# 2007 J.League Division 1

The 2007 J.League Division 1 season was the 15th season since the establishment of the J.League Division 1. The season began on March 3 and ended on December 1.

## General
### Promotion and relegation

* At the end of the 2006 season, Yokohama FC, Kashiwa Reysol, and Vissel Kobe were promoted to J1.
* At the end of the 2006 season, Avispa Fukuoka, Cerezo Osaka, and Kyoto Purple Sanga were relegated to J2.

### Changes in competition formats

* In the past, J.League Champion qualified to A3 Champions Cup, but since 2007 this berth is given to the Nabisco Cup winner.

## Honours

| Competition | Champion | Runners-up | 3rd place |
| J.League Division 1 | Kashima Antlers | Urawa Red Diamonds | Gamba Osaka |
| J.League Division 2 | Consadole Sapporo | Tokyo Verdy 1969 | Kyoto Purple Sanga |
| Emperor's Cup | Kashima Antlers | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Kawasaki Frontale Gamba Osaka |
| Nabisco Cup | Gamba Osaka | Kawasaki Frontale | Kashima Antlers Yokohama F. Marinos |
| XEROX Super Cup | Gamba Osaka | Urawa Red Diamonds | — |

## Clubs

The following eighteen clubs participated in J.League Division 1 during 2007 season. Of these clubs, Yokohama FC, Kashiwa Reysol, and Vissel Kobe were newly promoted clubs.
* Albirex Niigata
* FC Tokyo
* Gamba Osaka
* JEF United Chiba
* Júbilo Iwata
* Kashima Antlers
* Kashiwa Reysol
* Kawasaki Frontale
* Nagoya Grampus Eight
* Oita Trinita
* Omiya Ardija
* Sanfrecce Hiroshima
* Shimizu S-Pulse
* Urawa Red Diamonds
* Ventforet Kofu
* Vissel Kobe
* Yokohama FC
* Yokohama F. Marinos

### Personnel

| Club | Head coach |
| Albirex Niigata | Jun Suzuki |
| FC Tokyo | Hiromi Hara |
| Gamba Osaka | Akira Nishino |
| JEF United Chiba | Amar Osim |
| Júbilo Iwata | Atsushi Uchiyama |
| Kashima Antlers | Oswaldo de Oliveira |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Nobuhiro Ishizaki |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Takashi Sekizuka |
| Nagoya Grampus Eight | Sef Vergoossen |
| Oita Trinita | Péricles Chamusca |
| Omiya Ardija | Satoru Sakuma |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Mihailo Petrović |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Kenta Hasegawa |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Holger Osieck |
| Ventforet Kofu | Takeshi Oki |
| Vissel Kobe | Hiroshi Matsuda |
| Yokohama FC | Júlio César Leal |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Hiroshi Hayano |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Non-visa foreign | Type-C contract | Former players |
| Albirex Niigata | Edmílson | Márcio Richardes | Silvinho | | | | |
| FC Tokyo | Evaldo | Lucas Severino | | | | Rychely | Paulo Wanchope |
| Gamba Osaka | Baré | Magno Alves | Sidiclei | | | | |
| JEF United Chiba | Reinaldo | Nenad Đorđević | Park Jong-jin | | Kim Dong-soo | | Ilian Stoyanov |
| Júbilo Iwata | Fabrício | Henrique | Marquinhos Paraná | | | | |
| Kashima Antlers | Danilo | Fabão | Marquinhos | | | | |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Alceu | França | Márcio Araújo | | | Bruno Roque Seydou Doumbia | |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Francismar | Juninho | Magnum | | Jong Tae-se | | |
| Nagoya Grampus Eight | Frode Johnsen | Marek Špilár | Kim Jung-woo | | | | |
| Oita Trinita | Edmilson Alves | Luís Augusto | Roberto | | | Platini | Júnior Maranhão Serginho Baiano |
| Omiya Ardija | Dênis Marques | Leandro Euzébio | | | | Pedro Júnior | Alison Enílton Mauricio Salles |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Ueslei | Ilian Stoyanov | Dario Dabac | | Ri Han-jae | Jo Woo-jin | |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Alexandre Goulart | Anderson Andrade | Fernandinho | Cho Jae-jin | | Kim Dong-sub | |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Nenê | Robson Ponte | Washington | | Sergio Escudero | | |
| Ventforet Kofu | Alberto | Dženan Radončić | | | | | Josimar |
| Vissel Kobe | Emerson Thome | Leandro | Raphael Botti | | Park Kang-jo | Kim Tae-yeon | Gabriel |
| Yokohama FC | Adriano Pimenta | Marcos Paulo | Cho Young-cheol | Oh Beom-seok | Chong Yong-de | Katatau Bae Seung-jin | Anderson Gilmar |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Marques | | | | | Eltinho | Marcus Vinícius |

## Format

Eighteen clubs will play in double round-robin (home and away) format, a total of 34 games each. A club receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order:
* Goal differential
* Goals scored
* Head-to-head results
A draw would be conducted, if necessary. However, if two clubs are tied at the first place, both clubs will be declared as the champions. The bottom two clubs will be relegated to J2, while the 16th placed club plays a two-legged promotion/relegation series.

## Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kashima Antlers (C) | 34 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 60 | 36 | +24 | 72 | 2008 AFC Champions League Group Stage |
| 2 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 34 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 55 | 28 | +27 | 70 | 2008 AFC Champions League Knockout Stage |
| 3 | Gamba Osaka | 34 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 71 | 37 | +34 | 67 | 2008 AFC Champions League Group Stage |
| 4 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 53 | 36 | +17 | 61 | |
| 5 | Kawasaki Frontale | 34 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 66 | 48 | +18 | 54 | |
| 6 | Albirex Niigata | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 48 | 47 | +1 | 51 | |
| 7 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 54 | 35 | +19 | 50 | |
| 8 | Kashiwa Reysol | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 43 | 36 | +7 | 50 | |
| 9 | Júbilo Iwata | 34 | 15 | 4 | 15 | 54 | 55 | −1 | 49 | |
| 10 | Vissel Kobe | 34 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 58 | 48 | +10 | 47 | |
| 11 | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 34 | 13 | 6 | 15 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 45 | |
| 12 | FC Tokyo | 34 | 14 | 3 | 17 | 49 | 58 | −9 | 45 | |
| 13 | JEF United Chiba | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 51 | 56 | −5 | 42 | |
| 14 | Oita Trinita | 34 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 42 | 60 | −18 | 41 | |
| 15 | Omiya Ardija | 34 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 24 | 40 | −16 | 35 | |
| 16 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima (R) | 34 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 44 | 71 | −27 | 32 | 2007 promotion/relegation Series |
| 17 | Ventforet Kofu (R) | 34 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 33 | 65 | −32 | 27 | Relegation to 2008 J.League Division 2 |
| 18 | Yokohama FC (R) | 34 | 4 | 4 | 26 | 19 | 66 | −47 | 16 | Relegation to 2008 J.League Division 2 |
* ↑ Urawa Red Diamonds won the 2006 Emperor's Cup and have already qualified for AFC Champions League. Since Urawa takes the extra spot as the defending 2007 ACL champion; therefore Gamba Osaka received the third ACL spot as the third place team of the league.
* ↑ Gamba Osaka qualifies to Pan-Pacific Championship as the Nabisco Cup winner.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALB | ANT | ARD | FRO | GAM | GRA | JEF | JÚB | REY | SFR | SSP | TOK | TRI | RED | VEN | VIS | YFC | FMA |
| Albirex Niigata | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–6 |
| Kashima Antlers | 3–1 | | 0–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Omiya Ardija | 2–1 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 4–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 5–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 6–0 | 1–2 |
| Gamba Osaka | 3–1 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | | 3–1 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 6–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Nagoya Grampus Eight | 2–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 2–2 | 1–4 | | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 |
| JEF United Chiba | 1–2 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 6–0 | 2–4 | 3–2 | 4–2 | 4–0 | 2–3 |
| Júbilo Iwata | 2–4 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 4–0 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 5–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 0–5 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| FC Tokyo | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–7 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 2–0 | | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Oita Trinita | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 0–0 | | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Ventforet Kofu | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–6 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–4 | | 4–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Vissel Kobe | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 4–1 | | 3–0 | 0–0 |
| Yokohama FC | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–3 | | 1–0 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 8–1 | |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Juninho | Kawasaki Frontale | 22 |
| 2 | Baré | Gamba Osaka | 20 |
| 3 | Edmílson | Albirex Niigata | 19 |
| 4 | Ueslei | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 17 |
| 5 | Washington | Urawa Red Diamonds | 16 |
| 6 | Leandro | Vissel Kobe | 15 |
| 7 | Marquinhos | Kashima Antlers | 14 |
| 7 | Hideo Ōshima | Yokohama F. Marinos | 14 |
| 7 | Yoshito Ōkubo | Vissel Kobe | 14 |
| 10 | Frode Johnsen | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 13 |
| 10 | Cho Jae-jin | Shimizu S-Pulse | 13 |

## Attendance

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 793,347 | 62,123 | 16,709 | 46,667 | +2.4%$^†$ |
| 2 | Albirex Niigata | 650,698 | 42,015 | 31,500 | 38,276 | −1.1%$^†$ |
| 3 | FC Tokyo | 429,934 | 38,439 | 17,264 | 25,290 | +5.0%$^†$ |
| 4 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 408,656 | 53,916 | 10,828 | 24,039 | +1.6%$^†$ |
| 5 | Oita Trinita | 335,896 | 27,811 | 14,671 | 19,759 | −2.9%$^†$ |
| 6 | Gamba Osaka | 296,465 | 20,982 | 12,163 | 17,439 | +7.3%$^†$ |
| 7 | Kawasaki Frontale | 294,751 | 23,355 | 13,185 | 17,338 | +20.9%$^†$ |
| 8 | Júbilo Iwata | 278,109 | 35,072 | 9,292 | 16,359 | −9.1%$^†$ |
| 9 | Kashima Antlers | 276,058 | 36,146 | 8,036 | 16,239 | +5.2%$^†$ |
| 10 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 271,180 | 20,318 | 11,460 | 15,952 | +11.5%$^†$ |
| 11 | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 264,939 | 34,347 | 7,553 | 15,585 | +4.4%$^†$ |
| 12 | JEF United Chiba | 240,535 | 16,756 | 9,481 | 14,149 | +5.6%$^†$ |
| 13 | Yokohama FC | 238,662 | 46,697 | 4,114 | 14,039 | +174.3%$^†$ |
| 14 | Ventforet Kofu | 233,476 | 36,756 | 8,373 | 13,734 | +12.5%$^†$ |
| 15 | Kashiwa Reysol | 220,442 | 35,013 | 8,947 | 12,967 | +55.7%$^†$ |
| 16 | Vissel Kobe | 211,822 | 22,236 | 7,769 | 12,460 | +80.3%$^†$ |
| 17 | Omiya Ardija | 194,912 | 33,162 | 6,149 | 11,465 | +12.0%$^†$ |
| 18 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 194,199 | 22,675 | 6,037 | 11,423 | +2.2%$^†$ |
| | League total | 5,834,081 | 62,123 | 4,114 | 19,066 | +4.2%$^†$ |
Updated to games played on December 1, 2007 Source: J. League Division 1 Notes: $^†$ Team played previous season in J2.

## Awards
### Individual

| Award | Recipient | Club |
| Player of the Year | Robson Ponte | Urawa Red Diamonds |
| Young Player of the Year | Takanori Sugeno | Yokohama FC |
| Manager of the Year | Oswaldo de Oliveira | Kashima Antlers |
| Top Scorer | Juninho | Kawasaki Frontale |
| Fair Play Player Award | Daisuke Sakata | Yokohama F. Marinos |
| Fair Play Player Award | Hisato Satō | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
| Fair Play Player Award | Teruyoshi Ito | Shimizu S-Pulse |
| Referee of the Year | Masayoshi Okada |
| Assistant Referee of the Year | Toru Sagara |
| Meritoriousness Player Award | Amaral |
| Meritoriousness Player Award | Shoji Jo |
| Meritoriousness Player Award | Yasuto Honda |

### Best Eleven

| Position | Footballer | Club | Nationality |
| GK | Ryōta Tsuzuki (1) | Urawa Red Diamonds | Japan |
| DF | Daiki Iwamasa (1) | Kashima Antlers | Japan |
| DF | Marcus Tulio Tanaka (4) | Urawa Red Diamonds | Japan |
| DF | Satoshi Yamaguchi (1) | Gamba Osaka | Japan |
| MF | Robson Ponte (1) | Urawa Red Diamonds | Brazil |
| MF | Keita Suzuki (2) | Urawa Red Diamonds | Japan |
| MF | Kengo Nakamura (2) | Kawasaki Frontale | Japan |
| MF | Yasuhito Endō (5) | Gamba Osaka | Japan |
| MF | Yuki Abe (3) | Urawa Red Diamonds | Japan |
| FW | Baré (1) | Gamba Osaka | Brazil |
| FW | Juninho (1) | Kawasaki Frontale | Brazil |
* The number in brackets denotes the number of times that the footballer has appeared in the Best 11.