J.League Division 2 season is the 41st season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 14th season since the establishment of J2 League. The season started on March 4 and will finish on November 11, followed by the promotion playoffs among the 3rd to 6th placed clubs (see the article
).
J1 immediately after one season at J2. Shonan Bellmare finished second and also won the automatic promotion along with Kofu, returning to the J1 after two years of absence. Oita Trinita finished sixth, but won the promotion playoffs by defeating 3rd-placed Kyoto Sanga at the semifinal and 5th-placed JEF United Chiba
at the final thus returning to the J1 after three years of absence.
For the first time ever, relegation to the third-tier JFL was implemented, and Machida Zelvia became the unlucky first team to suffer that fate by finishing in bottom place only one season after entering the professional divisions.
J.League Division 1 (J1) until the previous season, there are only 2 spots for automatic promotions from this season, and the 3rd promoting club will be determined by a play-off called Play-off for Promotion to J1[1] (J1昇格プレーオフ) held by 4 clubs (3rd – 6th placed clubs in the standings in the league matches). The regulation is:[1][2]
First Round
Two fixtures will be held, the "3rd placed club versus the 6th placed club" and the "4th placed club versus the 5th placed club". Each tie will be played as one-off match at the home stadium, which was determined by the standings in the league matches (i.e., 3rd and 4th placed clubs' stadiums).
Final Round
The fixture will be held between the two winners of the first-round fixtures. The tie will be played as one-off match at a neutral venue, which was determined to be the
If the score is tied after 90 minutes, neither extra time nor penalty shoot-out will be held, the winner is determined by the standings in the league matches.
Exceptional Cases
In case one or more clubs of 3rd–6th places cannot meet promotion criteria, remaining clubs will participate in the play-off: the spots cannot be replaced by 7th-placed or lower clubs' case only three of the four clubs meet the promotion criteria, the highest ranked club among them will receive a bye to the final round.
In case only two of the four clubs meet the promotion criteria, only the final round will be held.
In case only one of the four clubs meets the promotion criteria, it will automatically promote.
In case none of the four clubs meets the promotion criteria, the number of promoting club will be decreased.
On 28 September, it was announced that the following clubs did not meet the criteria, mainly in regard to the stadium's size, which are required to J1 clubs to maintain, thus will not be promoted to J1, or participating promotion playoffs even if finishing in the appropriate standing at the end of the regular season:
Oita Trinita was granted a J1 license allowing promotion, but this will be revoked if the club cannot pay back ¥300 million debt to the JFA by 12 October.
Relegations to JFL
In 2008, J.League and Japan Football Association planned that at most 3 clubs in J2 are to relegate to Japan Football League (JFL) every season after the number of J2 clubs reached 22.[4]
In January 2012, since the number of J2 clubs reached 22 from this season, J.League determined the regulation of the relegations from J2 to JFL that at most 2 clubs in J2 will relegate to JFL every season. The regulation is:[5]
1st placed JFL club will replace a J2 club if it meets promotion criteria.
2nd placed JFL club will replace a J2 club if it meets promotion criteria and wins a home-and-away play-off against the J2 club.
3rd placed or lower JFL clubs cannot promote to J2 even if 1st or 2nd placed JFL clubs do not meet promotion criteria: the number of relegating clubs from J2 will be decreased.
Thus, in the play-off, the second last (i.e. 21st placed) J2 club will meet the 2nd placed JFL club if 1st placed JFL club promotes to J2; otherwise the last (i.e. 22nd placed) J2 club will meet.
Updated to match(es) played on 11 November 2012. Source: J.League Division 2 Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal differential; 3rd goals scored; 4th head-to-head results; 5th disciplinary points; 6th draw. If two clubs are tied for first place, both clubs will be declared champions. (C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated Notes:
J.League Associate Membership) JFL team finished above second place and playoff will be played only if a eligible JFL team finished in second place(See the corresponding section for further details). As only 2012 Japan Football League Champion V-Varen Nagasaki has the Associate Membership among the top 2 teams. Machida Zelvia was relegated immediately but no relegation/playoff was taken place for FC Gifu
Updated to match(es) played on 11 November 2012. Source: J. League Division 2 Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. Notes:
^ abc3 matches for the 36th round, Kyoto at Tokushima, Kumamoto at Shonan, and Gifu at Matsumoto, originally scheduled on 30 September, were postponed due to approaching Typhoon Jelawat, to 1 October for Kumamoto at Shonan, 18 October for Gifu at Matsumoto[6] and 25 October for Kyoto at Tokushima.[7]
Cha Young-Hwan 48'). The remaining 24 minutes were played on 17 May[8] resulting in another goal for Tochigi (Hirose
Updated to games played on 11 November 2012 Source: J. League Division 2 Notes: † Team played previous season in J1. ‡ Team played previous season in JFL.
Promotion Playoffs to Division 1
2012 J.League Road To J1 Play-Offs (2012 J1昇格プレーオフ)
The schedule was as follows. The format would be changed if one or more of the involved clubs could not meet the promotion criteria to Division 1.[9]
If the score tied by 90 minutes, the winner would be determined by the league standings.
^Ｊ１昇格プレーオフ（仮称）２０１２シーズンより導入および大会方式の決定について [Play-off for promotion to J1 introduced from 2012: competition format] (in Japanese). J.League. 18 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-09-16. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
^"２０１２Ｊリーグ Ｊ１昇格プレーオフ決勝およびＪ２／ＪＦＬ入れ替え戦第１戦の日程変更のお知らせ" [2012 J.League: date changes of J1 promotion playoff final and J2-JFL promotion/relegation series 1st leg]. J.League official website. 23 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-07-26. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
^Ｊ２リーグの将来像を決定 [Future of J2 League] (in Japanese). J.League. 22 July 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-10-28. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
^J. League (2 October 2012). "2012Jリーグ ディビジョン2 第36節 松本山雅FC vs FC岐阜 代替開催日決定のお知らせ" [Notice of rescheduled date for Matsumoto Yamaga FC vs FC Gifu, a 36th round match of 2012 J. League Division 2] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
^J. League (2 October 2012). "2012Jリーグ ディビジョン2 第36節 徳島ヴォルティス vs 京都サンガF.C. 代替開催日決定のお知らせ" [Notice of rescheduled date for Tokushima Vortis vs Kyoto Sanga F.C., a 36th round match of 2012 J. League Division 2] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
^J. League (11 May 2012). "2012Jリーグ ディビジョン2 第13節 栃木SC vs アビスパ福岡 再開試合 詳細決定" [About the decision on 2012 Division 2 13th round game between Tochigi S.C. and Avispa Fukuoka] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2012-05-18. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
^２０１２Ｊリーグ Ｊ１昇格プレーオフ大会概要 [2012 J.League: The outline of the J1-Promotion Playoff] (in Japanese). J.League. 1 February 2012. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
