2002 J. League Division 2

The 2002 J.League Division 2 season was the 31st season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 4th season since the establishment of J.League Division 2.

Starting this season, extra-time rule was abolished and the league adopted the traditional 3-1-0 points system. The twelve clubs competed in the quadruple round-robin format. The top two received promotion to the J.League Division 1. There were no relegation to the third-tier Japan Football League.

Clubs

Montedio Yamagata

Albirex Niigata

Omiya Ardija

Mito HollyHock

Ventforet Kofu

Shonan Bellmare

Kawasaki Frontale

Yokohama FC

Cerezo Osaka

Avispa Fukuoka

Sagan Tosu

Oita Trinita

Locations of the 2002 J.League 2 teams

The following 12 clubs played in J.League Division 2 during 2002 season. Of these clubs, Cerezo Osaka and Avispa Fukuoka were relegated from J.League Division 1 last year.

• Albirex Niigata
• Avispa Fukuoka
• Cerezo Osaka
• Kawasaki Frontale
• Mito HollyHock
• Montedio Yamagata
• Oita Trinita
• Omiya Ardija
• Sagan Tosu
• Shonan Bellmare
• Ventforet Kofu
• Yokohama FC

Personnel

Club	Head coach
Albirex Niigata	Yasuharu Sorimachi
Avispa Fukuoka	Shigekazu Nakamura
Cerezo Osaka	Akihiro Nishimura
Kawasaki Frontale	Nobuhiro Ishizaki
Mito HollyHock	Masaaki Kanno
Montedio Yamagata	Koichi Hashiratani
Oita Trinita	Shinji Kobayashi
Omiya Ardija	Henk Duut
Sagan Tosu	Hiroshi Soejima
Shonan Bellmare	Koji Tanaka
Ventforet Kofu	Takeshi Oki
Yokohama FC	Katsuyoshi Shinto

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Non-visa foreign	Type-C contract	Former players
Albirex Niigata	Beto	Marcus Vinícius	Serjão	An Yong-hak
Avispa Fukuoka	Alen Avdić	Zoltan Sabo	Noh Jung-yoon			David Bisconti
Cerezo Osaka	Almir Turković	João Carlos	Yoon Jong-hwan	Chong Yong-de
Kawasaki Frontale	Bentinho	Marlon	Marquinho		Alex	Marcos Aurélio
Mito HollyHock	An Seon-jin			Hwang Hak-sun
Montedio Yamagata
Oita Trinita	Andradina	Fabinho Santos		Sandro	Marcelo Mattos Kim Sung-kil
Omiya Ardija	Toninho	Jorge Dely Valdés	Fuat Usta			Jorginho
Sagan Tosu	David Bisconti			Erikson Noguchipinto
Shonan Bellmare	Ever Palacios				Silva
Ventforet Kofu	Jorginho				Alair
Yokohama FC	Fernando Moner

League format

Twelve clubs played in quadruple round-robin format, a total of 44 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

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 top two clubs are promoted to J1.

Final league table

Top scorers

Pos	Player	Club	Goals	PK	GP	Shots	Goals per game
1st	Marcus Vinícius	Albirex Niigata	19	4/5	36	139	0.55
2nd	Yoshito Ōkubo	Cerezo Osaka	18	1/2	29	65	0.91
	Andradina	Oita Trinita		1/1	39	117	0.50
4th	Bentinho	Kawasaki Frontale	16	3/3	36	176	0.44
5th	Takayoshi Ono	Mito HollyHock	14	2/2	36	85	0.46
	Hiroshi Morita	Sagan Tosu		0/0	38	86	0.45
	David Bisconti			4/4	39	92	0.42
8th	Yasuo Manaka	Cerezo Osaka	13	1/1	28	67	1.05
	Jorge Dely Valdés	Omiya Ardija		2/2	32	72	0.46
10th	Hiroaki Morishima	Cerezo Osaka	12	0/0	37	75	0.34
	Marlon	Kawasaki Frontale		0/0	23	74	0.58

Attendances

Source:^[1]

References