2016 J1 League


The 2016 Meiji Yasuda J1 League season was the 51st season of top-flight football in Japan, and the 24th since the establishment of the J.League in 1993.
For a five-year period starting in 2015, the J.League changed to a newly conceived multistage system, with the year split into two halves and a third and final championship stage. The winners of the first and second stages and the highest ranking club of the aggregate table qualified for the Championship Stage. Kashima Antlers, the winner of the Championship Stage, advanced to the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup as the host nation's entrant.

Clubs

Club NameCoachHome TownStadiumCapacityNote
Albirex Niigata Tatsuma YoshidaNiigata City & Seirō, NiigataBig Swan Stadium42,30015th in 2015
Masatada IshiiSoutheast Ibaraki PrefectureKashima Soccer Stadium40,7285th in 2015
Omiya Ardija Hiroki ShibuyaSaitama City, SaitamaNACK5 Stadium15,500Promoted from J2 League in 2015
Masami IharaFukuoka City, FukuokaLevel-5 Stadium22,563Promoted from J2 League in 2015
Cho Kwi-jeaShonan part of KanagawaShonan Stadium Hiratsuka18,5008th in 2015
Erick MombaertsYokohama & Yokosuka, KanagawaNissan Stadium72,3277th in 2015
Yahiro KazamaKawasaki City, KanagawaTodoroki Athletics Stadium26,2326th in 2015
Gamba Osaka Kenta HasegawaNorthern Osaka PrefectureSuita City Football Stadium40,0002016 AFC Champions League participant
Boško GjurovskiAll Aichi PrefectureMizuho Athletic Stadium27,0009th in 2015
Hiroshi NanamiIwata, ShizuokaYamaha Stadium15,165Promoted from J2 League in 2015
Mihailo PetrovićSaitama City, SaitamaSaitama Stadium63,7002016 AFC Champions League participant
Takahiro ShimotairaKashiwa, ChibaKashiwa Soccer Stadium15,90010th in 2015
Sagan Tosu Massimo FiccadentiTosu, SagaTosu Stadium24,49011th in 2015
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hajime MoriyasuHiroshima City, HiroshimaHiroshima Big Arch50,0002016 AFC Champions League participant
Yoshiyuki ShinodaTokyoAjinomoto Stadium49,9702016 AFC Champions League participant
Vegalta Sendai Susumu WatanabeSendai, MiyagiYurtec Stadium19,69414th in 2015
Ventforet Kofu Satoru SakumaAll Yamanashi PrefectureYamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium17,00013th in 2015
Nelsinho BaptistaKobe, HyōgoMisaki Park Stadium30,13212th in 2015

Managerial changes

Foreign players

Format

Teams play a single round-robin in the first stage and a single round-robin in the second stage. After that an overall table is calculated and a championship stage is played. The winners of the first and second stages and any team that finishes in the top 3 of the overall rankings advance to the championship stage. The team that finishes atop the overall table automatically qualifies for the final, while the remaining teams play-off for the other spot in the final.

League table

Positions by round

First stage

Second stage

Overall

Championship stage

The Championship stage consisted of a knockout tournament involving the champions of the First and Second stages, and any team that finishes in the top 3 of the overall table. The team with the best aggregate record earned a bye to the final. The remaining teams playoff for the other spot in the final.
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Results

First stage

Second stage

Top scorers

Updated to games played on 3 November 2016
Source:

Awards

Individual

AwardRecipientClubNotes
Most Valuable Player Kengo NakamuraKawasaki Frontale
Rookie of the Year Yosuke IdeguchiGamba Osaka

Best Eleven

Source:

Attendances

These are the attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season. The table does not include the Championship stages attendances.