# 2002 J.League Division 2

The 2002 J.League Division 2 season was the 31st season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 4th season since the establishment of J.League Division 2.
Starting this season, extra-time rule was abolished and the league adopted the traditional 3-1-0 points system. The twelve clubs competed in the quadruple round-robin format. The top two received promotion to the J.League Division 1. There were no relegation to the third-tier Japan Football League.

## Clubs

The following 12 clubs played in J.League Division 2 during 2002 season. Of these clubs, Cerezo Osaka and Avispa Fukuoka were relegated from J.League Division 1 last year.
* Albirex Niigata
* Avispa Fukuoka
* Cerezo Osaka
* Kawasaki Frontale
* Mito HollyHock
* Montedio Yamagata
* Oita Trinita
* Omiya Ardija
* Sagan Tosu
* Shonan Bellmare
* Ventforet Kofu
* Yokohama FC

### Personnel

| Club | Head coach |
| Albirex Niigata | Yasuharu Sorimachi |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Shigekazu Nakamura |
| Cerezo Osaka | Akihiro Nishimura |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Nobuhiro Ishizaki |
| Mito HollyHock | Masaaki Kanno |
| Montedio Yamagata | Koichi Hashiratani |
| Oita Trinita | Shinji Kobayashi |
| Omiya Ardija | Henk Duut |
| Sagan Tosu | Hiroshi Soejima |
| Shonan Bellmare | Koji Tanaka |
| Ventforet Kofu | Takeshi Oki |
| Yokohama FC | Katsuyoshi Shinto |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Non-visa foreign | Type-C contract | Former players |
| Albirex Niigata | Beto | Marcus Vinícius | Serjão | An Yong-hak | | |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Alen Avdić | Zoltan Sabo | Noh Jung-yoon | | | |
| Cerezo Osaka | Almir Turković | João Carlos | Yoon Jong-hwan | Jeong Yong-dae | | |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Bentinho | Marlon | Marquinho | | Alex | Marcos Aurélio |
| Mito HollyHock | An Seon-jin | | | Hwang Hak-sun | | |
| Montedio Yamagata | | | | | | |
| Oita Trinita | Andradina | Fabinho Santos | | Sandro | Marcelo Mattos Kim Sung-kil | |
| Omiya Ardija | Toninho | Jorge Dely Valdés | Fuat Usta | | | Jorginho |
| Sagan Tosu | David Bisconti | | | Erikson Noguchipinto | | |
| Shonan Bellmare | Ever Palacios | | | | Silva | |
| Ventforet Kofu | Jorginho | | | | Alair | |
| Yokohama FC | Fernando Moner | | | | | |

## League format

Twelve clubs played in quadruple round-robin format, a total of 44 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 top two clubs are promoted to J1.

## Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Oita Trinita (C, P) | 44 | 28 | 10 | 6 | 67 | 34 | +33 | 94 | Promotion to 2003 J.League Division 1 |
| 2 | Cerezo Osaka (P) | 44 | 25 | 12 | 7 | 93 | 53 | +40 | 87 | Promotion to 2003 J.League Division 1 |
| 3 | Albirex Niigata | 44 | 23 | 13 | 8 | 75 | 47 | +28 | 82 | |
| 4 | Kawasaki Frontale | 44 | 23 | 11 | 10 | 71 | 53 | +18 | 80 | |
| 5 | Shonan Bellmare | 44 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 46 | 43 | +3 | 64 | |
| 6 | Omiya Ardija | 44 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 52 | 42 | +10 | 59 | |
| 7 | Ventforet Kofu | 44 | 16 | 10 | 18 | 51 | 55 | −4 | 58 | |
| 8 | Avispa Fukuoka | 44 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 58 | 69 | −11 | 42 | |
| 9 | Sagan Tosu | 44 | 9 | 14 | 21 | 41 | 64 | −23 | 41 | |
| 10 | Mito HollyHock | 44 | 11 | 7 | 26 | 45 | 73 | −28 | 40 | |
| 11 | Montedio Yamagata | 44 | 6 | 17 | 21 | 29 | 57 | −28 | 35 | |
| 12 | Yokohama FC | 44 | 8 | 11 | 25 | 43 | 81 | −38 | 35 | |

## Top scorers

| Pos | Player | Club | Goals | PK | GP | Shots | Goals per game |
| 1st | Marcus Vinícius | Albirex Niigata | 19 | 4/5 | 36 | 139 | 0.55 |
| 2nd | Yoshito Ōkubo | Cerezo Osaka | 18 | 1/2 | 29 | 65 | 0.91 |
| 2nd | Andradina | Oita Trinita | 18 | 1/1 | 39 | 117 | 0.50 |
| 4th | Bentinho | Kawasaki Frontale | 16 | 3/3 | 36 | 176 | 0.44 |
| 5th | Takayoshi Ono | Mito HollyHock | 14 | 2/2 | 36 | 85 | 0.46 |
| 5th | Hiroshi Morita | Sagan Tosu | 14 | 0/0 | 38 | 86 | 0.45 |
| 5th | David Bisconti | Sagan Tosu | 14 | 4/4 | 39 | 92 | 0.42 |
| 8th | Yasuo Manaka | Cerezo Osaka | 13 | 1/1 | 28 | 67 | 1.05 |
| 8th | Jorge Dely Valdés | Omiya Ardija | 13 | 2/2 | 32 | 72 | 0.46 |
| 10th | Hiroaki Morishima | Cerezo Osaka | 12 | 0/0 | 37 | 75 | 0.34 |
| 10th | Marlon | Kawasaki Frontale | 12 | 0/0 | 23 | 74 | 0.58 |

## Attendances

| # | Football club | Total attendance | Home games | Average | Highest | Lowest |
| 1 | Albirex Niigata | 472,507 | 22 | 21,478 | 42,211 | 9,125 |
| 2 | Oita Trinita | 271,669 | 22 | 12,349 | 27,431 | 3,094 |
| 3 | Cerezo Osaka | 174,951 | 22 | 7,952 | 32,067 | 3,067 |
| 4 | Avispa Fukuoka | 142,808 | 22 | 6,491 | 14,475 | 3,284 |
| 5 | Omiya Ardija | 115,846 | 22 | 5,266 | 19,782 | 2,517 |
| 6 | Kawasaki Frontale | 115,431 | 22 | 5,247 | 20,405 | 3,044 |
| 7 | Shonan Bellmare | 100,125 | 22 | 4,551 | 9,739 | 2,120 |
| 8 | Ventforet Kofu | 108,108 | 22 | 4,914 | 13,000 | 2,954 |
| 9 | Sagan Tosu | 85,586 | 22 | 3,890 | 8,464 | 1,796 |
| 10 | Montedio Yamagata | 82,601 | 22 | 3,755 | 8,996 | 1,908 |
| 11 | Yokohama FC | 76,498 | 22 | 3,477 | 11,118 | 1,518 |
| 12 | Mito HollyHock | 60,262 | 22 | 2,739 | 5,576 | 1,136 |
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