# 1995 J.League

The J.League 1995 season was the third season of the J.League. The league fixture began on March 18 and ended in 25 November. The Suntory Championship '95 took place on November 30 and December 6.

## Clubs

Fourteen clubs participated in J.League during 1995 season. Of these clubs, Kashiwa Reysol and Cerezo Osaka 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 | | Mitsuru Komaeda |
| Cerezo Osaka | Osaka | Nagai Stadium | 47,816 | Promoted | Paulo Emilio |
| Gamba Osaka | Osaka, Osaka | Osaka Expo '70 Stadium | 21,000 | | Sigfried Held |
| JEF United Ichihara | Chiba, Chiba | Ichihara Seaside Stadium | 14,051 | | Eijun Kiyokumo |
| Júbilo Iwata | Iwata, Shizuoka | Júbilo Iwata Stadium | 15,165 | | Hans Ooft |
| Kashima Antlers | Kashima, Ibaraki | Kashima Soccer Stadium | 37,638 | | Edu Coimbra |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Kashiwa | Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium | 15,349 | Promoted | Antoninho |
| Nagoya Grampus Eight | Nagoya, Aichi | Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium | 11,900 | | Arsène Wenger |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Hiroshima, Hiroshima | Hiroshima General Ground Main Stadium | 13,800 | | Wim Jansen |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture | Nihondaira Sports Stadium | 20,248 | | Masakatsu Miyamoto |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Saitama, Greater Tokyo Area | Urawa Komaba Stadium | 21,500 | | Holger Osieck |
| Verdy Kawasaki | Kawasaki, Kanagawa | Todoroki Athletics Stadium | 26,232 | | Nelsinho Baptista |
| Yokohama Flügels | Yokohama | Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium | 15,454 | | Antônio Silva |
| Yokohama Marinos | Yokohama | Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium | 15,454 | | Hiroshi Hayano |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Non-visa foreign | Former players |
| Bellmare Hiratsuka | Betinho | Edson | Émerson | Júnior | Simão | | Almir |
| Cerezo Osaka | Bernardo | Gilmar | Marquinhos | Toninho Cecílio | Jorge Dely Valdés | | |
| Gamba Osaka | Sergei Aleinikov | Vjekoslav Škrinjar | Hans Gillhaus | Akhrik Tsveiba | Oleh Protasov | | |
| JEF United Ichihara | Goran Vasilijević | Nenad Maslovar | Wynton Rufer | | | Sandro Shin Che-bon | |
| Júbilo Iwata | Dunga | Salvatore Schillaci | André Paus | Gerald Vanenburg | | Dido Havenaar Kim Jong-song | |
| Kashima Antlers | Carlos Mozer | Jorginho | Leonardo | Mazinho | | | Santos |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Bentinho | Careca | Nelsinho | Valdir | Wolnei Caio | | Müller |
| Nagoya Grampus Eight | Alexandre Torres | Dragan Stojković | Franck Durix | Gérald Passi | | | |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Ivan Hašek | John van Loen | Pieter Huistra | Noh Jung-yoon | | Andrey | Tore Pedersen |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Dias | Marcelo Miguel | Marco Aurélio | Santos | Daniele Massaro | Ademir | Ronaldão Sidmar |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Toninho | Guido Buchwald | Michael Rummenigge | Uwe Bein | | Edwin Uehara Cho Kwi-jae | Gwak Kyung-keun |
| Verdy Kawasaki | Alcindo | Bismarck | Embu | Pereira | | Ko Ishikawa | |
| Yokohama Flügels | César Sampaio | Evair | Rodrigo Batata | Zinho | | | |
| Yokohama Marinos | David Bisconti | Gustavo Zapata | Pedro Massacessi | Ramón Medina Bello | | | Ramón Díaz |

## Format

In the 1995 season, the league followed split-season format, and each halves (or stages) were known as Suntory Series and NICOS Series for sponsorship purposes. In each series, fourteen clubs played in double round-robin format, a total of 26 games per club (per series). The games went to golden-goal extra time and penalties if needed after regulation. The points system is introduced for the first time and a club received 3pts for any win, 1pts for PK loss, and 0pts 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 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 12 to 14
* Number of games per club in a series increased from 22 to 26 games and from 44 to 52 games per season
* Points system were introduced
* Due to fixture congestion, Yamazaki Nabisco Cup was cancelled that year

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

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Yokohama Marinos | 26 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 47 | 38 | +9 | 52 | 1995 Suntory Series Champions Qualified to Suntory Championship '95 |
| 2 | Verdy Kawasaki | 26 | 16 | 1 | 9 | 46 | 36 | +10 | 49 | |
| 3 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 26 | 15 | 3 | 8 | 41 | 34 | +7 | 48 | |
| 4 | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 50 | 48 | +2 | 46 | |
| 5 | Júbilo Iwata | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 48 | 40 | +8 | 45 | |
| 6 | JEF United Ichihara | 26 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 48 | 40 | +8 | 45 | |
| 7 | Bellmare Hiratsuka | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 60 | 47 | +13 | 43 | |
| 8 | Kashima Antlers | 26 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 42 | |
| 9 | Cerezo Osaka | 26 | 13 | 2 | 11 | 43 | 44 | −1 | 41 | |
| 10 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 26 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 38 | 33 | +5 | 39 | |
| 11 | Gamba Osaka | 26 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 49 | 54 | −5 | 31 | |
| 12 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 35 | 63 | −28 | 30 | |
| 13 | Yokohama Flügels | 26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 42 | 54 | −12 | 28 | |
| 14 | Kashiwa Reysol | 26 | 7 | 1 | 18 | 30 | 46 | −16 | 22 | |

### NICOS Series (2nd stage) standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Verdy Kawasaki | 26 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 60 | 26 | +34 | 59 | 1995 NICOS Series Champions Qualified to Suntory Championship '95 |
| 2 | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 49 | 34 | +15 | 51 | |
| 3 | Yokohama Marinos | 26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 39 | 37 | +2 | 46 | |
| 4 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 42 | 34 | +8 | 45 | |
| 5 | Kashiwa Reysol | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 57 | 54 | +3 | 43 | |
| 6 | Kashima Antlers | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 44 | 41 | +3 | 43 | |
| 7 | JEF United Ichihara | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 49 | 51 | −2 | 43 | |
| 8 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 26 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 44 | 38 | +6 | 42 | |
| 9 | Júbilo Iwata | 26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 40 | 37 | +3 | 40 | |
| 10 | Cerezo Osaka | 26 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 36 | 39 | −3 | 37 | |
| 11 | Yokohama Flügels | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 36 | 57 | −21 | 34 | |
| 12 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 31 | 43 | −12 | 28 | |
| 13 | Gamba Osaka | 26 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 38 | 53 | −15 | 26 | |
| 14 | Bellmare Hiratsuka | 26 | 7 | 1 | 18 | 34 | 55 | −21 | 22 | |

### 1995 Suntory Championship

Yokohama Marinos won the series 2–0 on aggregate.

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Masahiro Fukuda | Urawa Red Diamonds | 32 |
| 2 | Salvatore Schillaci | Júbilo Iwata | 31 |
| 3 | David Bisconti | Yokohama Marinos | 27 |
| 4 | Betinho | Bellmare Hiratsuka | 25 |
| 5 | Kazuyoshi Miura | Verdy Kawasaki | 23 |
| 5 | Koji Noguchi | Bellmare Hiratsuka | 23 |
| 7 | Ramón Medina Bello | Yokohama Marinos | 21 |
| 7 | Wynton Rufer | JEF United Ichihara | 21 |
| 9 | Nobuhiro Takeda | Verdy Kawasaki | 20 |
| 9 | Hans Gillhaus | Gamba Osaka | 20 |

## Honours

| Competition | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place |
| League competition ||||
| J.League Suntory Series | Yokohama Marinos | Verdy Kawasaki | Urawa Red Diamonds |
| J.League NICOS Series | Verdy Kawasaki | Nagoya Grampus Eight | Yokohama Marinos |
| Suntory Championship | Yokohama Marinos | Verdy Kawasaki | n/a |
| Cup tournaments ||||
| Emperor's Cup | Nagoya Grampus Eight | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | n/a |
| Nabisco Cup | Not held due to fixture congestion | Not held due to fixture congestion | Not held due to fixture congestion |
| XEROX Super Cup | Verdy Kawasaki | Bellmare Hiratsuka | n/a |

## Awards
### Individual awards

| Award | Recipient | Club |
| Most Valuable Player | Dragan Stojković | Nagoya Grampus Eight |
| Rookie of the Year | Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi | Yokohama Marinos |
| Manager of the Year | Arsène Wenger | Nagoya Grampus Eight |
| Top Scorer | Masahiro Fukuda | Urawa Red Diamonds |

### Best Eleven

| Position | Footballer | Club | Nationality |
| GK | Shinkichi Kikuchi | Verdy Kawasaki | Japan |
| DF | Guido Buchwald | Urawa Red Diamonds | Germany |
| DF | Masami Ihara | Yokohama Marinos | Japan |
| DF | Masaharu Suzuki | Yokohama Marinos | Japan |
| DF | Naoki Soma | Kashima Antlers | Japan |
| MF | Bismarck | Verdy Kawasaki | Brazil |
| MF | Tetsuji Hashiratani | Verdy Kawasaki | Japan |
| FW | Masahiro Fukuda | Urawa Red Diamonds | Japan |
| FW | Kazuyoshi Miura | Verdy Kawasaki | Japan |
| FW | Hiroaki Morishima | Cerezo Osaka | Japan |
| FW | Dragan Stojković | Nagoya Grampus Eight | Yugoslavia |