2018 Japan Football League
# 2018 Japan Football League

The 2018 Japan Football League (Japanese: 第20回日本フットボールリーグ, Hepburn: Dai Nijikkai Nihon Futtobōru Rīgu) was the fifth season of the nationwide fourth tier of Japanese football, and the 20th season since the establishment of Japan Football League. The season ran from 11 March to 18 November 2018.

## Clubs

Sixteen clubs participated in this season of Japan Football League. The list was announced on 15 January 2018.

| Club Name | Home Town | Position | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| Cobaltore Onagawa | Onagawa, Miyagi | RPS 1st | Promoted from TSL after 1st place in 41st Regional Promotion Series |
| FC Imabari | Imabari, Ehime | 6th | J.League 100 Year Plan club status and J3 license holders |
| FC Osaka | All cities/towns in Osaka | 4th | |
| Honda FC | Hamamatsu, Shizuoka | 1st | Defending champions of 2017 |
| Honda Lock | Miyazaki, Miyazaki | 8th | |
| Maruyasu Okazaki | Okazaki, Aichi | 9th | |
| MIO Biwako Shiga | Kusatsu, Shiga | 13th | |
| Nara Club | All cities/towns in Nara | 7th | J.League 100 Year Plan club status and J3 license holders |
| ReinMeer Aomori | Aomori, Aomori | 2nd | |
| Ryutsu Keizai Dragons | Ryūgasaki, Ibaraki | 10th | |
| Sony Sendai | Tagajō, Miyagi | 3rd | |
| Tegevajaro Miyazaki | Miyazaki, Miyazaki | RPS 2nd | Promoted from KSL after 2nd place in 41st Regional Promotion Series |
| Tokyo Musashino City | Musashino, Tokyo | 11th | J.League 100 Year Plan club status |
| Vanraure Hachinohe | Eastern cities/towns in Aomori | 5th | J.League 100 Year Plan club status and J3 license holders |
| Veertien Mie | All cities/towns in Mie | 12th | |
| Verspah Oita | Yufu & Ōita, Ōita | 14th | |

* ↑ centering on Nara
* ↑ Hachinohe, Towada, Gonohe, Sannohe, Takko, Hashikami, Nanbu, Shingo, Oirase, Misawa, Shichinohe, Rokunohe, Tohoku, Noheji, Yokohama, Rokkasho
* ↑ centering on Kuwana & Yokkaichi

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer |
| - | - | - | - |
| Cobaltore Onagawa | Tatsuya Murata | Seiya Narita | Mizuno |
| FC Imabari | Hirofumi Yoshitake | Ryoichi Kanai | Adidas |
| FC Osaka | Haruo Wada | Tomoyuki Iwamoto | New Balance |
| Honda FC | Hiroyasu Ibata | Yuya Suzuki | Umbro |
| Honda Lock | Kenji Taniguchi | Naoya Oyama | Kappa |
| Maruyasu Okazaki | Ryuji Kitamura | Keita Sugimoto | Penalty |
| MIO Biwako Shiga | Masafumi Nakaguchi | vacant | Nike |
| Nara Club | Norihiro Satsukawa | Shinichi Mukai | SQUADRA |
| ReinMeer Aomori | Tatsuya Mochizuki | Kanta Takahashi | Umbro |
| Ryutsu Keizai Dragons | Shunichi Nakajima | vacant | Adidas |
| Sony Sendai | Shinji Honda | Yuta Akimoto | Umbro |
| Tegevajaro Miyazaki | Nobuhiro Ishizaki | Hideo Tanaka | Penalty |
| Tokyo Musashino City | Kim Jong-song | Koji Ishihara | Yonex |
| Vanraure Hachinohe | Masahiro Kuzuno | Takafumi Sudo | ATHLETA |
| Veertien Mie | Eishi Kaizu | Katsuhisa Inamori | Mizuno |
| Verspah Oita | Shigemitsu Sudo | Makoto Nakamura | Warrix Sports |

## Change in rules

This season was the last to use the two-stage format, similar to the one J.League had in its early years and used in 2015 and 2016. Two single round-robin stages were held, and winners of each stage determined the champion in the post-season home and away championship playoffs. After five seasons, the JFL reverted to a one-stage double round-robin starting in 2019.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Honda FC (C) | 30 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 76 | 25 | +51 | 79 | |
| 2 | FC Osaka | 30 | 18 | 3 | 9 | 54 | 34 | +20 | 57 | |
| 3 | Vanraure Hachinohe (P) | 30 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 43 | 21 | +22 | 56 | Promotion to 2019 J3 League |
| 4 | Sony Sendai | 30 | 16 | 4 | 10 | 67 | 43 | +24 | 52 | |
| 5 | FC Imabari | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 63 | 32 | +31 | 49 | |
| 6 | Tokyo Musashino City | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 49 | 36 | +13 | 49 | |
| 7 | MIO Biwako Shiga | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 38 | 35 | +3 | 46 | |
| 8 | Nara Club | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 33 | 32 | +1 | 42 | |
| 9 | Verspah Oita | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 29 | 38 | −9 | 39 | |
| 10 | ReinMeer Aomori | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 38 | 48 | −10 | 37 | |
| 11 | Veertien Mie | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 40 | 52 | −12 | 35 | |
| 12 | Tegevajaro Miyazaki | 30 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 43 | 60 | −17 | 32 | |
| 13 | Maruyasu Okazaki | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 33 | 46 | −13 | 31 | |
| 14 | Honda Lock | 30 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 29 | 52 | −23 | 29 | |
| 15 | Ryutsu Keizai Dragons | 30 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 20 | 50 | −30 | 19 | |
| 16 | Cobaltore Onagawa (R) | 30 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 18 | 65 | −47 | 17 | Relegation to 2019 Regional Leagues |

* ↑ 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.

## Top scorers

    As of match played 18 November 2018.

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Shogo Omachi | Honda FC | 18 |
| 2 | Koji Ishihara | Tokyo Musashino City FC | 17 |
| 3 | Shogo Fujimaki | Veertien Mie | 16 |
| 3 | Motoki Fujiwara | Sony Sendai FC | 16 |
| 5 | Kazuki Sakamoto | MIO Biwako Shiga | 15 |
| 5 | Jun Arima | FC Imabari | 15 |
| 7 | Shota Suzuki | Sony Sendai FC | 14 |
| 7 | Ryōta Kuwajima | FC Imabari | 14 |
| 9 | Sachio Hamada | ReinMeer Aomori FC | 13 |
| 10 | Shoma Mizunaga | Tegevajaro Miyazaki | 12 |

## Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | FC Imabari | 46,219 | 4,805 | 2,006 | 3,081 | $+41.3%^†$ |
| 2 | Vanraure Hachinohe | 33,114 | 4,075 | 1,107 | 2,208 | $+4.8%^†$ |
| 3 | Nara Club | 26,925 | 2,443 | 994 | 1,795 | $+24.0%^†$ |
| 4 | Veertien Mie | 12,732 | 1,263 | 594 | 849 | $+7.2%^†$ |
| 5 | Tokyo Musashino City | 12,657 | 1,413 | 495 | 844 | $+19.5%^†$ |
| 6 | Honda FC | 12,288 | 1,753 | 489 | 819 | $−4.9%^†$ |
| 7 | FC Osaka | 11,823 | 1,923 | 241 | 788 | $+32.0%^†$ |
| 8 | Verspah Oita | 8,734 | 1,414 | 236 | 582 | $+43.0%^†$ |
| 9 | Cobaltore Onagawa | 8,056 | 1,313 | 207 | 537 | $n/a^†$ |
| 10 | ReinMeer Aomori | 7,696 | 1,337 | 111 | 513 | $−28.8%^†$ |
| 11 | MIO Biwako Shiga | 7,674 | 1,526 | 182 | 512 | $−21.4%^†$ |
| 12 | Sony Sendai FC | 7,014 | 1,006 | 190 | 468 | $+32.6%^†$ |
| 13 | Dragons Ryugasaki | 6,903 | 727 | 161 | 460 | $+48.4%^†$ |
| 14 | Tegevajaro Miyazaki | 6,052 | 831 | 203 | 403 | $n/a^†$ |
| 15 | Maruyasu Okazaki | 5,343 | 658 | 208 | 356 | $−9.6%^†$ |
| 16 | Honda Lock SC | 4,581 | 626 | 160 | 305 | $−7.3%^†$ |
| | League total | 217,721 | 4,805 | 111 | 907 | $+13.8%^†$ |

Updated to games played on 18 November 2018 Source: JFL

## Promotion from Regional Leagues

Matsue City and Suzuka Unlimited

