# 1996 J.League

The 1996 J.League season was the fourth season since the establishment of the J.League. The season began on March 16 and ended on November 9.

## Clubs

The following sixteen clubs participated in J.League during the 1996 season. Of these clubs, Kyoto Purple Sanga, and Avispa Fukuoka were newly promoted teams from Japan Football League.
* Avispa Fukuoka
* Bellmare Hiratsuka
* Cerezo Osaka
* Gamba Osaka
* JEF United Ichihara
* Júbilo Iwata
* Kashima Antlers
* Kashiwa Reysol
* Kyoto Purple Sanga
* Nagoya Grampus Eight
* Sanfrecce Hiroshima
* Shimizu S-Pulse
* Urawa Red Diamonds
* Verdy Kawasaki
* Yokohama Flügels
* Yokohama Marinos

### Personnel

| Club | Head coach |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Hidehiko Shimizu |
| Bellmare Hiratsuka | Shigeharu Ueki |
| Cerezo Osaka | Hiroshi Sowa |
| Gamba Osaka | Josip Kuže |
| JEF United Ichihara | Yasuhiko Okudera |
| Júbilo Iwata | Hans Ooft |
| Kashima Antlers | João Carlos |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Nicanor de Carvalho |
| Kyoto Purple Sanga | George Yonashiro |
| Nagoya Grampus Eight | José Costa |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Wim Jansen |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Osvaldo Ardiles |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Holger Osieck |
| Verdy Kawasaki | Emerson Leão |
| Yokohama Flügels | Otacílio Gonçalves |
| Yokohama Marinos | Hiroshi Hayano |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Non-visa foreign | Former players |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Carlos Mayor | Hugo Maradona | Pedro Troglio | Richart Báez | | | |
| Bellmare Hiratsuka | Almir | Betinho | Luiz | Paulinho McLaren | Simão | | |
| Cerezo Osaka | Francisco Narcizio | Gilmar | Guga | Marquinhos | Sérgio Manoel | | |
| Gamba Osaka | Mladen Mladenović | Vjekoslav Škrinjar | Boban Babunski | Hans Gillhaus | Akhrik Tsveiba | | Oleh Protasov |
| JEF United Ichihara | Ivan Hašek | Nenad Maslovar | Peter Bosz | Wynton Rufer | | Sandro | |
| Júbilo Iwata | Dunga | Salvatore Schillaci | Gerald Vanenburg | | | Dido Havenaar | |
| Kashima Antlers | Carlos Mozer | Jorginho | Mazinho | Rodrigo Carbone | Rodrigo Mendes | | Leonardo |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Antônio Carlos Zago | Careca | Edílson | Valdir | Wagner | | |
| Kyoto Purple Sanga | Edmílson Matias | José Alexandre | Luiz Carlos | Raudnei | Sérgio Soares | | Baltazar Flávio Campos |
| Nagoya Grampus Eight | Alexandre Torres | Dragan Stojković | Donald-Olivier Sié | | | | Franck Durix Tomasz Frankowski |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Antônio Carlos Santos | Pieter Huistra | Noh Jung-yoon | | | | |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Fernando Oliva | Santos | Daniele Massaro | | | Ademir Santos | Toninho |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Brian Steen Nielsen | Basile Boli | Guido Buchwald | Uwe Bein | | | |
| Verdy Kawasaki | Argel Fuchs | Bismarck | Caíco | Magrão | | Ko Ishikawa | Donizete Pantera |
| Yokohama Flügels | César Sampaio | Denilson | Evair | Zinho | | | |
| Yokohama Marinos | Alberto Acosta | Darío Figueroa | David Bisconti | | | | Gustavo Zapata Néstor Gorosito |

## Format

In the 1996 season, the league abolished the split-season format and followed a single-season format; sixteen clubs played in double round-robin format, a total of 30 games per club. The games went to golden-goal extra time and penalties if needed after regulation. A club received 3 points for any win, 1 point for PK loss, and 0 pts for regulation or extra time loss. The clubs were ranked by points, and tie breakers are in the following order:
* Goal differential
* Goals scored
* Head-to-head results
* Extra match or a coin toss
The club that finished at the top of the table was declared season champion.

### Changes in competition format

* Number of competing clubs increased from 14 to 16
* Followed single-season format instead of split-season format
* Suntory Final Series was held this year, instead of Suntory Championship
* Number of games per club reduced to 30 from 52 games per season

## Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Kashima Antlers | 30 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 61 | 34 | +27 | 66 | 1996 J.League Champions Qualifies to 1996 Suntory Cup*, 1997/98 ACC, and 1997 Super Cup |
| 2 | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 30 | 21 | 0 | 9 | 63 | 39 | +24 | 63 | Qualifies to 1996 Suntory Cup* |
| 3 | Yokohama Flügels | 30 | 21 | 0 | 9 | 58 | 44 | +14 | 63 | |
| 4 | Júbilo Iwata | 30 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 53 | 38 | +15 | 62 | |
| 5 | Kashiwa Reysol | 30 | 20 | 0 | 10 | 67 | 52 | +15 | 60 | |
| 6 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 30 | 19 | 2 | 9 | 51 | 31 | +20 | 59 | |
| 7 | Verdy Kawasaki | 30 | 19 | 0 | 11 | 68 | 42 | +26 | 57 | |
| 8 | Yokohama Marinos | 30 | 14 | 0 | 16 | 39 | 40 | −1 | 42 | |
| 9 | JEF United Ichihara | 30 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 45 | 47 | −2 | 40 | |
| 10 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 30 | 12 | 1 | 17 | 50 | 60 | −10 | 37 | |
| 11 | Bellmare Hiratsuka | 30 | 12 | 0 | 18 | 47 | 58 | −11 | 36 | |
| 12 | Gamba Osaka | 30 | 11 | 0 | 19 | 38 | 59 | −21 | 33 | |
| 13 | Cerezo Osaka | 30 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 38 | 56 | −18 | 30 | |
| 14 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 30 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 36 | 60 | −24 | 30 | |
| 15 | Avispa Fukuoka | 30 | 9 | 2 | 19 | 42 | 64 | −22 | 29 | |
| 16 | Kyoto Purple Sanga | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 22 | 54 | −32 | 24 | |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Kazuyoshi Miura | Verdy Kawasaki | 23 |
| 2 | Edílson | Kashiwa Reysol | 21 |
| 3 | Evair | Yokohama Flügels | 20 |
| 4 | Salvatore Schillaci | Júbilo Iwata | 15 |
| 5 | Magrão | Verdy Kawasaki | 13 |
| 6 | Ivan Hašek | JEF United Ichihara | 12 |
| 6 | Yoshiyuki Hasegawa | Kashima Antlers | 12 |
| 8 | Mazinho | Kashima Antlers | 11 |
| 8 | Mladen Mladenović | Gamba Osaka | 11 |
| 8 | Dragan Stojković | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 11 |
| 8 | Koji Noguchi | Bellmare Hiratsuka | 11 |
| 8 | Masayuki Okano | Urawa Red Diamonds | 11 |
| 8 | Takuya Takagi | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 11 |
| 8 | Yasuyuki Moriyama | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 11 |

## Awards
### Individual awards

| Award | Recipient | Club |
| Most Valuable Player | Jorginho | Kashima Antlers |
| Rookie of the Year | Toshihide Saito | Shimizu S-Pulse |
| Manager of the Year | Nicanor | Kashiwa Reysol |
| Top Scorer | Kazuyoshi Miura | Verdy Kawasaki |

### Best Eleven

| Pos | Footballer | Club | Nationality |
| GK | Seigo Narazaki | Yokohama Flügels | Japan |
| DF | Guido Buchwald | Urawa Red Diamonds | Germany |
| DF | Masami Ihara | Yokohama Marinos | Japan |
| DF | Naoki Soma | Kashima Antlers | Japan |
| MF | Jorginho | Kashima Antlers | Brazil |
| MF | Hiroshi Nanami | Júbilo Iwata | Japan |
| MF | Masakiyo Maezono | Yokohama Flügels | Japan |
| MF | Motohiro Yamaguchi | Yokohama Flügels | Japan |
| FW | Dragan Stojković | Nagoya Grampus Eight | Yugoslavia |
| FW | Kazuyoshi Miura | Verdy Kawasaki | Japan |
| FW | Masayuki Okano | Urawa Red Diamonds | Japan |