J. League Division 2
The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yasuda Life and it is thus officially known as the . Until the 2014 season it was named the J.League Division 2. Second-tier club football has existed in Japan since 1972; however, it was only professionalized during the 1999 season with ten clubs. The league took one relegating club from the top division and nine clubs from the second-tier semi-professional former Japan Football League to create the J2 League. The remaining seven clubs in the Japan Football League, the newly formed Yokohama FC, and one promoting club from the Regional Leagues, formed the nine-club Japan Football League, then the third tier of Japanese football. The third tier is now represented by the J3 League. History Phases of Japanese second-tier association footba ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in OFC, joined AFC in 2006. Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, both territories of the United States, are also AFC members that are geographically in Oceania. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation (ALFC) was the section of AFC who managed women's association football in Asia. The group was independently founded in April 1968 in a meeting involving Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. In 1986 ALFC merged with AFC. Executive Committee Sponsors Member associations It has 47 member associations split into 5 regions. Some nations proposed a South West Asian Federation that would not interfere with AFC zones. Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Republic of China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Japanese Regional Leagues
are a group of parallel association football leagues in Japan that are organized on the regional basis. They form the fifth tier of the Japanese association football league system below the nationwide Japan Football League. Overview Japan is divided regionally in a variety of ways, some of them administrative and some more historical. For the football purposes, the country is divided into nine regions. All regional league champions earn the right to participate in the Regional Football League Competition (since 2016 renamed Japan Regional Football Champions League) at the end of the year. Runners-up may also qualify according to criteria set by the Japan Football Association. Regional league clubs also compete in the All Japan Senior Football Championship, a cup competition. The winner of this cup also earns a berth in the Regional League promotion series, and the runner-up may also qualify depending on space and JFA criteria. Regional league clubs must win the qualifyi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Júbilo Iwata
is a professional Japanese association football team that currently play in the J2 League. The team name ''Júbilo'' means 'joy' in Spanish and Portuguese. The team's hometown is Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture and they play at Yamaha Stadium. For big fixtures such as the Shizuoka Derby with Shimizu S-Pulse and against some of the top teams in J1, Júbilo play at the much larger Ecopa Stadium in Fukuroi City, a venue built specifically for the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals. They practice at Okubo Ground in Iwata and Iwata Sports Park Yumeria. Between 1997 and 2003 Iwata were one of the most successful teams in the J. League. Over this seven-year spell Jubilo finished outside the top two of J1 just once, winning the league title on three occasions. This period also saw a number of cup final appearances, including winning the Emperor’s Cup, the J. League Cup, and the Asian Champions League once each. History Origins and rise to the top The team started out as the company team f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cerezo Osaka
is a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Cerezo'' (Spanish for cherry blossom) is also the flower of the city of Osaka. The official hometowns of the club are Osaka and Sakai. They form a local rivalry with Suita-based Gamba Osaka. History The club, originally called Yanmar Diesel, started in 1957 as the company team of Yanmar and was an original founder ("Original Eight") of the now-disbanded Japan Soccer League (JSL) in 1965. With four Japanese league titles to its credit, it was a mainstay of the JSL Division 1 until 1990 when it was first relegated, and joined the former Japan Football League (JFL) in 1992. In 1993, the club incorporated as Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. and adopted the name Cerezo after a public contest. In 1994, they won the JFL championship and was promoted to the J1 League in 1995. This also coincided with a run to the fin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kashiwa Reysol
is a Japanese professional football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium, also known as "Hitachidai". ''Reysol'' is a portmanteau of the Spanish words ''Rey'' and ''Sol'', meaning "Sun King". The name alludes to their parent company Hitachi, whose name means "rising sun" in Japanese. The club was formed in 1940 and was a founding member ("Original Eight"). of the Japan Soccer League (JSL) in 1965. Since the league's inception, they have spent nice in the top tier of Japanese football. They have been Japanese League champions twice in 1972 and 2011, and have won three League Cups in 1976, 1999 and 2013, and three Emperor's Cups in 1972, 1975 and 2012. History Hitachi SC (1939–1992) The club started in 1939 and was officially formed as the company team, Hitachi, Ltd. Soccer Club in 1940 in Kodaira, Toky ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shonan Bellmare
is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Hiratsuka Athletics Stadium. '' Shonan'' refers to a coastal area along Sagami Bay that includes Hiratsuka. ''Bellmare'' is a portmanteau of the Italian words ''bello'' and ''mare'', meaning "beautiful sea". History Early years as corporate team The club was founded in 1968 as Towa Real Estate SC in Nasu, Tochigi. They were promoted to the Japan Soccer League (JSL) Division 1 in 1972. They changed their name to Fujita Kogyo S.C. when Towa Estate Development gave up the ownership to their parent company Fujita Industries, which moved the club to Hiratsuka. They won the JSL three times (including two doubles with the Emperor's Cup) between 1977 and 1981. They were nevertheless relegated to the JSL's Division 2 in 1990. Although they won the last J ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Japanese Regional Football League Competition
The Japanese Regional Champions League ( ja, 全国地域サッカーチャンピオンズリーグ, ''Zenkoku Chiiki Sakkā Championzu Rīgu''), known before 2016 as Japan Regional Football League Competition, is a nationwide play-off tournament meant as a transition for Japanese football clubs competing in regional leagues to the Japan Football League. History Until 1976, the main entrance route for regional clubs to the Japan Soccer League was the All Japan Senior Football Championship, a cup competition. In 1977, to test clubs in a league environment before entrance to the league, the Japan Football Association devised this tournament. In 1984 and 1985 more promotion places were added due to the JSL, expanding its divisions. In 1992 it began promoting clubs to the former JFL's second division and, from 1994 to 1998, to its single division. In 1999 and 2000 it added extra promotion places due to the formation and expansion of the new JFL. Yamaha Motors ( Júbilo Iwata) ar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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All Japan Senior Football Championship
The , officially called the All Japan Adults Football Tournament, is a football (soccer) cup competition in Japan. It is run by the Japan Football Association. As it only involves non-league teams (teams not affiliated to either J.League or the Japan Football League), it can be considered an equivalent of the FA Trophy or FA Vase in England. Overview The "Shakaijin", "Shakaijin Cup" or "Zensha" as it is known, was first established in 1965 to determine potential entrants to the Japan Soccer League. The winner and runner-up played off in a promotion and relegation series against the bottom two clubs of the JSL. This continued even after the JSL added a Second Division in 1972. Since 1977, however, there is a system called the " Regional Football Champions League" to promote new league entrants (to the JSL 2nd Division, the former Japan Football League, and the current Japan Football League), thus the "Shakaijin" is now effectively a non-league cup competition. The 1999 edition w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kofu Club
is a Japanese football club from Kōfu in Yamanashi Prefecture. The team currently competes in the J2 League and play their home games in JIT Recycle Ink Stadium, located in Kōfu. The word "Ventforet" is a compound formed from two French root words: "vent" (wind) and "forêt" (forest). The name alludes to the famous phrase Fū-rin-ka-zan (風林火山)that Takeda Shingen, a prominent Kōfu-based ''daimyō'' in the Sengoku period, emblazoned on his war banners. The phrase contains four similies: as swift as the wind; as silent as a forest; as fierce as fire; as immovable as a mountain. Having won J2 League in 2012, they won their first major honour a decade later in the Emperor's Cup, thus qualified for the AFC Champions League for the first time in the club's history, entering the 2023–24 edition from the group stage. History Kofu Club (1965–1994) The club was founded in 1965 when the old boys' club of Kofu Dai-ichi High School, the Kakujo Club, started to recr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kyoto Shiko Club
is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. "Sanga" comes from the Sanskrit word ''sangha'', a term meaning "group" or "club" and often used to denote the Buddhist priesthood, associating the club with Kyoto's many Buddhist temples. The club was formerly known as Kyoto Purple Sanga with "purple", the colour of the team uniforms, an imperial colour reflecting Kyoto's status as Japan's ancient imperial capital city. It was decided that, from 2007, the team will simply been known as "Kyoto Sanga". They are the oldest club competing in the J.League. History The club was started as ''Kyoto Shiko Club'', one of the few proper Japanese football clubs in the sense of being strictly dedicated to football and not being part of a company. Like Ventforet Kofu, it could not rise to a Japan Soccer League First Division dominated by company teams; in 1993, after the J.League was created, Kyoto Shiko Club, aided by funds from local new sponsors Kyocera and Nintendo, professi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fujitsu SC
is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, in Nakahara Ward, in the central area of Kawasaki. History The club was founded in 1955 as Fujitsu Soccer Club. It was one of many city clubs that comprised the Japan Soccer League (JSL), including Yomiuri (later Tokyo Verdy 1969), Toshiba (later Consadole Sapporo) and NKK SC (now defunct). They first made the JSL Division 1 in 1977, only to be relegated the next season afterwards and would not return to the top flight until 2000, when they were first promoted to the rebranded J1. The club co-founded the Japanese second tier three times under its three names: JSL Division 2 (1972), Japan Football League Division 1 ( 1992) and J.League Division 2 ( 1999). Fujitsu's club became professional in 1997, and changed its name – "Frontale" m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Yomiuri Football Club
is a Japanese professional football club based in Inagi, Tokyo. The club plays in the J2 League, the second tier of football in the country. Founded as Yomiuri F.C. in 1969, Tokyo Verdy is one of the most decorated clubs in the J.League, with honours including 2 league titles, 5 Emperor's Cups, 6 JSL Cup/ J.League Cups and an Asian Club Championship title, and the most successful team in Japanese football history with 25 titles. The club was an original member of the J.League in 1993. Verdy's plays its home games at the 50,000 capacity Ajinomoto Stadium, which it shares with FC Tokyo, although occasional home matches are played in other stadiums in Tokyo, such as Ajinomoto Field, Nishigaoka. History Early years and rise to the top (1969–1983) In October 1968, following Japan's bronze medal triumph at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City and the interest in football that ensued, Japan Football Association president Yuzuru Nozu visited Yomiuri Giants chairman Matsut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |