The 2010 J.League Division 1 season was the 46th season of the top-flight club football in Japan and the 18th season since the establishment of J1 League. The season began on March 6 and ended on December 4.

A total of eighteen clubs participated in double round-robin format. At the end of the season, top three clubs received automatic qualification to the following years' AFC Champions League. Also, the bottom three clubs were relegated to J2 League by default.

Nagoya Grampus won their first ever Japanese championship. This was also the first time since the advent of the J.League that the top scorer scored less than 20 goals; the honour of scoring 17 goals was shared between Nagoya's Joshua Kennedy and Júbilo Iwata's Ryoichi Maeda. Additionally, this was also the first Japanese top division season in which clubs from the Kantō region did not place among the top three.

Clubs

2010 J.League Division 1 is located in Japan
Location of the clubs in Japan

The following eighteen clubs participated in J.League Division 1 during the 2010 season. Of these clubs, Vegalta Sendai, Cerezo Osaka and Shonan Bellmare were newly promoted clubs. For the first time since 1995 season, all top-flight teams are located on a single island (Honshū).

Club nameHome town(s)Note(s)
Albirex NiigataNiigata & Seirō, Niigata
Cerezo OsakaOsakaPromoted from J2 League in 2009
FC TokyoTokyo
Gamba OsakaSuita, Osaka2010 ACL participant
Júbilo IwataIwata, Shizuoka
Kashima AntlersSouthwestern cities/towns of Ibaraki2010 ACL participant Three-time defending champions
Kawasaki FrontaleKawasaki, Kanagawa2010 ACL participant
Kyoto SangaSouthwestern cities/town in Kyoto
Montedio YamagataAll cities/towns in Yamagata
Nagoya GrampusNagoya, Aichi
Omiya ArdijaSaitama
Sanfrecce HiroshimaHiroshima2010 ACL participant
Shonan BellmareSouthcentral cities/towns in KanagawaPromoted from J2 League in 2009
Shimizu S-PulseShizuoka
Urawa Red DiamondsSaitama
Vegalta SendaiSendai, MiyagiPromoted from J2 League in 2009
Vissel KobeKobe, Hyōgo
Yokohama F. MarinosYokohama & Yokosuka

Personnel

ClubHead coachKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
Albirex NiigataJapan Hisashi KurosakiAdidasKameda Seika
Cerezo OsakaBrazil Levir CulpiMizunoYanmar
FC TokyoJapan Kiyoshi OkumaAdidasLifeval
Gamba OsakaJapan Akira NishinoUmbroPanasonic
Júbilo IwataJapan Masaaki YanagishitaPumaYamaha
Kashima AntlersBrazil Oswaldo de OliveiraNikeTOSTEM
Kawasaki FrontaleJapan Tsutomu TakahataAsicsFujitsu
Kyoto SangaJapan Yutaka AkitaWacoalKyocera
Montedio YamagataJapan Shinji KobayashiPumaTsuyahime
Nagoya GrampusSerbia Dragan StojkovićLe Coq SportifToyota
Omiya ArdijaJapan Jun SuzukiUnder ArmourNTT Docomo
Sanfrecce HiroshimaSerbia Mihailo PetrovićMizunoDeodeo
Shimizu S-PulseJapan Kenta HasegawaPumaSuzuyo
Shonan BellmareJapan Yasuharu SorimachiA-LineLa Parler
Urawa Red DiamondsGermany Volker FinkeNikeSavas
Vegalta SendaiJapan Makoto TeguramoriAsicsIRIS OHYAMA
Vissel KobeJapan Masahiro WadaAsicsRakuten
Yokohama F. MarinosJapan Kazushi KimuraNikeNissan

Foreign players

ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3AFC playerNon-visa foreignType-C contractFormer players
Albirex NiigataBrazil João PauloBrazil Márcio RichardesBrazil MichaelSouth Korea Cho Young-cheolBrazil FagnerBrazil Bruno Suzuki
Cerezo OsakaBrazil AdrianoBrazil AmaralBrazil MartinezSouth Korea Kim Jin-hyeon
FC TokyoBrazil RicardinhoSouth Korea Kim Young-gwonSouth Korea Seo Yong-duk
Gamba OsakaBrazil DodôBrazil Lucas SeverinoSouth Korea Cho Jae-jinSouth Korea Lee Keun-hoBrazil Pedro Júnior Brazil Zé Carlos
Júbilo IwataBrazil GilsinhoSouth Korea Lee Woo-jinSouth Korea Park Joo-hoNorth Korea Hwang Song-suSouth Korea Lee Keun-ho
Kashima AntlersBrazil Fellype GabrielBrazil GiltonBrazil MarquinhosSouth Korea Lee Jung-soo
Kawasaki FrontaleBrazil JuninhoBrazil RenatinhoBrazil Vitor JúniorNorth Korea Jong Tae-se
Kyoto SangaBrazil Diego SouzaBrazil Junior DutraBrazil ThiegoSouth Korea Kwak Tae-hwiNorth Korea Kim Song-yong
Montedio YamagataSouth Korea Han Dong-wonSouth Korea Kim Byung-sukSouth Korea Kim Kun-hoan
Nagoya GrampusBrazil MagnumColombia Danilson CórdobaMontenegro Igor BurzanovićAustralia Joshua Kennedy
Omiya ArdijaBrazil Rafael MarquesCroatia Mato NeretljakSouth Korea Lee Chun-sooSouth Korea Lee HoNorth Korea An Yong-hakBrazil Dudu South Korea Seo Yong-duk
Sanfrecce HiroshimaBulgaria Ilian StoyanovCroatia Mihael Mikić
Shonan BellmareBrazil Emerson PaulistaBrazil JeanBrazil ValdoSouth Korea Han Kook-youngSouth Korea Kim Yeong-giSouth Korea Choi Seung-in
Shimizu S-PulseNorway Frode JohnsenAustralia Eddy Bosnar
Urawa Red DiamondsBrazil EdmílsonBrazil Robson PonteBurkina Faso Wilfried SanouAustralia Matthew Spiranovic
Vegalta SendaiBrazil ElizeuBrazil FernandinhoSouth Korea Park Ju-sungSouth Korea Park Sung-hoNorth Korea Ryang Yong-giBrazil Reinaldo Alagoano
Vissel KobeBrazil Edmilson AlvesBrazil PopóBrazil Raphael BottiSouth Korea Lee Jae-minSouth Korea Park Kang-jo
Yokohama F. MarinosArgentina Pablo BastianiniSouth Korea Jeong Dong-ho

Format

Eighteen clubs will play in double round-robin (home and away) format, a total of 34 games each. A club receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order:

  • Goal differential
  • Goals scored
  • Head-to-head results
  • Disciplinary points

A draw would be conducted, if necessary. However, if two clubs are tied at the first place, both clubs will be declared as the champions. The bottom three clubs will be relegated to J.League Division 2. The top three clubs will qualify to AFC Champions League in the following year.

Changes from previous year

  • Regular season schedule had two months break after May 16 games, due to 2010 FIFA World Cup. The season was resumed from July 17, with exceptions for clubs advancing to the Round of 16 of 2010 AFC Champions League, which 11th-week matches were rescheduled to July 14.

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1Nagoya Grampus (C)3423385437+1772Qualification for 2011 AFC Champions League group stage
2Gamba Osaka3418886544+2162
3Cerezo Osaka34171075832+2661
4Kashima Antlers34161265131+2060
5Kawasaki Frontale34159106147+1454
6Shimizu S-Pulse34159106049+1154
7Sanfrecce Hiroshima34149114538+751
8Yokohama F. Marinos34156134339+451
9Albirex Niigata34121394845+349
10Urawa Red Diamonds34146144841+748
11Júbilo Iwata341111123849−1144
12Omiya Ardija34119143945−642
13Montedio Yamagata34119142942−1342
14Vegalta Sendai34109154046−639
15Vissel Kobe34911143745−838
16FC Tokyo (R)34812143641−536Relegation to 2011 J.League Division 2
17Kyoto Sanga (R)3447233060−3019
18Shonan Bellmare (R)3437243182−5116

Results

Home \ AwayALBANTARDBELCERFROGAMGRAJÚBMONSFRSANSSPTOKREDVEGVISFMA
Albirex Niigata2–10–03–11–12–11–24–11–13–12–21–14–12–10–21–11–12–1
Kashima Antlers2–23–01–00–12–12–11–01–23–10–02–11–11–12–01–03–02–0
Omiya Ardija2–20–13–03–02–21–30–10–02–10–02–13–00–21–20–32–21–1
Shonan Bellmare2–01–11–30–41–61–30–10–01–11–32–23–61–31–41–02–21–4
Cerezo Osaka2–12–12–02–10–01–10–16–23–01–13–11–04–12–30–02–12–0
Kawasaki Frontale2–11–20–04–21–21–24–01–12–02–01–00–02–11–13–23–01–3
Gamba Osaka0–01–15–12–13–24–41–22–01–02–01–11–12–03–22–22–40–2
Nagoya Grampus1–11–42–12–11–02–33–12–02–12–11–03–30–13–12–12–01–1
Júbilo Iwata1–12–31–13–20–33–14–31–20–02–12–32–12–12–10–13–20–0
Montedio Yamagata1–01–11–01–13–30–02–10–11–01–01–00–30–31–13–10–00–1
Sanfrecce Hiroshima4–01–11–23–00–50–30–21–01–12–13–01–12–12–11–01–13–0
Kyoto Sanga0–21–10–20–10–13–41–20–20–11–20–32–42–00–42–13–01–2
Shimizu S-Pulse0–22–12–15–03–22–00–31–50–03–02–11–11–22–15–11–01–2
FC Tokyo1–11–10–13–00–01–21–10–11–11–10–21–12–20–10–02–21–0
Urawa Red Diamonds2–01–10–12–12–03–00–22–10–10–10–12–01–11–01–10–42–3
Vegalta Sendai2–32–13–12–11–11–11–31–23–02–01–11–01–33–21–10–10–1
Vissel Kobe1–20–03–10–00–00–41–31–23–00–21–22–01–00–01–02–01–1
Yokohama F. Marinos3–01–30–23–00–04–01–00–21–00–12–12–21–21–21–40–11–0

Top scorers

RankScorerClubGoals
1Australia Joshua KennedyNagoya Grampus17
Japan Ryoichi MaedaJúbilo Iwata
3Brazil EdmílsonUrawa Red Diamonds16
Brazil Márcio RichardesAlbirex Niigata
5Brazil AdrianoCerezo Osaka14
Brazil JuninhoKawasaki Frontale
Japan Shoki HiraiGamba Osaka
8Japan Jungo FujimotoShimizu S-Pulse13
Japan Keiji TamadaNagoya Grampus
Japan Shinji OkazakiShimizu S-Pulse

Awards

MVP

Top scorers

Best XI

PositionPlayer
GKJapan Seigo Narazaki
DFJapan Marcus Tulio Tanaka
DFJapan Takahiro Masukawa
DFJapan Tomoaki Makino
MFBrazil Márcio Richardes
MFColombia Danilson Córdoba
MFJapan Jungo Fujimoto
MFJapan Kengo Nakamura
MFJapan Yasuhito Endō
FWAustralia Joshua Kennedy
FWJapan Ryoichi Maeda

Attendances

PosTeamTotalHighLowAverageChange
1Urawa Red Diamonds678,99455,41021,62539,941−9.7%†
2Albirex Niigata519,22141,00219,15230,542−8.7%†
3Yokohama F. Marinos436,62443,02512,18425,684+16.4%†
4FC Tokyo426,89930,67217,47725,112−3.0%†
5Kashima Antlers356,43035,2519,47220,966−3.0%†
6Nagoya Grampus339,63834,0987,99119,979+25.4%†
7Kawasaki Frontale315,55022,4077,34818,562−1.5%†
8Shimizu S-Pulse306,02238,8517,11718,001+0.4%†
9Vegalta Sendai294,64426,39112,11917,332+33.8%†
10Gamba Osaka283,11120,9739,09316,654−6.0%†
11Cerezo Osaka255,43937,8608,04115,026+51.6%†
12Sanfrecce Hiroshima247,55023,9485,33414,562−7.4%†
13Vissel Kobe218,00419,5068,70712,824−1.9%†
14Júbilo Iwata206,32431,2667,03012,137−10.2%†
15Montedio Yamagata199,06920,2317,01911,710−2.9%†
16Shonan Bellmare188,61414,0956,03211,095+43.7%†
17Omiya Ardija188,08829,5757,83111,064−19.3%†
18Kyoto Sanga178,67315,2226,81810,510−5.5%†
League total5,638,89455,4105,33418,428−2.9%†

Updated to games played on December 4, 2010 Source: Notes: † Team played previous season in J2.