1995 J.League

J.League
Season	1995
Champions	Yokohama Marinos; 1st J.League title; 3rd Japanese title
Asian Club Championship	Yokohama Marinos
Matches played	364
Goals scored	1,214 (3.34 per match)
Top goalscorer	Masahiro Fukuda (32 goals)
Highest attendance	56,652 - Urawa Red Diamonds vs. Tokyo Verdy (May 3)
Lowest attendance	7,012 - Sanfrecce Hiroshima vs. Nagoya Grampus Eight (April 12)
Average attendance	16,922
	← 1994 1996 →

The J.League 1995 season was the third season of the J.League. The league fixture began on March 18, 1995, and ended in November 1995. The Suntory Championship '95 took place on November 30 and December 6, 1995.

Clubs

Fourteen clubs participated in J.League during 1995 season. Of these clubs, Kashiwa Reysol and Cerezo Osaka were newly promoted from Japan Football League.

Club name	Hometown	Stadium (majority games)	Capacity	Notes
Bellmare Hiratsuka	Hiratsuka, Kanagawa	Hiratsuka Stadium	15,380
Cerezo Osaka	Osaka	Nagai Stadium	47,816	Promoted
Gamba Osaka	Osaka, Osaka	Osaka Expo '70 Stadium	21,000
JEF United Ichihara	Chiba, Chiba	Ichihara Seaside Stadium	14,051
Júbilo Iwata	Iwata, Shizuoka	Júbilo Iwata Stadium	15,165
Kashima Antlers	Kashima, Ibaraki	Kashima Soccer Stadium	37,638
Kashiwa Reysol	Kashiwa	Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium	15,349	Promoted
Nagoya Grampus Eight	Nagoya, Aichi	Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium	11,900
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Hiroshima, Hiroshima	Hiroshima General Ground Main 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

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Player 6	Non-visa foreign	Former players
Bellmare Hiratsuka	Betinho	Edson	Émerson	Júnior	Simão			Almir
Cerezo Osaka	Bernardo	Gilmar	Marquinhos	Toninho Cecílio	Jorge Dely Valdés
Gamba Osaka	Sergei Aleinikov	Vjekoslav Škrinjar	Hans Gillhaus	Akhrik Tsveiba	Oleh Protasov
JEF United Ichihara	Goran Vasilijević	Nenad Maslovar	Wynton Rufer				Sandro Shin Che-bon
Júbilo Iwata	Dunga	Salvatore Schillaci	André Paus	Gerald Vanenburg			Dido Havenaar Kim Jong-song
Kashima Antlers	Carlos Mozer	Jorginho	Leonardo	Mazinho				Santos
Kashiwa Reysol	Bentinho	Careca	Nelsinho	Valdir	Wolnei Caio			Müller
Nagoya Grampus Eight	Alexandre Torres	Dragan Stojković	Franck Durix	Gérald Passi
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Ivan Hašek	Pieter Huistra	Noh Jung-yoon				Andrey	John van Loen Tore Pedersen
Shimizu S-Pulse	Dias	Marcelo Miguel	Marco Aurélio	Santos	Sidmar	Daniele Massaro	Ademir Santos	Ronaldão
Urawa Red Diamonds	Toninho	Guido Buchwald	Michael Rummenigge	Uwe Bein			Edwin Uehara Cho Kwi-jae	Gwak Kyung-keun
Verdy Kawasaki	Alcindo	Bismarck	Embu	Pereira
Yokohama Flügels	César Sampaio	Evair	Rodrigo Batata	Zinho
Yokohama Marinos	David Bisconti	Gustavo Zapata	Pedro Massacessi	Ramón Medina Bello				Ramón Díaz

Format

In the 1995 season, 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, fourteen clubs played in double round-robin format, a total of 26 games per club (per series). The games went to golden-goal extra time and penalties if needed after regulation. The points system is introduced for the first time and a club received 3pts for any win, 1pts for PK loss, and 0pts for regulation or extra time loss. The clubs were ranked by points 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.

Changes in Competition Format

Number of competing clubs increased from 12 to 14
Number of games per club in a series increased from 22 to 26 games and from 44 to 52 games per season
Points system were introduced
Due to fixture congestion, Yamazaki Nabisco Cup was cancelled that year

Standings

Suntory Series (1st Stage) standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Yokohama Marinos	26	17	1	8	47	38	+9	52	1995 Suntory Series Champions Qualified to Suntory Championship '95
2	Verdy Kawasaki	26	16	1	9	46	36	+10	49
3	Urawa Red Diamonds	26	15	3	8	41	34	+7	48
4	Nagoya Grampus Eight	26	15	1	10	50	48	+2	46
5	Júbilo Iwata	26	15	0	11	48	40	+8	45
6	JEF United Ichihara	26	14	3	9	48	40	+8	45
7	Bellmare Hiratsuka	26	14	1	11	60	47	+13	43
8	Kashima Antlers	26	14	0	12	38	38	0	42
9	Cerezo Osaka	26	13	2	11	43	44	−1	41
10	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	26	13	0	13	38	33	+5	39
11	Gamba Osaka	26	10	1	15	49	54	−5	31
12	Shimizu S-Pulse	26	10	0	16	35	63	−28	30
13	Yokohama Flügels	26	9	1	16	42	54	−12	28
14	Kashiwa Reysol	26	7	1	18	30	46	−16	22

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: Win = 3pts; P.K. loss = 1pt; Regulation, E.T. loss = 0pts

NICOS Series (2nd stage) standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Verdy Kawasaki	26	19	2	5	60	26	+34	59	1995 NICOS Series Champions Qualified to Suntory Championship '95
2	Nagoya Grampus Eight	26	17	0	9	49	34	+15	51
3	Yokohama Marinos	26	15	1	10	39	37	+2	46
4	Shimizu S-Pulse	26	15	0	11	42	34	+8	45
5	Kashiwa Reysol	26	14	1	11	57	54	+3	43
6	Kashima Antlers	26	14	1	11	44	41	+3	43
7	JEF United Ichihara	26	14	1	11	49	51	−2	43
8	Urawa Red Diamonds	26	14	0	12	44	38	+6	42
9	Júbilo Iwata	26	13	1	12	40	37	+3	40
10	Cerezo Osaka	26	12	1	13	36	39	−3	37
11	Yokohama Flügels	26	11	1	14	36	57	−21	34
12	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	26	9	1	16	31	43	−12	28
13	Gamba Osaka	26	8	2	16	38	53	−15	26
14	Bellmare Hiratsuka	26	7	1	18	34	55	−21	22

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: Win = 3pts; P.K. loss = 1pt; Regulation, E.T. loss = 0pts

1995 Suntory Championship

November 30, 1995

Yokohama Marinos	1–0	Verdy Kawasaki
Bisconti 49'

Tokyo National Stadium, Tokyo

Attendance: 47,631

Referee: Zoran Petrović

December 6, 1995

Verdy Kawasaki	0–1	Yokohama Marinos
		Ihara 29'

Tokyo National Stadium, Tokyo

Attendance: 48,271

Referee: Shinichiro Obata

Yokohama Marinos won the series 2–0 on aggregate.

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Masahiro Fukuda	Urawa Red Diamonds	32
2	Salvatore Schillaci	Júbilo Iwata	31
3	David Bisconti	Yokohama Marinos	27
4	Betinho	Bellmare Hiratsuka	25
5	Kazuyoshi Miura	Verdy Kawasaki	23
5	Koji Noguchi	Bellmare Hiratsuka	23
7	Ramón Medina Bello	Yokohama Marinos	21
7	Wynton Rufer	JEF United Ichihara	21
9	Nobuhiro Takeda	Verdy Kawasaki	20
9	Hans Gillhaus	Gamba Osaka	20

Honours

Competition	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place
League competition
J.League Suntory Series	Yokohama Marinos	Verdy Kawasaki	Urawa Red Diamonds
J.League NICOS Series	Verdy Kawasaki	Nagoya Grampus Eight	Yokohama Marinos
Suntory Championship	Yokohama Marinos	Verdy Kawasaki	n/a
Cup tournaments
Emperor's Cup	Nagoya Grampus Eight	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	n/a
Nabisco Cup	Not held due to fixture congestion
XEROX Super Cup	Verdy Kawasaki	Bellmare Hiratsuka	n/a

Awards

Individual awards

Award	Recipient	Club
Most Valuable Player	Dragan Stojković	Nagoya Grampus Eight
Rookie of the Year	Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi	Yokohama Marinos
Manager of the Year	Arsène Wenger	Nagoya Grampus Eight
Top Scorer	Masahiro Fukuda	Urawa Red Diamonds

Best Eleven

Position	Footballer	Club	Nationality
GK	Shinkichi Kikuchi	Verdy Kawasaki	Japan
DF	Guido Buchwald	Urawa Red Diamonds	Germany
DF	Masami Ihara	Yokohama Marinos	Japan
DF	Masaharu Suzuki	Yokohama Marinos	Japan
DF	Naoki Soma	Kashima Antlers	Japan
MF	Bismarck	Verdy Kawasaki	Brazil
MF	Tetsuji Hashiratani	Verdy Kawasaki	Japan
FW	Masahiro Fukuda	Urawa Red Diamonds	Japan
FW	Kazuyoshi Miura	Verdy Kawasaki	Japan
FW	Hiroaki Morishima	Cerezo Osaka	Japan
FW	Dragan Stojković	Nagoya Grampus Eight	Yugoslavia

External links

Source: J. League 1995 (RSSSF)