The 1973 season of Japanese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

League tables

JSL First Division

Tanabe Pharmaceuticals was relegated, thereby becoming the first Japanese team to go straight back down one season after promotion.

JSL 1/2 Promotion/Relegation Series

Eidai promoted, Tanabe relegated.

JSL Second Division

JSL Promotion/Relegation Series

Sumitomo, at the time based in Osaka, would move to

Kashima, Ibaraki is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 67,197 in 28,873 households and a population density of 634 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 31.5%. The total area of th ...

in 1975 and become today's

Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...

. Hitachi Ibaraki and Sumitomo promoted, Toyota Industries and Hagoromo Club relegated.

References

{{Japanese Club Football, group=first

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

Jap ''Jap'' is an English abbreviation of the word "Japanese". Today, it is generally regarded as an ethnic slur. In the United States, some Japanese Americans have come to find the term very offensive, even when used as an abbreviation. Prior to t ...