J. League Championship
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The J. League Championship was a play-off competition to dicide the overall J. League winners of the season held between 1993 and 2004 except 1996. The J. League season consisted of the first stage and the second stage (or Suntory Series and Nihon Shinpan NICOS Series as they were known due to the sponsorship) during the period, and the winners of each stage participated in the competition. It wasn't held in 1996 because that season wasn't divided into stages. It was also known as the Suntory Championship because brewing and distilling company Suntory sponsored the competition.
The winners of this competition were regarded as the champions of the J. League, and the runners-up were the 2nd. Following this, the league ranking was decided according to the league regulations of the season such as the number of points or wins. It was held at the beginning of December every season except for the 1993 season where it was held in January 1994 because the World Cup qualifiers prevented it from taking place in December.
The last version of this competition was played in 2004 because the two-staged season format was abolished since the 2005 season.
[edit] Results
- The winners are in bold.
- Venues are indicated in brackets after the score line.
- "v" indicates that a golden goal decided the match.
| Season | 1st stage winners |
Aggregate (Extra time & PK) |
1st leg score |
2nd leg score |
2nd stage winners |
Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Kashima Antlers | 1-3 | 0-2 (National) |
1-1 (National) |
Verdy Kawasaki | |
| 1994 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 0-2 | 0-1 (Hiroshima) |
0-1 (National) |
Verdy Kawasaki | |
| 1995 | Yokohama Marinos | 2-0 | 1-0 (National) |
1-0 (National) |
Verdy Kawasaki | |
| 1997 | Kashima Antlers | 2-4 | 2-3v (Iwata) |
0-1 (Kashima) |
Jubilo Iwata | A draw decided who would play the home game first. |
| 1998 | Jubilo Iwata | 2-4 | 1-2v (National) |
1-2 (Kashima) |
Kashima Antlers | |
| 1999 | Jubilo Iwata | 3-3 PK 4-2 |
2v-1 (Iwata) |
1-2v (Nihondaira) |
Shimizu S-Pulse | PK shoot-out was required to decide the winners. (No extra time was played) |
| 2000 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 0-3 | 0-0 (Yokohama) |
0-3 (National) |
Kashima Antlers | |
| 2001 | Jubilo Iwata | 2-2 ET 0-1v |
2-2 (Shizuoka) |
0-0 (Kashima) |
Kashima Antlers | The extra time (with the golden goal rule) was required to decide the winners. |
| 2002 | No competition because Jubilo Iwata won the both stages. | |||||
| 2003 | No competition because Yokohama F. Marinos won the both stages. | |||||
| 2004 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 1-1 ET 0-0 PK 4-2 |
1-0 (Yokohama) |
0-1 (Saitama) |
Urawa Red Diamonds | The extra time (with the golden goal rule) and PK shoot-out were required to decide the winners. |
[edit] Clubs who won the most points through a season
There are only two occurrences where the club that won the most points through a season also won the championship. They are the 1993 and 1994 seasons, both won by Verdy Kawasaki. The following table shows the clubs that won the most points through a season.
| Season | Club |
|---|---|
| 1993 | Verdy Kawasaki |
| 1994 | Verdy Kawasaki |
| 1995 | Verdy Kawasaki |
| 1996 | Kashima Antlers |
| 1997 | Kashima Antlers |
| 1998 | Jubilo Iwata |
| 1999 | Jubilo Iwata |
| 2000 | Kashiwa Reysol |
| 2001 | Jubilo Iwata |
| 2002 | Jubilo Iwata |
| 2003 | Yokohama F. Marinos |
| 2004 | Urawa Red Diamonds |
| 2005 | Gamba Osaka |
In the 2000 season, although Kashiwa Reysol won the most points through the season, they could not take part in the J. League Championship because they failed to win either stage. In fact, Jubilo Iwata also won more points through the season than Yokohama F. Marinos and Kashima Antlers who qualified for the Championship. According to the regulation, the official league rankings of Kashiwa and Iwata of that season are third and fourth respectively.
[edit] Suntory Cup '96 J. League Champions' Finals
As the 1996 season wasn't devided into stages, the J. League Championship did not take place. Instead, the competition titled the Suntory Cup '96 J. League Champions' Finals was held. The champions and runners-up of the 1996 J. League regular season as well as the winners and the runners-up of the J. League Cup took part. Nagoya Grampus Eight won it and were qualified for the 1997 Sanwa Bank Cup.
Participating clubs
- Kashima Antlers (J. League champions)
- Nagoya Grampus Eight (J. League runners-up)
- Shimizu S-Pulse (J. League Cup winners)
- Verdy Kawasaki (J. League Cup runners-up)
Rusults
| Home | Score (Venue) |
Away | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-finals | Kashima Antlers | 1-1 PK 4-2 (Kashima) |
Verdy Kawasaki |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 0-0 PK 1-3 (Nihondaira) |
Nagoya Grampus Eight | |
| Final | Kashima Antlers | 0-1v (National) |
Nagoya Grampus Eight |
