Verdy, Kashima, Marinos, Kawasaki – winners in the 30 years history of the J.League

It is the 30th anniversary of the J.League this year, which started in 1993. Although the number of teams was just 10 in the beginning, it has now grown to 60 (J1: 18 teams, J2: 22 teams, J3: 20 teams). The clubs are all over in Japan.

In the 30-year history of the J.League, there have been many teams that won the championship. In total, 10 teams have raised the trophy. The first champions were Verdy Kawasaki (now Tokyo Verdy), which boasted a number of Japan national team players at the time including Kazuyoshi Miura, and won the championship again the following 1994 season.

Verdy’s rivals Yokohama Marinos (now Yokohama F. Marinos) won the championship for the first time in 1995, and from 1996 Kashima Antlers and Jubilo Iwata began to dominate the league. The match between the two teams was even called the ‘National Derby’ then, and the two teams shared the championship until the early 2000s.　

However in 2003, Takeshi Okada, who had led Japan to their first World Cup appearance in France in 1998, became the manager of Marinos and it won the league consecutively from the year, meaning the end of the era of Kashima and Iwata. Then Urawa Reds and Gamba Osaka emerged later, winning their first championship each.

From 2007, Antlers again showed their strength and won an unprecedented three consecutive titles. In the 2010s, it was Nagoya Grampus who won the championship in 2010. The following year, Kashiwa Reysol won their first league title. The following year, Sanfrecce Hiroshima won the title for the first time, which means that new champions were born three years in a row.

Moriyasu’s Hiroshima won three league titles in four years

In the next season, Hiroshima won the championship again under the coaching of Hajime Moriyasu. Although they lost the title to Gamba Osaka in 2014, Hiroshima were crowned champions again in 2015, winning three league titles in four years. Moriyasu was named the coach of Japan national team in July 2018 mainly because of this remarkable feat. 

After Kashima won their eighth J.League title in 2016, Kawasaki Frontale emerged on the scene. They won their first championship in 2017 with their impressive attacking style and retained the title following the year. 

Appointed Ange Postecoglou as a manager in 2018, Yokohama started to change their playing style from defensive one to attacking football, and won the J1 title in 2019 preventing Kawasaki’s three consecutive titles. But Kawasaki was still in power, winning back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, now under the guidance of Kevin Muscat who took over Postecoglou, Yokohama once again prevented Frontale from winning a third consecutive title, taking their fifth title in total. In the six years since 2017, Kawasaki have won the championship four times and Marinos twice, making the current J.League can be described as an era of two powerhouses from Kanagawa.

This season, the J.League is about to refresh the leading faces. Marinos, aiming for back-to-back championships, are as strong as ever, while Kawasaki’s momentum is beginning to wane. Vissel Kobe are the new favourites. Andres Iniesta left the team this summer, but talented players with previous European experience, such as Yuya Osako and Yoshinori Muto, are making their mark on the J.League stage. Kobe’s best finish was third in 2021, but if they can keep up the momentum, they could become the 11th team to win the J.League championship.