2010 J.League Division 2


The 2010 J. League Division 2 season was the 39th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 12th season since the establishment of J2 League. The season began on March 6 and ended on December 4.
In this season, the number of participating clubs was increased by one, making the total number, nineteen. As opposed to the last two seasons, clubs will play double-round robin, instead of triple-round robin. At the end of the season, the top three clubs were promoted to J. League Division 1 for the 2011 season. Furthermore, there was no relegation to the third-tier Japan Football League.

Clubs

The following nineteen clubs will play in J. League Division 2 during the 2010 season. Of these clubs, JEF United Chiba, Kashiwa Reysol, and Oita Trinita were relegated from J1 League last year. Also, Giravanz Kitakyushu newly joined from Japan Football League.
Club nameHome townNote
Avispa FukuokaFukuoka, Fukuoka
Consadole SapporoSapporo, Hokkaidō
Ehime FCAll cities/towns in Ehime
Fagiano OkayamaAll cities/towns in Okayama
FC GifuAll cities/towns in Gifu
Giravanz KitakyushuKitakyushu, FukuokaPromoted from JFL in 2009
Renamed from New Wave Kitakyushu
JEF United ChibaChiba & Ichihara, ChibaRelegated from J1 League in 2009
Kashiwa ReysolKashiwa, ChibaRelegated from J1 League in 2009
Kataller ToyamaAll cities/towns in Toyama
Mito HollyHockMito, Ibaraki
Oita TrinitaAll cities/towns in OitaRelegated from J1 League in 2009
Roasso KumamotoKumamoto, Kumamoto
Sagan TosuTosu, Saga
Thespa KusatsuAll cities/towns in Gunma
Tochigi SCUtsunomiya, Tochigi
Tokushima VortisAll cities/towns in Tokushima
Tokyo VerdyAll cities/towns in Tokyo
Ventforet KofuAll cities/towns in Yamanashi
Yokohama FCYokohama, Kanagawa

League format

Nineteen clubs will play in double round-robin format, a total of 36 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:
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. Three top clubs will be promoted to J1.
;Changes from Previous Year
  • Nineteen participating clubs, increased by one, Giravanz Kitakyushu, from last year
  • Due to abolishment of triple round-robin format, which has been applied for the past two seasons, and installation of double round-robin, the number of games per club decreased to 36, down from 51, the fewest games played in J2, as same as 1999 J2 season. Therefore, regular season schedule had a month break after June 13 games during 2010 FIFA World Cup, first World Cup break as J2 since the 2002 events held in Japan, then the season resumed from July 17.
  • As in J1, J2 teams may now have 7 substitute players per match, up from 5.

League table


Top scorers

RankScorerClubGoals
1