# 2021–22 WE League season

The 2021–22 WE League, also known as the 2021–22 Yogibo WE League (Japanese: 2021–22 Yogibo WEリーグ, Hepburn: 2021–22 Yogibo WE Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 1st season of the WE League, the top Japanese women's professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2020. The league began on 2 September 2021 and ended on 21 May 2022.

## Organisation

The WE League is Japan's first fully professional women's soccer league, and 2021–22 is the WE League's inaugural season.

## Competition
### Preseason

Preseason ran from 24 April 2021 to 19 June 2021 prior to the Tokyo Olympics. In the first preseason match, INAC Kobe Leonessa defeated AC Nagano Parceiro 3–0.

### Regular season

The regular season started on 12 September 2021 and finished on 21 May 2022.

## Clubs
### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Kit sponsor |
| MyNavi Sendai | Takeo Matsuda | Haruka Hamada | X-girl | Mynavi Corporation |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Naoki Kusunose | Hanae Shibata | Nike | POLUS Co., Ltd. |
| Omiya Ardija Ventus | Takeyuki Okamoto | Saori Ariyoshi | X-girl | ahamo |
| AS Elfen Saitama | Etsuko Handa | Emi Yamamoto | X-girl | Chifure Holdings Co., Ltd. |
| JEF United Chiba | Shinji Sarusawa | Kanae Hayashi | X-girl | Yakult Honsha |
| Tokyo Verdy Beleza | Kazuhiko Takemoto | Risa Shimizu | ATHLETA | Task Force Co., Ltd. |
| Nojima Stella Kanagawa | Makoto Kitano | Arisa Matsubara | X-girl | Television Kanagawa |
| AC Nagano Parceiro | Tadashi Ogasahara | Kyoka Goshima | X-girl | Hokto |
| Albirex Niigata | Daisuke Muramatsu | | X-girl | Kameda Seika |
| INAC Kobe Leonessa | Kei Hoshikawa | Emi Nakajima | hummel | Earth Corporation |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina | Shin Nakamura | Yukari Kinga | Nike | EDION |

## Foreign players

The JFA subsidizes salaries for players from Southeast Asian member federations, while the league itself subsidizes players from top-ranked FIFA countries.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 |
| MyNavi Sendai | | |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | | |
| Omiya Ardija Ventus | Grace Cutler | |
| AS Elfen Saitama | Sarina Bolden | |
| JEF United Chiba | Quinley Quezada | Cheng Ssu-yu |
| Tokyo Verdy Beleza | | |
| Nojima Stella Kanagawa | Cindy König | Uchechi Sunday |
| AC Nagano Parceiro | | |
| Albirex Niigata | Lee Hyo-kyeong | |
| INAC Kobe Leonessa | Stina Johannes | |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina | | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | INAC Kobe Leonessa | 20 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 35 | 9 | +26 | 50 | League Winner |
| 2 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 40 | 24 | +16 | 42 | |
| 3 | Tokyo Verdy Beleza | 20 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 32 | 18 | +14 | 34 | |
| 4 | JEF United Chiba | 20 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 26 | 18 | +8 | 34 | |
| 5 | Mynavi Sendai | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 25 | 16 | +9 | 31 | |
| 6 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 24 | 26 | −2 | 25 | |
| 7 | AC Nagano Parceiro | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 24 | −9 | 21 | |
| 8 | Albirex Niigata | 20 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 20 | 30 | −10 | 19 | |
| 9 | Omiya Ardija Ventus | 20 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 31 | −14 | 18 | |
| 10 | Nojima Stella Kanagawa | 20 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 31 | −18 | 13 | |
| 11 | AS Elfen Saitama | 20 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 33 | −20 | 13 | |

## Results
### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| INAC Kobe Leonessa | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Tokyo Verdy Beleza | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| JEF United Chiba | 7 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| MyNavi Sendai | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina | 2 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| AC Nagano Parceiro | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Albirex Niigata | 9 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| Omiya Ardija Ventus | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Nojima Stella Kanagawa | 5 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| AS Elfen Saitama | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 |
* Leader

### Results by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| Albirex Niigata | L | D | W | D | WAD | L | L | L | L | W | L | WAD | D | D | W | L | W | L | L | D | D | D |
| MyNavi Sendai | D | W | D | W | D | W | WAD | W | L | D | L | W | WAD | L | W | L | L | W | W | L | L | W |
| AC Nagano Parceiro | W | D | D | L | L | L | W | L | W | WAD | W | L | D | WAD | L | D | L | L | D | W | D | L |
| INAC Kobe Leonessa | W | WAD | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | L | D | W | W | WAD | W | W | W | W | W | L | W |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina | W | L | L | D | L | W | D | WAD | L | D | W | L | L | L | L | WAD | W | W | L | W | D | W |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | W | W | WAD | W | W | L | L | L | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | L | WAD | W | W | W | W | D |
| Nojima Stella Kanagawa | D | L | D | WAD | W | L | D | L | L | L | L | D | D | L | L | W | L | WAD | D | L | D | L |
| Tokyo Verdy Beleza | L | D | W | W | L | W | W | L | WAD | D | W | W | W | W | W | L | L | L | WAD | D | W | D |
| JEF United Chiba | WAD | D | L | L | D | W | W | W | W | D | D | L | L | W | W | W | D | W | D | WAD | W | D |
| Omiya Ardija Ventus | L | D | D | L | W | WAD | L | W | D | D | D | D | L | D | L | W | D | L | L | L | WAD | L |
| AS Elfen Saitama | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | W | D | D | WAD | D | W | L | L | D | W | L | D | L | L | WAD |
* Win
* Draw
* Lose
* WE ACTION DAY (WAD)

### All match results

| Home \ Away | MYN | RED | VEN | ELF | JEF | BEL | STE | PAR | ALB | LEO | REG |
| MyNavi Sendai | | | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | | 1–1 | 4–0 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 3–1 | | | | 2–0 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| Omiya Ardija Ventus | 0–1 | 1–4 | | 0–0 | | | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | | 4–1 |
| AS Elfen | 0–3 | 1–1 | | | | | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 0–3 |
| JEF United Chiba | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 0–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | | |
| Tokyo Verdy Beleza | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 4–1 | | | | 4–0 | 2–0 | | 2–0 |
| Nojima Stella Kanagawa | | | 0–1 | 1–0 | | | | 0–0 | 2–4 | | |
| AC Nagano Parceiro | | | | | 0–2 | 0–0 | | | | 0–2 | 2–1 |
| Albirex Niigata | 0–3 | | | 2–1 | 0–1 | | | 1–3 | | | |
| INAC Kobe Leonessa | | | 5–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | | 3–2 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina | 0–2 | | | | 1–1 | | 0–0 | | 1–1 | | |

## Season statistics

    As of 22 May 2022

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Yuika Sugasawa | Urawa Red Diamonds | 14 (1 player) |
| 2 | Mina Tanaka | INAC Kobe Leonessa | 12 (1 player) |
| 3 | Mami Ueno | Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina | 11 (1 player) |
| 4 | Akari Shiraki | MyNavi Sendai | 8 (2 players) |
| 4 | Ayaka Michigami | Albirex Niigata | 8 (2 players) |
| 6 | Miyu Yakata | MyNavi Sendai | 7 (1 player) |
| 7 | Ayaka Inoue | Omiya Ardija Ventus | 6 (6 players) |
| 7 | Natsuki Kishikawa | JEF United Chiba | 6 (6 players) |
| 7 | Haruka Osawa | JEF United Chiba | 6 (6 players) |
| 7 | Remina Chiba | JEF United Chiba | 6 (6 players) |
| 7 | Riko Ueki | Tokyo Verdy Beleza | 6 (6 players) |
| 7 | Yui Narumiya | INAC Kobe Leonessa | 6 (6 players) |
| (12 players) ||||

## Pre-season matches
### Overview

* Source:
* Title: 2021 WE League pre-season matches
* Dates: 24 April – 19 June 2021
* Rules and regulations: match duration; 90 minutes (45 minutes each half)
* Number of matches: 22
* Official website: 2021 WE League pre-season matches (in Japanese)