# 2002 Japan Football League

The 2002 Japan Football League (Japanese: 第4回日本フットボールリーグ, Hepburn: Dai Yon-kai Nihon Futtobōru Rīgu) was the fourth season of the Japan Football League, the third tier of the Japanese football league system.

## Overview

It was contested by 18 teams, and Honda FC won the championship.

## Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Honda FC (C) | 17 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 39 | 14 | +25 | 41 | |
| 2 | Sagawa Express Tokyo | 17 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 49 | 22 | +27 | 39 | |
| 3 | Otsuka Pharmaceuticals | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 38 | 22 | +16 | 37 | |
| 4 | Sony Sendai | 17 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 25 | 16 | +9 | 30 | |
| 5 | Kokushikan University | 17 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 28 | 20 | +8 | 30 | |
| 6 | Ehime FC | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 29 | 18 | +11 | 28 | |
| 7 | Yokogawa Electric | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 26 | −5 | 28 | |
| 8 | YKK FC | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 16 | +8 | 26 | |
| 9 | Sagawa Express Osaka | 17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 27 | 23 | +4 | 24 | |
| 10 | Denso SC | 17 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 32 | 30 | +2 | 21 | |
| 11 | Kyoto BAMB 1993 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 21 | 25 | −4 | 21 | |
| 12 | Tochigi SC | 17 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 21 | 27 | −6 | 18 | |
| 13 | SC Tottori | 17 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 18 | 33 | −15 | 15 | |
| 14 | ALO's Hokuriku | 17 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 34 | −18 | 15 | |
| 15 | Shizuoka Sangyo University (R) | 17 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 20 | 32 | −12 | 14 | Promotion/relegation Series |
| 16 | Jatco SC (O) | 17 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 28 | −12 | 13 | Promotion/relegation Series |
| 17 | Alouette Kumamoto (R) | 17 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 28 | −12 | 13 | Relegation to Regional Leagues |
| 18 | Profesor Miyazaki (R) | 17 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 40 | −20 | 11 | Relegation to Regional Leagues |
* 1 2 Denotes clubs that occupied top 2 places at the end of the previous season and were seeded for 2002 Emperor's Cup. These clubs were automatically qualified for the tournament, while each of other JFL clubs had to go through the prefectural qualifier.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALO | ALU | BAM | DEN | EHI | HON | JAT | KSU | OTP | PRO | SEO | SET | SON | SSU | TOC | TOT | YKK | YEL |
| ALO's Hokuriku | | | | 0–0 | | | 2–2 | 2–2 | | | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | | |
| Alouette Kumamoto | 1–1 | | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | | | 4–4 | 2–1 | 3–2 | | | | | | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Kyoto BAMB 1993 | 1–2 | | | 1–4 | | | 2–1 | | | 1–2 | | 2–3 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 0–0 | | | |
| Denso SC | | 3–2 | | | | | | 2–3 | | | 3–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 3–2 | | 0–1 |
| Ehime FC | 4–0 | | 0–1 | 1–4 | | | 5–1 | | | 3–0 | | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | | | |
| Honda FC | 5–1 | | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | | | 7–1 | 1–3 | | | 3–2 | | | 1–0 | |
| Jatco SC | | 0–0 | | 1–0 | | | | 1–2 | | | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | | |
| Kokushikan University | | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–2 | 0–1 | | | 2–3 | 1–0 | | | | | | | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceuticals | 1–0 | | 4–4 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | | 3–3 | 1–1 | | | | | | 1–0 | |
| Profesor Miyazaki | 1–1 | | | 2–2 | | | 4–2 | | | | | 0–5 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | | |
| Sagawa Express Osaka | 6–0 | | 0–1 | | 1–0 | | | 3–2 | | 2–1 | | | 2–2 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | | |
| Sagawa Express Tokyo | | 5–0 | | | | 3–1 | | 2–1 | 1–3 | | 2–2 | | 1–3 | | 2–2 | 5–3 | | 9–0 |
| Sony Sendai | | 0–0 | | | 2–0 | 0–3 | | 1–1 | 2–2 | | | | | | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Shizuoka Sangyo University | | 3–0 | | | | | | 2–5 | 1–3 | | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 0–2 |
| Tochigi SC | | 5–0 | | | | 1–3 | | 0–2 | 0–4 | | | | 1–0 | | | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 |
| SC Tottori | | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 1–4 | 1–4 | | 1–3 | 0–2 | | | | | | | | 0–3 | 1–2 |
| YKK FC | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 | | 1–1 | | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | | 1–1 | | | | |
| Yokogawa Electric | 3–1 | | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | | | | | | 2–1 | |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Masao Yamamoto | Sagawa Express Tokyo | 22 |
| 1 | Hideki Takayama | Denso SC | 22 |
| 3 | Tatsuya Furuhashi | Honda FC | 13 |
| 3 | Shigeki Manome | Sagawa Express Tokyo | 13 |
| 5 | Takehiro Hayashi | Otsuka Pharmaceuticals | 12 |

## Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Honda FC | 9,903 | 3,783 | 511 | 1,100 | +25.1%$^†$ |
| 2 | Ehime FC | 8,724 | 1,645 | 785 | 1,091 | +65.3%$^†$ |
| 3 | Tochigi SC | 8,110 | 1,647 | 723 | 1,014 | +56.5%$^†$ |
| 4 | Sony Sendai | 6,868 | 1,169 | 653 | 859 | +64.9%$^†$ |
| 5 | SC Tottori | 6,718 | 1,509 | 324 | 840 | +2.6%$^†$ |
| 6 | Otsuka Pharmaceuticals | 7,072 | 1,158 | 205 | 786 | +31.4%$^†$ |
| 7 | Alouette Kumamoto | 6,049 | 863 | 412 | 672 | −3.0%$^†$ |
| 8 | Yokogawa Electric | 4,770 | 1,057 | 252 | 530 | +8.4%$^†$ |
| 9 | YKK FC | 4,770 | 1,141 | 238 | 489 | −9.4%$^†$ |
| 10 | Jatco SC | 4,033 | 931 | 232 | 448 | +6.2%$^†$ |
| 11 | Profesor Miyazaki | 2,803 | 618 | 230 | 350 | n/a$^†$ |
| 12 | ALO's Hokuriku | 2,716 | 501 | 202 | 340 | −20.0%$^†$ |
| 13 | Kyoto BAMB 1993 | 2,716 | 511 | 211 | 336 | −4.3%$^†$ |
| 14 | Sagawa Express Tokyo | 2,966 | 533 | 145 | 330 | −7.8%$^†$ |
| 15 | Kokushikan University | 2,851 | 547 | 177 | 317 | +44.1%$^†$ |
| 16 | Shizuoka Sangyo University | 2,413 | 583 | 178 | 302 | −42.0%$^†$ |
| 17 | Denso SC | 2,541 | 505 | 155 | 282 | −20.8%$^†$ |
| 18 | Sagawa Express Osaka | 2,159 | 386 | 125 | 270 | n/a$^†$ |
| | League total | 87,789 | 3,783 | 125 | 574 | +11.5%$^†$ |
Source: Notes: $^†$ Team played previous season in Regional Leagues.

## Promotion and relegation

After the season, Alouette Kumamoto and Profesor Miyazaki were automatically relegated to Kyūshū regional league. Due to contraction of the league, the winners and runners-up of the Regional League promotion series, Ain Food and SP Kyoto, were set to compete in the promotion and relegation series with 16th and 15th placed teams – Jatco SC and Shizuoka Sangyo University respectively.

### Leg 1

Series tied 2–2. Jatco F.C. won the series 4–2 in penalty shootout and stayed in JFL.

### Leg 2

Series tied 0–0. Sagawa Printing won the series 5–3 in penalty shootout and earned promotion to JFL. Shizuoka Sangyo University were relegated to Tōkai regional league.