0 1–2 0–1 2–2 2–1 2–1 0–1 2–0 3–1 1–1
Mito HollyHock 1–0 2–2 1–1 2–1 3–1 1–0 0–2 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 0–2 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–3 2–0 3–0 0–1 1–1
JEF United Chiba 2–0 2–2 4–4 1–1 1–0 1–0 3–1 1–3 2–0 0–2 0–2 2–3 1–1 1–2 2–0 2–2 1–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–1
Júbilo Iwata 2–2 0–1 0–1 3–0 0–0 1–1 2–3 3–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 3–3 1–2 3–0 2–1 4–2 2–0 3–1 0–0 2–1
Kamatamare Sanuki 1–1 0–1 1–3 0–0 0–0 0–1 3–0 1–0 0–0 0–1 1–0 0–2 1–1 0–1 0–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 2–2
Roasso Kumamoto 3–0 0–1 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–2 0–1 1–1 0–4 0–2 0–1 0–0 2–2 2–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 2–2 0–1 0–2
Kyoto Sanga 2–2 1–2 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 2–0 2–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–1 0–1 1–2 2–1 1–4 1–1 0–1 1–2 1–1
Thespakusatsu Gunma 0–2 0–4 2–0 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–1 1–2 0–1 2–0 2–3 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–3 2–1 0–1 1–0
Tochigi SC 0–2 0–0 0–3 1–2 0–1 2–2 0–1 2–4 2–2 1–1 0–2 1–0 2–2 0–1 5–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 2–1 2–1 1–1
Oita Trinita 0–3 1–2 1–3 2–0 0–1 0–1 6–2 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–2 0–0 0–1 2–2 2–0 0–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–1
V-Varen Nagasaki 0–1 0–0 2–0 0–0 3–1 2–2 2–1 2–0 0–0 0–1 0–1 0–0 1–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1
Tokyo Verdy 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 4–3 2–0 2–0 0–0 0–3 2–0 0–2 1–0 2–0 3–2 1–2 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–1
Tokushima Vortis 0–0 0–3 1–1 1–2 0–0 1–2 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–1 2–2 2–2 2–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–0
Yokohama FC 0–3 2–2 0–0 0–0 2–1 0–0 3–2 1–0 0–2 0–1 2–3 1–2 0–3 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–2 1–6 1–1 2–1
Zweigen Kanazawa 1–2 0–1 3–0 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 0–4 1–0 0–0 0–3 1–0 1–1 1–3 2–1 2–2 1–1 1–0 3–0 0–1 1–2
Updated to match(es) played on 23 November 2015. Source: J.League Data
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

J1 Promotion Playoffs
Semifinals Final
      
3 Avispa Fukuoka 1
6 V-Varen Nagasaki 0
3 Avispa Fukuoka 1
4 Cerezo Osaka 1
4 Cerezo Osaka 0
5 Ehime FC 0

Semifinals
Avispa Fukuoka1–0V-Varen Nagasaki
Wellington  48' Report
Level-5 stadium, Fukuoka
Attendance: 17,129
Cerezo Osaka0–0Ehime FC
Report
Yanmar Stadium Nagai, Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka
Attendance: 13,893

Final
Avispa Fukuoka1–1Cerezo Osaka
Nakamura  87' Report Tamada  60'
Yanmar Stadium Nagai, Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka
Attendance: 29,314

J3 Relegation Playoffs
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Oita Trinita 1–3 FC 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

Top scorers
Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Jay Bothroyd Júbilo Iwata
20
2 Dragan Mrdja Omiya Ardija
19
3 Rui Komatsu Giravanz Kitakyushu
18
4 Adailton Júbilo Iwata
17
5 Masashi Oguro Kyoto Sanga
15
6 Nejc Pečnik JEF United Chiba
14
7 Ken Tokura Consadole Sapporo
13
Ataru Esaka Thespa Kusatsu
Shohei Kiyohara Zweigen Kanazawa
Kazuki Hara Giravanz Kitakyushu
11 Hiroaki Namba FC Gifu
12
Kazuki Saito Roasso Kumamoto
13 Akihiro Ienaga Omiya Ardija
11
Kazuhisa Kawahara Ehime FC
15 Keiya Nakami Tochigi SC
10
Shuto Minami Tokyo Verdy
Diego Forlán Cerezo Osaka
Keiji Tamada Cerezo Osaka

Updated to games played on 23 November 2015
Source: Meiji Yasuda J2 League Stats & Data - Ranking:Goals

Attendances
Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Cerezo Osaka 256,880 17,212 8,047 12,232 −43.4%†
2 Consadole Sapporo 251,161 20,234 6,981 11,960 +8.1%†
3 JEF United Chiba 225,219 15,051 8,123 10,725 +14.9%†
4 Júbilo Iwata 210,865 13,576 6,946 10,041 +14.4%†
5 Omiya Ardija 199,280 14,410 5,428 9,490 −12.2%†
6 Avispa Fukuoka 183,466 16,676 4,553 8,736 +72.6%†
7 Fagiano Okayama 176,652 15,820 4,346 8,412 +0.1%†
8 Oita Trinita 158,194 15,152 4,103 7,533 −10.6%†
9 Kyoto Sanga 157,306 16,920 3,206 7,491 −0.4%†
10 Roasso Kumamoto 147,785 13,132 3,956 7,037 +0.5%†
11 FC Gifu 129,756 8,814 3,539 6,179 −18.5%†
12 Tokyo Verdy 118,751 16,629 2,691 5,655 +4.1%†
13 Tochigi SC 108,501 9,319 2,581 5,167 −2.4%†
14 Yokohama FC 107,364 9,663 2,208 5,113 −0.6%†
15 Tokushima Vortis 105,398 8,684 3,307 5,019 −43.5%†
16 V-Varen Nagasaki 106,953 10,184 2,994 4,931 +1.9%†
17 Zweigen Kanazawa 103,120 12,353 1,227 4,910 +42.7%‡
18 Mito HollyHock 101,132 8,391 2,290 4,816 +1.7%†
19 Thespakusatsu Gunma 86,077 11,303 1,618 4,099 +9.0%†
20 Ehime FC 79,193 9,158 1,722 3,771 −1.3%†
21 Kamatamare Sanuki 76,824 10,447 2,152 3,658 +10.3%†
22 Giravanz Kitakyushu 73,243 8,501 1,939 3,488 −3.7%†
League total 3,162,194 20,234 1,227 6,845 +3.9%†

Updated to games played on 23 November 2015
Source: J. League data
Notes:
† Team played previous season in J1.
‡ Team played previous season in J3.

References
  1. "新年のご挨拶" (Press release) (in Japanese). J.League (Official). 1 January 2015. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 June 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. http://www.sanga-fc.jp/news/detail/29912/
  5. http://www.tochigisc.jp/news/article/00006759.html
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. http://www.yokohamafc.com/2015/09/15/%E3%83%9F%E3%83%AD%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A5-%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B9%E7%9B%A3%E7%9D%A3%E8%BE%9E%E4%BB%BB%E3%81%AB%E3%81%A4%E3%81%84%E3%81%A6/
  8. http://www.yokohamafc.com/2015/09/15/%E4%B8%AD%E7%94%B0%E4%BB%81%E5%8F%B8%E5%BC%B7%E5%8C%96%E8%82%B2%E6%88%90%E3%83%86%E3%82%AF%E3%83%8B%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AB%E3%83%80%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AC%E3%82%AF%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC-%E7%9B%A3%E7%9D%A3%E5%B0%B1/
  9. http://www.mycerezo.jp/news/release/13/00004859/
  10. http://www.mycerezo.jp/news/release/13/00004858/
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