# 1996 Japan Football League

Statistics of Japan Football League in the 1996 season.

## Overview

It was contested by 16 teams, and Honda won the championship. However, citing continuing corporate ownership, they were refused promotion by the J.League, who took in the runner-up, Vissel Kobe, instead.
Newly promoted before the season were Nippon Denso, later known as FC Kariya, and Oita Trinity, later known as Oita Trinita.

## Clubs

The following sixteen clubs participated in Japan Football League Division 1 during the 1996 season.
* Brummell Sendai
* Consadole Sapporo
* Cosmo Oil Yokkaichi
* Denso
* Fujitsu Kawasaki
* Fukushima
* Honda
* Montedio Yamagata
* NTT Kanto
* Oita Trinity
* Otsuka Pharmaceutical
* Seino Transportation
* Tokyo Gas
* Tosu Futures
* Ventforet Kofu
* Vissel Kobe

### Personnel

| Club | Head coach |
| Brummell Sendai | |
| Consadole Sapporo | Takeo Takahashi |
| Cosmo Oil Yokkaichi | Yoshihiko Yamamoto |
| Denso | |
| Fujitsu Kawasaki | |
| Fukushima | |
| Honda | |
| Montedio Yamagata | Nobuhiro Ishizaki |
| NTT Kanto | |
| Oita Trinity | Moon Jung-sik |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical | |
| Seino Transportation | |
| Tokyo Gas | Kiyoshi Okuma |
| Tosu Futures | Chang Woe-ryong |
| Ventforet Kofu | |
| Vissel Kobe | Stuart Baxter |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Non-visa foreign | Former players |
| Brummell Sendai | Edmar | František Mysliveček | Frank Ordenewitz | Pierre Littbarski | Reinhard Stumpf | | |
| Consadole Sapporo | Pereira | Luboš Zákostelský | Pavel Řehák | Raul Otero | | Kim Jong-song David Soria Yoshinari | Alcindo |
| Cosmo Oil Yokkaichi | Kim Byung-soo | | | | | | |
| Denso | | | | | | | |
| Fujitsu Kawasaki | André Paus | Momodu Mutairu | | | | | |
| Fukushima | Gwak Kyung-keun | | | | | | |
| Honda | Walter | | | | | Wagner Lopes | |
| Montedio Yamagata | Aldro | Angelo | | | | | |
| NTT Kanto | | | | | | | |
| Oita Trinity | Hwangbo Kwan | Lee Woo-young | | | | | Lee Young-jin |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical | | | | | | | |
| Seino Transportation | | | | | | | |
| Tokyo Gas | Amaral | João Cavalo | Júnior | Edwin Ifeanyi | | | |
| Tosu Futures | Stephen Tataw | Jorge Dely Valdés | | | | Edwin Uehara Hector Takayama | |
| Ventforet Kofu | Baron | Mario López | | | | | |
| Vissel Kobe | Michael Laudrup | Lee Baxter | Jan Jönsson | Thomas Bickel | Ziad Tlemçani | Cho Kwi-jae | |

## League standings

| Pos | Club | P | W | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Notes |
| 1 | Honda | 30 | 25 | 5 | 83 | 35 | 48 | 75 | Champions (Refused promotion) |
| 2 | Vissel Kobe | 30 | 25 | 5 | 78 | 32 | 46 | 75 | Promoted to J.League |
| 3 | Tokyo Gas | 30 | 24 | 6 | 63 | 28 | 35 | 73 |
| 4 | Tosu Futures | 30 | 20 | 10 | 68 | 43 | 25 | 62 | Folded |
| 5 | Consadole Sapporo | 30 | 20 | 10 | 60 | 43 | 17 | 62 |
| 6 | Brummell Sendai | 30 | 18 | 12 | 67 | 52 | 15 | 56 |
| 7 | Otsuka Pharmaceutical | 30 | 18 | 12 | 56 | 41 | 15 | 55 |
| 8 | Montedio Yamagata | 30 | 16 | 14 | 45 | 49 | -4 | 49 |
| 9 | Fujitsu Kawasaki | 30 | 15 | 15 | 48 | 45 | 3 | 45 |
| 10 | Oita Trinity | 30 | 13 | 17 | 42 | 52 | -10 | 39 |
| 11 | Ventforet Kofu | 30 | 11 | 19 | 50 | 56 | -6 | 33 |
| 12 | Cosmo Oil Yokkaichi | 30 | 11 | 19 | 31 | 49 | -28 | 33 | Folded |
| 13 | NTT Kanto | 30 | 7 | 23 | 36 | 55 | -19 | 23 |
| 14 | Fukushima | 30 | 7 | 23 | 30 | 63 | -33 | 22 |
| 15 | Denso | 30 | 5 | 25 | 40 | 90 | -50 | 16 |
| 16 | Seino Transportation | 30 | 5 | 25 | 28 | 82 | -54 | 15 |
Updated to match(es) played in November 1996. Source: Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
* Notes:
* Teams in Bold are the J.League associate members
* After the season Tosu Futures & Cosmo Oil Yokkaichi folded