The 1972 season in Japanese football introduced a Second Division to the Japan Soccer League. Nine clubs were chosen from the 1971 Japanese Regional Leagues; when Nagoya Mutual Bank resigned from the League, a tenth club was chosen from the Kansai League.
| Season | 1972 |
|---|---|
← 1971 1973 → | |
League tables
editJSL First Division
editNo relegation took place as the First Division was being expanded to 10 clubs.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hitachi | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 36 | 16 | +20 | 21 | Champions |
| 2 | Yanmar Diesel | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 30 | 11 | +19 | 20 | |
| 3 | Toyo Industries | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 13 | +7 | 16 | |
| 4 | Mitsubishi Motors | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 26 | 19 | +7 | 16 | |
| 5 | Nippon Kokan | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 18 | −3 | 13 | |
| 6 | Nippon Steel | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 30 | −8 | 12 | |
| 7 | Furukawa Electric | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 17 | 41 | −24 | 8 | |
| 8 | Towa Real Estate | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 29 | −18 | 6 |
Source: [citation needed]
JSL Second Division
editToyota Motors, later one of the Japanese big names as Nagoya Grampus, was crowned the inaugural Second Division champion. Tanabe Pharmaceutical, a club from Osaka, followed them into the expanded 10-team First Division. No relegations took place, to keep the Second Division at 10 clubs.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toyota Motors | 18 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 34 | 16 | +18 | 30 | Promoted to First Division |
| 2 | Tanabe Pharmaceutical | 18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 37 | 22 | +15 | 26 | |
| 3 | Kofu SC | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 33 | 21 | +12 | 21 | |
| 4 | Kyoto Shiko | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 19 | 23 | −4 | 17 | |
| 5 | Fujitsu | 18 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 26 | 31 | −5 | 17 | |
| 6 | Nippon Light Metal | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 31 | 33 | −2 | 16 | |
| 7 | Yomiuri | 18 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 27 | 31 | −4 | 15 | |
| 8 | Dainichi Nippon Cable Industries | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 36 | 40 | −4 | 14 | |
| 9 | NTT Kinki | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 21 | 25 | −4 | 14 | |
| 10 | Toyoda Automatic Loom Works | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 36 | −22 | 10 |
Source: [citation needed]