2010 J.League Division 1
# 2010 J.League Division 1

The 2010 J.League Division 1 season was the 46th season of the top-flight club football in Japan and the 18th season since the establishment of J1 League. The season began on March 6 and ended on December 4.

A total of eighteen clubs participated in double round-robin format. At the end of the season, top three clubs received automatic qualification to the following years' AFC Champions League. Also the bottom three clubs were relegated to J2 League by default.

Nagoya Grampus won their first Japanese championship. This was also the first time since the advent of the J.League that the top scorer scored less than 20 goals; the honour of scoring 17 goals was shared between Nagoya's Joshua Kennedy and Júbilo Iwata's Ryoichi Maeda. Additionally, this was also the first Japanese top division season in which clubs from the Kantō region did not place among the top three.

## Clubs

The following eighteen clubs will play in J.League Division 1 during the 2010 season. Of these clubs, Vegalta Sendai, Cerezo Osaka and Shonan Bellmare are the newly promoted clubs. For the first time since 1995 season all top-flight teams are located on a single island (Honshū).

| Club Name | Home Town(s) | Note(s) |
| - | - | - |
| Albirex Niigata | Niigata & Seirō, Niigata | |
| Cerezo Osaka | Osaka | Promoted from J2 League in 2009 |
| FC Tokyo | Tokyo | |
| Gamba Osaka | Suita, Osaka | 2010 ACL Participant |
| Júbilo Iwata | Iwata, Shizuoka | |
| Kashima Antlers | Southwestern cities/towns of Ibaraki | 2010 ACL Participant Three-time Defending Champions |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Kawasaki, Kanagawa | 2010 ACL Participant |
| Kyoto Sanga | Southwestern cities/town in Kyoto | |
| Montedio Yamagata | All cities/towns in Yamagata | |
| Nagoya Grampus | Nagoya, Aichi | |
| Omiya Ardija | Saitama | |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Hiroshima | 2010 ACL Participant |
| Shonan Bellmare | Southcentral cities/towns in Kanagawa | Promoted from J2 League in 2009 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Shizuoka | |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Saitama | |
| Vegalta Sendai | Sendai, Miyagi | Promoted from J2 League in 2009 |
| Vissel Kobe | Kobe, Hyōgo | |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Yokohama & Yokosuka | |

## Format

Eighteen clubs will play in double round-robin (home and away) format, a total of 34 games each. A club receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order:

* Goal differential
* Goals scored
* Head-to-head results
* Disciplinary points

A draw would be conducted, if necessary. However, if two clubs are tied at the first place, both clubs will be declared as the champions. The bottom three clubs will be relegated to J.League Division 2. The top three clubs will qualify to AFC Champions League in the following year.

### Changes from previous year

* Regular season schedule had two months break after May 16 games, due to 2010 FIFA World Cup. Season was resumed from July 17, with exceptions for clubs advancing to the Round of 16 of 2010 AFC Champions League, which 11th-week matches were rescheduled to July 14.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Nagoya Grampus (C) | 34 | 23 | 3 | 8 | 54 | 37 | +17 | 72 | Qualification for 2011 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Gamba Osaka | 34 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 65 | 44 | +21 | 62 | Qualification for 2011 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Cerezo Osaka | 34 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 58 | 32 | +26 | 61 | Qualification for 2011 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Kashima Antlers | 34 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 51 | 31 | +20 | 60 | Qualification for 2011 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 5 | Kawasaki Frontale | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 61 | 47 | +14 | 54 | |
| 6 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 60 | 49 | +11 | 54 | |
| 7 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 45 | 38 | +7 | 51 | |
| 8 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 43 | 39 | +4 | 51 | |
| 9 | Albirex Niigata | 34 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 48 | 45 | +3 | 49 | |
| 10 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 34 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 48 | 41 | +7 | 48 | |
| 11 | Júbilo Iwata | 34 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 38 | 49 | −11 | 44 | |
| 12 | Omiya Ardija | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 39 | 45 | −6 | 42 | |
| 13 | Montedio Yamagata | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 29 | 42 | −13 | 42 | |
| 14 | Vegalta Sendai | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 40 | 46 | −6 | 39 | |
| 15 | Vissel Kobe | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 37 | 45 | −8 | 38 | |
| 16 | FC Tokyo (R) | 34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 36 | 41 | −5 | 36 | Relegation to 2011 J.League Division 2 |
| 17 | Kyoto Sanga (R) | 34 | 4 | 7 | 23 | 30 | 60 | −30 | 19 | Relegation to 2011 J.League Division 2 |
| 18 | Shonan Bellmare (R) | 34 | 3 | 7 | 24 | 31 | 82 | −51 | 16 | Relegation to 2011 J.League Division 2 |

* ↑ Kashima Antlers qualified as 2010 Emperor's Cup winners.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALB | ANT | ARD | BEL | CER | FRO | GAM | GRA | JÚB | MON | SFR | SAN | SSP | TOK | RED | VEG | VIS | FMA |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Albirex Niigata | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Kashima Antlers | 2–2 | | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| Omiya Ardija | 2–2 | 0–1 | | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Shonan Bellmare | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | | 0–4 | 1–6 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–6 | 1–3 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–4 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 6–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 1–2 | | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–3 |
| Gamba Osaka | 0–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 4–4 | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 0–2 |
| Nagoya Grampus | 1–1 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 3–1 | | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Júbilo Iwata | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 4–3 | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 |
| Montedio Yamagata | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–5 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Kyoto Sanga | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–4 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | | 2–4 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–5 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| FC Tokyo | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 0–4 | 2–3 |
| Vegalta Sendai | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–1 | | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Vissel Kobe | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 1–1 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 3–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 1–0 | |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Joshua Kennedy | Nagoya Grampus | 17 |
| 1 | Ryoichi Maeda | Júbilo Iwata | 17 |
| 3 | Edmílson | Urawa Red Diamonds | 16 |
| 3 | Márcio Richardes | Albirex Niigata | 16 |
| 5 | Adriano | Cerezo Osaka | 14 |
| 5 | Shoki Hirai | Gamba Osaka | 14 |
| 5 | Juninho | Kawasaki Frontale | 14 |
| 8 | Jungo Fujimoto | Shimizu S-Pulse | 13 |
| 8 | Shinji Okazaki | Shimizu S-Pulse | 13 |
| 8 | Keiji Tamada | Nagoya Grampus | 13 |

## Awards

### MVP

* Seigo Narazaki

### Best XI

| Position | Player |
| - | - |
| GK | Seigo Narazaki |
| DF | Marcus Tulio Tanaka |
| DF | Takahiro Masukawa |
| DF | Tomoaki Makino |
| MF | Danilson |
| MF | Márcio Richardes |
| MF | Kengo Nakamura |
| MF | Yasuhito Endō |
| MF | Jungo Fujimoto |
| FW | Joshua Kennedy |
| FW | Ryoichi Maeda |

## Attendance

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 678,994 | 55,410 | 21,625 | 39,941 | $−9.7%^†$ |
| 2 | Albirex Niigata | 519,221 | 41,002 | 19,152 | 30,542 | $−8.7%^†$ |
| 3 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 436,624 | 43,025 | 12,184 | 25,684 | $+16.4%^†$ |
| 4 | FC Tokyo | 426,899 | 30,672 | 17,477 | 25,112 | $−3.0%^†$ |
| 5 | Kashima Antlers | 356,430 | 35,251 | 9,472 | 20,966 | $−3.0%^†$ |
| 6 | Nagoya Grampus | 339,638 | 34,098 | 7,991 | 19,979 | $+25.4%^†$ |
| 7 | Kawasaki Frontale | 315,550 | 22,407 | 7,348 | 18,562 | $−1.5%^†$ |
| 8 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 306,022 | 38,851 | 7,117 | 18,001 | $+0.4%^†$ |
| 9 | Vegalta Sendai | 294,644 | 26,391 | 12,119 | 17,332 | $+33.8%^†$ |
| 10 | Gamba Osaka | 283,111 | 20,973 | 9,093 | 16,654 | $−6.0%^†$ |
| 11 | Cerezo Osaka | 255,439 | 37,860 | 8,041 | 15,026 | $+51.6%^†$ |
| 12 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 247,550 | 23,948 | 5,334 | 14,562 | $−7.4%^†$ |
| 13 | Vissel Kobe | 218,004 | 19,506 | 8,707 | 12,824 | $−1.9%^†$ |
| 14 | Júbilo Iwata | 206,324 | 31,266 | 7,030 | 12,137 | $−10.2%^†$ |
| 15 | Montedio Yamagata | 199,069 | 20,231 | 7,019 | 11,710 | $−2.9%^†$ |
| 16 | Shonan Bellmare | 188,614 | 14,095 | 6,032 | 11,095 | $+43.7%^†$ |
| 17 | Omiya Ardija | 188,088 | 29,575 | 7,831 | 11,064 | $−19.3%^†$ |
| 18 | Kyoto Sanga | 178,673 | 15,222 | 6,818 | 10,510 | $−5.5%^†$ |
| | League total | 5,638,894 | 55,410 | 5,334 | 18,428 | $−2.9%^†$ |

Updated to games played on December 4, 2010 Source: J. League Division 1 Notes: $^†$ Team played previous season in J2.

