2020 J1 League
28th season of J1 League
Football league season
| Season | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 21 February – 19 December 2020 |
| Champions | Kawasaki Frontale (3rd title) |
| Relegated | None |
| AFC Champions League | Kawasaki Frontale Gamba Osaka Nagoya Grampus Cerezo Osaka |
| Matches played | 306 |
| Goals scored | 857 (2.8 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Michael Olunga (28 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Urawa Red Diamonds 6–0 Vegalta Sendai (18 October 2020) |
| Biggest away win | Consadole Sapporo 1–6 Kawasaki Frontale (15 August 2020) |
| Highest scoring | Nagoya Grampus 6–2 Urawa Red Diamonds (8 August 2020) Yokohama F. Marinos 6–2 Urawa Red Diamonds (14 November 2020) |
| Longest winning run | 12 matches Kawasaki Frontale |
| Longest unbeaten run | 13 matches Kawasaki Frontale |
| Longest winless run | 17 matches Vegalta Sendai |
| Longest losing run | 7 matches Shimizu S-Pulse |
| Highest attendance | 34,521[1] Yokohama F. Marinos 1–2 Gamba Osaka (23 February 2020) |
| Lowest attendance | 1,948[1] Sanfrecce Hiroshima 4–1 Shimizu S-Pulse (9 September 2020) (excluding matches played behind closed doors) |
| Total attendance | 1,773,481[1] |
| Average attendance | 5,796[1] (including matches played behind closed doors) |
← 2019 2021 → | |
The 2020 J1 League, also known as the 2020 Meiji Yasuda J1 League (Japanese: 2020 明治安田生命J1リーグ, Hepburn: 2020 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J1 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This was sixth season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1. The league began on 21 February and eventually ended on 19 December 2020. The league was planned to have a season break to avoid clashing with the 2020 Summer Olympics,[2] but the Olympics were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.[3]
Yokohama F. Marinos were the defending champions while Kashiwa Reysol and Yokohama FC entered the league as promoted teams from the 2019 J2 League, replacing Júbilo Iwata and Matsumoto Yamaga who were relegated to the 2020 J2 League.
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
On 25 February, all J.League matches until 15 March were postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.[4] After that, it was announced that it would be postponed until 29 March.[5] On 19 March, the J.League announced no relegation would take place for the 2020 season, with the J1 League expanding to 20 clubs for the 2021 season.[6] On 25 March, the league announced that it would be suspended 3 April to 6 May.[7]
On 3 April, the Japan Professional Football League decided to resume the league, gradually resumed J3 from 25 April, J2 from 2 May, and J1 from 9 May.[8] However the league was postponed again.
On 29 May, the JPFL decided to resume the season on 27 June.[9] The season is projected to resume on 4 July.[10] On 9 June, the JPFL announced the new schedule of the 2020 season.[11] On 15 June, it was announced that the first 2 matches in each league (J1, J2, and J3) would be held without spectators. After 10 July, as a general rule, the maximum number of people allowed is 5,000. The stadiums with less than 10,000 capacity would have up to 50% of the capacity. Away supporters are not allowed. After August, the maximum stadium capacity was 50%, and there would be "high alert spectator matches".[12]
After the 11th J.League extraordinary executive committee meeting on 20 July, it was announced that the "super strict alert audience game" extended to 10 August in view of the spread of coronavirus infection.[13]
