2018 J3 League

The 2018 J3 League (referred to as the 2018 Meiji Yasuda J3 League (2018 明治安田生命J3リーグ) for sponsorship reasons) was the 5th season of J3 League under its current name.

Meiji Yasuda J3 League
Season2018
ChampionsFC Ryukyu (1st title)
PromotedFC Ryukyu
Kagoshima United FC
Matches played272
Goals scored722 (2.65 per match)
Top goalscorerLeonardo
(Gainare Tottori),
24 goals
Highest attendance12,812[1]
Kitakyushu 1–0 Nagano
(25 August 2018)
Lowest attendance508[1]
Fujieda 1-2 Kitakyushu
(21 March 2018)
Average attendance2,384
← 2017
2019 →

Clubs

2017 J3 League 2nd placed Tochigi SC gained promotion to J2 League after another runners-up season; this time, unlike 2016, it was enough to clinch direct promotion. Defending champions are Blaublitz Akita, which became the first club not to gain promotion after winning the championship since J3's inception. Thespakusatsu Gunma was the new entry for the league: it was their first third division season since 2004, when they were promoted to J2 from JFL.

No promotion from Japan Football League came this time. This was another first for the J3 League since its inception.

Club Location Venue Capacity
Azul Claro NumazuNumazuAshitaka Stadium10,000
Blaublitz AkitaAkitaAkigin Stadium4,992
Fukushima United FCFukushimaToho Stadium21,000
Gainare TottoriTottoriBird Stadium16,033
Giravanz KitakyushuKitakyushuKitakyushu Stadium15,066
Grulla MoriokaMoriokaIwagin Stadium4,946
Kagoshima United FCKagoshimaKamoike Stadium19,934
Kataller ToyamaToyamaToyama Athletic Stadium25,251
Fujieda MYFCFujiedaFujieda Soccer Field13,000
Nagano ParceiroNaganoNagano U Stadium15,491
FC RyukyuOkinawaOkinawa Athletic Stadium25,000
SC SagamiharaSagamiharaGion Stadium15,300
Thespakusatsu GunmaAll cities/towns in GunmaShoda Shoyu Stadium Gunma15,253
FC Tokyo U-23TokyoAjinomoto Field Nishigaoka7,137
YSCC YokohamaYokohamaMitsuzawa Stadium15,454
Cerezo Osaka U-23 Osaka & Sakai, Osaka Kincho Stadium 19,904
Gamba Osaka U-23 North cities in Osaka Panasonic Stadium Suita

Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium

 39,694

21,000

Personnel and kits
Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer
Azul Claro Numazu Ken Yoshida Takuya Sugai Puma
Blaublitz Akita Koichi Sugiyama Naoyuki Yamada ATHLETA
Cerezo Osaka U-23 Yuji Okuma none Puma
Fukushima United Kazuaki Tasaka Takumi Watanabe hummel
Gainare Tottori Daisuke Sudo Fernandinho hummel
Gamba Osaka U-23 Tsuneyasu Miyamoto none Umbro
Giravanz Kitakyushu Hitoshi Morishita Ryu Kawakami bonera
Grulla Morioka Toshimi Kikuchi Kohei Doi Under Armour
Kagoshima United Yasutoshi Miura Akira Akao Puma
Kataller Toyama Ryo Adachi Junya Imase Goldwin
Fujieda MYFC Atsuto Oishi Daiki Asada gol.
Nagano Parceiro Yuji Sakakura Tomokazu Myojin Penalty
FC Ryukyu Kim Jong-song Park Iru-gyu sfida
SC Sagamihara Takayuki Nishigaya Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi gol.
Thespakusatsu Gunma Keiichiro Nuno Tetsuya Funatsu Finta
FC Tokyo U-23 Takayoshi Amma none Umbro
YSCC Yokohama Yasuhiro Higuchi Norimasa Nakanishi SVOLME

    Managerial changes
    Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of
    appointment
    Kataller Toyama Tetsuro Uki 9 May 2018[2] Ryo Adachi 9 May 2018[3]
    Gainare Tottori Ryuzo Morioka 4 June 2018[4] Daisuke Sudo 4 June 2018
    Nagano Parceiro Tetsuya Asano 12 June 2018 Yuji Sakakura 12 June 2018
    Giravanz Kitakyushu Hitoshi Morishita 17 June 2018[5] Tetsuji Hashiratani 20 June 2018[6]
    Blaublitz Akita Koichi Sugiyama 11 July 2018 Shuichi Mase 11 July 2018[7]
    Gamba Osaka U-23 Tsuneyasu Miyamoto 23 July 2018 Noritada Saneyoshi 23 July 2018[8]
    Fujieda MYFC Atsuto Oishi 24 July 2018[9] Nobuhiro Ishizaki 27 July 2018[10]

    League table
    Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
    1 FC Ryukyu (C, P) 32 20 6 6 70 40 +30 66 Promotion to 2019 J2 League[lower-alpha 1]
    2 Kagoshima United (P) 32 16 9 7 46 35 +11 57
    3 Gainare Tottori 32 15 8 9 61 47 +14 53
    4 Azul Claro Numazu 32 14 10 8 40 29 +11 52
    5 Thespakusatsu Gunma 32 15 7 10 37 35 +2 52
    6 Gamba Osaka U-23 32 13 8 11 53 43 +10 47
    7 Cerezo Osaka U-23 32 13 7 12 47 36 +11 46
    8 Blaublitz Akita 32 12 7 13 37 35 +2 43
    9 SC Sagamihara 32 12 6 14 42 53 −11 42
    10 Nagano Parceiro 32 10 11 11 39 37 +2 41
    11 Kataller Toyama 32 12 5 15 41 50 −9 41
    12 Fukushima United 32 9 13 10 36 43 −7 40
    13 Grulla Morioka 32 12 4 16 41 56 −15 40
    14 FC Tokyo U-23 32 10 6 16 38 45 −7 36
    15 YSCC Yokohama 32 8 10 14 40 48 −8 34
    16 Fujieda MYFC 32 10 4 18 32 48 −16 34
    17 Giravanz Kitakyushu 32 6 9 17 22 42 −20 27
    Source: 2018 MEIJI YASUDA J3 LEAGUE League table
    Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4th) head-to-head results; 5th) disciplinary points; 6th) draw
    (C) Champion; (P) Promoted.
    Notes:
    1. Only teams that hold a J2 license are eligible for promotion.

    Results table
    Home \ Away AZU BLA C23 FUK GAI G23 GIR GRU KGU KAT MYF PAR RYU SGM SPA T23 YSC
    Azul Claro Numazu 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 2–1 2–3 1–4 0–0 2–0 2–0 1–0
    Blaublitz Akita 1–0 1–4 0–1 2–2 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–2 4–0 1–2 0–1 1–2 0–1 0–0 2–0
    Cerezo Osaka U-23 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–4 1–1 1–1 1–2 1–2 0–1 1–2 2–0 6–0 2–1 0–2 2–0 2–0
    Fukushima United 1–1 0–2 1–0 3–4 4–3 2–2 0–0 0–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 2–1 2–2 2–1 0–2 0–1
    Gainare Tottori 2–2 2–0 1–4 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 5–1 2–3 2–1 1–0 1–3 7–0 1–2 4–2 1–4
    Gamba Osaka U-23 3–0 2–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 2–1 3–2 0–0 1–1 1–6 1–1 2–0 2–1 4–0 2–4 3–0
    Giravanz Kitakyushu 0–2 0–2 1–2 0–0 3–0 0–4 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 0–4 0–1 0–0 2–3
    Grulla Morioka 0–3 2–1 2–1 2–2 3–3 2–1 2–0 1–4 2–1 0–4 3–0 1–4 0–3 1–1 0–2 3–2
    Kagoshima United 1–0 2–2 2–1 2–1 0–2 4–1 1–0 1–0 1–2 1–2 2–2 2–1 2–1 0–2 2–1 1–1
    Kataller Toyama 0–3 0–4 2–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–3 1–0 4–2 1–2 2–1 2–0 1–2 1–2 1–0
    Fujieda MYFC 0–1 0–1 1–2 1–2 0–0 2–1 1–2 2–1 0–2 0–0 1–0 0–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–1
    Nagano Parceiro 2–2 1–2 1–2 1–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 5–0 4–0 1–1 2–1 2–2 1–0 0–1
    FC Ryukyu 1–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 2–2 2–1 1–0 5–2 4–0 4–3 3–0 2–0 5–1 4–2 3–2 1–1
    SC Sagamihara 2–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 2–4 2–3 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–2 2–5 0–1 1–0 1–0
    Thespakusatsu Gunma 2–2 1–0 1–0 3–3 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–2 0–1 2–1 0–1 0–2 1–1 4–1 2–2
    FC Tokyo U-23 0–3 1–0 1–3 2–3 0–0 2–2 0–1 2–0 2–3 3–0 2–1 0–1 1–1 3–0 1–2 1–0
    YSCC Yokohama 2–2 3–1 1–1 3–0 1–2 0–0 2–3 0–0 0–4 1–2 1–3 0–1 3–2 2–2 0–0 3–1
    Updated to match(es) played on 2 December 2018. Source: J. League Data Site
    Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

    Top scorers
    As of matches played 2 December 2018.[11]
    Rank Player Club Goals
    1
    		 Leonardo Gainare Tottori
    24
    2
    		João Gabriel SC Sagamihara
    17
    3
    		 Kazaki Nakagawa FC Ryukyu
    16
    Yuta Togashi
    5
    		Kaito Taniguchi Grulla Morioka
    15
    6
    		Rei Yonezawa Cerezo Osaka U-23
    12
    7
    		Koki Oshima Thespakusatsu Gunma
    10
    Yu Tomidokoro FC Ryukyu
    9
    		Fernandinho Gainare Tottori
    9
    Kiichi Yajima FC Tokyo U-23
    11
    		Hayate Take Fukushima United FC
    8
    Junki Hata Azul Claro Numazu
    Kazunari Ichimi Gamba Osaka U-23

    Attendances
    Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
    1 Giravanz Kitakyushu 72,014 12,812 2,320 4,501 −24.2%†
    2 Kagoshima United FC 64,642 10,916 1,703 4,040 +15.2%†
    3 Nagano Parceiro 56,869 7,082 2,679 3,554 −16.5%†
    4 SC Sagamihara 55,331 12,612 1,602 3,458 −5.4%†
    5 Thespakusatsu Gunma 53,531 4,700 1,604 3,346 −12.7%†
    6 FC Ryukyu 50,330 7,810 886 3,146 +25.4%†
    7 Azul Claro Numazu 45,716 5,687 1,271 2,857 −5.7%†
    8 Blaublitz Akita 45,420 11,802 831 2,839 +20.1%†
    9 Kataller Toyama 42,718 4,124 1,602 2,670 −15.5%†
    10 Gainare Tottori 42,519 4,817 1,302 2,657 +70.4%†
    11 FC Tokyo U-23 27,564 2,563 934 1,723 −10.9%†
    12 Fukushima United FC 25,214 3,199 671 1,576 +6.1%†
    13 Gamba Osaka U-23 22,107 3,753 568 1,382 +12.7%†
    14 Fujieda MYFC 20,360 2,592 508 1,273 −12.1%†
    15 Grulla Morioka 19,461 3,115 515 1,216 −9.1%†
    16 Cerezo Osaka U-23 17,784 4,551 509 1,112 +22.3%†
    17 YSCC Yokohama 16,077 1,509 546 1,005 +5.7%†
    League total 677,657 12,812 508 2,491 −4.7%†

    Updated to games played on 2 December 2018
    Source: J. League Data
    Notes:
    † Relegated from J2.

    References
    1. J.League Data
    2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-05-09. Retrieved 2018-08-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-05-09. Retrieved 2018-08-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    4. http://www.gainare.co.jp/news/detail/40125/
    5. https://www.giravanz.jp/news/p32901.html
    6. https://www.giravanz.jp/news/p32910.html
    7. http://blaublitz.jp/whatsnew/53381.html
    8. http://www.gamba-osaka.net/news/index/no/8127/
    9. http://myfc.co.jp/news/20180724/24351/
    10. http://myfc.co.jp/news/20180727/24448/
    11. https://www.jleague.jp/en/stats/goal.html?s=J3
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