# 2000 J.League Division 1

The 2000 J.League Division 1 season was the eighth season of the J.League Division 1. The league began on March 11 and ended on November 26. At the end of the season, the second stage winner Kashima Antlers won the Suntory Championship against Yokohama F. Marinos who won the first stage.

## Clubs

The following 16 clubs participated in Division 1 during 2000 season. Of these clubs, Kawasaki Frontale and FC Tokyo were promoted from Division 2.
* Avispa Fukuoka
* Cerezo Osaka
* FC Tokyo
* Gamba Osaka
* JEF United Ichihara
* Júbilo Iwata
* Kashima Antlers
* Kashiwa Reysol
* Kawasaki Frontale
* Kyoto Purple Sanga
* Nagoya Grampus Eight
* Sanfrecce Hiroshima
* Shimizu S-Pulse
* Verdy Kawasaki
* Vissel Kobe
* Yokohama F. Marinos

### Personnel

| Club | Head coach |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Nestor Omar Piccoli |
| Cerezo Osaka | Hiroshi Soejima |
| FC Tokyo | Kiyoshi Okuma |
| Gamba Osaka | Hiroshi Hayano |
| JEF United Ichihara | Zdenko Verdenik |
| Júbilo Iwata | Masakazu Suzuki |
| Kashima Antlers | Toninho Cerezo |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Akira Nishino |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Hiroshi Kobayashi |
| Kyoto Purple Sanga | Gert Engels |
| Nagoya Grampus Eight | João Carlos |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Eddie Thomson |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Steve Perryman |
| Verdy Kawasaki | Chang Woe-ryong |
| Vissel Kobe | Ryoichi Kawakatsu |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Osvaldo Ardiles |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Non-visa foreign | Former players |
| Avispa Fukuoka | David Bisconti | Eduardo Bustos Montoya | Pavel Badea | | | |
| Cerezo Osaka | Pericles | Noh Jung-yoon | Yoon Jong-hwan | | | |
| FC Tokyo | Amaral | Tuto | | | Sandro | |
| Gamba Osaka | Reginaldo | Nino Bule | Claude Dambury | | | Andradina |
| JEF United Ichihara | Baron | Owusu Benson | Cosmin Olăroiu | | | Ovidiu Burcă Kim Myung-hwi |
| Júbilo Iwata | Aleksandar Živković | Arno van Zwam | Dmitri Radchenko | | | Roberto Torres |
| Kashima Antlers | Bebeto | Bismarck | Fabiano | | | |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Maurício | Saša Drakulić | Hong Myung-bo | Hwang Sun-hong | | Park Kun-ha |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Daniel Rossi | Luiz | Paulo Isidoro | Ricardinho | | Mazinho Pedrinho Guido Alvarenga |
| Kyoto Purple Sanga | Edinho Baiano | Régis Pitbull | Park Ji-sung | | | Fabrício |
| Nagoya Grampus Eight | Ueslei | Dragan Stojković | Tarik Oulida | | Ko Ishikawa | Romildo |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Steve Corica | Tony Popovic | Miguel Simão | | | |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Fernando Oliva | Santos | Stuart Thurgood | | Alex | Fabinho |
| Verdy Kawasaki | Kim Do-keun | Kim Hyun-seok | | | Ryang Kyu-sa | |
| Vissel Kobe | Fabinho | Choi Sung-yong | Ha Seok-ju | | | |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Edmílson Matias | Goran Jurić | Yoo Sang-chul | | | Raul Maldonado Abdeljalil Hadda Sin Byung-ho |

## Overview
### First stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | D | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 15 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 32 | 21 | +11 | 30 | Qualification to the Suntory Championship 2000 |
| 2 | Cerezo Osaka | 15 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 34 | 25 | +9 | 29 | |
| 3 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 15 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 17 | +4 | 28 | |
| 4 | Kashiwa Reysol | 15 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 22 | +3 | 26 | |
| 5 | Júbilo Iwata | 15 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 32 | 25 | +7 | 25 | |
| 6 | FC Tokyo | 15 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 24 | 22 | +2 | 23 | |
| 7 | Vissel Kobe | 15 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 17 | +4 | 22 | |
| 8 | Kashima Antlers | 15 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 20 | 17 | +3 | 22 | |
| 9 | Verdy Kawasaki | 15 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 26 | 23 | +3 | 20 | |
| 10 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 15 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 15 | +2 | 19 | |
| 11 | JEF United Ichihara | 15 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 19 | |
| 12 | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 15 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 18 | −1 | 19 | |
| 13 | Gamba Osaka | 15 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 20 | 23 | −3 | 17 | |
| 14 | Avispa Fukuoka | 15 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 19 | 28 | −9 | 15 | |
| 15 | Kawasaki Frontale | 15 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 14 | 29 | −15 | 10 | |
| 16 | Kyoto Purple Sanga | 15 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 36 | −20 | 7 | |
* ↑ Champion from 1999 J.League Division 1
* 1 2 Promoted from 1999 J.League Division 2
* ↑ Cup-Winner 1999 Emperor's Cup

### Second stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | D | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Kashima Antlers | 15 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 10 | +18 | 33 | Qualification to the Suntory Championship 2000 |
| 2 | Kashiwa Reysol | 15 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 10 | +13 | 32 | |
| 3 | Júbilo Iwata | 15 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 35 | 17 | +18 | 30 | |
| 4 | Gamba Osaka | 15 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 27 | 20 | +7 | 28 | |
| 5 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 15 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 24 | |
| 6 | Avispa Fukuoka | 15 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 20 | +2 | 22 | |
| 7 | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 15 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 25 | 27 | −2 | 22 | |
| 8 | FC Tokyo | 15 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 23 | 19 | +4 | 20 | |
| 9 | Cerezo Osaka | 15 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 24 | −4 | 19 | |
| 10 | Verdy Kawasaki | 15 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 21 | −1 | 18 | |
| 11 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 15 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 23 | 25 | −2 | 18 | |
| 12 | Kyoto Purple Sanga | 15 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 23 | 30 | −7 | 18 | |
| 13 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 15 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 19 | −6 | 14 | |
| 14 | Vissel Kobe | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 19 | 32 | −13 | 11 | |
| 15 | Kawasaki Frontale | 15 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 27 | −15 | 11 | |
| 16 | JEF United Ichihara | 15 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 27 | −12 | 9 | |
* ↑ Champion from 1999 J.League Division 1
* ↑ Cup-Winner 1999 Emperor's Cup
* 1 2 Promoted from 1999 J.League Division 2

### Suntory Championship
## Overall table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | D | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kashima Antlers | 30 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 48 | 27 | +21 | 55 | Champion and qualified to the Asian Club Championship 2001–02 First Round |
| 2 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 30 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 56 | 45 | +11 | 54 | |
| 3 | Kashiwa Reysol | 30 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 48 | 32 | +16 | 58 | |
| 4 | Júbilo Iwata | 30 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 67 | 42 | +25 | 55 | |
| 5 | Cerezo Osaka | 30 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 54 | 49 | +5 | 48 | |
| 6 | Gamba Osaka | 30 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 47 | 43 | +4 | 45 | |
| 7 | FC Tokyo | 30 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 47 | 41 | +6 | 43 | |
| 8 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 30 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 34 | 36 | −2 | 42 | Runners-Up 2000 Emperor's Cup and qualified to the Asian Cup Winners' Cup 2002 Second Round |
| 9 | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 30 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 42 | 45 | −3 | 41 | |
| 10 | Verdy Kawasaki | 30 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 38 | |
| 11 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 30 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 40 | 40 | 0 | 37 | |
| 12 | Avispa Fukuoka | 30 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 41 | 48 | −7 | 37 | |
| 13 | Vissel Kobe | 30 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 40 | 49 | −9 | 33 | |
| 14 | JEF United Ichihara | 30 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 37 | 49 | −12 | 28 | |
| 15 | Kyoto Purple Sanga | 30 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 39 | 66 | −27 | 25 | Relegated to the 2001 J.League Division 2 |
| 16 | Kawasaki Frontale | 30 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 26 | 56 | −30 | 21 | Relegated to the 2001 J.League Division 2 |
* ↑ Champion from 1999 J.League Division 1
* 1 2 Promoted from 1999 J.League Division 2
* ↑ Kashima Antlers is Winner of the Emperor's Cup 2000 and has qualified as Champion of J.League 2000 to the Asian Club Championship 2001–02, therefore Shimizu S-Pulse got the spot as Runners-Up in Emperor's Cup 2000 to the Asian Cup Winners' Cup 2002 Second Round
* ↑ Cup-Winner 1999 Emperor's Cup