2014 J.League Division 1


The 2014 J.League Division 1 season was the 49th season of top-flight football in Japan, and the 22nd since the establishment of the J.League in 1992. The season began on 1 March and ended on 8 December. Sanfrecce Hiroshima were the defending champions.
Due to Japan's participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, there was an extended break to allow for preparation after the 14th-week matches on 17 and 18 May, with the league resuming on 15 July for four clubs who participated in the 2014 AFC Champions League to play rescheduled 12th-week matches, and 19 July for other 14 clubs.
2014 saw the league played via a home and away system over a single season for the last time until at least 2020. From 2015 the league will revert to an Apertura and Clausura system, with a multi-team play-off 'super stage' to decide the champions, similar to the format used when the J.League began.
The league was won by Gamba Osaka, who won their second J.League title following a 0–0 away draw against Tokushima Vortis. They became the second league champions to win the first division after being promoted as second division champions.

Clubs

18 teams competed in this year's competition. Both Gamba Osaka and Vissel Kobe returned to J1 after a single season outside the top flight; they finished as the 2013 J.League Division 2 champions and runners-up, respectively. Tokushima Vortis, who finished fourth in the regular season and won the promotion playoff, will make their top-flight debut, becoming the first club from Shikoku to do so. Those three teams replaced Oita Trinita, Shonan Bellmare and Júbilo Iwata; Júbilo were relegated from J1 for the first time after twenty seasons in the top tier, while Bellmare and Trinita were bumped down after cameo appearances in J1.
Club nameHometownStadiumCapacityNote
Albirex NiigataNiigata & Seirō, NiigataDenka Big Swan Stadium42,300
Cerezo OsakaOsakaNagai Stadium47,8162014 AFC Champions League participant
FC TokyoTokyoAjinomoto Stadium49,970
Gamba OsakaSuita, OsakaExpo '70 Commemorative Stadium21,000Promoted from J.League Division 2 in 2013
Kashima AntlersKashima, IbarakiKashima Soccer Stadium40,728
Kashiwa ReysolKashiwa, ChibaKashiwa Soccer Stadium15,900
Kawasaki FrontaleKawasaki, KanagawaTodoroki Athletics Stadium26,2322014 AFC Champions League participant
Nagoya GrampusNagoya, AichiPaloma Mizuho Stadium27,000
Omiya ArdijaŌmiya, SaitamaNACK5 Stadium15,500
Sagan TosuTosu, SagaTosu Stadium24,490
Sanfrecce HiroshimaHiroshimaHiroshima Big Arch50,0002014 AFC Champions League participant
Shimizu S-PulseShizuokaIAI Stadium Nihondaira20,339
Tokushima VortisAll cities/towns in TokushimaPocarisweat Stadium20,441Promoted from J.League Division 2 in 2013
Urawa Red DiamondsUrawa, SaitamaSaitama Stadium63,700
Vegalta SendaiSendai, MiyagiYurtec Stadium19,694
Ventforet KofuKōfu, YamanashiYamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium17,000
Vissel KobeKobe, HyōgoMisaki Park Stadium30,132Promoted from J.League Division 2 in 2013
Yokohama F. MarinosYokohama, Kanagawa & Yokosuka, KanagawaNissan Stadium72,3272014 AFC Champions League participant

Top scorers

Updated to games played on 8 December 2014

Source:

Awards

Individual

AwardRecipientClub
Most Valuable Player

Best Eleven

  • The number in brackets denotes the number of times that the footballer has appeared in the Best 11.