2007 J.League Division 1

The 2007 J.League Division 1 season was the 15th season since the establishment of the J.League. The season began on March 3 and ended on December 1.

J.League Division 1

Season	2007
Champions	Kashima Antlers 5th J. League title 5th Japanese title
Relegated	Sanfrecce Hiroshima Ventforet Kofu Yokohama FC
Champions League	Kashima Antlers Urawa Red Diamonds Gamba Osaka (all to the group stage)
Matches played	306
Goals scored	867 (2.83 per match)
Top goalscorer	Juninho (22 goals total)
Highest attendance	62,132 (Round 33, Red Diamonds vs. Antlers)
Lowest attendance	4,114 (Round 30, Yokohama FC vs. Ardija)
Average attendance	19,066
← 2006 2008 →

General

Promotion and relegation

• At the end of the 2006 season, Yokohama FC, Kashiwa Reysol, and Vissel Kobe were promoted to J1
• At the end of the 2006 season, Avispa Fukuoka, Cerezo Osaka, and Kyoto Purple Sanga were relegated to J2.

Changes in competition formats

• In the past, J.League Champion qualified to A3 Champions Cup, but since 2007 this berth is given to the Nabisco Cup winner.

Honours

Competition	Champion	Runners-up	3rd place
J.League Division 1	Kashima Antlers	Urawa Red Diamonds	Gamba Osaka
J.League Division 2	Consadole Sapporo	Tokyo Verdy 1969	Kyoto Sanga
Emperor's Cup	Kashima Antlers	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Kawasaki Frontale Gamba Osaka
Nabisco Cup	Gamba Osaka	Kawasaki Frontale	Kashima Antlers Yokohama F. Marinos
XEROX Super Cup	Gamba Osaka	Urawa Red Diamonds	n/a

Clubs

Albirex Niigata

Kashima Antlers

Omiya Ardija

Urawa Red
Diamonds

FC Tokyo

Kawasaki Frontale

Ventforet Kofu

Kashiwa Reysol

JEF United
Chiba

Yokohama F. Marinos

Yokohama FC

Shimizu S-Pulse

Júbilo Iwata

Nagoya
Grampus
Eight

Gamba Osaka

Vissel Kobe

Sanfrecce
Hiroshima

Oita Trinita

Location of the clubs in Japan

Following eighteen clubs participated in J.League Division 1 during 2007 season. Of these clubs, Yokohama FC, Kashiwa Reysol, and Vissel Kobe were newly promoted clubs.

• Kashima Antlers
• Urawa Red Diamonds
• Omiya Ardija
• JEF United Chiba
• Kashiwa Reysol
• FC Tokyo
• Kawasaki Frontale
• Yokohama F. Marinos
• Yokohama FC
• Ventforet Kofu
• Albirex Nigata
• Shimizu S-Pulse
• Jublio Iwata
• Nagayo Grampus Eight
• Gamba Osaka
• Vissel Kobe
• Sanfrecce Hiroshima
• Oita Trinita

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

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 two clubs will be relegated to J2, while the 16th placed club plays a two-legged Promotion/Relegation Series.

Changes from Previous Year

none

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Kashima Antlers (C)	34	22	6	6	60	36	+24	72	2008 AFC Champions League Group Stage
2	Urawa Red Diamonds	34	20	10	4	55	28	+27	70	2008 AFC Champions League Knockout Stage
3	Gamba Osaka	34	19	10	5	71	37	+34	67	2008 AFC Champions League Group Stage[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]
4	Shimizu S-Pulse	34	18	7	9	53	36	+17	61
5	Kawasaki Frontale	34	14	12	8	66	48	+18	54
6	Albirex Niigata	34	15	6	13	48	47	+1	51
7	Yokohama F. Marinos	34	14	8	12	54	35	+19	50
8	Kashiwa Reysol	34	14	8	12	43	36	+7	50
9	Júbilo Iwata	34	15	4	15	54	55	−1	49
10	Vissel Kobe	34	13	8	13	58	48	+10	47
11	Nagoya Grampus Eight	34	13	6	15	43	45	−2	45
12	FC Tokyo	34	14	3	17	49	58	−9	45
13	JEF United Chiba	34	12	6	16	51	56	−5	42
14	Oita Trinita	34	12	5	17	42	60	−18	41
15	Omiya Ardija	34	8	11	15	24	40	−16	35
16	Sanfrecce Hiroshima (R)	34	8	8	18	44	71	−27	32	2007 Promotion/Relegation Series
17	Ventforet Kofu (R)	34	7	6	21	33	65	−32	27	Relegation to 2008 J.League Division 2
18	Yokohama FC (R)	34	4	4	26	19	66	−47	16

Updated to match(es) played on December 1, 2007. Source: J. League Division 1
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. Urawa Red Diamonds won the 2006 Emperor's Cup and have already qualified for AFC Champions League. Since Urawa takes the extra spot as the defending 2007 ACL champion; therefore Gamba Osaka received the third ACL spot as the third place team of the league.
2. Gamba Osaka qualifies to Pan-Pacific Championship as the Nabisco Cup winner.

Results

Home \ Away	ALB	ANT	ARD	FRO	GAM	GRA	JEF	JÚB	REY	SFR	SSP	TOK	TRI	RED	VEN	VIS	YFC	FMA
Albirex Niigata		1–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	4–0	0–1	1–1	1–2	2–1	0–2	2–1	0–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	0–6
Kashima Antlers	3–1		0–0	4–1	0–1	2–1	3–1	2–1	1–0	5–1	3–0	1–2	3–0	0–1	2–0	3–2	2–1	1–1
Omiya Ardija	2–1	1–2		1–1	0–3	1–0	0–1	0–2	1–1	1–0	1–2	0–2	1–2	1–1	1–2	1–3	1–0	0–0
Kawasaki Frontale	4–3	1–0	1–1		4–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	0–0	3–0	2–1	5–2	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–1	6–0	1–2
Gamba Osaka	3–1	5–1	1–0	2–2		3–1	2–0	5–2	2–1	3–0	1–1	6–2	1–0	0–1	5–0	1–1	2–1	0–2
Nagoya Grampus Eight	2–0	3–0	5–0	2–2	1–4		2–0	0–0	2–0	2–3	1–2	0–1	1–2	1–2	1–1	2–0	0–0	0–3
JEF United Chiba	1–2	3–3	1–0	1–3	1–2	0–2		3–2	1–1	1–3	1–3	3–2	6–0	2–4	3–2	4–2	4–0	2–3
Júbilo Iwata	2–4	1–3	0–0	1–3	1–1	1–0	1–0		4–0	4–2	0–1	5–2	2–1	0–2	2–1	2–3	3–0	1–0
Kashiwa Reysol	0–0	0–1	0–0	4–0	1–2	2–0	1–0	4–0		2–0	1–3	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–1	1–3	1–1	1–0
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	0–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	2–2	1–3	2–2	0–1	1–1		2–1	0–5	2–0	2–4	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–3
Shimizu S-Pulse	3–1	1–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–0	2–2	2–1	0–1	3–1		1–3	2–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	1–1
FC Tokyo	1–3	1–2	1–2	0–7	1–1	0–1	4–1	0–1	0–1	2–4	2–0		1–2	0–2	2–1	3–1	1–0	2–1
Oita Trinita	1–1	2–2	3–1	2–0	0–4	1–3	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–2	3–4	0–0		2–2	4–1	2–0	2–0	0–3
Urawa Red Diamonds	1–0	0–1	0–1	1–2	1–1	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	4–1	0–0	3–2	2–1		2–0	2–0	2–1	1–1
Ventforet Kofu	0–1	0–1	0–0	1–3	1–2	0–2	0–1	1–6	3–2	2–1	0–0	0–1	2–0	1–4		4–3	1–0	1–1
Vissel Kobe	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–1	2–2	5–0	2–1	4–0	2–1	3–2	1–0	0–0	1–3	1–2	4–1		3–0	0–0
Yokohama FC	0–2	0–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	0–1	1–2	2–4	1–2	1–1	0–2	2–1	1–0	0–2	0–3		1–0
Yokohama F. Marinos	1–0	2–3	0–2	2–1	0–0	0–2	1–0	4–1	0–2	2–2	0–2	0–1	5–0	0–1	1–0	1–4	8–1

Updated to match(es) played on December 1, 2007. Source: J. League Division 1
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals[1]
1	Juninho	Kawasaki Frontale	22
2	Baré	Gamba Osaka	20
3	Edmilson	Albirex Niigata	19
4	Ueslei	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	17
5	Washington	Urawa Red Diamonds	16
6	Leandro	Vissel Kobe	15
7	Marquinhos	Kashima Antlers	14
	Yoshito Ōkubo	Vissel Kobe	14
	Hideo Ōshima	Yokohama F. Marinos	14
10	Cho Jae-Jin	Shimizu S-Pulse	13
	Frode Johnsen	Nagoya Grampus Eight	13

Attendance

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Urawa Red Diamonds	793,347	62,123	16,709	46,667	+2.4%^†
2	Albirex Niigata	650,698	42,015	31,500	38,276	−1.1%^†
3	FC Tokyo	429,934	38,439	17,264	25,290	+5.0%^†
4	Yokohama F. Marinos	408,656	53,916	10,828	24,039	+1.6%^†
5	Oita Trinita	335,896	27,811	14,671	19,759	−2.9%^†
6	Gamba Osaka	296,465	20,982	12,163	17,439	+7.3%^†
7	Kawasaki Frontale	294,751	23,355	13,185	17,338	+20.9%^†
8	Júbilo Iwata	278,109	35,072	9,292	16,359	−9.1%^†
9	Kashima Antlers	276,058	36,146	8,036	16,239	+5.2%^†
10	Shimizu S-Pulse	271,180	20,318	11,460	15,952	+11.5%^†
11	Nagoya Grampus Eight	264,939	34,347	7,553	15,585	+4.4%^†
12	JEF United Chiba	240,535	16,756	9,481	14,149	+5.6%^†
13	Yokohama FC	238,662	46,697	4,114	14,039	+174.3%^†
14	Ventforet Kofu	233,476	36,756	8,373	13,734	+12.5%^†
15	Kashiwa Reysol	220,442	35,013	8,947	12,967	+55.7%^†
16	Vissel Kobe	211,822	22,236	7,769	12,460	+80.3%^†
17	Omiya Ardija	194,912	33,162	6,149	11,465	+12.0%^†
18	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	194,199	22,675	6,037	11,423	+2.2%^†
	League total	5,834,081	62,123	4,114	19,066	+4.2%^†

Updated to games played on December 1, 2007
Source: J. League Division 1
Notes:
^† Team played previous season in J2.

Awards

Individual

Award	Recipient	Club	Notes
Player of the Year	Robson Ponte	Urawa Red Diamonds
Young Player of the Year	Takanori Sugeno	Yokohama FC
Manager of the Year	Oswaldo de Oliveira	Kashima Antlers
Top Scorer	Juninho	Kawasaki Frontale	22 goals
Fair Play Player Award	Daisuke Sakata	Yokohama F. Marinos
	Teruyoshi Ito	Shimizu S-Pulse
	Hisato Satō	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Referee of the Year	Masayoshi Okada
Assistant Referee of the Year	Toru Sagara
Meritoriousness Player Award	Yasuto Honda
	Amaral
	Shoji Jo

Best Eleven

Position	Footballer	Club	Nationality
GK	Ryōta Tsuzuki (1)	Urawa Red Diamonds	Japan
DF	Daiki Iwamasa (1)	Kashima Antlers	Japan
DF	Marcus Tulio Tanaka (4)	Urawa Red Diamonds	Japan
DF	Satoshi Yamaguchi (1)	Gamba Osaka	Japan
MF	Yuki Abe (3)	Urawa Red Diamonds	Japan
MF	Keita Suzuki (2)	Urawa Red Diamonds	Japan
MF	Robson Ponte (1)	Urawa Red Diamonds	Brazil
MF	Kengo Nakamura (2)	Kawasaki Frontale	Japan
MF	Yasuhito Endō (5)	Gamba Osaka	Japan
FW	Juninho (1)	Kawasaki Frontale	Brazil
FW	Baré (1)	Gamba Osaka	Brazil

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

References

1. "2007 J1 Top Scorers". j-league.or.jp. J-League. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2010.

External links

• J. League Official Stats