# 2017 J3 League

The 2017 J3 League (referred to as the 2017 Meiji Yasuda J3 League (2017 明治安田生命J3リーグ) for sponsorship reasons) was the 4th season of the J3 League under its current name. The fixtures were announced on 26 January 2017. The 2017 season started on 11 March, then ended on 3 December.
Blaublitz Akita won their first title as a J.League club.

## Clubs

* Cerezo Osaka U-23
* Gamba Osaka U-23
A total of 17 teams took part in the league. 2016 J3 League champion Oita Trinita gained promotion to the J2 League, and was replaced by Giravanz Kitakyushu, that finished last in the 2016 J2 League. Oita made an immediate return to the J2 League after being relegated in 2015. Kitakyushu competed in the third tier for the first time under the J3 League name. Azul Claro Numazu made their debut in the third tier as a club.
| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| Azul Claro Numazu | Numazu | Ashitaka Stadium | 10,000 |
| Blaublitz Akita | Akita | Akigin Stadium | 4,992 |
| Cerezo Osaka U-23 | Osaka | Kincho Stadium | 19,904 |
| Fukushima United | Fukushima | Toho Stadium | 21,000 |
| Gamba Osaka U-23 | Suita | Osaka Expo '70 Stadium | 21,000 |
| Gainare Tottori | Tottori | Bird Stadium | 16,033 |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | Kitakyushu | Kitakyushu Stadium | 15,066 |
| Grulla Morioka | Morioka | Iwagin Stadium | 4,946 |
| Kagoshima United | Kagoshima | Kamoike Stadium | 19,934 |
| Kataller Toyama | Toyama | Toyama Athletic Stadium | 25,251 |
| Fujieda MYFC | Fujieda | Fujieda Soccer Field | 13,000 |
| Nagano Parceiro | Nagano | Nagano U Stadium | 15,491 |
| FC Ryukyu | Okinawa | Okinawa Athletic Stadium | 25,000 |
| SC Sagamihara | Sagamihara | Gion Stadium | 15,300 |
| Tochigi SC | Utsunomiya | Green Stadium | 18,025 |
| FC Tokyo U-23 | Tokyo | Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka | 7,137 |
| YSCC Yokohama | Yokohama | Mitsuzawa Stadium | 15,454 |

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer |
| Azul Claro Numazu | Ken Yoshida | Eiichiro Ozaki | Puma |
| Blaublitz Akita | Koichi Sugiyama | Naoyuki Yamada | ATHLETA |
| Cerezo Osaka U-23 | Yuji Okuma | none | Puma |
| Fukushima United | Kazuaki Tasaka | Takumi Watanabe | hummel |
| Gainare Tottori | Ryuzo Morioka | Takuya Sugimoto | hummel |
| Gamba Osaka U-23 | Tsuneyasu Miyamoto | none | Umbro |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | Takeo Harada | Tomoki Ikemoto | bonera |
| Grulla Morioka | Toshimi Kikuchi | Kohei Doi | Under Armour |
| Kagoshima United | Yasutoshi Miura | Akira Akao | mitre |
| Kataller Toyama | Tetsuro Uki | Ryo Kubota | Goldwin |
| Fujieda MYFC | Atsuto Oishi | Tadayo Fukuo | gol. |
| Nagano Parceiro | Tetsuya Asano | Tomokazu Myojin | Penalty |
| FC Ryukyu | Kim Jong-song | Noritaka Fujisawa | sfida |
| SC Sagamihara | Sotaro Yasunaga | Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi | gol. |
| Tochigi SC | Yuji Yokoyama | Koji Hirose | ATHLETA |
| F.C. Tokyo U-23 | Tadashi Nakamura | none | Umbro |
| YSCC Yokohama | Yasuhiro Higuchi | Masao Tsuji | SVOLME |

## Results
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | Blaublitz Akita (C) | 32 | 18 | 7 | 7 | 53 | 31 | +22 | 61 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 2 | Tochigi SC (P) | 32 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 44 | 24 | +20 | 60 | Promotion to 2018 J2 League |
| 3 | Azul Claro Numazu | 32 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 60 | 27 | +33 | 59 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 4 | Kagoshima United | 32 | 17 | 4 | 11 | 49 | 37 | +12 | 55 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 5 | Nagano Parceiro | 32 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 34 | 25 | +9 | 50 | |
| 6 | FC Ryukyu | 32 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 44 | 36 | +8 | 50 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 7 | Fujieda MYFC | 32 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 50 | 43 | +7 | 47 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 8 | Kataller Toyama | 32 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 37 | 33 | +4 | 47 | |
| 9 | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 32 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 44 | 37 | +7 | 46 | |
| 10 | Fukushima United | 32 | 13 | 4 | 15 | 39 | 43 | −4 | 43 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 11 | FC Tokyo U-23 | 32 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 36 | 47 | −11 | 43 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 12 | SC Sagamihara | 32 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 34 | 41 | −7 | 39 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 13 | Cerezo Osaka U-23 | 32 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 39 | 43 | −4 | 35 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 14 | YSCC Yokohama | 32 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 41 | 54 | −13 | 32 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 15 | Grulla Morioka | 32 | 7 | 8 | 17 | 32 | 49 | −17 | 29 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 16 | Gamba Osaka U-23 | 32 | 7 | 5 | 20 | 31 | 65 | −34 | 26 | Ineligible for promotion |
| 17 | Gainare Tottori | 32 | 4 | 9 | 19 | 31 | 63 | −32 | 21 | |
* ↑ Only teams that hold a J2 license are eligible for promotion.

### Results table

| Home \ Away | AZU | BLA | C23 | FUK | GAI | G23 | GIR | GRU | KGU | KAT | MYF | PAR | RYU | SGM | TOC | T23 | YSC |
| Azul Claro Numazu | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 |
| Blaublitz Akita | 0–2 | | 0–3 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–3 |
| Cerezo Osaka U-23 | 1–4 | 1–3 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Fukushima United | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–2 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| Gainare Tottori | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–6 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–6 | 1–2 |
| Gamba Osaka U-23 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–6 | 0–2 | 1–7 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 4–3 | 1–2 |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 5–1 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Grulla Morioka | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 5–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–3 | | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Kagoshima United | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 5–2 | 1–5 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Kataller Toyama | 0–3 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | | 4–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Fujieda MYFC | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 4–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Nagano Parceiro | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| FC Ryukyu | 2–2 | 1–6 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| SC Sagamihara | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Tochigi SC | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 4–1 | 1–0 |
| FC Tokyo U-23 | 1–6 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 0–3 |
| YSCC Yokohama | 1–4 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–4 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of match played 3 December 2017.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Noriaki Fujimoto | Kagoshima United FC | 24 |
| 2 | Takuma Sonoda | Azul Claro Numazu | 19 |
| 3 | Tomoki Ikemoto | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 16 |
| 4 | Tomohiro Tanaka | Blaublitz Akita | 15 |
| 5 | Masao Tsuji | YSCC Yokohama | 14 |
| 6 | Yu Tomidokoro | FC Ryukyu | 13 |
| 6 | Yuichiro Edamoto | Fujieda MYFC | 13 |
| 8 | Keisuke Endo | Fujieda MYFC | 12 |
| 9 | Junya Kato | Gainare Tottori | 11 |
| 10 | Ken Hisatomi | Blaublitz Akita | 10 |

## Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 95,023 | 14,935 | 3,864 | 5,939 | +84.2%$^†$ |
| 2 | Tochigi SC | 82,352 | 11,191 | 2,758 | 5,147 | +4.7%$^†$ |
| 3 | Nagano Parceiro | 68,095 | 8,049 | 2,652 | 4,256 | −15.2%$^†$ |
| 4 | SC Sagamihara | 58,517 | 6,122 | 1,548 | 3,657 | −15.8%$^†$ |
| 5 | Kagoshima United | 56,128 | 5,157 | 1,854 | 3,508 | −4.3%$^†$ |
| 6 | Kataller Toyama | 50,536 | 6,383 | 1,917 | 3,159 | −12.4%$^†$ |
| 7 | Azul Claro Numazu | 48,462 | 8,649 | 753 | 3,029 | +29.9%$^‡$ |
| 8 | FC Ryukyu | 40,132 | 6,888 | 1,032 | 2,508 | +60.7%$^†$ |
| 9 | Blaublitz Akita | 37,819 | 3,933 | 1,355 | 2,364 | −2.5%$^†$ |
| 10 | FC Tokyo U-23 | 30,923 | 6,338 | 864 | 1,933 | −30.9%$^†$ |
| 11 | Gainare Tottori | 24,938 | 2,435 | 573 | 1,559 | −17.9%$^†$ |
| 12 | Fukushima United | 23,762 | 3,897 | 629 | 1,485 | −11.5%$^†$ |
| 13 | Fujieda MYFC | 23,162 | 2,577 | 722 | 1,448 | −5.4%$^†$ |
| 14 | Grulla Morioka | 21,385 | 3,590 | 520 | 1,337 | +12.5%$^†$ |
| 15 | Gamba Osaka U-23 | 19,620 | 2,317 | 523 | 1,226 | −48.9%$^†$ |
| 16 | YSCC Yokohama | 15,222 | 1,264 | 559 | 951 | −6.6%$^†$ |
| 17 | Cerezo Osaka U-23 | 14,545 | 1,653 | 273 | 909 | −38.9%$^†$ |
| | League total | 710,621 | 14,935 | 273 | 2,613 | −11.6%$^†$ |
Updated to games played on 3 December 2017 Source: J. League Data Notes: $^†$ Relegated from J2. $^‡$ Promoted from JFL.