# 2012 Albirex Niigata season

The 2012 Albirex Niigata season was Albirex Niigata's 9th consecutive season in J.League Division 1. It also includes the 2012 J.League Cup, and the 2012 Emperor's Cup.

## Match results
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 12 | Júbilo Iwata | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 57 | 53 | +4 | 46 | |
| 13 | Omiya Ardija | 34 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 38 | 45 | −7 | 44 | |
| 14 | Cerezo Osaka | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 47 | 53 | −6 | 42 | |
| 15 | Albirex Niigata | 34 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 29 | 34 | −5 | 40 | |
| 16 | Vissel Kobe (R) | 34 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 41 | 50 | −9 | 39 | Relegation to 2013 J.League Division 2 |
| 17 | Gamba Osaka (R) | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 67 | 65 | +2 | 38 | Relegation to 2013 J.League Division 2 |
| 18 | Consadole Sapporo (R) | 34 | 4 | 2 | 28 | 25 | 88 | −63 | 14 | Relegation to 2013 J.League Division 2 |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 1 December 2012. Source: "J.League". Archived from the original on 2012-01-24.

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | L | L | L | D | D | W | L | L | W | L | D | L | L | W | L | D | W | D | W | D | L | L | W | L | D | D | W | D | D | L | W | L | W | W |
| Position | 14 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 15 |

### J.League Cup

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 15 |
| Kashima Antlers | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 15 |
| Albirex Niigata | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 10 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 5 |
| Omiya Ardija | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 5 |
| Consadole Sapporo | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 5 |
| Vissel Kobe | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 10 | −8 | 4 |

### Emperor's Cup
## Players
### First team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | JPN | Takaya Kurokawa |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Kentaro Ohi |
| 4 | DF | JPN | Daisuke Suzuki (vice-captain) |
| 5 | DF | JPN | Naoki Ishikawa |
| 6 | MF | JPN | Yuta Mikado |
| 7 | MF | JPN | Seiya Fujita |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Fumiya Kogure |
| 9 | FW | JPN | Kisho Yano |
| 10 | MF | BRA | Michael |
| 11 | FW | BRA | Bruno Lopes |
| 13 | MF | JPN | Taisuke Nakamura |
| 14 | FW | JPN | Shoki Hirai |
| 15 | MF | JPN | Isao Homma (captain) |
| 16 | MF | KOR | Kim Young-Geun |
| 17 | DF | JPN | Jun Uchida |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | MF | BRA | Alan Mineiro |
| 19 | DF | KOR | Kim Jin-Su |
| 20 | DF | JPN | Shigeto Masuda |
| 21 | GK | JPN | Masaaki Higashiguchi |
| 22 | GK | JPN | Yasuhiro Watanabe |
| 23 | MF | JPN | Atomu Tanaka |
| 25 | DF | JPN | Yusuke Murakami |
| 26 | MF | JPN | Kenji Koyano |
| 27 | FW | JPN | Bruno Castanheira |
| 28 | FW | JPN | Musashi Suzuki |
| 29 | FW | JPN | Noriyoshi Sakai |
| 30 | GK | JPN | Hideaki Ozawa |
| 32 | MF | JPN | Yoshiyuki Kobayashi |
| 36 | DF | JPN | Naoya Kikuchi (vice-captain) |

### Pre-season transfers

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Kentaro Ohi (from Júbilo Iwata) |
| 9 | FW | JPN | Kisho Yano (from SC Freiburg) |
| 13 | MF | JPN | Taisuke Nakamura (on loan from Kyoto Sanga) |
| 14 | FW | JPN | Shoki Hirai (on loan from Gamba Osaka) |
| 16 | MF | KOR | Kim Young-Geun (from Soongsil University) |
| 18 | MF | BRA | Alan Mineiro (on loan from Paulista) |
| 19 | DF | KOR | Kim Jin-Su (from Kyung Hee University) |
| 26 | MF | JPN | Kenji Koyano (from Kashima Antlers) |
| 27 | FW | JPN | Bruno Castanheira (loan return from Albirex Niigata Singapore) |
| 28 | FW | JPN | Musashi Suzuki (from Kiryū Daiichi High School) |
| 33 | DF | JPN | Ryoma Nishimura (from youth academy) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | JPN | Kazuhiko Chiba (to Sanfrecce Hiroshima) |
| — | DF | NZL | Michael Fitzgerald (on loan to V-Varen Nagasaki) |
| — | DF | JPN | Ayato Hasebe (to Ganju Iwate) |
| — | DF | JPN | Yohei Iwasaki (to Ganju Iwate) |
| — | DF | JPN | Ryoma Nishimura (on loan to Mauaense) |
| — | DF | JPN | Kazunari Ono (on loan to Shonan Bellmare) |
| — | DF | JPN | Gotoku Sakai (on loan to VfB Stuttgart) |
| — | MF | JPN | Masaru Kato (on loan to Ehime FC) |
| — | MF | JPN | Musashi Okuyama (on loan to Albirex Niigata Singapore) |
| — | MF | JPN | Hidetoshi Nakata (to Yokohama F. Marinos) |
| — | FW | BRA | Anderson (on loan to Fagiano Okayama) |
| — | FW | KOR | Cho Young-Cheol (to Omiya Ardija) |
| — | FW | JPN | Kengo Kawamata (on loan to Fagiano Okayama) |
| — | FW | JPN | Hideo Ōshima (to Consadole Sapporo) |