# 1994 J.League

The J.League 1994 season was the second season of the J.League. The league commenced on March 12 and completed on November 19. The Suntory Championship took place on November 26 and December 2.

## Clubs

The following 12 clubs participated in J.League during 1994 season. Of these clubs, Bellmare Hiratsuka and Júblio Iwata were newly promoted teams from Japan Football League.
| Club name | Hometown | Stadium (majority games) | Capacity | Notes | Head coach |
| Bellmare Hiratsuka | Hiratsuka, Kanagawa | Hiratsuka Stadium | 15,380 | Promoted | Mitsuru Komaeda |
| Gamba Osaka | Osaka, Osaka | Osaka Expo '70 Stadium | 21,000 | | Kunishige Kamamoto |
| JEF United Ichihara | Chiba, Chiba | Ichihara Seaside Stadium | 14,051 | | Eijun Kiyokumo |
| Júbilo Iwata | Iwata, Shizuoka | Júbilo Iwata Stadium | 15,165 | Promoted | Hans Ooft |
| Kashima Antlers | Kashima, Ibaraki | Kashima Soccer Stadium | 37,638 | | Edu Coimbra |
| Nagoya Grampus Eight | Nagoya, Aichi | Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium | 11,900 | | Gordon Milne |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Hiroshima, Hiroshima | Hiroshima General Ground Main Stadium | 13,800 | | Stuart Baxter |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture | Nihondaira Sports Stadium | 20,248 | | Rivellino |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Saitama, Greater Tokyo Area | Urawa Komaba Stadium | 21,500 | | Kenzo Yokoyama |
| Verdy Kawasaki | Kawasaki, Kanagawa | Todoroki Athletics Stadium | 26,232 | | Yasutaro Matsuki |
| Yokohama Flügels | Yokohama | Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium | 15,454 | | Shu Kamo |
| Yokohama Marinos | Yokohama | Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium | 15,454 | | Hidehiko Shimizu |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Non-visa foreign | Former players |
| Bellmare Hiratsuka | Almir | Betinho | Edson | Mirandinha | | | |
| Gamba Osaka | Sergei Aleinikov | Flávio Campos | Kiril Metkov | Akhrik Tsveiba | Oleh Protasov | | |
| JEF United Ichihara | František Mysliveček | Pavel Řehák | Nenad Maslovar | Frank Ordenewitz | Pierre Littbarski | Sandro Shin Che-bon | |
| Júbilo Iwata | Walter | Salvatore Schillaci | André Paus | Gerald Vanenburg | | | |
| Kashima Antlers | Alcindo | Edinho | Leonardo | Santos | | | Zico |
| Nagoya Grampus Eight | Elivélton | Garça | Jorginho | Dragan Stojković | Dragiša Binić | Dido Havenaar | Gary Lineker |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Ivan Hašek | Pavel Černý | Tore Pedersen | Noh Jung-yoon | | Andrey | Lee Baxter |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Djalminha | Ronaldão | Toninho | | | Ademir Santos | Sidmar |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Guido Buchwald | Michael Rummenigge | Uwe Bein | | | Edwin Uehara Cho Kwi-jae | Uwe Rahn Ľubomír Luhový Miroslav Mentel |
| Verdy Kawasaki | Bentinho | Bismarck | Capitão | Paulo | Pereira | Ko Ishikawa | |
| Yokohama Flügels | Fernando Moner | Aldro | Edu Marangon | Válber | | | Raúl Amarilla |
| Yokohama Marinos | David Bisconti | Gustavo Zapata | Ramón Díaz | Ramón Medina Bello | | | Everton |

## Format

In the 1994 season, the league followed split-season format, just like the previous season. Each halves (or stages) were known as Suntory Series and NICOS Series for sponsorship purposes. In each series, twelve clubs played in double round-robin format with a total of 22 games per club (per series). The games then went to golden-goal extra time and penalties if needed after regulation. The clubs were ranked by number of wins, 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 is declared stage champion and qualifies for the Suntory Championship. The first stage winner hosts the first leg in the championship series. If the same club win both stages, the runners-up of each stages plays against each other and the winners challenges the stage winner at the championship game.

### Changes in competition format

* Number of competing clubs increased from 10 to 12
* Number of games per club in a series increased from 18 to 22 games and from 36 to 44 games per season.

## Standings
### Suntory Series (1st Stage) standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | Qualification |
| 1 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 22 | 17 | 5 | 44 | 26 | +18 | 1994 Suntory Series Champions Qualified to Suntory Championship '94 |
| 2 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 22 | 16 | 6 | 41 | 25 | +16 | |
| 3 | Kashima Antlers | 22 | 16 | 6 | 45 | 32 | +13 | |
| 4 | Verdy Kawasaki | 22 | 14 | 8 | 43 | 21 | +22 | |
| 5 | Yokohama Flügels | 22 | 13 | 9 | 36 | 27 | +9 | |
| 6 | JEF United Ichihara | 22 | 10 | 12 | 34 | 43 | −9 | |
| 7 | Júbilo Iwata | 22 | 9 | 13 | 27 | 32 | −5 | |
| 8 | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 22 | 9 | 13 | 23 | 28 | −5 | |
| 9 | Yokohama Marinos | 22 | 8 | 14 | 29 | 35 | −6 | |
| 10 | Gamba Osaka | 22 | 7 | 15 | 37 | 46 | −9 | |
| 11 | Bellmare Hiratsuka | 22 | 7 | 15 | 27 | 54 | −27 | |
| 12 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 22 | 6 | 16 | 26 | 43 | −17 | |

### NICOS Series (2nd stage) standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | Qualification |
| 1 | Verdy Kawasaki | 22 | 17 | 5 | 48 | 26 | +22 | 1994 NICOS Series Champions Qualifies to Suntory Championship '94 |
| 2 | Bellmare Hiratsuka | 22 | 16 | 6 | 48 | 26 | +22 | |
| 3 | Yokohama Marinos | 22 | 14 | 8 | 44 | 26 | +18 | |
| 4 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 22 | 12 | 10 | 27 | 31 | −4 | |
| 5 | Kashima Antlers | 22 | 11 | 11 | 44 | 36 | +8 | |
| 6 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 22 | 11 | 11 | 28 | 31 | −3 | |
| 7 | Júbilo Iwata | 22 | 11 | 11 | 29 | 37 | −8 | |
| 8 | Yokohama Flügels | 22 | 9 | 13 | 31 | 33 | −2 | |
| 9 | JEF United Ichihara | 22 | 9 | 13 | 35 | 42 | −7 | |
| 10 | Gamba Osaka | 22 | 8 | 14 | 29 | 36 | −7 | |
| 11 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 22 | 8 | 14 | 33 | 51 | −18 | |
| 12 | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 22 | 6 | 16 | 33 | 54 | −21 | |

### Overall standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | Qualification |
| 1 | Verdy Kawasaki | 44 | 31 | 13 | 91 | 47 | +44 | 1994 J.League Champions Qualifies to 1995/96 ACC, 1995 Super Cup, and 1995 Sanwa Bank Cup |
| 2 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 44 | 29 | 15 | 71 | 57 | +14 | |
| 3 | Kashima Antlers | 44 | 27 | 17 | 89 | 68 | +21 | |
| 4 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 44 | 27 | 17 | 69 | 56 | +13 | |
| 5 | Bellmare Hiratsuka | 44 | 23 | 21 | 75 | 80 | −5 | |
| 6 | Yokohama Marinos | 44 | 22 | 22 | 73 | 61 | +12 | |
| 7 | Yokohama Flügels | 44 | 22 | 22 | 67 | 60 | +7 | |
| 8 | Júbilo Iwata | 44 | 20 | 24 | 56 | 69 | −13 | |
| 9 | JEF United Ichihara | 44 | 19 | 25 | 69 | 85 | −16 | |
| 10 | Gamba Osaka | 44 | 15 | 29 | 66 | 82 | −16 | |
| 11 | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 44 | 15 | 29 | 56 | 82 | −26 | |
| 12 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 44 | 14 | 30 | 59 | 94 | −35 | |

## Honours

| Competition | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place |
| League Competition ||||
| J.League Suntory Series | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Shimizu S-Pulse | Kashima Antlers |
| J.League NICOS Series | Verdy Kawasaki | Bellmare Hiratsuka | Yokohama Marinos |
| Suntory Championship | Verdy Kawasaki | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | |
| Cup Tournaments ||||
| Emperor's Cup | Bellmare Hiratsuka | Cerezo Osaka | Yokohama Marinos Gamba Osaka |
| Nabisco Cup | Verdy Kawasaki | Júbilo Iwata | Gamba Osaka Yokohama Marinos |
| XEROX Super Cup | Verdy Kawasaki | Yokohama Flügels | |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Frank Ordenewitz | JEF United Ichihara | 30 |
| 2 | Alcindo Sartori | Kashima Antlers | 28 |
| 3 | Betinho | Bellmare Hiratsuka | 24 |
| 4 | Ramón Díaz | Yokohama Marinos | 23 |
| 4 | Nobuhiro Takeda | Verdy Kawasaki | 23 |
| 6 | Toninho | Shimizu S-Pulse | 22 |
| 7 | Yoshiyuki Hasegawa | Kashima Antlers | 21 |
| 8 | Ivan Hašek | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 19 |
| 8 | Koji Noguchi | Bellmare Hiratsuka | 19 |
| 10 | Kazuyoshi Miura | Verdy Kawasaki | 16 |
| 10 | Toshihiro Yamaguchi | Gamba Osaka | 16 |
| 12 | Ramón Medina Bello | Yokohama Marinos | 15 |
| 12 | Pavel Černý | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 15 |
| 14 | Bismarck | Verdy Kawasaki | 14 |
| 14 | Takuya Takagi | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 14 |

## Awards
### Individual awards

| Award | Recipient | Club |
| Most Valuable Player | Pereira | Verdy Kawasaki |
| Rookie of the Year | Kazuaki Tasaka | Bellmare Hiratsuka |
| Manager of the Year | Yasutaro Matsuki | Verdy Kawasaki |
| Top Scorer | Frank Ordenewitz | JEF United Ichihara |

### Best Eleven

| Position | Footballer | Club | Nationality |
| GK | Shinkichi Kikuchi | Verdy Kawasaki | Japan |
| DF | Pereira | Verdy Kawasaki | Brazil |
| DF | Masami Ihara | Yokohama Marinos | Japan |
| DF | Yoshihiro Natsuka | Bellmare Hiratsuka | Japan |
| MF | Betinho | Bellmare Hiratsuka | Brazil |
| MF | Bismarck | Verdy Kawasaki | Brazil |
| MF | Tetsuji Hashiratani | Verdy Kawasaki | Japan |
| MF | Tsuyoshi Kitazawa | Verdy Kawasaki | Japan |
| MF | Ruy Ramos | Verdy Kawasaki | Japan |
| FW | Takuya Takagi | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Japan |
| FW | Nobuhiro Takeda | Verdy Kawasaki | Japan |