The 2005 season was the 13th season since the establishment of J.League. It began on March 5 and ended on December 3, followed by promotion/relegation series matches on December 7 and 10.

General

Promotion and relegation

* At the end of the 2004 season,

Kawasaki Frontale 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 W ...

and

Omiya Ardija is a professional association football club based in Ōmiya in Saitama, Japan. Its "hometown" as designated by the league is the whole of Saitama city, which is shared with neighbours Urawa Red Diamonds. Omiya competed in the J1 League follow ...

were promoted to J1 * At the end of the 2004 season, there were no relegation to J2. * At the end of the 2004 season,

Tokushima Vortis is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J2 League. The team is located in Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture. Their home stadium is Naruto Otsuka Sports Park Pocari Sweat Stadium, in Naruto, Tokushima. The name, "Vorti ...

and

Thespa Kusatsu is a professional football (soccer) club based in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture in Japan. The club plays in the J2 League, the second division of professional football in Japan. History The club was founded in 1995 in Kusatsu, one of the most w ...

were promoted to J2 from JFL

Changes in competition formats

* The Division 1 was expanded to 18 clubs, and Division 2 stays at 12 clubs. * The format of Division 1 was changed from the double-season format to a single season. * In games that require

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

in case of a tie (i.e. league cup finals),

golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

rules were eliminated. Clubs now had to play the full extra time.

Changes in clubs

* JEF United relocates from Ichihara to the prefecture capital,

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

, and becomes

JEF United Ichihara Chiba , full name and also known as , is a Japanese professional football club that plays in the J2 League. On 1 February 2005, the club changed its name from ''JEF United Ichihara'' to the current name after Chiba city had joined Ichihara, Chiba as ...

Honours

Clubs

Following eighteen clubs played in J.League Division 1 during 2005 season. Of these clubs, Omiya Ardija and Kawasaki Frontale were newly promoted clubs. * Kashima Antlers * Urawa Red Diamonds * Omiya Ardija * JEF United Chiba * Kashiwa Reysol * FC Tokyo * Tokyo Verdy 1969 * Kawasaki Frontale * Yokohama F. Marinos * Albirex Nigata * Shimizu S-Pulse * Jublio Iwata * Nagoya Grampus Eight * Gamba Osaka * Cerezo Osaka * Vissel Kobe * Sanfrecce Hiroshima * Oita Trinita

Format

Eighteen clubs will play in double round-robin (home and away) format, a total of 34 games each. A club receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order: * Goal differential * Goals scored * Head-to-head results A draw would be conducted, if necessary. However, if two clubs are tied at the first place, both clubs will be declared as the champions. The bottom two clubs will be relegated to J2, while the 16th placed club plays a two-legged Promotion/Relegation Series. ;Changes from previous year * Number of clubs competing increased from 16 to 18 * The season format was changed from the double-season format to a single season. * Number of games per club increased from 30 games to 34 games per season.

Table

Results

Top scorers

Attendance figures

Awards

Individual

Best Eleven

* The number in brackets denotes the number of times that the footballer has appeared in the Best 11.

References

External links

J.LEAGUE Official Stats (English)2005 J.LEAGUE Season, Club, and Player Stats (English)
{{J1 League champions J1 League seasons 1

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...