# 2020 Nadeshiko League

The 2020 Nadeshiko League was the 32nd season of the Nadeshiko League, the main league for women's association football in Japan. It was also the 16th season in its current format.
The league was originally scheduled to begin on 2 May 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league was finally rescheduled to begin on 18 July 2020 with the first two rounds of matches played behind closed doors.

## Division 1

The season started on 18 July 2020 and ended in November 2020 with the play-offs to be held days later. Prior to the league start date, PCR were carried out on all the players and staffs of the teams participating in the leagues to check their health conditions, almost all test cases came out negative.
Urawa Reds Ladies won their fourth Nadeshiko League title and therefore will earn the right to participate in the 2021 AFC Women's Club Championship.
This is its final year as the highest division of the Japan women's football league system as the WE League is set to commence next year. Similar to the men's J. League in 1992 and the English women's FA WSL in 2011, not all Division 1 clubs will be admitted to the new league.

### Teams

The league was contested by 10 teams, debutants Ehime winners of the 2019 Nadeshiko League Division 2 and runners up Cerezo Osaka replaced Nittidai and AC Nagano Parceiro Ladies, who were relegated from the 2019 Nadeshiko League Division 1.

### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Urawa Reds Ladies | 18 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 37 | 17 | +20 | 44 | Champions, form WE League |
| 2 | INAC Kobe Leonessa | 18 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 33 | 19 | +14 | 35 | Form WE League |
| 3 | NTV Beleza | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 45 | 22 | +23 | 31 | Form WE League |
| 4 | Cerezo Osaka | 18 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 32 | 36 | −4 | 30 | |
| 5 | Albirex Niigata | 18 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 17 | +2 | 27 | Form WE League |
| 6 | JEF United Chiba | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 30 | 29 | +1 | 23 | Form WE League |
| 7 | Mynavi Vegalta Sendai | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 26 | 24 | +2 | 22 | Form WE League |
| 8 | Nojima Stella | 18 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 30 | −12 | 15 | Form WE League |
| 9 | Iga Kunoichi | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 17 | 33 | −16 | 14 | |
| 10 | Ehime | 18 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 16 | 46 | −30 | 12 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | ALB | CER | EHI | INA | IGA | JEF | NTV | NOJ | URA | VEG |
| Albirex Niigata | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 2–1 | — | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–10 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Ehime | 1–0 | 3–2 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| INAC | 2–0 | 3–1 | 5–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Iga Kunoichi | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | — | 0–5 | 1–6 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| JEF United | 1–2 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 1–1 |
| NTV Beleza | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 |
| Nojima Stella | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | — | 2–3 | 2–1 |
| Urawa Reds Ladies | 2–1 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 |
| Vegalta Sendai | 0–1 | 5–1 | 5–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — |

### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Urawa Reds Ladies | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| INAC Kobe | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| NTV Beleza | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Albirex Niigata | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| JEF United | 10 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| Vegalta Sendai | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Nojima Stella | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Iga FC | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Ehime | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |

### Attendance
#### Highest attendance

* 1 2 3 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, spectators were not allowed into stadiums.

### Statistics
#### Topscorers

    As of matches played on 21 November 2020.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Yuika Sugasawa | Urawa Reds Ladies | 17 |
| 2 | Haruka Hamada | Vegalta Sendai | 15 |
| 3 | Mina Tanaka | INAC Kobe Leonessa | 13 |
| 4 | Rikako Kobayashi | NTV Beleza | 9 |
| 4 | Ami Otaki | JEF United | 9 |
| 6 | Jun Endo | NTV Beleza | 8 |
| 7 | Yui Hasegawa | NTV Beleza | 7 |
| 7 | Honoka Hayashi | Cerezo Osaka | 7 |
| 7 | Arisa Minamino | Nojima Stella | 7 |
| 10 | 4 players | 4 players | 6 |

### Awards
#### Best XI
## Division 2

The season began on 18 July 2020.

### Teams and format

10 teams contested the league, Jumonji Ventus were promoted while Shizuoka Sangyo were relegated from the previous season, additionally Nittaidai and Nagano Parceiro Ladies also joined from the Nadeshiko League Division 1.

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Sfida Setagaya | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 34 | 18 | +16 | 37 | |
| 2 | Elfen Saitama | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 33 | 13 | +20 | 36 | Promoted to WE League |
| 3 | Kamogawa | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 37 | 18 | +19 | 34 | |
| 4 | Yokohama | 18 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 29 | 8 | +21 | 32 | |
| 5 | Nagano Parceiro | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 13 | +9 | 28 | Promoted to WE League |
| 6 | Harima | 18 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 25 | 22 | +3 | 26 | |
| 7 | Yamato Sylphid | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 16 | −1 | 26 | |
| 8 | Jumonji Ventus | 18 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 40 | −25 | 13 | Promoted to WE League |
| 9 | Nittaidai | 18 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 46 | −39 | 9 | |
| 10 | Bunnys Kyoto | 18 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 31 | −23 | 8 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | KYO | ELF | HAR | JUM | KAM | NIT | NAG | SET | YAM | YOK |
| Bunnys Kyoto | — | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Elfen Saitama | 2–1 | — | 4–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Harima | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Jumonji Ventus | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | — | 1–4 | 2–0 | 0–5 | 0–5 | 0–2 | 0–5 |
| Kamogawa | 4–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | — | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Nittaidai | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–5 | 1–1 | 0–5 | — | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–5 |
| Nagano Parceiro | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Sfida Setagaya | 3–0 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | — | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Yamato Sylphid | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–3 |
| Yokohama | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — |

### Awards
## Challenge League

12 teams contested the third tier, divided into two groups of 6 each for East and West. Newly promoted clubs were Shizuoka SSU Asregina (formerly Iwata Bonita) and Fukuoka J. Anclas, both returning to the national tiers, and Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls, Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies's B-team.

### Teams

| Clubs (East) | Hometown(s) |
| Norddea Hokkaido | Sapporo, Hokkaido |
| Tsukuba FC Ladies | Tsukuba, Ibaraki |
| Niigata University of Health and Welfare LSC | Niigata, Niigata |
| JFA Academy Fukushima LSC | Susono, Shizuoka |
| Shizuoka SSU Asregina | Iwata, Shizuoka |
| NGU Loveledge Nagoya | Nagoya, Aichi |
| Clubs (West) | Hometown(s) |
| Speranza Osaka Takatsuki | Takatsuki, Osaka |
| Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls | Osaka |
| KIU Charme | Takahashi, Okayama |
| Yunogo Belle | Mimasaka, Okayama |
| Angeviolet Hiroshima | Hiroshima |
| Fukuoka J. Anclas | Fukuoka |

### Challenge League Championship

JFA Academy wins the title.

### Challenge League Third Place

Speranza is promoted to the Nadeshiko League.