1997 J.League

The 1997 J.League season was the fifth season of the J.League. The league began in April 12 and ended in December 13. For this year, the league was contested by 17 teams. Kashima Antlers won the 1st stage and Júbilo Iwata won the 2nd stage. Júbilo won the J.League title after winning both matches in the Suntory Championship.

J.League

Season	1997
Champions	Júbilo Iwata 1st J.League title
Asian Club Championship	Júbilo Iwata
Matches played	272
Goals scored	898 (3.3 per match)
Top goalscorer	Patrick Mboma (25 goals)
Highest attendance	38,707 - Reds vs. Sanfrecce (April 19)
Lowest attendance	2,245 - JEF Utd. vs. Sanfrecce (May 7)
Average attendance	10,131
← 1996 1998 →

Clubs

The following seventeen clubs participated in J.League during the 1997 season. Of these clubs, Vissel Kobe was the only newly promoted team from Japan Football League.

• Avispa Fukuoka
• Bellmare Hiratsuka
• Cerezo Osaka
• Gamba Osaka
• JEF United Ichihara
• Júbilo Iwata
• Kashima Antlers
• Kashiwa Reysol
• Kyoto Purple Sanga
• Nagoya Grampus Eight
• Sanfrecce Hiroshima
• Shimizu S-Pulse
• Urawa Red Diamonds
• Verdy Kawasaki
• Vissel Kobe
• Yokohama Flügels
• Yokohama Marinos

Personnel

Club	Head coach
Avispa Fukuoka	Carlos Pachamé
Bellmare Hiratsuka	Shigeharu Ueki
Cerezo Osaka	Levir Culpi
Gamba Osaka	Josip Kuže
JEF United Ichihara	Jan Versleijen
Júbilo Iwata	Takashi Kuwahara
Kashima Antlers	João Carlos
Kashiwa Reysol	Nicanor de Carvalho
Kyoto Purple Sanga	Pedro Rocha
Nagoya Grampus Eight	Carlos Queiroz
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Eddie Thomson
Shimizu S-Pulse	Osvaldo Ardiles
Urawa Red Diamonds	Horst Köppel
Verdy Kawasaki	Valdir Espinosa
Vissel Kobe	Stuart Baxter
Yokohama Flügels	Otacílio Gonçalves
Yokohama Marinos	Xabier Azkargorta

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Non-visa foreign	Former players
Avispa Fukuoka	Julio Hernán Rossi	Sergio Vázquez	Michael Obiku	Pablo Maqueda			Marcelo Carracedo Rodrigo Riep
Bellmare Hiratsuka	Cláudio	Simão	Hong Myung-bo
Cerezo Osaka	Alex Lopes	Claudinho	Gilmar	Jean Elias	Ko Jeong-woon		Sérgio Manoel
Gamba Osaka	Patrick Mboma	Nebojša Krupniković	Boban Babunski	Amir Karić			Mladen Mladenović
JEF United Ichihara	Nenad Maslovar	Arnold Scholten	Peter Bosz				Rade Bogdanović
Júbilo Iwata	Adilson Batista	Alessandro Cambalhota	Dunga				Marcelo Mabilia Salvatore Schillaci
Kashima Antlers	Bismarck	Jorginho	Mazinho	Rodrigo Mendes
Kashiwa Reysol	Edílson	Elpídio Silva	Paulo Jamelli	Valdir			Antônio Carlos Zago
Kyoto Purple Sanga	Capone	Daniel	Luiz Carlos	Mineiro			Cléber Arado Edmílson Matias
Nagoya Grampus Eight	Alexandre Torres	Ricardinho	Valdo	Dragan Stojković
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Graham Arnold	Tony Popovic	Antônio Carlos Santos	Ian Crook	Noh Jung-yoon
Shimizu S-Pulse	Fernando Oliva	Santos				Alex	Mark Bowen
Urawa Red Diamonds	Željko Petrović	Basile Boli	Guido Buchwald	Alfred Nijhuis	Txiki Begiristain		Michael Baur
Verdy Kawasaki	Alcindo	Argel Fuchs	Dias	Magrão		Ko Ishikawa
Vissel Kobe	Matthew Bingley	Budimir Vujačić	Lee Baxter			Cho Kwi-jae	Michael Laudrup Thomas Bickel Ziad Tlemçani
Yokohama Flügels	César Sampaio	Fernando	Marcelo	Válber			Zinho
Yokohama Marinos	Julio César Baldivieso	Dušan Petković	Julio Salinas

Standings

First stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	PKW	OTL	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Kashima Antlers	16	12	0	1	0	0	3	32	15	+17	37
2	Yokohama Flügels	16	11	1	0	0	0	4	35	16	+19	35
3	Kashiwa Reysol	16	10	1	0	1	1	3	34	18	+16	32
4	Bellmare Hiratsuka	16	8	2	0	0	0	6	25	20	+5	28
5	Yokohama Marinos	16	7	3	1	0	0	5	31	31	0	28
6	Júbilo Iwata	16	8	1	0	3	0	4	32	21	+11	26
7	Shimizu S-Pulse	16	7	2	0	2	0	5	25	24	+1	25
8	Gamba Osaka	16	8	0	0	0	0	8	28	23	+5	24
9	Urawa Red Diamonds	16	6	1	1	0	0	8	25	24	+1	21
10	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	16	6	1	1	2	0	6	22	23	−1	21
11	Cerezo Osaka	16	6	0	1	2	1	6	21	26	−5	19
12	Nagoya Grampus Eight	16	6	0	0	1	0	9	18	24	−6	18
13	Kyoto Purple Sanga	16	6	0	0	1	1	8	19	32	−13	18
14	Vissel Kobe	16	5	1	0	2	0	8	24	34	−10	17
15	JEF United Ichihara	16	3	2	0	0	0	11	21	34	−13	13
16	Verdy Kawasaki	16	2	2	0	1	2	9	16	27	−11	10
17	Avispa Fukuoka	16	3	0	0	2	0	11	11	27	−16	9

Source:

Second stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	PKW	OTL	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Júbilo Iwata	16	12	2	0	0	0	2	40	14	+26	40
2	Gamba Osaka	16	10	2	0	1	0	3	38	23	+15	34
3	Yokohama Marinos	16	8	4	0	0	0	4	42	28	+14	32
4	Kashima Antlers	16	9	2	0	1	0	4	46	23	+23	31
5	Nagoya Grampus Eight	16	10	0	0	0	0	6	23	24	−1	30
6	Shimizu S-Pulse	16	9	1	0	3	0	3	27	16	+11	29
7	Urawa Red Diamonds	16	8	1	0	2	0	5	26	21	+5	26
8	Cerezo Osaka	16	7	1	1	3	0	4	32	30	+2	24
9	Bellmare Hiratsuka	16	6	1	1	1	1	6	30	32	−2	21
10	Kashiwa Reysol	16	6	1	0	0	1	8	29	31	−2	20
11	Yokohama Flügels	16	5	1	1	2	0	7	23	27	−4	18
12	Verdy Kawasaki	16	4	2	0	0	0	10	22	38	−16	16
13	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	16	5	0	0	2	0	9	21	27	−6	15
14	JEF United Ichihara	16	3	3	0	3	1	6	22	32	−10	15
15	Avispa Fukuoka	16	3	0	1	3	0	9	18	31	−13	10
16	Kyoto Purple Sanga	16	3	0	0	2	1	10	21	38	−17	9
17	Vissel Kobe	16	1	2	0	0	0	13	19	44	−25	7

Source:

Key

• PLD = Games Played
• W = Games Won - 3 points for a win
• OTW = Games won in overtime - 2 points for overtime win
• PKW = Games won by penalty kicks after overtime played - 1 point for a win
• OTL = Games lost in overtime - zero points for overtime loss
• PKL = Games lost by penalty kicks after overtime played - zero points for a penalty loss
• GF = Goals scored for
• GA = Goals conceded
• GD = Goal difference - GF - GA = GD

Suntory Championship

December 6, 1997
15:03

Júbilo Iwata	3 – 2	Kashima Antlers
Nakayama 1', 46' Shimizu 119'		Bismarck 62' Mazinho 88'

Yamaha Stadium, Iwata

Attendance: 17,269

Referee: Masayoshi Okada

---

December 13, 1997
19:36

Kashima Antlers	0 – 1	Júbilo Iwata
		Nakayama 81'

Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima

Attendance: 15,276

Referee: Leslie Mottram

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Patrick Mboma	Gamba Osaka	25
2	Edílson	Kashiwa Reysol	23
3	Mazinho	Kashima Antlers	22
	Akihiro Nagashima	Vissel Kobe
5	Masahiro Fukuda	Urawa Red Diamonds	21
	Julio Salinas	Yokohama Marinos
7	Válber	Yokohama Flügels	20
8	Masashi Nakayama	Júbilo Iwata	18
	Wagner Lopes	Bellmare Hiratsuka
10	Paulo Jamelli	Kashiwa Reysol	14

Awards

Individual awards

Award	Recipient	Club
Most Valuable Player	Dunga	Júbilo Iwata
Rookie of the Year	Atsushi Yanagisawa	Kashima Antlers
Manager of the Year	João Carlos	Kashima Antlers
Top Scorer	Patrick Mboma	Gamba Osaka

Best Eleven

Pos	Footballer	Club	Nationality
GK	Tomoaki Ogami	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
DF	Masami Ihara	Yokohama Marinos	Japan
DF	Naoki Soma	Kashima Antlers	Japan
DF	Yutaka Akita	Kashima Antlers	Japan
MF	Bismarck	Kashima Antlers	Brazil
MF	Dunga	Júbilo Iwata	Brazil
MF	Hidetoshi Nakata	Bellmare Hiratsuka	Japan
MF	Hiroshi Nanami	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
MF	Motohiro Yamaguchi	Yokohama Flügels	Japan
FW	Patrick Mboma	Gamba Osaka	Cameroon
FW	Masashi Nakayama	Júbilo Iwata	Japan