2002 J.League Division 2

J.League Division 2

Season	2002
Champions	Oita Trinita 1st J2 title 1st D2 title
Promoted	Oita Trinita Cerezo Osaka
Matches played	264
Goals scored	671 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorer	Marcus (19 goals)
Highest attendance	42,211 [1] Albirex Niigata 0-0 Cerezo Osaka (10 August 2002)
Lowest attendance	1,136 [1] Mito HollyHock 0-2 Sagan Tosu (7 August 2002)
Total attendance	1,806,392
Average attendance	6,842 [1]
← 2001 2003 →

The 2002 J.League Division 2 season is the 31st season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 4th season since the establishment of J2 League.

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

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Locations of the 2002 J.League 2 teams

Following twelve clubs played in J.League Division 2 during 2002 season. Of these clubs, Cereso Osaka and Avispa Fukuoka were relegated from J1 League last year.

• Montedio Yamagata
• Mito HollyHocks
• Omiya Ardija
• Kawasaki Frontale
• Yokohama F.C.
• Shonan Bellmare
• Ventforet Kofu
• Albirex Niigata
• Cerezo Osaka
• Avispa Fukuoka
• Sagan Tosu
• Oita Trinita

League format

Twelve clubs will play 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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Oita Trinita (C, P)	44	28	10	6	67	34	+33	94	Promotion to 2003 J.League Division 1
2	Cerezo Osaka (P)	44	25	12	7	93	53	+40	87
3	Albirex Niigata	44	23	13	8	75	47	+28	82
4	Kawasaki Frontale	44	23	11	10	71	53	+18	80
5	Shonan Bellmare	44	16	16	12	46	43	+3	64
6	Omiya Ardija	44	14	17	13	52	42	+10	59
7	Ventforet Kofu	44	16	10	18	51	55	−4	58
8	Avispa Fukuoka	44	10	12	22	58	69	−11	42
9	Sagan Tosu	44	9	14	21	41	64	−23	41
10	Mito HollyHock	44	11	7	26	45	73	−28	40
11	Montedio Yamagata	44	6	17	21	29	57	−28	35
12	Yokohama FC	44	8	11	25	43	81	−38	35

Updated to match(es) played on November 24, 2002. Source: J.League Data Site
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Top scorers

Pos	Footballer	Club	Goals	PK	GP	Shots	Goals Per Game
1st	Marcus	Albirex Niigata	19	4/5	36	139	0.55
2nd	Yoshito Okubo	Cerezo Osaka	18	1/2	29	65	0.91
	Andradina	Oita Trinita	18	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	14	0/0	38	86	0.45
	David Bisconti	Sagan Tosu	14	4/4	39	92	0.42
8th	Yasuo Manaka	Cerezo Osaka	13	1/1	28	67	1.05
	Jorge Dely Valdés	Omiya Ardija	13	2/2	32	72	0.46
10th	Hiroaki Morishima	Cerezo Osaka	12	0/0	37	75	0.34
	Marlon	Kawasaki Frontale	12	0/0	23	74	0.58

Attendances

#	Football club	Total attendance	Home games	Average	Highest	Lowest
1	Albirex Niigata	472,507	22	21,478	42,211	9,125
2	Oita Trinita	271,669	22	12,349	27,431	3,094
3	Cerezo Osaka	174,951	22	7,952	32,067	3,067
4	Avispa Fukuoka	142,808	22	6,491	14,475	3,284
5	Omiya Ardija	115,846	22	5,266	19,782	2,517
6	Kawasaki Frontale	115,431	22	5,247	20,405	3,044
7	Shonan Bellmare	100,125	22	4,551	9,739	2,120
8	Ventforet Kofu	108,108	22	4,914	13,000	2,954
9	Sagan Tosu	85,586	22	3,890	8,464	1,796
10	Montedio Yamagata	82,601	22	3,755	8,996	1,908
11	Yokohama FC	76,498	22	3,477	11,118	1,518
12	Mito HollyHock	60,262	22	2,739	5,576	1,136

Source: ^[1]

References

1. https://data.j-league.or.jp/SFTD01/