# 2009 J.League Division 1

The 2009 J.League Division 1 season was the 45th season of the top-flight club football in Japan and the 17th season since the establishment of J.League Division 1. The season started on March 7 and ended on December, 5.
A total of eighteen clubs participated in double round-robin format. At the end of the season, top three clubs received automatic qualification to the following years' AFC Champions League. Also starting this season, the bottom three clubs were relegated to J.League Division 2 by default.
Kashima Antlers became the first Japanese club win J.League Division 1 in three straight seasons.

## Clubs

The following eighteen clubs participated in J.League Division 1 during the 2009 season. Of these clubs, Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Montedio Yamagata were newly promoted clubs.
| Club Name | Home Town(s) | Note(s) |
| Albirex Niigata | Niigata & Seirō, Niigata | |
| FC Tokyo | Tokyo | |
| Gamba Osaka | Suita, Osaka | 2009 ACL participant |
| JEF United Chiba | Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba | |
| Júbilo Iwata | Iwata, Shizuoka | |
| Kashima Antlers | Southwestern cities/towns of Ibaraki | 2009 ACL participant Two-time defending champions |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Kashiwa, Chiba | |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Kawasaki, Kanagawa | 2009 ACL participant |
| Kyoto Sanga | Southwestern cities/town in Kyoto | |
| Montedio Yamagata | All cities/towns in Yamagata | Promoted from J2 League in 2008 |
| Nagoya Grampus | Nagoya, Aichi | 2009 ACL participant |
| Oita Trinita | All cities/towns in Ōita | |
| Omiya Ardija | Saitama | |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Hiroshima | Promoted from J2 League in 2008 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Shizuoka | |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Saitama | |
| Vissel Kobe | Kobe, Hyōgo | |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Yokohama & Yokosuka | |

### Personnel

| Club | Head coach |
| Albirex Niigata | Jun Suzuki |
| FC Tokyo | Hiroshi Jofuku |
| Gamba Osaka | Akira Nishino |
| JEF United Chiba | Atsuhiko Ejiri |
| Júbilo Iwata | Masaaki Yanagishita |
| Kashima Antlers | Oswaldo de Oliveira |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Nelsinho Baptista |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Takashi Sekizuka |
| Kyoto Purple Sanga | Hisashi Kato |
| Montedio Yamagata | Shinji Kobayashi |
| Nagoya Grampus | Dragan Stojković |
| Oita Trinita | Ranko Popović |
| Omiya Ardija | Chang Woe-ryong |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Mihailo Petrović |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Kenta Hasegawa |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Volker Finke |
| Vissel Kobe | Toshiya Miura |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Kokichi Kimura |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC player | Non-visa foreign | Type-C contract | Former players |
| Albirex Niigata | Éverton Santos | Gilton | Márcio Richardes | Cho Young-cheol | | | Bruno Suzuki Pedro Júnior |
| FC Tokyo | Bruno Quadros | | | | | | Caboré |
| Gamba Osaka | Lucas Severino | Pedro Júnior | | Cho Jae-jin | | | Leandro Park Dong-hyuk |
| JEF United Chiba | Alex | Michael | Neto Baiano | Eddy Bosnar | | | |
| Júbilo Iwata | Gilsinho | | | Lee Keun-ho | | | Ferrugem |
| Kashima Antlers | Danilo | Marquinhos | | Park Joo-ho | | | |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Anselmo Ramon | França | Popó | Park Dong-hyuk | | Adebayo Adigun | Alceu |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Juninho | Renatinho | Vitor Júnior | | Jong Tae-se | | |
| Kyoto Sanga | Diego Souza | Sidiclei | | Lee Jung-soo | Kim Song-yong | | Paulinho |
| Montedio Yamagata | Jajá | Léo San | | Kim Byung-suk | | Fagner | André Silva |
| Nagoya Grampus | Magnum | Igor Burzanović | Miloš Bajalica | Joshua Kennedy | | | Davi |
| Oita Trinita | Edmilson Alves | Fernandinho | Ueslei | | | Choi Jung-han | Roberto |
| Omiya Ardija | Dudu | Rafael Marques | Mato Neretljak | Park Won-jae | | Seo Yong-duk | Dênis Marques Klemen Lavrič |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Ilian Stoyanov | Mihael Mikić | | | Ri Han-jae | | |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Marcos Paulo | Frode Johnsen | | | | | Kim Dong-sub |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Edmílson | Robson Ponte | | | | Mohammed Faisal | |
| Vissel Kobe | Alan Bahia | Marcel | Raphael Botti | Kim Nam-il | Park Kang-jo | | |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | | | | Kim Kun-hoan | | Jeong Dong-ho | |

## League 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
* Disciplinary points
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 three clubs will be relegated to J2 League. The top three clubs will qualify to AFC Champions League in the following year.

### Changes from previous year

* Bottom three clubs are relegated by default; during 2004–2008 season, the 16th-place club needed to win playoffs to avoid relegation.
* The fourth foreign player slot (AFC player slot) is introduced.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kashima Antlers (C) | 34 | 20 | 6 | 8 | 51 | 30 | +21 | 66 | Qualification for 2010 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 64 | 40 | +24 | 64 | Qualification for 2010 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Gamba Osaka | 34 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 62 | 44 | +18 | 60 | Qualification for 2010 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 53 | 44 | +9 | 56 | Qualification for 2010 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 5 | FC Tokyo | 34 | 16 | 5 | 13 | 47 | 39 | +8 | 53 | |
| 6 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 34 | 16 | 4 | 14 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 52 | |
| 7 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 34 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 44 | 41 | +3 | 51 | |
| 8 | Albirex Niigata | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 42 | 31 | +11 | 50 | |
| 9 | Nagoya Grampus | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 46 | 42 | +4 | 50 | |
| 10 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 43 | 37 | +6 | 46 | |
| 11 | Júbilo Iwata | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 50 | 60 | −10 | 41 | |
| 12 | Kyoto Sanga | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 35 | 47 | −12 | 41 | |
| 13 | Omiya Ardija | 34 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 40 | 47 | −7 | 39 | |
| 14 | Vissel Kobe | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 39 | |
| 15 | Montedio Yamagata | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 32 | 40 | −8 | 39 | |
| 16 | Kashiwa Reysol (R) | 34 | 7 | 13 | 14 | 41 | 57 | −16 | 34 | Relegation to 2010 J.League Division 2 |
| 17 | Oita Trinita (R) | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 45 | −19 | 30 | Relegation to 2010 J.League Division 2 |
| 18 | JEF United Chiba (R) | 34 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 32 | 56 | −24 | 27 | Relegation to 2010 J.League Division 2 |
* ↑ Sanfrecce Hiroshima received fourth Japanese berth in the group stage of the 2010 AFC Champions League because Gamba Osaka, the winners of the 2009 Emperor's Cup, had been already qualified for ACL through J.League championship.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALB | ANT | ARD | FRO | GAM | GRA | JEF | JÚB | MON | REY | SFR | SAN | SSP | TOK | TRI | RED | VIS | FMA |
| Albirex Niigata | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Kashima Antlers | 0–1 | | 2–0 | 2–3 | 5–1 | 1–4 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Omiya Ardija | 0–1 | 3–1 | | 2–3 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 7–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| Gamba Osaka | 0–2 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | | 2–3 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 1–4 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 |
| Nagoya Grampus | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| JEF United Chiba | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Júbilo Iwata | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–2 | | 2–6 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Montedio Yamagata | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 0–4 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 | | 4–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 3–2 |
| Kyoto Sanga | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| FC Tokyo | 1–4 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Oita Trinita | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Vissel Kobe | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 | | 2–2 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 5–0 | |
* ↑ The Kashima Antlers-hosted game against Kawasaki Frontale on the 25th week was halted at 74th minute due to the pitch condition caused by heavy rain, the score at the moment was 1–3 (Marquinhos 30' — Jong Tae-se 19', 32', Juninho 66'). The game resumed on October 7 from the 74th minute. (Iwamasa 74')

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Ryoichi Maeda | Júbilo Iwata | 20 |
| 2 | Edmílson | Urawa Red Diamonds | 17 |
| 2 | Juninho | Kawasaki Frontale | 17 |
| 4 | Hisato Satō | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 15 |
| 4 | Naohiro Ishikawa | FC Tokyo | 15 |
| 6 | Shinji Okazaki | Shimizu S-Pulse | 14 |
| 6 | Jong Tae-se | Kawasaki Frontale | 14 |
| 8 | Marquinhos | Kashima Antlers | 13 |
| 8 | Pedro Júnior | Gamba Osaka | 13 |
| 8 | Kazuma Watanabe | Yokohama F. Marinos | 13 |
Notes:
* ↑ Transferred from Albirex Niigata after 24th week

## Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 751,565 | 53,783 | 18,777 | 44,210 | −7.1%$^†$ |
| 2 | Albirex Niigata | 568,582 | 40,268 | 24,392 | 33,446 | −3.0%$^†$ |
| 3 | FC Tokyo | 440,032 | 40,701 | 18,221 | 25,884 | +0.7%$^†$ |
| 4 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 374,975 | 40,228 | 11,025 | 22,057 | −6.9%$^†$ |
| 5 | Kashima Antlers | 367,486 | 37,878 | 14,473 | 21,617 | +9.7%$^†$ |
| 6 | Kawasaki Frontale | 320,394 | 22,390 | 14,696 | 18,847 | +7.3%$^†$ |
| 7 | Oita Trinita | 313,281 | 24,833 | 14,163 | 18,428 | −9.3%$^†$ |
| 8 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 304,900 | 30,851 | 9,756 | 17,935 | +8.0%$^†$ |
| 9 | Gamba Osaka | 301,105 | 20,394 | 10,159 | 17,712 | +9.8%$^†$ |
| 10 | Nagoya Grampus | 270,773 | 32,435 | 9,355 | 15,928 | −3.8%$^†$ |
| 11 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 267,299 | 27,113 | 9,479 | 15,723 | +45.0%$^†$ |
| 12 | JEF United Chiba | 250,413 | 17,916 | 12,349 | 14,730 | +4.6%$^†$ |
| 13 | Omiya Ardija | 233,013 | 37,842 | 7,796 | 13,707 | +46.6%$^†$ |
| 14 | Júbilo Iwata | 229,891 | 22,152 | 8,716 | 13,523 | −12.6%$^†$ |
| 15 | Vissel Kobe | 222,153 | 20,721 | 6,002 | 13,068 | +0.7%$^†$ |
| 16 | Montedio Yamagata | 204,953 | 20,102 | 6,554 | 12,056 | +92.2%$^†$ |
| 17 | Kashiwa Reysol | 199,552 | 32,854 | 8,124 | 11,738 | −4.6%$^†$ |
| 18 | Kyoto Sanga | 189,149 | 18,121 | 5,567 | 11,126 | −18.7%$^†$ |
| | League total | 5,809,516 | 53,783 | 5,567 | 18,985 | −1.1%$^†$ |
Updated to games played on December 5, 2009 Source: J. League Division 1 Notes: $^†$ Team played previous season in J2.

## Awards
### Individual awards

| Award | Recipient | Club |
| Most Valuable Player | Mitsuo Ogasawara | Kashima Antlers |
| Rookie of the Year | Kazuma Watanabe | Yokohama F. Marinos |
| Manager of the Year | Oswaldo de Oliveira | Kashima Antlers |
| Top Scorer | Ryoichi Maeda | Júbilo Iwata |

### Best eleven

| Pos | Footballer | Club | Nationality |
| GK | Eiji Kawashima | Kawasaki Frontale | Japan |
| DF | Atsuto Uchida | Kashima Antlers | Japan |
| DF | Daiki Iwamasa | Kashima Antlers | Japan |
| DF | Marcus Tulio Tanaka | Nagoya Grampus | Japan |
| DF | Yuto Nagatomo | FC Tokyo | Japan |
| MF | Kengo Nakamura | Kawasaki Frontale | Japan |
| MF | Mitsuo Ogasawara | Kashima Antlers | Japan |
| MF | Naohiro Ishikawa | FC Tokyo | Japan |
| MF | Yasuhito Endō | Gamba Osaka | Japan |
| FW | Ryoichi Maeda | Júbilo Iwata | Japan |
| FW | Shinji Okazaki | Shimizu S-Pulse | Japan |