JFL History

Following the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the Japan Soccer League (JSL) was introduced, made up of eight teams, most of which were supported by universities or major corporations. This was the precursor to the JFL. The league did not achieve much popularity at first, but in 1968, against all odds, Japan won the bronze medal at the Mexico Olympics. This achievement amazed many onlookers, and ignited a burst of football enthusiasm that quickly spread throughout the country. This was the source of the first "soccer boom" in Japan. Many of the players who would provide the core of the J.League at the time of its founding were inspired to play football by the feats of the 1968 bronze medal team. It was at this time that the Japan Soccer League, or JSL, was created. The league was started as a nominally "amateur" league, with teams supported by major corporations. In this sense, it was similar to Japan's baseball league, and the founders hoped that it would soon start to earn enough money from ticket sales, broadcasting and advertising revenues that it could become a fully professional league

Unfortunately, however, there was not enough support to promote Japanese football at a national level. Baseball remained the big sport in Japan, followed by sumo. Few networks or advertisers were convinced that Japanese sports fans would be interested in watching a professional league. Without an organised group of sponsors to support football on a nationwide basis, most teams remained corporate-dominated entities that were run mainly to gain publicity for the corporate sponsors.

By 1991, however, intrest in the sport had spread quite broadly in Japan, especially among young people. There was a small but significant group of fans who would stay up until 2 in the morning to watch a Serie A or Premiership match on late-night TV. Even the local JSL teams were drawing large crowds, especially well-known clubs like Nissan Motor, Mitsubishi and Yomiuri Club. In response to this rise in interest, the Japan Football Association decided to form a professional football league -- the J.League, which would be made up of qualifying teams from the JSL. More details on the preparations for creating the J.League can be found by clicking the "1991-92" icon, in the left column of this page.

In 1993, the remaining teams of the JSL (those that had not joined the J.League) were reorganised into what is known today as the JFL. For a few years, the JFL served as a "preparatory league", feeding new teams into the steadily expanding J.League. However, by 1999, it was clear that there were two groups of mutually incompatible teams in the JFL -- those that wanted to be J.League teams, and those that wanted to remain amateur, corporate-run teams. To meet the needs of both groups, the JFL was reorganised once again, with ten of the top teams forming what is now known as the "J2" (the J.League, second division). For further information on the history of the J.League and the J2, follow the "History" links for each league, in the right-hand column .

At present, the JFL remains independent of the J.League, and is much more closely affiliated with the amateur regional leagues throughout the country. Though players in the JFL are usually paid a small amount, in the form of a "bonus" based on the team's position at the end of the season. However, these cash payments are modest and most players have to take a part-time job, in addition to playing in the JFL, in order to make ends meet. For the first few years following the 1999 reorganisation, most of the teams remaining in the JFL had strong corporate affiliations, and were composed of players who held jobs at the sponsor company. Though teams were theoretically eligible to join the J2 if they finished first or second in the JFL, between 1999 and 2004, only two teams -- Mito Hollyhock in 2000 Yokohama FC (created from the ruins of the former Yokohama Flugels) in 2001 -- applied for and received promotion.

However, as time went on, more of the teams coming up into the JFL had ambitions of one day becoming J.League teams themselves. The J.League, meanwhile, continues its efforts to expand the league structure, and has been encouraging independent teams to advance through the regional league structure to the JFL, and then apply for J.League membership. In 2004, the first wave of teams from the JFL, since the turn of the century, were ready to begin entering the J.League. Two of them -- Tokushima Vortis and Thespa Kusatsu -- were accepted as members of the J2, from the start of the 2005 season. Another team, Ehime FC, was added in 2006. The league has indicated that it hopes the progress will continue steadily at this page, so that by 2010, there will be 18 teams in the J2.

What happens after that is still unclear. The J.League has discussed the possibility of creating a "J3" (third division), including promotion-relegation between the J3 and J2. Discussion of this idea had even progressed to the point that people were debating specifics such as the division into "north" and "south" division 3 groupings, to reduce travel costs for the smaller teams. However, the most recent announcement, concerning the plan to expand the J2 to 18 teams, made no mention of any further growth. We think that something of that nature will eventually emerge, since the number of teams that want to join the J.League is rising every year, and two divisions will surely prove insufficient to absorb them all. Nevertheless, plans for some league to take over from the current JFL are still extremely tentative, and are likely to be adjusted and altered in the coming years, depending upon how the effort to expand the J2 proceeds.

A list of the league standings for each year in JSL history (1965-1991) is provided below. For more details on the league standings and history of the JFL, from 1992 to the present, click the icons above.

Japan Soccer League: 1965 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Toyo Industries 14 12 2 0 44-9 26 2. Yahata Steel 14 11 2 1 40-14 24 3. Furukawa 14 10 0 4 32-20 20 4. Hitachi 14 8 1 5 35-19 17 5. Mitsubishi 14 4 1 9 24-39 9 6. Toyoda ALW 14 2 3 9 16-31 7 7. Yanmar Diesel 14 2 1 11 9-41 5 8. Nagoya Bank 14 1 2 11 16-43 4 No promotion or relegation.		Japan Soccer League: 1966 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Toyo Industries 14 12 1 1 43-6 25 2. Yahata Steel 14 10 1 3 33-16 21 3. Furukawa 14 9 2 3 30-17 20 4. Mitsubishi 14 8 2 4 24-24 18 5. Hitachi 14 5 3 6 24-28 13 6. Toyoda ALW 14 2 3 9 10-29 7 7. Nagoya Bank 14 2 0 12 12-34 4 8. Yanmar Diesel 14 1 2 11 7-29 4 Promoted: Nippon Kokan (Fukuoka)
Japan Soccer League: 1967 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Toyo Industries 14 10 2 2 37-16 22 2. Furukawa 14 8 4 2 39-22 20 3. Mitsubishi 14 9 1 4 38-19 19 4. Yahata Steel 14 8 2 4 29-22 18 5. Yanmar Diesel 14 6 2 6 28-27 14 6. Hitachi 14 5 2 7 26-27 12 7. Nippon Kokan 14 2 1 11 16-40 5 8. Toyoda ALW 14 0 2 12 12-52 2 Relegated Promoted: Nagoya Mutual Financing Bank.		Japan Soccer League: 1968 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Toyo Industries 14 10 1 3 31-11 21 2. Yanmar Diesel 14 7 5 2 29-18 19 3. Mitsubishi 14 7 4 3 25-18 18 4. Yahata Steel 14 7 3 4 32-19 17 5. Furukawa 14 7 3 4 24-17 17 6. Nagoya Bank 14 3 3 8 17-25 9 7. Hitachi 14 3 2 9 17-31 8 8. Nippon Kokan 14 0 3 11 10-46 3 No promotion or relegation.
Japan Soccer League: 1969 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Mitsubishi 14 10 4 0 29- 8 24 2. Toyo Industries 14 10 1 3 31-10 21 3. Yahata Steel 14 5 5 4 24-23 15 4. Furukawa 14 5 4 5 20-20 14 5. Yanmar Diesel 14 6 1 7 25-25 13 6. Nippon Kokan 14 4 3 7 18-32 11 7. Hitachi 14 3 4 7 17-27 10 8. Nagoya Bank 14 2 0 12 12-31 4 No promotion or relegation.		Japan Soccer League: 1970 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Toyo Industries 14 11 1 2 33- 5 23 2. Mitsubishi 14 7 4 3 24-13 18 3. Hitachi 14 6 4 4 21-18 16 4. Yanmar Diesel 14 7 1 6 26-21 15 5. Furukawa 14 5 4 5 21-21 14 6. Nippon Steel 14 5 3 6 31-29 13 7. Nippon Kokan 14 3 2 9 14-38 8 Relegation 8. Nagoya Bank 14 1 3 10 9-34 5 Relegation Promotion/Relegation Playoffs Nagoya Bank 1-0/1-1 Toyota Nippon Kokan 3-0 Kofu Club
Japan Soccer League: 1971 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Yanmar Diesel 14 9 4 1 32-13 22 2. Mitsubishi 14 7 4 3 32-12 18 3. Nippon Steel 14 8 2 4 34-23 18 4. Hitachi 14 7 4 3 18-17 18 5. Furukawa 14 5 5 4 24-24 15 6. Toyo Industries 14 3 4 7 11-17 10 7. Nippon Kokan 14 2 4 8 11-23 8 Relegation 8. Nagoya Bank 14 0 3 11 10-43 3 Relegation Promotion/Relegation Playoffs Nippon Kokan 2-2/0-0 Tanabe Nagoya Bank 0-0/0-1 Towa		Japan Soccer League: 1972 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Hitachi 14 9 3 2 36-16 21 2. Yanmar Diesel 14 7 6 1 30-11 20 3. Toyo Industries 14 7 2 5 20-13 16 4. Mitsubishi 14 5 6 3 26-19 16 5. Nippon Kokan 14 4 5 5 15-18 13 6. Nippon Steel 14 4 4 6 22-30 12 7. Furukawa 14 3 2 9 17-41 8 8. Towa Estate Agent 14 2 2 10 11-29 6 Promoted: Toyota and Tanabe
Japan Soccer League: 1973 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Mitsubishi 18 14 2 2 37-15 30 2. Hitachi 18 12 1 5 28-16 25 3. Yanmar Diesel 18 10 3 5 28-20 23 4. Towa Estate Agent 18 9 3 6 34-20 21 5. Furukawa 18 9 3 6 22-14 21 6. Nippon Steel 18 7 2 9 22-21 16 7. Toyota 18 5 5 8 18-24 15 8. Toyo Industries 18 4 6 8 16-20 14 9. Nippon Kokan 18 4 4 10 23-30 12 Relegation 10. Tanabe 18 1 1 16 10-58 3 Relegation Promotion/Relegation Playoffs Tanabe 2-1 /0-2 Eidai Nippon Kokan 2-1 /2-2 Kofu Club		Japan Soccer League: 1974 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Yanmar Diesel 18 10 5 3 47-24 25 2. Mitsubishi 18 11 3 4 37-18 25 3. Hitachi 18 7 5 6 33-22 19 4. Furukawa 18 7 5 6 25-24 19 5. Nippon Steel 18 8 3 7 24-25 19 6. Toyo Industries 18 6 6 6 20-25 18 7. Nippon Kokan 18 6 5 7 24-28 17 8. Towa Estate Agent 18 5 6 7 25-30 16 9. Eidai Industries 18 4 6 8 19-30 14 Relegation 10. Toyota 18 3 2 13 8-36 8 Relegation Promotion/Relegation Playoffs Eidai 3-2 /3-2 Fujitsu Toyota 1-0 /3-1 Yomiuri Club
Japan Soccer League: 1975 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Yanmar Diesel 18 14 3 1 44-11 31 2. Mitsubishi 18 13 3 2 30-16 29 3. Hitachi 18 10 5 3 31-11 25 4. Nippon Steel 18 9 3 6 28-23 21 5. Eidai Industries 18 8 2 8 30-29 18 6. Furukawa 18 6 5 7 34-22 17 7. Fujita Industries 18 5 3 10 19-31 13 8. Toyo Industries 18 4 4 10 20-29 12 9. Nippon Kokan 18 4 3 11 15-32 11 Relegation 10. Toyota 18 0 3 15 17-64 3 Relegation Promotion/Relegation Playoffs Toyota 1-0 /0-0 Tanabe Nippon Kokan 1-1 /1-0 Yomiuri Club		Japan Soccer League: 1976/77 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Furukawa 18 11 4 3 37-15 26 2. Mitsubishi 18 9 4 5 28-16 22 3. Fujita Industries 18 9 4 5 28-20 22 4. Yanmar Diesel 18 9 3 6 34-20 21 5. Hitachi 18 7 7 4 22-14 21 6. Nippon Kokan 18 6 8 4 22-21 20 7. Eidai Industries 18 7 4 7 18-24 18 8. Toyo Industries 18 5 5 8 16-20 15 9. Nippon Steel 18 5 2 11 23-30 12 Relegation 10. Toyota 18 1 1 16 10-58 3 Relegation Promotion/Relegation Playoffs Toyota 2-2 /2-1 Fujitsu Nippon Steel 2-1/ 3-2 Yomiuri Club
Japan Soccer League: 1977 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Fujita Industries 18 14 1/2 1 64-15 60 2. Mitsubishi 18 9 4/3 2 34-21 47 3. Hitachi 18 9 4/2 3 36-25 46 4. Toyo Industries 18 9 2/2 5 38-20 42 5. Yanmar Diesel 18 8 3/2 5 39-28 40 6. Furukawa 18 8 2/0 8 33-31 36 7. Nippon Steel 18 3 2/6 7 14-29 22 8. Nippon Kokan 18 3 3/2 10 28-27 20 9. Fujitsu 18 3 2/4 9 18-38 20 10. Toyota 18 1 0/0 17 11-81 4 Relegated Promoted: Yomiuri Club		Japan Soccer League: 1978 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Mitsubishi 18 13 1/0 4 30-13 54 2. Yanmar Diesel 18 11 1/1 5 33-26 47 3. Fujita Industries 18 9 3/4 2 35-14 46 4. Yomiuri Club 18 10 1/1 6 40-30 43 5. Hitachi 18 8 1/0 9 26-30 34 6. Toyo Industries 18 7 3/0 8 23-34 34 7. Nippon Kokan 18 7 0/2 9 19-21 30 8. Nippon Steel 18 5 2/2 9 16-18 26 9. Fujitsu 18 3 1/3 11 14-29 17 Relegated 10. Furukawa 18 3 1/1 13 9-30 15 Promoted: Nissan Motors
Japan Soccer League: 1979 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Fujita Industries 18 12 1/3 2 36-15 53 2. Yomiuri Club 18 10 0/4 4 48-26 44 3. Hitachi 18 8 5/2 3 23-18 44 4. Yanmar Diesel 18 9 1/2 6 28-21 40 5. Furukawa 18 7 5/2 4 28-22 40 6. Toyo Industries 18 5 4/5 4 20-19 33 7. Mitsubishi 18 5 5/2 6 16-20 32 8. Nippon Steel 18 6 2/1 9 23-25 29 9. Nippon Kokan 18 1 1/4 12 17-43 10 Relegated 10. Nissan Motors 18 1 2/1 14 9-39 9 Promoted: Yamaha Motors		Japan Soccer League: 1980 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Yanmar Diesel 18 13 4 1 29-13 30 2. Fujita Industries 18 10 3 5 33-19 23 3. Furukawa 18 9 4 5 26-21 22 4. Mitsubishi 18 7 6 5 24-20 20 5. Hitachi 18 8 3 7 32-28 19 6. Yomiuri Club 18 8 1 9 37-29 17 7. Toyo Industries 18 6 3 9 22-26 15 8. Nippon Steel 18 6 3 9 21-27 15 9. Yamaha Motors 18 5 3 10 28-39 13 10. Nissan Motors 18 2 2 14 11-41 6 Relegated Promoted: Honda
Japan Soccer League: 1981 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Fujita Industries 18 11 5 2 24- 7 27 2. Yomiuri Club 18 8 9 1 32-16 25 3. Mitsubishi 18 10 4 4 24-16 24 4. Yanmar Diesel 18 7 8 3 21-15 22 5. Furukawa 18 7 7 4 28-23 21 6. Honda 18 5 4 9 23-28 14 7. Hitachi 18 5 3 10 22-27 13 8. Mazda 18 4 5 9 15-27 13 9. Nippon Steel 18 3 5 10 14-27 11 Relegated 10. Yamaha Motors 18 2 6 10 11-28 10 Relegated Promoted: Nippon Kokan and Nissan Motors		Japan Soccer League: 1982 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Mitsubishi 18 10 3 5 27-16 23 2. Yanmar Diesel 18 9 4 5 25-17 22 3. Furukawa 18 8 5 5 25-19 21 4. Fujita Industries 18 8 4 6 26-21 20 5. Yomiuri Club 18 8 3 7 23-18 19 6. Hitachi 18 8 3 7 29-27 19 7. Mazda 18 4 9 5 16-20 17 8. Nissan Motors 18 5 4 9 14-24 14 9. Honda 18 4 6 8 17-29 14 10. Nippon Kokan 18 1 9 8 12-23 11 Relegated Promoted: Yamaha Motors
Japan Soccer League: 1983 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Yomiuri Club 18 12 3 3 27-13 27 2. Nissan Motors 18 11 3 4 28-17 25 3. Fujita 18 7 7 4 18-15 21 4. Yamaha Motors 18 7 5 6 25-20 19 5. Yanmar Diesel 18 6 7 5 19-21 19 6. Mitsubishi 18 6 4 8 17-16 16 7. Furukawa 18 6 3 9 13-15 15 8. Honda 18 4 6 8 17-23 14 9. Hitachi 18 3 6 9 14-22 12 10. Mazda 18 5 2 11 15-31 12 Relegated Promoted: Nippon Kokan		Japan Soccer League: 1984 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Yomiuri Club 18 11 4 3 41-20 26 2. Nissan Motors 18 11 3 4 40-23 25 3. Yamaha Motors 18 10 4 4 28-16 24 4. Furukawa 18 8 5 5 28-20 21 5. Honda 18 7 5 6 26-23 19 6. Fujita 18 6 6 6 25-25 18 7. Mitsubishi 18 6 3 9 22-33 15 8. Nippon Kokan 18 4 6 8 16-23 14 9. Yanmar Diesel 18 5 4 9 15-28 14 10. Hitachi 18 2 0 16 11-41 4 Promoted: Sumitomo Metal and All Nippon Airways.
Japan Soccer League: 1985/86 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Furukawa 22 15 5 2 40-15 35 2. Nippon Kokan 22 13 2 7 39-22 28 3. Honda 22 8 12 2 30-20 28 4. Fujita 22 9 8 5 31-17 26 5. Nissan Motors 22 8 8 6 23-29 24 6. Yamaha Motors 22 9 5 8 20-21 23 7. Mitsubishi 22 8 6 8 29-19 22 8. Hitachi 22 8 5 9 26-33 21 9. Yomiuri Club 22 7 5 10 28-31 19 10. Yanmar Diesel 22 6 6 10 20-27 18 11. Sumitomo Metal 22 6 3 13 21-32 15 Relegated 12. All Nippon Airways 22 2 1 19 16-57 5 Relegated Promoted: Matsushita Electric and Mazda.		Japan Soccer League: 1986/87 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Yomiuri Club 22 11 7 4 35-18 29 2. Nippon Kokan 22 11 7 4 30-17 29 3. Mitsubishi 22 9 10 3 23-14 28 4. Furukawa 22 10 6 6 26-17 26 5. Nissan Motors 22 10 4 8 35-24 24 6. Yanmar Diesel 22 8 8 6 21-22 24 7. Mazda 22 6 11 5 17-17 23 8. Fujita 22 8 6 8 24-22 22 9. Honda 22 6 8 8 20-24 20 10. Yamaha Motors 22 3 11 8 11-22 17 11. Matsushita Electric 22 5 6 11 23-38 16 Relegated 12. Hitachi 22 1 4 17 13-43 6 Relegated Promoted: Sumitomo Metal and Toyota.
Japan Soccer League: 1987/88 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Yamaha Motors 22 12 10 0 27-10 34 2. Nippon Kokan 22 13 4 5 25-13 30 3. Mitsubishi 22 12 5 5 27-15 29 4. Nissan Motors 22 10 5 7 27-20 25 5. Yomiuri Club 22 8 8 6 23-17 24 6. Yanmar Diesel 22 7 10 5 22-19 24 7. Furukawa 22 6 9 7 17-16 21 8. Honda 22 6 8 8 19-22 20 9. Fujita 22 6 6 10 16-20 18 10. Sumitomo Metal 22 5 5 12 17-32 15 11. Mazda 22 2 9 11 8-18 13 12. Toyota 22 3 5 14 10-36 11 Promoted: All Nippon Airways and Matsushita Electric.		Japan Soccer League: 1988/89 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Nissan Motors 22 14 4 4 32-17 46 2. All Nippon Airways 22 12 4 6 37-22 40 3. Yamaha Motors 22 12 3 7 31-21 39 4. Fujita 22 10 6 6 34-20 36 5. Yomiuri Club 22 8 8 6 25-23 32 6. Furukawa 22 8 5 9 21-19 29 7. Matsushita Electric 22 8 5 9 26-30 29 8. Yanmar Diesel 22 7 7 8 23-22 28 9. Honda 22 7 6 9 20-23 27 10. NKK 22 3 10 9 17-31 19 11. Sumitomo Metal 22 4 7 11 12-37 19 Relegated 12. Mitsubishi 22 1 11 10 14-27 14 Relegated Promoted: Toshiba and Hitachi.
Japan Soccer League: 1989/90 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Nissan Motors 22 14 5 3 44-26 47 2. Yomiuri Club 22 13 7 2 38-16 46 3. All Nippon Airways 22 11 7 4 34-19 40 4. Furukawa 22 10 8 4 25-16 38 5. Yamaha Motors 22 9 7 6 23-19 34 6. Honda 22 10 2 10 32-29 32 7. Yanmar Diesel 22 6 9 7 20-23 27 8. NKK 22 5 9 8 16-32 24 9. Toshiba 22 4 8 10 20-28 20 10. Matsushita Electric 22 4 7 11 24-31 19 11. Fujita 22 4 5 13 17-30 17 Relegated 12. Hitachi 22 3 4 15 12-36 13 Relegated Promoted: Mitsubishi and Toyota.		Japan Soccer League: 1990/91 Rank Team G W D L GF-GA Pts. 1. Yomiuri Club 22 15 4 3 41-16 49 2. Nissan Motors 22 11 9 2 27-10 42 3. Honda 22 10 8 4 29-21 38 4. Toshiba 22 8 8 6 26-24 32 5. Toyota 22 7 9 6 26-27 30 6. Matsushita Electric 22 7 9 6 24-26 30 7. All Nippon Airways 22 7 6 9 24-24 27 8. Yamaha Motors 22 6 7 9 21-22 25 9. Furukawa 22 5 10 7 22-24 25 10. Mitsubishi 22 6 6 10 18-23 24 11. Yanmar Diesel 22 5 5 12 13-31 20 Relegated 12. NKK 22 2 5 15 16-39 11 Relegated Promoted: Hitachi and Mazda.