Official 2004 J.League Thread [R]

Re: J-League thread [R]

wait, so if i pay you, you can buy "miage" from Japan and send it to me when you come back?

 

Re: J-League thread [R]

Like, one or two CDs. Or may be some manga. I have to think about it tough. Manga (in Japanese) in the US are so expensive!!

 

Re: J-League thread [R]

Otsuka Seiyaku just clinced the top 2 spots in JFL today. Also, other requirments for joing the J2 League is clear, therefore they are 100% likely to joing the league next year as TOKUSHIMA Vortis.

 

Re: J-League thread [R]

四国初Ｊクラブ誕生、大塚快勝／ＪＦＬ

 

Re: J-League thread [R]

Santory Championship Series (YOKOHAMA vs. The 2nd Stage Champion)
Game 1: December 5, 2004 @ Nissan Stadium
Game 2: December 11, 2004 @ Home of the 2nd stage Champion

Promotion/Relegation Playoff (16th J1 Club vs 3rd J2 Club)
Game 1: December 4, 2004 @ Home of the J2 Club
Game 2: December 12, 2004 @ Home of the J1 Club

 

Re: J-League thread [R]

But the problem is, Tokushima Vortis will be Blue. There are too many teams with Blue in J2. Fukuoka, Mito, Shonan, Yamagata, Tosu, Kawasaki, Kofu, and Yokohama. May be a little variety might help.

 

Re: J-League thread [R]

Thespa Kusatsu from Gunma, the second club hoping for J2 Promotion, had a hearing with the J.League officials a few days ago. The club is barely meeting the J2 regulations and according to the officials that will be good enough. As for results are concerned, since Hando and YKK AP is not trying for J2, finishing 3rd will be enough for Thespa to advance. There is 5 games left in JFL and Thespa just need 6pts to secure the 3rd spot.


Here is an article about Tokushima Vortis and J.League Expansion written by Ken Matsushima from The Rising Sun News.

The Vortex of Football in Shikoku

Of Japan's four major islands, only one -- Shikoku -- has no representative team in the J.League. That is about to change, as two clubs from the region are making aggressive efforts to join the League. As part of its "100-year plan", the J.League has begun to work more closely with Japan's amateur football leagues, with the aim of bringing new members into the J2, and hopefully adding a third division (J3) at some point in the next decade. The first step in this ambitious plan involves expanding the J1 from 16 teams to 18; a step that will be taken in January 2005. The next step, which is currently in progress, will be to add teams to the J2, by accepting top clubs from the amateur ranks which have the interest and wherewithal to transform themselves into a professional club. Once the J2 expands to an acceptable size (though the League is evasive about what "acceptable" means, most comments suggest that the J2 will eventually consist of 16 teams), the third step will involve creating a division three, with slightly less exacting financial and organizational requirements for entry, again drawing on teams from the current JFL.

Although the League's plans for expansion are quite ambitious, it is encouraging to note that they are not taking a haphazard approach to expansion. Noting the chaos that resulted in 1999, following the collapse of the Yokohama Flugels, as well as the current proplems faced by Japan"s professional baseball league, the J.League laid down some fairly stringent guidelines for J.League entry. Teams must meet certain regulations for the size of their home stadium the amount of financial capital, the number of players on the roster and total salary base (for all players and coaches), the number and financial stability of official sponsors, and so on. Consequently, while many teams have expressed interest in advancing to the J2, when official submissions were accepted by the J.League this summer, only three teams from the current JFL were able to meet all of the financial and organizational requirements. Interstingly enough, two of the candidates are located in Shikoku, which up to now has lacked a J.League team: Ehime FC and Otsuka Pharmaceutical FC (Tokushima Vortis).

Otsuka Pharmaceutical FC provides a fine example of how, in the world of Japanese football, grassroots support has overcome the vagaries of corporate bureaucracy. This is one of the characteristics that makes Japan's football culture slightly different from the money-driven leagues of Europe. In 1994, in response to the JFA's request to try to give teams a "local character", the team changed its name to "Vortis Tokushima". But in 1999, when the JFL was reorganised, the team officials inexplicably changed the name back to "Otsuka Pharmaceutical FC". This may reflect the fact that the company sponsor, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, felt that it could generate more publicity for itself by having the team named after the company. Though the fans seemed to prefer the name "Vortis", the big corporate sponsor ignored the wishes of fans and from the 1999 season, participated in the JFL as "Otsuka Pharmaceutical".

But while Otsuka Pharmaceutical may have had the "power" to choose a name for its team, it soon discovered that this power was only nominal. The company was wholly unprepared to address the campaign of "nonviolent resistance" organised by the team's fans. Though they never openly clashed with the sponsors, fans of the team continued to show up at the stadium each week with huge banners reading "Vortis Tokushima". Fan sites on the Internet invariably use the name "Vortis", as do the names of all the local fan clubs. Though the official scores printed in newspapers may have used the name "Otsuka Pharmaceutical", in every other respect, the team continued to be known as "Vortis".

Fortunately, the corporate sponsor eventually realised which side of the bread had butter on it. By the start of the 2001 season, the team began selling official goods which used the name "Vortis Tokushima" in small letters, in addition to the "Otsuka FC" logomark. With their application for J2 entry, the name Otsuka FC finally died an unlamented death. In accord with the J.League's rules against the use of corporate names, the team petitioned for entry as "Tokushima Vortis". Apparently, the back-office apparatchiks must have felt that reversing the order of the name would demonstrate that they still had SOME power. But in the end, it is the grassroots fan base that has triumphed. Last week, a Vortis victory ensured that the team will finish no lower than second place, thus meeting the last of the requirements for J2 entry. In 2005, a new era will dawn for football in Shikoku, as Tokushiuma Vortis joins the J.League. Hopefully, there will be many more teams to follow, in the years to come.

 

Re: J-League thread [R]

Please don't paste huge images next times. Make them smaller before posting.

J.LEAGUE Update
There are 4 more round left in J1, J2, and JFL.

J.LEAGUE Divison 1:
There are six clubs still in the 2nd stage championship race. However, most people can conclude that URAWA is about wrap up thier 2nd stage campaign. Notice that NAGOYA and NIGATA has to play 5 games rather than 4.

Code:

[b]J1 2nd Stage Standing (as of October 31)[/b]
[i]Club		GP	[b]Pts[/b][/i]
1.URAWA		11	[b]28[/b]
2.G.OSAKA	11	[b]21[/b]
3.ICHIHARA	11	[b]21[/b]
4.NIGATA	10	[b]17[/b]
5.YOKOHAMA	11	[b]16[/b]
6.NOGOYA	10	[b]15[/b]
[b]----------------------------[/b]

The relegation race is between 6 clubs, but 2 clubs are really strugling. But the fact that Kashiwa still has 5 games left definitely gives slight advantage over C.OSAKA. One releaving news for these clubs is that 16th place will not grantee that they will relegate. They still need to go through the promotion/relegation playoff in order to relegate.

Code:

[b]J1 Overall Standing (as of October 31)[/b]
[i]Club		GP	[b]Pts[/b][/i]
[b]----------------------------[/b]
11.KOBE		26	[b]27[/b]
12.HIROSHIMA	26	[b]27[/b]
13.OITA		25	[b]27[/b]
14.SHIMIZU	26	[b]26[/b]
15.KASHIWA	25	[b]21[/b]
16.C.OSAKA	26	[b]18[/b]

J.LEAGUE Division 2:
KAWASAKI already clinched the championship/promotion spot. However there are still four clubs fighting for the 2nd place (the 2nd automatic promotion berth) and the 3rd place (the promotion/relegation playoff berth). KYOTO and KOFU only can finish 3rd at their best.

Code:

[b]J2 Standing (as of October 31)[/b]
[i]Club		GP	[b]Pts[/b][/i]
1.KAWASAKI	40	[b]96[/b]
2.OMIYA		40	[b]75[/b]
3.YAMAGATA	40	[b]69[/b]
4.FUKUOKA	40	[b]64[/b]
5.KYOTO		40	[b]60[/b]
6.KOFU		40	[b]57[/b]
[b]----------------------------[/b]

Japanese Football League:
JFL also has 4 round left in the season and OSUKA SEIYAKU already won the J2 promotion. They are just one pts shy of winning the championship. There are three more clubs that can win the 2nd promotion spot (2nd place) but since two of those clubs are not intending to promote, 3rd place finishing will be enough for KUSATSA for promotion.

Code:

[b]JFL Standing (as of October 31)[/b]
[i]Club		GP	[b]Pts[/b][/i]
1.OTSUKA	26	[b]69[/b]
2.KUSATSU	26	[b]58[/b]
3.HONDA FC	25	[b]50[/b]
4.YKK AP	26	[b]46[/b]
[b]----------------------------[/b]

 

Re: J-League thread [R]

Today (Tonight) is the Nabisco Cup Final between F.C. Tokyo and Urawa Reds. The game will start at Nov 3rd 2pm JST (1am EST). The tickets for this game was sold out in just a matter of 30 minutes. This game will be a really good since both teams are very offensive minded and they are big rivals! If you want to follow the game live, there is a match tracker (Japanese Version) at J's Goal.

Good luck to both clubs (although I want Tokyo to win)!!