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 The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

tournament meant as a transition for Japanese football clubs competing in regional leagues to the

Japan Football League The also known as simply the JFL is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League associate membership amo ...

History

Until 1976, the main entrance route for regional clubs to the

Japan Soccer League , or JSL, was the top flight association football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J.League. JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professional J ...

was the

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 ...

, a cup competition. In 1977, to test clubs in a league environment before entrance to the league, the

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football, futsal, beach soccer and efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the national team, as well as club competitions. History The organ ...

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 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 ...

) are, thus far, the only Regional Series champions to later become First Division champions. They are also the only club to retain the title, as they failed to be promoted in their first attempt due to losing a playoff series. Since 1980 every champion has been automatically promoted, exceptions being made at the champion's request in 1993 ( Nippon Denso/FC Kariya) and 2002 (Ain Foods) as they lacked the resources to compete at the national level.

Qualification

Until 2009, the number of places in the tournament was 16, distributed as follows: *All regional league champions ''(9 clubs)'' *4 regional league runners-up ''(4 clubs)'' *University club recommended by the university association ''(1 club)'' *Club recommended by the JFA ''(1 club)'' * All Japan Senior Cup winner ''(1 club)'' *Other clubs (other league runners-up, Senior Cup runners-up or third places, etc.) ''(0-3 clubs)'' – more allowed if Senior Cup holder has won a regional league or been runner-up As of 2010, the regional league runners-up are no longer eligible and the university association is no longer allowed to make recommendations, reducing the number of places to 12. *All regional league champions ''(9 clubs)'' *Club recommended by the JFA ''(at most 1 club)'' * All Japan Senior Cup winners and runners-up ''(at most 2 clubs)'' ** This may be replaced by third and/or fourth-placed team if the winners and/or runners-up win a regional league or recommended by the JFA. *Regional league runners-up ''(0-3 clubs)'' ** This number of clubs changes by the result of "Club recommended by the JFA" and "All Japan Senior Cup".

Format

Preliminary round

The clubs are grouped in round-robin groups of four, playing at a single city per group (no home-and-away format is followed). Only three matches are played per club, since the match location is the same. The winners of each group qualify for the final round.

Final round

As of 2010, the three group winners plus the highest-scoring runner-up are grouped in a final group in a single locale, with three matches played per club. The top two places are guaranteed promotion and the third place may play a promotion/relegation series against one of the three bottom JFL clubs (subject to JFL place availability).

Round-robin rules

The usual 3-1-0 system is used; however, in case of a draw, a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

is added and the winner gets one extra point.

Winners

Teams in bold were promoted. Source
JFA

Wins by region

Clubs in bold compete in the J.League (any division) in the

2023 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

. Clubs in ''italics'' no longer exist. A dagger (†) indicates clubs that moved away from the region after winning the title.

References

Contents of Domestic Competition of Football in Japan

External links

JFA official pageJapanese Regional Leagues summary
SOCCERWAY)

{{Japanese Club Football, group=regional Pro 1977 establishments in Japan Recurring sporting events established in 1977