The J.League 1993 season was the inaugural season of the J.League. The league fixtures began on 15 May 1993 and ended on 15 December 1993. The first ever Suntory Championship took place in the following year, 9 and 16 January 1994.

J.League
Season1993
ChampionsVerdy Kawasaki
1st J.League title
6th Japanese title
Asian Club ChampionshipVerdy Kawasaki
Matches played180
Goals scored532 (2.96 per match)
Top goalscorerRamón Díaz (28 goals)
Highest attendance59,626 - Verdy Kawasaki vs. Yokohama Marinos (May 15)
Lowest attendance7,469 - Yokohama Flügels vs. Urawa Red Diamonds (May 22)
Average attendance17,976
1994

Clubs

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Geographic location of ten J.League clubs in 1993.

Ten clubs participated in J.League during 1993 season:

Club name Hometown Stadium
(majority games)
Capacity Notes
Gamba Osaka Osaka, Osaka Osaka Expo '70 Stadium 21,000
JEF United Ichihara Chiba, Chiba Ichihara Seaside Stadium 14,051
Kashima Antlers Kashima, Ibaraki Kashima Soccer Stadium 37,638
Nagoya Grampus Eight Nagoya, Aichi Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium 11,900
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshima, Hiroshima Coca-Cola West Hiroshima Stadium 13,800
Shimizu S-Pulse Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture Nihondaira Sports Stadium 20,248
Urawa Red Diamonds Saitama, Greater Tokyo Area Urawa Komaba Stadium 21,500
Verdy Kawasaki Kawasaki, Kanagawa Todoroki Athletics Stadium 26,232
Yokohama Flügels Yokohama Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium 15,454
Yokohama Marinos Yokohama Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium 15,454

Foreign players

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Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Non-visa foreign Former players
Gamba Osaka   Sergei Aleinikov   Flávio Campos   Luís Müller   Rinaldo   Kiril Metkov   Jia Xiuquan
JEF United Ichihara   František Mysliveček   Pavel Řehák   Frank Ordenewitz   Pierre Littbarski   Sandro
  Shin Che-bon
Kashima Antlers   Alcindo   Regis   Santos   Zico   Carlos
Nagoya Grampus Eight   Elivélton   Garça   Jorginho   Pita   Gary Lineker   Dido Havenaar
Sanfrecce Hiroshima   Pavel Černý   Lee Baxter   Noh Jung-yoon   Jan Jönsson   Jean-Paul Vonderburg   Dan Calichman   Andrey
Shimizu S-Pulse   Celso   Edu Manga   Marcão   Marco Antônio   Sidmar   Toninho
Urawa Red Diamonds   Marcelo Trivisonno   Michael Rummenigge   Uwe Rahn   Miroslav Mentel   Edwin Uehara   Marcelo Morales
  Victor Ferreyra
Verdy Kawasaki   Bismarck   Márcio Amoroso   Paulo   Pereira   Erik van Rossum   Henny Meijer   Paulinho   Gène Hanssen
Yokohama Flügels   Fernando Moner   Aldro   Angelo   Edu Marangon   Jaime Rodríguez   Raúl Amarilla
Yokohama Marinos   David Bisconti   Gustavo Zapata   Ramón Díaz   Everton Nogueira

Format

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In the first year, the league followed split-season format, and each halves (or stages) were known as Suntory Series and NICOS Series for sponsorship purposes. In each series, ten clubs played in double round-robin format, a total of 18 games per club (per series). The games went to golden-goal extra time and penalties if needed after regulation. The clubs were ranked by number of wins, and tie breakers are, in the following order:

  • Goal differential
  • Goals scored
  • Head-to-head results
  • Extra match or a coin toss

The club that finished at the top of the table is declared stage champion and qualifies for the Suntory Championship. The first stage winner, hosts the first leg in the championship series. If the same club win both stages, the runners-up of each stages plays against each other and the winners challenges the stage winner at the championship game.

Results

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1993.05.15 1-1 Verdy Kawasaki 1-2 Yokohama Marinos Tokyo National Stadium
Meijer   19' Everton   48'
Díaz   59'
Attendance: 59,626
1993.05.16 1-1 Yokohama Flügels 3-2 Shimizu S-Pulse Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium
Angelo   9'
Moner   57'
Maeda   59'
Edu   42'
Toninho   89'
Attendance: 14,126
1993.05.16 1-1 Kashima Antlers 5-0 Nagoya Grampus Eight Kashima Soccer Stadium
Zico   25', 30', 63'
Alcindo   53', 64'
Attendance: 10,898
1993.05.19 1-2 Kashima Antlers 3-2 Yokohama Flügels Kashima Soccer Stadium
Alcindo   23'
Carlos   35'
Hasegawa   79'
Maeda   53'
Edu   84'
Attendance: 9,403
1993.05.19 1-2 Yokohama Marinos 1-0 (aet, GG) Gamba Osaka Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium
Bisconti   112' Attendance: 10,332
1993.05.26 1-4 Gamba Osaka 1-1 (aet, PK 6-7) Shimizu S-Pulse Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
Nagashima   39' Edu   67' Attendance: 16,707
1993.05.29 1-5 Kashima Antlers 4-0 Gamba Osaka Kashima Soccer Stadium
Santos   17'
Hasegawa   23', 71'
Alcindo   37'
Attendance: 14,058
1993.05.29 1-5 Urawa Red Diamonds 1-1 (aet, PK 4-2) Verdy Kawasaki Urawa Komaba Stadium
Kawano   49' Hashiratani   6' Attendance: 9,690
1993.06.02 1-6 Kashima Antlers 2-1 (aet, GG) JEF United Ichihara Kashima Soccer Stadium
Alcindo   24'
Carlos   91'
Makino   87' Attendance: 15,194
1993.06.02 1-6 Shimizu S-Pulse 2-4 Verdy Kawasaki Kusanagi Athletic Stadium
Edu   67'
Aoshima   87'
Hashiratani   48'
Takeda   65'
Kitazawa   71'
Miura   89'
Attendance: 18,113
1993.06.05 1-7 JEF United Ichihara 1-2 (aet, GG) Shimizu S-Pulse Ichihara Seaside Stadium
Ejiri   35' Edu   43'
Hasegawa   116'
Attendance: 9,427
1993.06.05 1-7 Verdy Kawasaki 1-1 (aet, PK 5-4) Yokohama Flügels Tokyo National Stadium
Takeda   51' Aldro   53' Attendance: 54,995
1993.06.09 1-8 Gamba Osaka 1-1 (aet, PK 3-4) Sanfrecce Hiroshima Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
Matsunami   31' Černý   10' Attendance: 19,351
1993.06.12 1-9 Yokohama Marinos 3-2 Yokohama Flügels Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium
Miura   1', 17'
Díaz   21'
Aldro   15'
Moner   82'
Attendance: 11,734
1993.06.12 1-9 Verdy Kawasaki 1-0 (aet, GG) Gamba Osaka Todoroki Athletics Stadium
Miura   92' Attendance: 10,058
1993.06.16 1-10 Gamba Osaka 2-1 (aet, GG) Yokohama Marinos Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
Kusaki   89'  109' Hirakawa   41' Attendance: 19,247
1993.06.19 1-11 Urawa Red Diamonds 1-3 Gamba Osaka Urawa Komaba Stadium
Fukuda   84' (pen.) Nagashima   22'
Isogai   46'
Matsunami   73'
Attendance: 8,953
1993.06.23 1-12 Shimizu S-Pulse 3-2 Gamba Osaka Kusanagi Athletic Stadium
Edu   23', 84'
Mukojima   68'
Flávio   34', 71' Attendance: 15,703
1993.06.23 1-12 Yokohama Flügels 1-2 (aet, GG) Nagoya Grampus Eight Suizenji Stadium
Maeda   56'   75' (o.g.)
Hirano   94'
Attendance: 15,328
1993.06.23 1-12 Kashima Antlers 3-2 Verdy Kawasaki Kashima Soccer Stadium
Santos   5'
Alcindo   27'
Koga   80'
Nagai   64'
Takeda   74'
Attendance: 15,777
1993.06.26 1-13 Gamba Osaka 2-4 Kashima Antlers Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
Müller   31'
Flávio   48'
Santos   50'
Alcindo   52' (pen.)
Hasegawa   63'
Kurosaki   76'
Attendance: 20,318
1993.06.30 1-14 Verdy Kawasaki 1-1 (aet, PK 4-2) Shimizu S-Pulse Todoroki Athletics Stadium
Nagai   12'   48' (o.g.) Attendance: 10,067
1993.06.30 1-14 Yokohama Marinos 5-1 Urawa Red Diamonds Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium
Díaz   9', 47', 53'
Bisconti   36'
K. Kimura   39'
Mizuuchi   52' Attendance: 12,110
1993.06.30 1-14 Gamba Osaka 2-1 Yokohama Flügels Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
Nagashima   14'
Müller   31'
Angelo   89' Attendance: 16,506
1993.07.03 1-15 Nagoya Grampus Eight 2-3 Gamba Osaka Suzuka Sports Garden
Goto   64'
Pita   71'
Müller   51', 85'
Nagashima   87'
Attendance: 12,167
1993.07.03 1-15 Kashima Antlers 3-1 Yokohama Marinos Kashima Soccer Stadium
Kurosaki   18'
Alcindo   34', 77'
Jinno   79' Attendance: 14,976
1993.07.07 1-16 Yokohama Marinos 3-1 Shimizu S-Pulse Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium
Bisconti   31'
Díaz   60', 79'
Hasegawa   66' Attendance: 12,199
1993.07.07 1-16 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 4-3 (aet, GG) Gamba Osaka Hiroshima Stadium
Kazama   19'
Černý   46'
Matsuda   70'
Takagi   91'
Matsunami   23'
Müller   43', 59'
Attendance: 12,731
1993.07.10 1-17 Kashima Antlers 1-2 (aet, GG) Sanfrecce Hiroshima Kashima Soccer Stadium
Hasegawa   71' Černý   58'
Takagi   99'
Attendance: 15,055
1993.07.10 1-17 Gamba Osaka 2-3 Verdy Kawasaki Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
Nagashima   29'
Müller   71'
Takeda   16'
Kitazawa   40'
Hashiratani   85'
Attendance: 21,447
1993.07.14 1-18 Kashima Antlers 1-2 Shimizu S-Pulse Kashima Soccer Stadium
Hasegawa   68' Edu   61'
Tajima   84'
Attendance: 14,673
1993.07.24 2-1 Gamba Osaka 0-1 (aet, GG) Kashima Antlers Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
Santos   107' Attendance: 22,677
1993.07.31 2-2 Kashima Antlers 1-1 (aet, PK 5-3) Nagoya Grampus Eight Kashima Soccer Stadium
Santos   34' Goto   24' Attendance: 14,747
1993.08.04 2-3 JEF United Ichihara 5-2 Nagoya Grampus Eight Ichihara Seaside Stadium
Goto   20'
Řehák   28' (pen.), 83'
Ordenewitz   42', 75'
Asano   8'
Okayama   68'
Attendance: 10,551
1993.08.07 2-4 Yokohama Flügels 0-1 (aet, GG) Shimizu S-Pulse Suizenji Stadium
Tajima   112' Attendance: 13,133
1993.08.07 2-4 Yokohama Marinos 1-1 (aet, PK 8-7) Kashima Antlers Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium
Miura   59' Zico   30' Attendance: 14,152
1993.08.14 2-5 Gamba Osaka 2-1 Yokohama Marinos Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
Metkov   2', 68' Bisconti   31' Attendance: 21,509
1993.08.19 2-6 Verdy Kawasaki 3-1 Nagoya Grampus Eight Tokyo National Stadium
Miura   67' (pen.)
  72' (o.g.)
Nakamura   89'
Ogawa   5' Attendance: 54,977
1993.08.25 2-7 Kashima Antlers 4-3 (aet, GG) Sanfrecce Hiroshima Kashima Soccer Stadium
Zico   33'
Kurosaki   47', 49'
Yoshida   115'
Takagi   5', 43'
Katanosaka   89'
Attendance: 13,923
1993.08.25 2-7 JEF United Ichihara 2-2 (aet, PK 2-4) Yokohama Marinos Tochigi Green Stadium
Řehák   69'
Echigo   71'
Díaz   21', 51' Attendance: 17,226
1993.08.28 2-8 Gamba Osaka 0-0 (aet, PK 4-5) Yokohama Flügels Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
Attendance: 21,330
1993.08.28 2-8 Verdy Kawasaki 0-0 (aet, PK 2-3) Shimizu S-Pulse Iwate Athletic Stadium
Attendance: 28,625
1993.09.03 2-9 Shimizu S-Pulse 3-2 Gamba Osaka Nihondaira Sports Stadium
Sawanobori   43', 49'
Mukojima   89'
Isogai   53'
Flávio   61'
Attendance: 9,005
1993.09.03 2-9 Yokohama Flügels 3-2 Yokohama Marinos Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium
Yamaguchi   3', 86'
  70' (o.g.)
Díaz   35', 69' Attendance: 13,257
1993.09.03 2-9 Urawa Red Diamonds 0-6 Verdy Kawasaki Urawa Komaba Stadium
Bismarck   7'
Ramos   38'
Miura   44'
Takeda   56', 88'
Y. Kato   79'
Attendance: 9,771
1993.11.06 2-10 Gamba Osaka 0-4 Verdy Kawasaki Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium
Takeda   44', 76', 79'
Kitazawa   67'
Attendance: 41,054
1993.11.06 2-10 JEF United Ichihara 1-2 (aet, GG) Yokohama Flügels Tokyo National Stadium
Řehák   33' Maeda   80'
Edu   117'
Attendance: 45,748
1993.11.06 2-10 Yokohama Marinos 3-2 (aet, GG) Urawa Red Diamonds Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium
Miura   48'
Díaz   73' (pen.)
Everton   97'
F. Ikeda   23'
Hirose   85'
Attendance: 14,207
1993.11.10 2-11 Kashima Antlers 3-4 (aet, GG) Gamba Osaka Kashima Soccer Stadium
  53' (o.g.)
Alcindo   73'
Hasegawa   89'
Nagashima   10'
Isogai   59'
Matsunami   89'
Minobe   117'
Attendance: 13,417
1993.11.10 2-11 Verdy Kawasaki 1-0 (aet, GG) Yokohama Marinos Tokyo National Stadium
Takeda   91' Attendance: 55,243
1993.11.13 2-12 Kashima Antlers 3-2 Yokohama Marinos Kashima Soccer Stadium
Alcindo   21', 69'
Zico   77'
Díaz   0', 19' Attendance: 14,235
1993.11.13 2-12 Gamba Osaka 3-6 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
Nagashima   27'
Minobe   33'
Isogai   58'
Takagi   25', 60'
Černý   43'
Noh Jung-yoon   67'
Jönsson   75'
Moriyama   85'
Attendance: 19,290
1993.11.17 2-13 Yokohama Flügels 2-3 (aet, GG) Kashima Antlers Suizenji Stadium
Amarilla   48'
Edu   87' (pen.)
Zico   39'
Alcindo   75' (pen.)
Manaka   114'
Attendance: 14,186
1993.11.17 2-13 JEF United Ichihara 2-3 (aet, GG) Urawa Red Diamonds Tokyo National Stadium
Nakanishi   25'
Ordenewitz   75' (pen.)
Fukuda   69'
Rahn   86' (pen.)
Mizuuchi   107'
Attendance: 53,570
1993.11.17 2-13 Yokohama Marinos 4-0 Gamba Osaka Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium
Everton   7'
Díaz   56', 83'
Mizunuma   70'
Attendance: 13,589
1993.11.17 2-13 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1-3 Verdy Kawasaki Hiroshima Stadium
Katanosaka   61' Miura   24', 29'
Takeda   89'
Attendance: 13,906
1993.11.20 2-14 JEF United Ichihara 3-4 (aet, GG) Gamba Osaka Ichihara Seaside Stadium
Ordenewitz   26', 86'
Řehák   45'
Isogai   44'
Matsunami   65', 78'  94'
Attendance: 10,395
1993.11.27 2-15 Gamba Osaka 2-2 (aet, PK 6-5) Nagoya Grampus Eight Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium
Ishii   68'
Matsuyama   86'
Moriyama   18'
Goto   83'
Attendance: 13,069
1993.12.08 2-17 Gamba Osaka 0-2 Shimizu S-Pulse Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
Iwashita   28'
Hasegawa   34'
Attendance: 21,207
1993.12.08 2-17 Yokohama Marinos 4-1 Yokohama Flügels Yokohama Mitsuzawa Stadium
Díaz   11', 56', 79'
Everton   43'
Aldro   78' Attendance: 13,024
1993.12.08 2-17 Verdy Kawasaki 4-0 Urawa Red Diamonds Tokyo National Stadium
Miura   17', 27', 82'
Fujiyoshi   79'
Attendance: 50,310
1993.12.15 2-18 Kashima Antlers 1-2 Verdy Kawasaki Kashima Soccer Stadium
Alcindo   23' Ishikawa   27'
Miura   68'
Attendance: 15,277

Standings

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Suntory Series (1st Stage) Standings

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Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Qualification
1   Kashima Antlers 18 13 5 41 18 +23 1993 Suntory Series Champions
Qualifies to Suntory Championship '93
2   Verdy Kawasaki 18 12 6 29 21 +8
3   Yokohama Marinos 18 11 7 29 24 +5
4   Shimizu S-Pulse 18 10 8 28 25 +3
5   JEF United Ichihara 18 9 9 26 23 +3
6   Sanfrecce Hiroshima 18 9 9 23 24 −1
7   Yokohama Flügels 18 8 10 24 21 +3
8   Gamba Osaka 18 8 10 27 31 −4
9   Nagoya Grampus Eight 18 7 11 21 38 −17
10   Urawa Red Diamonds 18 3 15 11 34 −23

NICOS Series (2nd stage) Standings

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Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Qualification
1 Verdy Kawasaki 18 16 2 43 10 +33 1993 NICOS Series Champions
Qualifies to Suntory Championship '93
2 Shimizu S-Pulse 18 14 4 26 9 +17
3 Yokohama Marinos 18 10 8 31 24 +7
4 Kashima Antlers 18 10 8 31 25 +6
5 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 18 9 9 31 25 +6
6 Gamba Osaka 18 8 10 24 34 −10
7 Yokohama Flügels 18 8 10 20 30 −10
8 Nagoya Grampus Eight 18 5 13 27 28 −1
9 JEF United Ichihara 18 5 13 25 44 −19
10 Urawa Red Diamonds 18 5 13 15 44 −29

Suntory Championship '93

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Kashima Antlers0 – 2Verdy Kawasaki
Miura   60'
Bismarck   89'
Attendance: 53,553
Referee: Kenji Tanaka

Verdy Kawasaki1 – 1Kashima Antlers
Miura   82' Alcindo   38'
Attendance: 59,715
Referee: Shizuo Takada
VERDY KAWASAKI won the series on 3-1 aggregate.

Overall standings

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Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Qualification
1 Verdy Kawasaki 36 28 8 69 28 +41 1993 J.League Champions
Qualifies to 1994/95 ACC, 1994 Super Cup, and 1994 Sanwa Bank Cup
2 Kashima Antlers 36 23 13 72 43 +29
3 Shimizu S-Pulse 36 24 12 54 34 +20
4 Yokohama Marinos 36 21 15 60 48 +12
5 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 36 18 18 54 49 +5
6 Yokohama Flügels 36 16 20 44 51 −7
7 Gamba Osaka 36 16 20 51 65 −14
8 JEF United Ichihara 36 14 22 51 67 −16
9 Nagoya Grampus Eight 36 12 24 48 66 −18
10 Urawa Red Diamonds 36 8 28 26 78 −52
Source: [citation needed]

Honours

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Competition Champion Runners-Up 3rd Place
Domestic league
J.League Suntory Series Kashima Antlers Verdy Kawasaki Yokohama Marinos
J.League NICOS Series Verdy Kawasaki Shimizu S-Pulse Yokohama Marinos
Suntory Championship Verdy Kawasaki Kashima Antlers n/a
Cup competitions
Emperor's Cup Yokohama Flügels Kashima Antlers Shimizu S-Pulse
Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Nabisco Cup Verdy Kawasaki Shimizu S-Pulse Yokohama Flügels
Gamba Osaka
XEROX Super Cup Not held

Average attendance

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In its first year, the league averaged 17,976 fans and had over 3.2 million fans total over the course of the season. The following chart shows the league ranked in terms of average attendance:

Team name Total attendance Average attendance
Verdy Kawasaki 454,237 25,235
Gamba Osaka 388,286 21,571
JEF United Ichihara 364,922 20,273
Nagoya Grampus Eight 357,451 19,858
Shimizu S-Pulse 332,312 18,462
Yokohama Marinos 302,054 16,781
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 299,586 16,644
Yokohama Flügels 278,346 15,464
Kashima Antlers 252,291 14,016
Urawa Red Diamonds 206,265 11,459
Total 3,235,750 17,976

Top scorers

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Rank Scorer Club Goals
1   Ramón Díaz Yokohama Marinos 28
2   Alcindo Kashima Antlers 22
3   Kazuyoshi Miura Verdy Kawasaki 20
4   Nobuhiro Takeda Verdy Kawasaki 17
5   Pavel Řehák JEF United Ichihara 16
6   Edu Manga Shimizu S-Pulse 13
7   Akihiro Nagashima Gamba Osaka 12

Awards

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MVP

  Kazuyoshi Miura

Rookie of the Year

  Masaaki Sawanobori

Manager of the Year

  Yasutaro Matsuki

Top Scorer

  Ramón Díaz

Best XI
Position Player Team
GK   Shigetatsu Matsunaga Yokohama Marinos
DF   Pereira Verdy Kawasaki
DF   Tetsuji Hashiratani Verdy Kawasaki
DF   Takumi Horiike Shimizu S-Pulse
DF   Masami Ihara Yokohama Marinos
DF   Shunzo Ono Kashima Antlers
MF   Santos Kashima Antlers
MF   Yasuto Honda Kashima Antlers
MF   Ruy Ramos Verdy Kawasaki
FW   Ramón Díaz Yokohama Marinos
FW   Kazuyoshi Miura Verdy Kawasaki

References

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