2004 Japan Football League

Japan Football League
Season	2004
Dates	28 March – 5 December
Champions	Otsuka Pharmaceuticals; 2nd JFL title; 2nd D3 title
Promoted	Otsuka Pharmaceuticals; Thespa Kusatsu
Relegated	Kokushikan University; (expelled by JFA)
Matches played	239
Goals scored	746 (3.12 per match)
Top goalscorer	Takehiro Hayashi (21 goal total)
Highest attendance	13,743 (Round 27,; Thespa vs. Otsuka)
Lowest attendance	85 (Round 23,; Kokushikan vs. Tottori)
Average attendance	1,141
	← 2003 2005 →

The 2004 Japan Football League (Japanese: 第6回日本フットボールリーグ, Hepburn: Dai Rokkai Nihon Futtobōru Rīgu) was the sixth season of the Japan Football League, the third tier of the Japanese football league system.

Overview

Kokushikan
University

Otsuka Pharmaceuticals

Ehime F.C.

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2004 JFL teams

It was contested by 16 teams, and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals won the championship.

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Otsuka Pharmaceuticals^[a] (C, P)	30	25	3	2	74	20	+54	78	Promotion to 2005 J. League Division 2
2	Honda FC^[a]	30	19	5	6	64	36	+28	62
3	Thespa Kusatsu^[a] (P)	30	19	5	6	63	35	+28	62	Promotion to 2005 J. League Division 2
4	YKK AP	30	15	5	10	56	33	+23	50
5	Ehime FC	30	14	7	9	53	42	+11	49
6	Sony Sendai	30	13	8	9	50	42	+8	47
7	Sagawa Express Tokyo	30	13	5	12	43	39	+4	44
8	Gunma Horikoshi	30	11	8	11	48	47	+1	41
9	Tochigi SC	30	11	7	12	41	47	−6	40
10	ALO's Hokuriku	30	10	7	13	46	52	−6	37
11	Sagawa Express Osaka	30	9	8	13	38	40	−2	35
12	SP Kyoto	30	10	4	16	30	45	−15	34
13	Yokogawa Musashino	30	8	8	14	41	51	−10	32
14	SC Tottori	30	5	7	18	36	62	−26	22
15	Kokushikan University (R)	30	5	5	20	37	73	−36	20	Expelled^[b]
16	Denso SC	30	4	6	20	29	85	−56	18

Updated to match(es) played on December 5, 2004. Source: Japan Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ ^a ^b ^c One of three clubs that occupied top 3 places at the end of the first half of the season (15th week) and were seeded for 2004 Emperor's Cup. These clubs were automatically qualified for the tournament, while each of other JFL clubs had to go through the prefectural qualifier.
^ Expelled by Japan Football Association after 29th week because of the scandal caused by arrest of Kokushikan players for sex attack on a minor.^[1] In the remaining game against Sagawa Express Tokyo a team was awarded a default 0–3 defeat.

Results

Home \ Away	ALO	DEN	EHI	GUH	HON	KSU	OTP	PRI	SEO	SET	SON	SPA	TOC	TOT	YKK	YMC
ALO's Hokuriku		1–2	1–1	3–1	1–2	3–3	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–2	1–2	0–3	0–2	2–0	3–2	1–1
Denso SC	0–1		1–4	2–4	0–3	1–0	0–11	0–0	1–2	1–5	0–1	1–5	1–2	2–3	0–3	1–1
Ehime FC	2–2	1–3		1–0	1–0	4–2	0–0	1–1	3–2	1–2	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–0	0–1	4–1
Gunma Horikoshi	3–3	1–1	2–4		1–0	1–0	1–2	1–2	0–0	0–2	1–1	2–2	4–2	2–1	2–1	3–2
Honda FC	4–0	3–0	5–4	1–1		3–0	0–2	3–1	3–2	3–2	3–1	3–0	1–1	3–1	0–2	4–1
Kokushikan University	1–4	1–1	1–3	3–2	1–2		1–1	4–3	2–4	1–0	1–0	2–4	1–3	3–3	0–5	1–3
Otsuka Pharmaceuticals	4–0	7–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	3–1		4–0	3–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	2–1
SP Kyoto	2–1	5–0	0–2	0–1	1–2	1–0	0–3		2–1	0–3	2–1	0–1	0–2	1–0	2–1	2–1
Sagawa Express Osaka	1–2	1–1	1–0	1–2	1–2	2–0	1–3	0–0		1–2	1–1	2–1	0–0	1–1	2–2	0–1
Sagawa Express Tokyo	1–2	0–4	2–2	2–1	0–2	3–0^[a]	0–2	1–0	2–1		0–0	1–0	4–2	4–1	1–3	0–2
Sony Sendai	3–2	2–1	2–1	1–3	1–1	4–3	2–3	1–0	3–2	2–2		2–3	1–0	5–1	1–1	2–2
Thespa Kusatsu	2–1	3–0	5–2	1–3	4–2	5–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	0–0	2–2		1–0	1–0	1–2	1–0
Tochigi SC	1–5	4–0	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–1	0–4	2–1	0–1	2–0	1–2	3–3		2–2	1–4	1–0
SC Tottori	2–3	2–2	1–2	3–2	2–1	2–2	1–2	3–1	1–2	3–2	0–4	1–2	0–2		0–2	1–3
YKK AP	2–0	3–1	2–1	2–2	2–3	0–2	3–0	4–1	0–1	1–0	0–1	2–3	0–1	1–1		2–2
Yokogawa Musashino	2–3	6–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–3	1–2	0–4	0–0	2–1	0–3	2–2	0–0	0–3

Updated to match(es) played on December 5, 2004. Source: JFL First Round, JFL Second Round
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

^ Kokushikan University S.C. were expelled from Japan Football League after 29th week and awarded a default 0–3 defeat in the remaining game against Sagawa Express Tokyo S.C.

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals^[2]
1	Takehiro Hayashi	Otsuka Pharmaceuticals	21
2	Yasuaki Oshima	Otsuka Pharmaceuticals	20
3	Koji Murayama	Yokogawa Musashino	18
3	Junya Nitta	Honda FC	18
5	Mitsuru Hasegawa	YKK AP	16
5	Toshiro Tomochika	Ehime FC	16
7	Tatsuya Furuhashi	Honda FC	15
8	Youichi Mori	Gunma Horikoshi	14
9	Yosuke Kobayashi	Yokogawa Musashino	12
	Takeshi Ushibana	YKK AP	12
	Atsushi Yoshimoto	Thespa Kusatsu	12

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Thespa Kusatsu	74,221	13,743	1,724	4,948	n/a^†
2	Otsuka Pharmaceuticals	45,697	9,553	707	3,046	+290.0%^†
3	Ehime FC	33,874	11,051	565	2,258	+72.6%^†
4	Tochigi SC	17,403	3,321	643	1,160	+54.3%^†
5	Honda FC	17,255	3,557	457	1,150	+18.4%^†
6	Sagawa Express Osaka	11,396	4,649	286	760	+35.7%^†
7	SC Tottori	9,539	1,535	287	636	−19.2%^†
8	ALO's Hokuriku	9,426	1,227	267	628	+10.6%^†
9	Sony Sendai	9,320	1,406	252	621	−9.3%^†
10	Gunma Horikoshi	9,103	3,003	289	607	n/a^†
11	YKK AP	8,915	1,516	282	594	+11.2%^†
12	Yokogawa Musashino	8,645	988	350	576	+30.6%^†
13	Sagawa Express Tokyo	5,247	885	202	375	+28.0%^†
14	SP Kyoto	5,596	585	106	373	+38.7%^†
15	Denso SC	3,694	583	126	246	−14.6%^†
16	Kokushikan University	3,277	527	85	218	−4.8%^†
	League total	272,608	13,743	85	1,141	+99.1%^†

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:
^† Team played previous season in Regional Leagues.

Promotion and relegation

Because of promotion of Otsuka Pharmaceuticals and Thespa Kusatsu and expulsion of Kokushikan University, no relegation has occurred. After the season, Honda Lock, Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima and Ryutsu Keizai University were promoted from Regional Leagues by the virtue of their placing in the Regional League promotion series.

References

^ Arrest of Kokushikan players for sex attack on minor.
^ "JFL Top Scorers". jfl.or.jp. Japan Football League. Retrieved July 7, 2010.

[table_note_OTP0.12103046855006-1] One of three clubs that occupied top 3 places at the end of the first half of the season (15th week) and were seeded for 2004 Emperor's Cup. These clubs were automatically qualified for the tournament, while each of other JFL clubs had to go through the prefectural qualifier.

[table_note_res_EXP0.12103046855006-3] Expelled by Japan Football Association after 29th week because of the scandal caused by arrest of Kokushikan players for sex attack on a minor.^[1] In the remaining game against Sagawa Express Tokyo a team was awarded a default 0–3 defeat.

[table_note_1_SET_KSU0.79338228879188-4] Kokushikan University S.C. were expelled from Japan Football League after 29th week and awarded a default 0–3 defeat in the remaining game against Sagawa Express Tokyo S.C.

[2] Arrest of Kokushikan players for sex attack on minor.

[5] "JFL Top Scorers". jfl.or.jp. Japan Football League. Retrieved July 7, 2010.

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