J2 History: 2000

In its second season of play, the J2 recorded excellent results, with strong fan support for several of the top teams producing a new record or league attendance. In fact, the Urawa Reds even outdrew many J1 clubs, and Consadole Sapporo was not far behind. Although many of the teams had strong grass-roots support, there were big gaps, in terms of performance and organisation, between the teams that finished in the top half of the table and those that finished at the bottom. The disparity in quality should be clear from the fact that just three of the eleven teams had a positive goal difference.

Nevertheless, the exciting race for two promotion slots to the J1 conferred quite a bit of nationwide publicity on the J2. The two teams that achieved promotion were Consadole Sapporo and Urawa Reds, which eliminated the two top-drawing clubs from the league. However, the addition of Yokohama Fulie -- which like its Phoenix mascot has managed to rise from the ashes of the former Yokohama Flugels -- provided an exciting story to keep interest in the league at a high level. The two relegated teams that joined the J2 were Kawasaki Frontale and Kyoto Purple Sanga. With the entry of Yokohama FC, the total number of teams increased to twelve.

PROMOTED:

Consadole Sapporo

Urawa Reds

RELEGATED:

Kawasaki Frontale

Kyoto Purple Sanga

Advanced from JFL

FC Yokohama (Fulie)

Rank	Team	Pts	GP	W		D	L	GF	GA	G.Dif
J2 League Table, 2000
Rank	Team	Pts	GP	90	ET	D	L	GF	GA	G.Dif
1	Consadole Sapporo	94	40	27	4	5	4	71	22	+49
2	Urawa Reds	82	40	23	5	3	9	82	40	+42
3	Oita Trinita	81	40	26	0	3	11	80	38	+42
4	Omiya Ardija	68	40	21	2	1	16	55	49	+6
5	Vegalta Sendai	55	40	15	4	2	19	60	69	-9
6	Sagan Tosu	48	40	13	2	5	20	41	52	-11
7	Albirex Niigata	46	40	11	4	5	20	54	63	-9
8	Shonan Bellmare	43	40	12	3	1	24	59	71	-12
9	Mito Hollyhock	43	40	9	6	4	21	37	61	-24
10	Montedio Yamagata	33	40	9	2	2	27	40	61	-21
11	Ventforet Kofu	18	40	5	0	3	32	31	84	-53