# 2014 J.League Division 2

The 2014 J.League Division 2 season was the 43rd season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 16th season since the establishment of J2 League. The season commenced on 2 March and ended on 23 November. Post-season promotion and relegation playoffs were played until 7 December.

## Clubs

Gamba Osaka and Vissel Kobe have stayed in the second division for just a year, winning a promotion as champions and runners-up respectively. Fourth-placed Tokushima Vortis won the promotion playoffs and become the very first Shikoku club to play in the top flight since the establishment of Japan Soccer League, the first amateur nationwide football league in Japan. Shonan Bellmare and Oita Trinita were relegated from the first division immediately after promotion, and Júbilo Iwata have suffered their debut relegation after 20 years in the first division.
On the other end of the table, Kamatamare Sanuki have been promoted from 2013 Japan Football League, replacing Gainare Tottori whom they defeated in the J2–JFL playoffs.
On 29 September the J.League licensing board issued J1 licenses to all J2 clubs except Mito HollyHock, FC Gifu, and Giravanz Kitakyushu. This means these three clubs are not eligible to play in J1 for 2015 season and therefore cannot be promoted directly or via playoffs.
The participating clubs are listed in the following table:
| Club Name | Home Town(s) | Note(s) |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Fukuoka | |
| Shonan Bellmare | Hiratsuka, Kanagawa | Relegated from J1 League in 2013 |
| Consadole Sapporo | Sapporo, Hokkaidō | |
| Ehime FC | All cities/towns in Ehime | |
| Fagiano Okayama | All cities/towns in Okayama | |
| FC Gifu | All cities/towns in Gifu | Not eligible for J1 promotion |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | Kitakyushu, Fukuoka | Not eligible for J1 promotion |
| Mito HollyHock | Mito, Ibaraki | Not eligible for J1 promotion |
| JEF United Chiba | Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba | |
| Júbilo Iwata | Iwata, Shizuoka | Relegated from J1 League in 2013 |
| Kamatamare Sanuki | Takamatsu, Kagawa | Promoted from JFL in 2013 |
| Kataller Toyama | All cities/towns in Toyama | |
| Montedio Yamagata | All cities/towns in Yamagata | |
| Roasso Kumamoto | Kumamoto | |
| Kyoto Sanga | Southwestern cities/towns in Kyoto | |
| Thespakusatsu Gunma | All cities/towns in Gunma | |
| Tochigi SC | Utsunomiya, Tochigi | |
| Oita Trinita | Ōita | Relegated from J1 League in 2013 |
| Tokyo Verdy | All cities/towns in Tokyo | |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | All cities/towns in Nagasaki | |
| Matsumoto Yamaga | Matsumoto, Nagano | |
| Yokohama FC | Yokohama, Kanagawa | |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Asian Player | Non-Visa Foreign | Type-C Contract |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Lee Kwang-seon | Oh Chang-hyun | | Park Kun | | Tam Sheang Tsung |
| Shonan Bellmare | Wellington | | | | | |
| Consadole Sapporo | Paulão | Renan | Jeong Shung-hoon | Lee Ho-seung | Stefano Lilipaly | |
| Ehime FC | Ricardo Lobo | Kim Min-je | Moon Dong-ju | Han Hee-hoon | | |
| Fagiano Okayama | Hugo | | | | | Piakai Henkel |
| FC Gifu | Henik | Kleiton Domingues | Cristian Nazarit | | Tiago Pereira | |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | | | | | | |
| Mito HollyHock | Osmar | | | Yun Yeong-seung | Kim Song-gi | |
| JEF United Chiba | Jair | Kempes | Kim Hyun-hun | Nam Seung-woo | | |
| Júbilo Iwata | Ferdinando | Popó | Tinga | Baek Sung-dong | | |
| Kamatamare Sanuki | Allan | Evson | Andrea Blede | Song Han-Ki | | |
| Kataller Toyama | Park Tae-Hong | | | Kim Young-keun | | Gao Zhunyi |
| Montedio Yamagata | Diego Souza | Kim Byeom-yong | | Lee Joo-young | Romero Frank | |
| Roasso Kumamoto | Anderson | Fábio | Kim Byeong-yeon | Kim Jeong-seok | Pablo | |
| Kyoto Sanga | Douglas | Jairo | Miloš Bajalica | Oh Seung-hoon | Hwang Te-song | |
| Thespakusatsu Gunma | Daniel Lovinho | Eder | Kweon Han-jin | Hwang Song-su | Hwang Tae-jun | Kaique |
| Tochigi SC | Lee Min-soo | | | Cha Young-hwan | | |
| Oita Trinita | Daniel | Dzenan Radoncic | Gang Yoon-goo | Kim Jeong-hyun | | Jonathan |
| Tokyo Verdy | Abuda | Nildo | | Kim Jong-pil | | |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | Stipe | Knez | Lee Yong-Jae | Lee Dae-heon | | Jung Hoon-sung |
| Matsumoto Yamaga | Sabia | Lee Jun-Hyeob | | Yoon Sung-yeul | | |
| Yokohama FC | Douglas | Ronaldo | Park Sung-ho | Na Sung-soo | An Yong-hak | Felipe |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Shonan Bellmare (C, P) | 42 | 31 | 8 | 3 | 86 | 25 | +61 | 101 | Qualification for 2015 J1 League |
| 2 | Matsumoto Yamaga (P) | 42 | 24 | 11 | 7 | 65 | 35 | +30 | 83 | Qualification for 2015 J1 League |
| 3 | JEF United Chiba | 42 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 55 | 44 | +11 | 68 | Qualification for Promotion Playoffs |
| 4 | Júbilo Iwata | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 67 | 55 | +12 | 67 | Qualification for Promotion Playoffs |
| 5 | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 65 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 6 | Montedio Yamagata (P) | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 57 | 44 | +13 | 64 | Qualification for Promotion Playoffs |
| 7 | Oita Trinita | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 52 | 55 | −3 | 63 | |
| 8 | Fagiano Okayama | 42 | 15 | 16 | 11 | 52 | 48 | +4 | 61 | |
| 9 | Kyoto Sanga | 42 | 14 | 18 | 10 | 57 | 52 | +5 | 60 | |
| 10 | Consadole Sapporo | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 48 | 44 | +4 | 59 | |
| 11 | Yokohama FC | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 49 | 47 | +2 | 55 | |
| 12 | Tochigi SC | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 52 | 58 | −6 | 55 | |
| 13 | Roasso Kumamoto | 42 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 45 | 53 | −8 | 54 | |
| 14 | V-Varen Nagasaki | 42 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 45 | 42 | +3 | 52 | |
| 15 | Mito HollyHock | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 50 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 16 | Avispa Fukuoka | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 52 | 60 | −8 | 50 | |
| 17 | FC Gifu | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 54 | 61 | −7 | 49 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 18 | Thespakusatsu Gunma | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 45 | 54 | −9 | 49 | |
| 19 | Ehime FC | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 54 | 58 | −4 | 48 | |
| 20 | Tokyo Verdy | 42 | 9 | 15 | 18 | 31 | 48 | −17 | 42 | |
| 21 | Kamatamare Sanuki | 42 | 7 | 12 | 23 | 34 | 71 | −37 | 33 | Qualification for Relegation Playoffs |
| 22 | Kataller Toyama (R) | 42 | 5 | 8 | 29 | 28 | 74 | −46 | 23 | Relegation to 2015 J3 League |
* 1 2 Only teams that meet J1 license criteria can participate in promotion playoffs. If one or more teams fail to meet the criteria, only eligible teams that finished 3rd to 6th will participate and no replacement teams will be added.
* 1 2 The playoffs and direct exchange between J2 and J3 are subject to eligibility of J2-licensed teams in top 2 of 2014 J3 League

## Results

| Home \ Away | AVI | BEL | CON | EHI | FAG | GIF | GIR | HOL | JEF | JÚB | KAM | KAT | MON | ROS | SAN | SPA | TOC | TRI | VVN | VER | YAM | YFC |
| Avispa Fukuoka | | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–5 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Shonan Bellmare | 2–0 | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 |
| Consadole Sapporo | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Ehime FC | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 2–1 |
| Fagiano Okayama | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| FC Gifu | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 2–2 | | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | 3–5 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Mito HollyHock | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| JEF United Chiba | 3–0 | 0–6 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Júbilo Iwata | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 4–2 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Kamatamare Sanuki | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–4 | | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 0–1 |
| Kataller Toyama | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 1–2 |
| Montedio Yamagata | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 6–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–4 |
| Roasso Kumamoto | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | | 1–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Kyoto Sanga | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Thespakusatsu Gunma | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 |
| Tochigi SC | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Oita Trinita | 3–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Tokyo Verdy | 0–5 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–5 | | 1–3 | 1–1 |
| Matsumoto Yamaga | 2–1 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 2–0 |
| Yokohama FC | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | |

## Play-offs
### Promotion Playoffs to Division 1

2014 J.League Road To J1 Play-Offs (2014 J1昇格プレーオフ) Because Giravanz Kitakyushu did not obtain J1 license for 2015 season, they were ineligible to participate in the playoffs. Thus, JEF United Chiba who finished third in the season received a bye into the final.
| Semifinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | 3 | JEF United Chiba | 0 |
| 4 | Júbilo Iwata | 1 | 6 | Montedio Yamagata | 1 |
| 6 | Montedio Yamagata | 2 | | | |

#### Final

Montedio Yamagata were promoted to J1 League.

### J3 Relegation Playoffs

2014 J2/J3 Play-Offs (2014 J2・J3入れ替え戦)
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Kamatamare Sanuki | 1–0 | Nagano Parceiro | 0–0 | 1-0 |
Kamatamare Sanuki remains in J2 League. Nagano Parceiro remains in J3 League.

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Masashi Oguro | Kyoto Sanga | 26 |
| 2 | Wellington | Shonan Bellmare | 20 |
| 3 | Takayuki Funayama | Matsumoto Yamaga | 19 |
| 4 | Ryoichi Maeda | Júbilo Iwata | 17 |
| 4 | Cristian Nazarit | FC Gifu | 17 |
| 6 | Tomoki Ikemoto | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 15 |
| 7 | Diego | Montedio Yamagata | 14 |
| 7 | Daniel Lovinho | Thespakusatsu Gunma | 14 |
| 7 | Shohei Okada | Shonan Bellmare | 14 |
| 7 | Ken Tokura | Consadole Sapporo | 14 |
Updated to games played on 23 November 2014 Source: J. League data

## Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Matsumoto Yamaga | 267,402 | 18,496 | 8,608 | 12,733 | +15.3%$^†$ |
| 2 | Consadole Sapporo | 232,255 | 20,633 | 6,646 | 11,060 | +9.8%$^†$ |
| 3 | JEF United Chiba | 195,999 | 14,575 | 5,957 | 9,333 | −6.7%$^†$ |
| 4 | Júbilo Iwata | 184,261 | 13,177 | 6,108 | 8,774 | −19.5%$^†$ |
| 5 | Shonan Bellmare | 178,041 | 14,155 | 5,963 | 8,478 | −14.5%$^†$ |
| 6 | Oita Trinita | 176,859 | 20,636 | 5,028 | 8,422 | −29.3%$^†$ |
| 7 | Fagiano Okayama | 176,477 | 12,359 | 6,117 | 8,404 | −2.0%$^†$ |
| 8 | FC Gifu | 159,259 | 15,138 | 3,162 | 7,584 | +67.6%$^†$ |
| 9 | Kyoto Sanga | 157,911 | 12,452 | 3,680 | 7,520 | −4.7%$^†$ |
| 10 | Roasso Kumamoto | 147,046 | 12,661 | 3,580 | 7,002 | +12.4%$^†$ |
| 11 | Montedio Yamagata | 133,316 | 13,344 | 4,270 | 6,348 | −9.6%$^†$ |
| 12 | Tokyo Verdy | 114,023 | 12,658 | 2,434 | 5,430 | −14.4%$^†$ |
| 13 | Tochigi SC | 111,178 | 9,131 | 3,155 | 5,294 | +7.6%$^†$ |
| 14 | Yokohama FC | 108,064 | 8,702 | 2,577 | 5,146 | −15.1%$^†$ |
| 15 | Avispa Fukuoka | 106,303 | 7,875 | 3,444 | 5,062 | −11.6%$^†$ |
| 16 | V-Varen Nagasaki | 101,611 | 12,638 | 3,017 | 4,839 | −21.5%$^†$ |
| 17 | Mito HollyHock | 99,422 | 7,033 | 3,359 | 4,734 | +2.2%$^†$ |
| 18 | Kataller Toyama | 89,596 | 8,018 | 2,622 | 4,266 | −4.6%$^†$ |
| 19 | Ehime FC | 80,228 | 8,295 | 2,057 | 3,820 | −3.3%$^†$ |
| 20 | Thespakusatsu Gunma | 78,961 | 6,407 | 1,509 | 3,760 | +5.3%$^†$ |
| 21 | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 76,072 | 6,516 | 1,462 | 3,622 | +14.1%$^†$ |
| 22 | Kamatamare Sanuki | 69,664 | 10,421 | 1,450 | 3,317 | +6.1%$^‡$ |
| | League total | 3,043,948 | 20,636 | 1,450 | 6,589 | −1.1%$^†$ |
Updated to games played on 23 November 2014 Source: J. League data Notes: $^†$ Team played previous season in J1. $^‡$ Team played previous season in JFL.