The 2010 J.League Division 1 season was the 46th season of the top-flight club football in Japan and the 18th season since the establishment of
J1 League. The season began on March 6 and ended on December 4.
A total of eighteen clubs participated in double round-robin format. At the end of the season, top three clubs received automatic qualification to the following years'
AFC Champions League. Also the bottom three clubs were relegated to
J2 League by default.
Nagoya Grampus
(formerly known as ) is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and founded as the company team of the Toyota, Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939 ...
won their first Japanese championship. This was also the first time since the advent of the J.League that the top scorer scored less than 20 goals; the honour of scoring 17 goals was shared between Nagoya's
Joshua Kennedy
Joshua Blake Kennedy (born 20 August 1982) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a striker for the Australia national soccer team.
Kennedy is known by Australian fans as "Jesus" due to his apparent resemblance to tradi ...
and
Júbilo Iwata's
Ryoichi Maeda
is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is the currently assistant coach of Japan national team.
Club career
Maeda was born in Kobe, Japan but spent his childhood in the United States. He was educated at and ...
. Additionally, this was also the first Japanese top division season in which clubs from the
Kantō region did not place among the top three.
Clubs
The following eighteen clubs will play in J.League Division 1 during the 2010 season. Of these clubs, Vegalta Sendai, Cerezo Osaka and Shonan Bellmare are the newly promoted clubs. For the first time since
1995 season all top-flight teams are located on a single island (
Honshū).
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
* Disciplinary points
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 three clubs will be relegated to
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 Y ...
. The top three clubs will qualify to
AFC Champions League in the following year.
;Changes from previous year
* Regular season schedule had two months break after May 16 games, due to
2010 FIFA World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
. Season was resumed from July 17, with exceptions for clubs advancing to the Round of 16 of
2010 AFC Champions League
The 2010 AFC Champions League was the 29th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 8th under the current AFC Champions League title. The final was held at the National ...
, which 11th-week matches were rescheduled to July 14.
League table
Results
Top scorers
Awards
MVP
*
Seigo Narazaki
is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Japan national team.
Club career
After graduating from Nara Ikuei High School in 1995, Narazaki joined J1 League side Yokohama Flügels. In August 1995, reg ...
Best XI
Attendance
References
{{J1 League champions
J1 League seasons
1
Japan
Japan