2022 Japan Football League
# 2022 Japan Football League

The 2022 Japan Football League (Japanese: 第24回日本フットボールリーグ[第24回 JFL 2022], Hepburn: Dai Nijūsankai Nihon Futtobōru Rīgu [Dai Nijūsankai JFL 2022]) was the ninth season having a fourth-tier status in Japanese football, and the 24th season since the establishment of Japan Football League. The slogan for this season was "Enchant with a different play!" The matches were mostly broadcast/streamed live at Japan Football League's channel. The league's awards, not held since 2020 due to special measures regarding COVID-19, was held on 6 December 2022.

## League structure and organisation

Iwaki FC won the league for the first time in their history, after joining the league only two seasons ago. So, they were promoted and joined J3 for the 2022 season. Then, sixteen clubs featured in this season of Japan Football League. FC Kariya were relegated after losing the playoff against Criacao Shinjuku, who were duly promoted to the JFL after qualifying in the top two spots of the 45th Regional Play-off Series. Honda Lock kept their stay at JFL, as despite having finished 16th last season, they won their playoff match against FC Ise-Shima to avoid relegation to the Regional Leagues.

As of November 2022, there were six teams eligible for promotion to the J3 League, as the only way teams from JFL can be promoted to the J3, is by having a license (the same applies for teams being promoted from J3 to J2, and from J2 to J1). Up from none to 2 teams could be promoted from the Japan Football League, or relegated to the Regional Leagues, depending on the circumstances.

The league is played under a round-robin format, with the 16 teams playing home-and-away matches against each other, playing in total 30 matches across the competition, starting from 13 March and ending on 20 November. It features the usual point-earning format, with 3 points for winning, 1 for drawing, and no points for losing.

Regarding the breaks during the match, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the JFL continued to follow FIFA's recommendation of a maximum of 5 available substitutions, and 3 substitution windows per team in each match (excluding the half-time). The teams are allowed a water break at each half of the matches regardless of the WBGT on the matchday. The decision to have or not to have a water break is up to whose teams are playing the match.

## Participating clubs

The teams which possess promotion-enabler licenses are highlighted in green in the following table.

| Club Name | Home town | Stadium | Capacity | Position | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Criacao Shinjuku | Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo | AGF Field | 2,800 | Winners of KSL and 45th RPS | 100 Year Plan status. J3 license application was declined by J.League. |
| Honda FC | Hamamatsu, Shizuoka | Honda Miyakoda Soccer Stadium | 2,506 | JFL (2nd) | |
| Honda Lock | Miyazaki, Miyazaki | Hinata Athletic Stadium | 20,000 | JFL (16th) | |
| Kochi United | Kōchi, Kōchi | Kōchi Haruno Athletic Stadium | 25,000 | JFL (13th) | 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders. |
| Maruyasu Okazaki | Okazaki, Aichi | Okazaki Ryūhoku Stadium | 5,000 | JFL (14th) | |
| Kagura Shimane | Matsue, Shimane | Matsue Municipal Athletic Stadium | 24,000 | JFL (5th) | Renamed from "Matsue City FC" |
| MIO Biwako Shiga | Kusatsu, Shiga | Higashiōmi Nunobiki Green Stadium | 5,060 | JFL (12th) | 100 Year Plan status applicants |
| Nara Club | All cities/towns in Nara | Rohto Field Nara | 30,600 | JFL (10th) | 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders |
| FC Osaka | Higashiōsaka, Osaka | Hanazono Rugby Stadium 2nd Ground | 1,722 | JFL (7th) | 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders; renamed from "F.C. Osaka" |
| ReinMeer Aomori | Aomori, Aomori | Kakuhiro Group Athletic Stadium | 20,809 | JFL (9th) | 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders |
| Sony Sendai | Tagajō, Miyagi | Miyagi Seikyō Megumino Soccer Stadium | 10,000 | JFL (6th) | |
| Suzuka Point Getters | Suzuka, Mie | AGF Suzuka Athletic Stadium | 1,450 | JFL (4th) | Former J3 license holders |
| FC Tiamo Hirakata | Hirakata, Osaka | Hirakata Municipal Athletic Stadium | 2,500 | JFL (8th) | |
| Tokyo Musashino United | Musashino, Tokyo | Musashino Municipal Athletic Stadium | 5,188 | JFL (15th) | |
| Veertien Mie | All cities/towns in Mie | Asahi Gas Energy Tōin Stadium | 5,142 | JFL (11th) | 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders |
| Verspah Oita | Yufu, Beppu & Ōita, Ōita | Shōwa Denkō Soccer/Rugby Field | 4,700 | JFL (3rd) | 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders. |

* ^ Their license was previously suspended after multiple rule-breaking occurrences by the team's board, including a match-fixing scandal originating from the 2021 JFL season. In late June 2022, the J.League determined officially the revocation of their 100 Year Plan status, and then, resulting in Suzuka Point Getters being unable to be qualified for the J3 League.

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer |
| - | - | - | - |
| Criacao Shinjuku | Ichiro Naruyama | Yu Yonehara | gym master |
| Honda FC | Hiroyuki Abe | Yuki Kusumoto | Umbro |
| Honda Lock SC | Yosuke Miyaji | Daichi Takahara | Umbro |
| Kagura Shimane | Noriaki Sanenobu | Keishiro Sato | soccer junky |
| Kochi United SC | Takafumi Yoshimoto | Tsubasa Yokotake | ATHLETA |
| Maruyasu Okazaki | Hiroyasu Ibata | Eitaro Tsunoi | ATHLETA |
| MIO Biwako Shiga | Hiroshi Otsuki | Ippei Kokuryo | JOGARBOLA |
| Nara Club | Julián Marín Bazalo | Yuki Kotani | Squadra |
| FC Osaka | Shinya Tsukahara | Shusuke Sakamoto | bonera |
| ReinMeer Aomori | Kei Shibata | Nobuhisa Urata | Umbro |
| Sony Sendai FC | Jun Suzuki | Ren Yoshino | Umbro |
| Suzuka Point Getters | Yasutoshi Miura | Koji Hashimoto | ATHLETA |
| FC Tiamo Hirakata | Yoshizumi Ogawa | Shota Inoue | JOGARBOLA |
| Tokyo Musashino United FC | Hiroki Yoda | Daichi Kobayashi | Yonex |
| Veertien Mie | Yasuhiro Higuchi | Kenshiro Tanioku | Lwond |
| Verspah Oita | Takashi Yamahashi | Hirohito Shinohara | YASUDA |

* ↑ centering on Nara
* ↑ centering on Kuwana & Yokkaichi

## Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Criacao Shinjuku | Hwang Song-su | | | | |
| Honda FC | | | | | |
| Honda Lock | | | | | |
| Kagura Shimane | | | | | |
| Kochi United | Yoo Jong-min | Tando Velaphi | | | |
| Maruyasu Okazaki | | | | | |
| MIO Biwako Shiga | Cho Hyeong-in | | | | |
| Nara Club | Arnau Riera | | | | |
| FC Osaka | Efrain Rintaro | Gabriel Pires | Luiz Fernando | Kim Soo-han | Woo Sang-ho |
| ReinMeer Aomori | Halef Pitbull | | | | |
| Sony Sendai | | | | | |
| Suzuka Point Getters | Vinícius Faria | Kim Tae-woo | | | |
| TIAMO Hirakata | João Siqueira | Yuri Messias | Noah Fortune | Emeka Basil | |
| Tokyo Musashino United | Ko Kyung-te | Ryang Hyon-ju | | | |
| Veertien Mie | Kim Song-sun | | | | |
| Verspah Oita | | | | | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Nara Club (C, P) | 30 | 16 | 11 | 3 | 48 | 25 | +23 | 59 | Promotion to 2023 J3 League |
| 2 | FC Osaka (P) | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 47 | 34 | +13 | 59 | Promotion to 2023 J3 League |
| 3 | Honda FC | 30 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 47 | 23 | +24 | 56 | |
| 4 | ReinMeer Aomori | 30 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 35 | 23 | +12 | 51 | |
| 5 | Maruyasu Okazaki | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 48 | 34 | +14 | 49 | |
| 6 | Tokyo Musashino United | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 49 | 33 | +16 | 48 | |
| 7 | Veertien Mie | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 43 | 29 | +14 | 45 | |
| 8 | Verspah Oita | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 40 | 44 | −4 | 43 | |
| 9 | Suzuka Point Getters | 30 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 31 | 40 | −9 | 41 | |
| 10 | Honda Lock | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 36 | |
| 11 | Kochi United | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 30 | 39 | −9 | 34 | |
| 12 | Kagura Shimane | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 32 | 42 | −10 | 34 | Folded |
| 13 | Tiamo Hirakata | 30 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 40 | 50 | −10 | 32 | |
| 14 | Sony Sendai | 30 | 5 | 13 | 12 | 23 | 39 | −16 | 28 | |
| 15 | Criacao Shinjuku | 30 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 30 | 52 | −22 | 24 | |
| 16 | MIO Biwako Shiga | 30 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 21 | 57 | −36 | 21 | |

* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 J.League 100 Year Plan clubs
* ↑ Promotion is conditional on holding a valid J3 license (marked in bold in the table), finishing the season in the top 4 of the JFL, and finishing in the top 2 out of the J.League 100 Year Plan clubs. Average home attendance of at least 2,000 is also required.
* ↑ Withdrew after the end of the season.

Nara Club and FC Osaka have been promoted to J3 League, so there will be no relegation from the 2022 JFL.

## Season statistics

### Top scorers

    As of 20 November 2022.

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Hayato Asakawa | Nara Club | 16 |
| 2 | Hiroki Maeda | Verspah Oita | 14 |
| 2 | Himan Morimoto | Tiamo Hirakata | 14 |
| 2 | Tatsuma Sakai | Maruyasu Okazaki | 14 |
| 5 | Kaito Miyake | Suzuka Point Getters | 13 |
| 5 | Shota Tamura | Veertien Mie | 13 |

### Hat-tricks

As of 20 November 2022.

| Name | For | Against | Result | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Tatsuma $Sakai^3$ | Maruyasu Okazaki | Suzuka Point Getters | 4–2 | 20 March 2022 |
| Tomoki $Hino^4$ | Honda Lock | Kagura Shimane | 5–1 | 3 April 2022 |
| Yuhi $Hayashi^3$ | Maruyasu Okazaki | Kochi United | 5–3 | 3 July 2022 |
| Daiki $Kawato^3$ | Tokyo Musashino United | Criacao Shinjuku | 4–2 | 31 July 2022 |
| Himan $Morimoto^3$ | Tiamo Hirakata | Honda Lock | 3–0 | 20 November 2022 |

## Awards

The awards were announced and presented on 6 December 2022.

### Team awards

| Award | Team |
| - | - |
| Fair Play Award | Honda Lock |
| Special Prize | Criacao Shinjuku |

### Individual awards

| Award | Winner | Team |
| - | - | - |
| Best Player (MVP) | Hayato Asakawa | Nara Club |
| Top Scorer (16 goals) | Hayato Asakawa | Nara Club |
| Rookie of the Year | Ryusei Kusakari | Honda FC |
| Best Manager Award | Julián Marín Bazalo | Nara Club |
| Special Award | Kazuyoshi Miura | Suzuka Point Getters |
| Fighting Spirit Award | Takanori Kanamori | Tokyo Musashino United |
| Excellent Referee Award | Koki Yasukawa | – |

### Team of the Year

| Goalkeeper (GK) | Defenders (DF) | Midfielders (MF) | Forwards (FW) |
| - | - | - | - |
| Arnau Riera (Nara Club) | Hayato Horiuchi (Honda FC) Shusuke Sakamoto (FC Osaka) Wataru Ise (Nara Club) Kazuya Mima (FC Osaka) | Yuya Suzuki (Honda FC) Rikuto Kubo (FC Osaka) Kazuki Matsumoto (Honda FC) Ryusei Kusakari (Honda FC) | Hayato Asakawa (Nara Club) Tatsuma Sakai (Maruyasu Okazaki) |
