2015 Japan Football League
# 2015 Japan Football League

The 2015 Japan Football League (Japanese: 第17回日本フットボールリーグ, Hepburn: Dai Jūnana-kai Nihon Futtobōru Rīgu) was the second season of the nationwide fourth tier of Japanese football, and the 17th season since the establishment of Japan Football League. The first stage of the season was played from 8 March to 7 June, and the second stage of the season from 20 June to 15 November, while post-season championship playoffs were held on 29 November and 5 December.

## Clubs

Sixteen clubs will participate in this second season of Japan Football League. The list was announced on 16 January. A place for 2015 Emperor's Cup will be given to the winners of the first stage of the JFL 2015.

| Club Name | Home Town | Notes |
| - | - | - |
| Azul Claro Numazu | Numazu, Shizuoka | J. League 100 Year Plan club status holders, J3 license holders |
| Fagiano Okayama Next | Okayama, Okayama | |
| Honda FC | Hamamatsu, Shizuoka | Defending champions of 2014 |
| Kagoshima United | Kagoshima, Kagoshima | J. League 100 Year Plan club status holders, J3 license holders |
| Honda Lock | Miyazaki, Miyazaki | |
| Maruyasu Okazaki | Okazaki, Aichi | |
| MIO Biwako Shiga | Kusatsu, Shiga | |
| Nara Club | Nara, Nara | Promoted from Kansai League Div. 1 after 1st place in 38th Regional Promotion Series and J. League 100 Year Plan club status and J3 license holders |
| FC Osaka | Osaka, Osaka | Promoted from Kansai League Div. 1 after 2nd place in 38th Regional Promotion Series |
| Ryutsu Keizai Dragons | Ryūgasaki, Ibaraki | Promoted from Kantō League Div. 2 after 3rd place in 38th Regional Promotion Series |
| SP Kyoto FC | Mukō, Kyoto | Formerly Sagawa Printing Kyoto |
| Sony Sendai | Tagajō, Miyagi | |
| Tochigi Uva | Tochigi, Tochigi | J. League 100 Year Plan club status holders |
| Vanraure Hachinohe | Hachinohe, Aomori | J. League 100 Year Plan club status holders |
| Verspah Oita | Ōita, Ōita | |
| Yokogawa Musashino | Musashino, Tokyo | |

On 29 October SP Kyoto FC announced their withdrawal from JFL at the end of the season.

## Change in rules

The tournament will continue with the system introduced in 2014: Two single round-robin stages will be held, and winners of each stage will determine the champion in the post-season home and away championship playoffs. If the same team manages to win both stages, no playoffs will be held, and they will be automatically declared champions.

The two worst teams by aggregated results of both stages were relegated to the Regional Leagues and replaced by the top two performers of the Regional League promotion series. However, if one or two teams would be admitted to J3 or withdrawn at the end of the season, the number of relegated clubs would be reduced accordingly. As a result of SP Kyoto FC's withdrawal, no club was relegated.

According to updated J.League Terms, the clubs must comply the following requirements to be promoted to J3 League:

* Play in JFL for at least one season before promotion
* Hold a J. League 100 Year Plan club status
* Finish in top 4 of the combined JFL table, and finish either 1st or 2nd among associate members.
* Have an average home attendance of at least 2,000; with significant effort recognized toward reaching 3,000 spectators
* Have an annual operating revenue of 150 million yen
* Pass the J3 licensing examination conducted by J.League

## First stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Vanraure Hachinohe (Q) | 15 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 8 | +13 | 34 | Qualification to championship play-offs |
| 2 | Sony Sendai | 15 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 11 | +11 | 34 | |
| 3 | Honda FC | 15 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 31 | 9 | +22 | 33 | |
| 4 | Kagoshima United | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 11 | +9 | 30 | |
| 5 | FC Osaka | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 26 | 11 | +15 | 29 | |
| 6 | Azul Claro Numazu | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 28 | |
| 7 | Nara Club | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 23 | |
| 8 | SP Kyoto FC | 15 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 24 | 14 | +10 | 22 | |
| 9 | Honda Lock | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 21 | −5 | 19 | |
| 10 | MIO Biwako Shiga | 15 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 18 | 17 | +1 | 18 | |
| 11 | Verspah Oita | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 21 | 27 | −6 | 18 | |
| 12 | Yokogawa Musashino | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 18 | −3 | 17 | |
| 13 | Ryutsu Keizai Dragons | 15 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 16 | 31 | −15 | 10 | |
| 14 | Maruyasu Okazaki | 15 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 26 | −16 | 9 | |
| 15 | Tochigi Uva | 15 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 12 | 27 | −15 | 8 | |
| 16 | Fagiano Okayama Next | 15 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 34 | −27 | 4 | |

## Second stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sony Sendai (Q) | 15 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 26 | 10 | +16 | 37 | Qualification to championship play-offs |
| 2 | Honda FC | 15 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 42 | 13 | +29 | 35 | |
| 3 | Kagoshima United | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 14 | +12 | 30 | |
| 4 | SP Kyoto FC | 15 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 27 | 12 | +15 | 28 | |
| 5 | Azul Claro Numazu | 15 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 16 | +3 | 26 | |
| 6 | Vanraure Hachinohe | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 25 | |
| 7 | Nara Club | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 19 | 15 | +4 | 23 | |
| 8 | Honda Lock | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 16 | −1 | 21 | |
| 9 | Verspah Oita | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 19 | 20 | −1 | 19 | |
| 10 | MIO Biwako Shiga | 15 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 18 | 24 | −6 | 16 | |
| 11 | Fagiano Okayama Next | 15 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 18 | 25 | −7 | 16 | |
| 12 | FC Osaka | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 19 | 24 | −5 | 15 | |
| 13 | Yokogawa Musashino | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 22 | −6 | 13 | |
| 14 | Maruyasu Okazaki | 15 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 17 | 35 | −18 | 12 | |
| 15 | Tochigi Uva | 15 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 17 | 34 | −17 | 11 | |
| 16 | Ryutsu Keizai Dragons | 15 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 31 | −20 | 11 | |

## Championship play-offs

The championship play-offs will be held after the season between two winners of each stage. Vanraure Hachinohe, the winners of the first stage, hosted the first leg on 29 November, and Sony Sendai who won the second stage hosted the second leg on 5 December.

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Vanraure Hachinohe | 1–1 (4–5 p) | Sony Sendai | 1–0 | 0–1 |

## Overall table

This table was used to determine J3 promotion candidates. To qualify for promotion, a club must hold a 100 Year Plan status, obtain J3 license (marked in bold in the table), and finish both in the top 4 of the JFL, and either 1st or 2nd among the promotion-eligible clubs.

On 25 September J.League has awarded J3 licenses for 2016 season. Among JFL clubs, only Kagoshima United, Azul Claro Numazu, and Nara Club received the licenses.

On 17 November J.League officially promoted Kagoshima United to next year's J3 League.

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sony Sendai (C) | 30 | 21 | 8 | 1 | 48 | 21 | +27 | 71 | |
| 2 | Vanraure Hachinohe | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 36 | 21 | +15 | 59 | |
| 3 | Honda FC | 30 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 73 | 22 | +51 | 68 | |
| 4 | Kagoshima United (P) | 30 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 46 | 25 | +21 | 60 | Promotion to 2016 J3 League |
| 5 | Azul Claro Numazu | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 36 | 28 | +8 | 54 | |
| 6 | SP Kyoto FC | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 51 | 26 | +25 | 50 | Withdrawn |
| 7 | Nara Club | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 33 | 28 | +5 | 46 | |
| 8 | FC Osaka | 30 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 45 | 35 | +10 | 44 | |
| 9 | Honda Lock | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 31 | 37 | −6 | 40 | |
| 10 | Verspah Oita | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 40 | 47 | −7 | 37 | |
| 11 | MIO Biwako Shiga | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 36 | 41 | −5 | 34 | |
| 12 | Yokogawa Musashino | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 31 | 40 | −9 | 30 | |
| 13 | Maruyasu Okazaki | 30 | 6 | 3 | 21 | 27 | 61 | −34 | 21 | |
| 14 | Ryutsu Keizai Dragons | 30 | 6 | 3 | 21 | 27 | 62 | −35 | 21 | |
| 15 | Fagiano Okayama Next | 30 | 6 | 2 | 22 | 25 | 59 | −34 | 20 | |
| 16 | Tochigi Uva | 30 | 5 | 4 | 21 | 29 | 61 | −32 | 19 | |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Kiichi Iga | Honda FC | 17 |
| 2 | Hiroki Kurimoto | Honda FC | 13 |
| 2 | Yu Kijima | Verspah Oita | 13 |
| 4 | Daiki Kagawa | Honda FC | 12 |
| 5 | Yuya Yamada | Kagoshima United FC | 11 |
| 6 | Jun Arima | Sony Sendai | 10 |
| 6 | Ryota Nakamura | FC Osaka | 10 |
| 8 | Taiki Kato | SP Kyoto FC | 9 |
| 8 | Noriaki Fujimoto | SP Kyoto FC | 9 |
| 8 | Makoto Kawanishi | FC Osaka | 9 |

Updated to games played on 15 November 2015 Source: JFL Stats & Data - Ranking:Goals (in Japanese)

## Attendance

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Kagoshima United | 39,361 | 8,656 | 1,093 | 2,624 | $+43.8%^†$ |
| 2 | Azul Claro Numazu | 32,970 | 8,337 | 558 | 2,198 | $+23.7%^†$ |
| 3 | Nara Club | 27,250 | 3,466 | 812 | 1,817 | $+52.2%^†$ |
| 4 | Honda FC | 16,067 | 3,317 | 495 | 1,071 | $+5.6%^†$ |
| 5 | Vanraure Hachinohe | 14,610 | 1,493 | 555 | 974 | $+27.7%^†$ |
| 6 | MIO Biwako Shiga | 13,414 | 2,541 | 388 | 894 | $+38.8%^†$ |
| 7 | Yokogawa Musashino | 12,255 | 2,305 | 438 | 817 | $+10.6%^†$ |
| 8 | FC Osaka | 10,386 | 1,568 | 291 | 692 | $+31.6%^†$ |
| 9 | Sony Sendai | 8,015 | 967 | 258 | 534 | $+3.3%^†$ |
| 10 | Verspah Oita | 7,327 | 1,226 | 210 | 488 | $+46.5%^†$ |
| 11 | Tochigi Uva | 6,842 | 1,208 | 277 | 456 | $−15.6%^†$ |
| 12 | Ryutsu Keizai Dragons | 5,476 | 511 | 226 | 365 | $n/a^†$ |
| 13 | SP Kyoto FC | 5,454 | 918 | 203 | 364 | $−7.8%^†$ |
| 14 | Honda Lock | 5,341 | 785 | 183 | 356 | $−5.6%^†$ |
| 15 | Maruyasu Okazaki | 5,191 | 787 | 223 | 346 | $−3.6%^†$ |
| 16 | Fagiano Okayama Next | 4,634 | 475 | 122 | 309 | $−31.5%^†$ |
| | League total | 214,593 | 8,656 | 122 | 894 | $+5.5%^†$ |

Updated to games played on 15 November 2015 Source: Japan Football League (1st stage, 2nd stage) (in Japanese) Notes: $^†$ Team played previous season in Regional Leagues.

## Promotion from Regional Leagues

Due to SP Kyoto's resignation and Kagoshima's promotion, two promotion slots were available for the winners of the Regional League promotion series. In the final group tournament that took place from 21 to 23 November ReinMeer Aomori and Briobecca Urayasu finished first and second, respectively, and won promotion to 2016 JFL.

