Just wondering when did the J-league has promotion/relegation? or was this there all along starting from 1994? (this was the year that J-league was founded right?) Also, are there any plans for J-3? And what is the effect of promotion/relegation on the league as a whole? Better off? worst off? The same? Thank you for any info you have regarding this topic.
In order: 1) Relegation has been around since the 1998 season ... you can read more on it here: http://www.wldcup.com/Asia/j2/history.html 2) There are plans for a J-3, but that's a good ways down the road. There is a third division right now (the JFL), but that's mostly semi-pro teams. 3) I don't think there's any real detriment to the league with the pro/rel. Teams like Kyoto and Cerezo have been relegated and have come back stronger after cutting dead wood. The problem lies in making sure all 16 clubs in J-2 can remain financially viable.
J2 has 12 clubs at the moment. Kawasaki and someone else are going to play in J1, but Tokushima and perhaps Kusatsu will join the party in J2 next year. Sagan Tosu is very likely to be kicked out of the J-League at the end of this season due to its dubious club finance. If that's the case, Ehime FC could be allowed to join J2, alongside Tokushima and Kusatsu, as an "exceptional measure." Sustainable club finance is a big issue for sure, but I'd argue that J2 has been successful so far. I assume that after J2 has been expanded to a 18-club league, like J1, J3 will be considered, although it might not be a single, nationwide league. There are a number of amateur clubs who wish to join the J-League in the future. The problem with JFL is that it is a mixture of such teams and corporate (or university) teams. The latter group is almost irrelevant to Japanese professional football.
47 Prefectures and 30 J-League clubs: Red: J-League clubs present Orange: J-League-conscious clubs present in JFL (Tokushima and Gumma turn red) Blue: J-League-conscious clubs present in Regional Leagues Green: J-League-conscious clubs present in Prefectural Leagues White: No J-League-conscious club present in said divisions (Does NOT NECESSARILY mean there's no chance of getting a J-League club) Note: In Tokushima's case, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals has given its football team to a newly formed public-private joint enterprise financed by the local governments and corporations, including Otsuka itself. Toyama Prefecture, for example, is colored white in the map but has two corporate teams in JFL. It is possible to form a J-League club in Toyama in the same way as Tokushima.
J-League Chairman Suzuki's idea of J3 (best-case scenario) 2005: J3 consisting of Eastern and Western conferences will be created. Teams like Ehime FC, Gumma FC, Tochigi SC, Tottori SC will secede from JFL and then join J3. 20XX: Both J1 and J2 have 16 clubs. J3 consisting of 9 regional conferences of 10 clubs will be formed. The total number of Japanese professional football clubs will exceed 100. Well, that's a very ambitious plan, but we are going in that direction.
This is my speculation about J3 in the near future. ======================================== Eastern J3: 10 clubs JFL *Tochigi SC (based in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi) *Gumma FC Horikoshi (based in Takasaki City, Gumma) Tohoku Regional League Div. 1 *FC Primeiro (based in Fukushima City, Fukushima?) *Wiese Shiogama FC (based in Shiogama City, Miyagi) Tohoku Regional League Div. 2 *Aster Aomori (based in Aomori City, Aomori?) *Grulla Morioka (based in Morioka City, Iwate) Kanto Regional League Div. 1 *Wellness Ome FC (based in Ome City, Tokyo) Tokai Regional League Div.1 *Shizuoka FC (based in Shizuoka City, Shizuoka) Hokushinetsu Regional League Div. 1 *Nagano Elsa FC (based in Nagano City, Nagano) Hokushinetsu Regional League Div. 2 *Yamaga Soccer Club (based in Matsumoto City, Nagano) Potential Rivalries: Tochigi vs Gumma Fukushima vs Shiogama vs Aomori vs Morioka Nagano vs Matsumoto ======================================== Western J3: 10 clubs JFL *Ehime FC (based in Matsuyama City, Ehime) *Tottori SC (based in Yonago City, Tottori) Chugoku Regional League Div. 1 *Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima FC (based in Kurashiki City, Okayama) Shikoku Regional League Div. 1 *Nankoku Kochi FC (based in Kochi City and Nankoku City, Kochi) *Ehime Shimanami FC (based in Imabari City, Ehime) *Sun-Life FC (based in Takamatsu City, Kagawa) Kyushu Regional League Div. 1 *Volca Kagoshima (based in Kagoshima City, Kagoshima) *Alouette Kumamoto (based in Kumamoto City, Kumamoto) *New Wave Kitakyushu (based in Kitakyushu City, Kitakyushu) *Sun Miyazaki FC (based in Miyazaki City, Miyazaki) Potential Rivalries: Ehime vs Imabari vs Kochi vs Takamatsu Kagoshima vs Kumamoto vs Kitakyushu vs Miyazaki
Actually this is what I heard. J3 is going be created around 2008-2010. What I have here is original J3 Plan that was proposed in beginning of this year. Best Case Scenario: 2004: 28 clubs (16 J1 + 12 J2) 2005: J1 will add 2 clubs from J2, while atmost 2 clubs expanding to J2. That will be 30 clubs total (18 J1 + 12 J2) 2006: J2 will expand 1 club (18 J1 + 13 J2) 2007: J2 will expand 1 club (18 J1 + 14 J2) 2008 - 2010: J1 will reduced to 16 clubs, 2 moving back to J2, while J3 with 10 clubs will be created (16 J1 + 16 J2 + 10 J3).
Are really sure J3 will be formed next year? That will be sweet. If this "conference structure" is the actual plan, I am assuming that JFL will be shut down. Because it will be much easier and make more sence for teams to promote from regional conferece to regional J3 than to notion-wide JFL and then to reginal J3.
No, I don't think it's possible to form J3 next year because there wouldn't many clubs that could get enough sustainable income to keep playing in a semi-pro (at best) third division. Like I said it's a best-case scenario, which is very unlikely, or rather Chairman's wishful thinking. Jリーグ３部制を鈴木チェアマンが構想 Yours is much more realisitic at the moment, although I'm not happy about the upside-down pyramid with J1 having 6 more clubs than J2. In a nationwide JFL, poor teams like Ehime FC lose money because of long-distance travel. Regional conferences would ease that problem and create local rivalries. Eastern & Western J3 would be like Nothern & Southern Regional Liga in Germany. As for the viability of JFL, I dunno, maybe Honda, Denso, Kokushikan University, etc. would insist on playing in a more marginalized, pseduo-third-division JFL, which would be completely off the J1-J2-J3 pyramid. Note: My Western & Eastern J3 are only hypothetical as of now. I did not consider each club's future realistically. I'm not even sure how seriously Aster Aomori in the Tohoku Regional League Div. 2, for instance, is longing for J-League action. More information on this issue can be found at Japanese Wikipedia: Jリーグに将来参加を目指しているチーム "Real Club Atletico Tokyo" umm, what a name...
This article is from 2002 right? OTSUKA is becoming a pro club, and the article contradicts itself, so I am assuming it will be older than 2002. I wish we had a more updated article on expansion, nonetheless at least J.Leauge is going the right direction. We are expanding two more clubs next year and hopefully 2 more by 2007. J3 is almost there!! I can bet that it will form before 1910!!
Tokushima and Kusatsu join J2. Hopefully, Ehime and Gumma will follow suit by 2007. [The Regional League Winners Championship] 1st Round: Group A Ryutsu Keizai University TDK Akita Japan Maritime SDF Atsugi Group B Honda Lock SC (Miyazaki) Hokkaido Norbritz FC (Hokkaido Electric Power) Kanazawa SC Group C Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima Shizuoka FC AS Laranja Kyoto Group D Honda Luminozo Sayama FC Either Nangoku Kochi FC or Shimanami FC Yazaki Valente FC Final Round: Round-robin contest among the group winners. H/A Playoffs in December: JFL 16th vs RLWC 1st and JFL 15th vs RLWC 2nd