J2 History: 2001

In its third season, the J2 division showed greater parity than ever before. Although the bottom four teams floundered, and often seemed to be just making up the numbers, the top six teams battled fiercely right to the very end of the season, with the final promotion spot decided in the final minute of the final match of the year. Although Kyoto Purple Sanga and Vegalta Sendai were the two teams that ended up holding the tickets to J1 in the 2002 season, several other teams emerged with the sort of strong fan support that will allow them to bankroll strong challenges for a title in 2002.
Nevertheless, it was hard to ignore big gap in both performance and organisation between the teams that finished in the top half of the table and those that finished at the bottom. While Niigata, Omiya, Oita and Yamagata all boasted nice new stadiums, full houses and a wealth of talent, the League began to recognise the clear danger that lower-level teams might fold completely. The year started with Ventforet Kofu in a management crisis, which almost prevented the team from contesting the 2001 season. It ended with reports that, although Ventforet was now in a stable condition, Mito Hollyhock and Sagan Tosu might face imminent financial collapse. At the end of the 2001 season, the league began to take a firmer line on team management, insisting that organisations live within their means, keep the books balanced, and introduce careful planning and measures aimed at attracting support from the local fan base and business community. Though the problems of financially weak teams in the lower reaches of the J2 division persisted for a few more years, 2001 seemed to mark a turning point. Thereafter, a steady improvement could be seen not only on average, but even among the very weakest of J2 clubs.

J2 League Table, 2001
Rank Team Pts GP W D L GF GA G.Dif
90 ET

1 Kyoto Purple Sanga 84 44 23 5 5 11 +31 79 48
2 Vegalta Sendai 83 44 24 3 5 12 +22 78 56
3 Montedio Yamagata 80 44 20 7 6 11 +22 61 39
4 Albirex Niigata 78 44 22 4 4 14 +32 79 47
5 Omiya Ardija 78 44 20 6 6 12 +30 73 43
6 Oita Trinita 78 44 24 1 4 15 +23 75 52
7 Kawasaki Frontale 60 44 17 3 3 21 +9 69 60
8 Shonan Bellmare 60 44 16 4 4 20 +3 64 61
9 Yokohama FC 43 44 12 3 1 28 -23 58 81
10 Sagan Tosu 32 44 8 2 4 30 -37 45 82
11 Mito Hollyhock 25 44 5 3 4 32 -52 41 93
12 Ventforet Kofu 25 44 7 1 2 34 -60 38 98

PROMOTED:
Kyoto Purple Sanga
Vegalta Sendai

RELEGATED:
Cerezo Osaka
Avispa Fukuoka