The Japanese Regional Champions League (Japanese: 全国地域サッカーチャンピオンズリーグ, Zenkoku Chiiki Sakkā Championzu Rīgu), known before 2016 as Japan Regional Football League Competition, is a nationwide play-off tournament meant as a transition for Japanese football clubs competing in regional leagues to the Japan Football League.
In 1984 and 1985 more promotion places were added due to the JSL, expanding its divisions. In 1992 it began promoting clubs to the former JFL's second division and, from 1994 to 1998, to its single division. In 1999 and 2000 it added extra promotion places due to the formation and expansion of the new JFL.
Yamaha Motors (Júbilo Iwata) are, thus far, the only Regional Series champions to later become First Division champions. They are also the only club to retain the title, as they failed to be promoted in their first attempt due to losing a playoff series. Since 1980 every champion has been automatically promoted, exceptions being in 1993 (Nippon Denso/FC Kariya lost a playoff) and in 2002 (Ain Foods requested not to be promoted as they lacked the resources to compete at the national level).
Qualificationedit
Until 2009, the number of places in the tournament was 16, distributed as follows:
Other clubs (other league runners-up, Senior Cup runners-up or third places, etc.) (0-3 clubs) – more allowed if Senior Cup holder has won a regional league or been runner-up
As of 2010, the regional league runners-up are no longer eligible and the university association is no longer allowed to make recommendations, reducing the number of places to 12.
This may be replaced by third and/or fourth-placed team if the winners and/or runners-up win a regional league or recommended by the JFA.
Regional league runners-up (0-3 clubs)
This number of clubs changes by the result of "Club recommended by the JFA" and "All Japan Senior Cup".
Formatedit
Preliminary roundedit
The clubs are grouped in round-robin groups of four, playing at a single city per group (no home-and-away format is followed). Only three matches are played per club, since the match location is the same. The winners of each group qualify for the final round.
Final roundedit
As of 2010, the three group winners plus the highest-scoring runner-up are grouped in a final group in a single locale, with three matches played per club. The top two places are guaranteed promotion and the third place may play a promotion/relegation series against one of the three bottom JFL clubs (subject to JFL place availability).
Round-robin rulesedit
The usual 3-1-0 system is used; however, in case of a draw, a penalty shootout is added and the winner gets one extra point.
Clubs in bold compete in the J.League (any division) in the 2023 season. Clubs in italics no longer exist. A dagger (†) indicates clubs that moved away from the region after winning the title.
Contents of Domestic Competition of Football in Japan
External linksedit
JFA official page
Japanese Regional Leagues summary(SOCCERWAY)
2011 season at the JFA
Unofficial site from JFL News 2019-04-01 at the Wayback Machine
December 02, 2023
japanese, regional, football, champions, league, japanese, regional, champions, league, japanese, 全国地域サッカーチャンピオンズリーグ, zenkoku, chiiki, sakkā, championzu, rīgu, known, before, 2016, japan, regional, football, league, competition, nationwide, play, tournament, m. The Japanese Regional Champions League Japanese 全国地域サッカーチャンピオンズリーグ Zenkoku Chiiki Sakka Championzu Rigu known before 2016 as Japan Regional Football League Competition is a nationwide play off tournament meant as a transition for Japanese football clubs competing in regional leagues to the Japan Football League Japan Regional Football Champions LeagueFounded1977 46 years ago 1977 RegionJapanConfederationAFC Asia Number of teams12Promotion toJapan Soccer League 1977 1991 Japan Football League 1992 1998 Japan Football League 1999 present Current championsTochigi City FC 1st title 2023 Most championshipsYamaha MotorDaikyo Oil Yokkaichi Kosmo DaikyoNippon Denso 2 titles each Current 2023 Japanese Regional Football Champions League Contents 1 History 2 Qualification 3 Format 3 1 Preliminary round 3 2 Final round 3 3 Round robin rules 4 Winners 4 1 Wins by region 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksHistory editMain article Japanese football league system Until 1976 the main entrance route for regional clubs to the Japan Soccer League was the All Japan Senior Football Championship a cup competition In 1977 to test clubs in a league environment before entrance to the league the Japan Football Association devised this tournament In 1984 and 1985 more promotion places were added due to the JSL expanding its divisions In 1992 it began promoting clubs to the former JFL s second division and from 1994 to 1998 to its single division In 1999 and 2000 it added extra promotion places due to the formation and expansion of the new JFL Yamaha Motors Jubilo Iwata are thus far the only Regional Series champions to later become First Division champions They are also the only club to retain the title as they failed to be promoted in their first attempt due to losing a playoff series Since 1980 every champion has been automatically promoted exceptions being in 1993 Nippon Denso FC Kariya lost a playoff and in 2002 Ain Foods requested not to be promoted as they lacked the resources to compete at the national level Qualification editUntil 2009 the number of places in the tournament was 16 distributed as follows All regional league champions 9 clubs 4 regional league runners up 4 clubs University club recommended by the university association 1 club Club recommended by the JFA 1 club All Japan Senior Cup winner 1 club Other clubs other league runners up Senior Cup runners up or third places etc 0 3 clubs more allowed if Senior Cup holder has won a regional league or been runner upAs of 2010 the regional league runners up are no longer eligible and the university association is no longer allowed to make recommendations reducing the number of places to 12 All regional league champions 9 clubs Club recommended by the JFA at most 1 club All Japan Senior Cup winners and runners up at most 2 clubs This may be replaced by third and or fourth placed team if the winners and or runners up win a regional league or recommended by the JFA Regional league runners up 0 3 clubs This number of clubs changes by the result of Club recommended by the JFA and All Japan Senior Cup Format editPreliminary round edit The clubs are grouped in round robin groups of four playing at a single city per group no home and away format is followed Only three matches are played per club since the match location is the same The winners of each group qualify for the final round Final round edit As of 2010 the three group winners plus the highest scoring runner up are grouped in a final group in a single locale with three matches played per club The top two places are guaranteed promotion and the third place may play a promotion relegation series against one of the three bottom JFL clubs subject to JFL place availability Round robin rules edit The usual 3 1 0 system is used however in case of a draw a penalty shootout is added and the winner gets one extra point Winners editTeams in bold were promoted Year Winner Runner up Third place Also promoted1977 Yamaha Motors Toshiba Horikawa cho Toho Titanium1978 Yamaha Motors Toho Titanium Dainichi Nippon Densen1979 Cosmo Oil Yokkaichi Kyoto Shiko Club Furukawa Electric Chiba1980 Nagoya S C Furukawa Electric Chiba Saitama Teachers1981 Saitama Teachers NTT West Japan Kyoto Cosmo Oil Yokkaichi1982 Toho Titanium Seino Transportation Hyōgo Teachers1983 Yokohama TriStar Matsushita Teijin Matsuyama1984 Seino Transportation Kyoto Police Dept TDK SC Osaka Gas1985 Cosmo Oil Yokkaichi Kawasaki Steel Mizushima Toho Titanium NTT Kansai1986 NTT Kanto Mazda Auto Hiroshima Toyoda Machine Works1987 Teijin Matsuyama Fujieda City Hall Matsushima S C 1988 Mazda Auto Hiroshima Kyoto Shiko Club Tokyo Gas1989 Yomiuri S C Juniors Otsuka Pharmaceutical Seino Transportation1990 Tokyo Gas Chuo Bohan Seino Transportation1991 Osaka Gas Osaka Taidai Kemari Club Seino Transportation1992 PJM Futures Toyota Motors Higashifuji NEC Yamagata1993 Nippon Denso NEC Yamagata Jatco1994 Brummell Sendai Fukushima FC Yokogawa Denki1995 Nippon Denso Ōita F C Yokogawa Denki1996 Jatco Prima Ham Mazda S C 1997 Sony Sendai FC Albirex Niigata Yokogawa Denki1998 Yokogawa Denki Hitachi Shimizu Ehime FC1999 Alo s Hokuriku Tochigi SC Honda Luminoso Sayama F C F C Kyoken2000 Sagawa Express Tokyo SC YKK AP F C NTT Kumamoto S C TottoriEhime FC2001 Sagawa Express Osaka S C Professor Miyazaki Nangoku Kochi F C 2002 Ain Foods Sagawa Printing SC Shizuoka F C 2003 Thespa Kusatsu Gunma F C Horikoshi Shizuoka F C 2004 Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima F C Ryutsu Keizai University FC Honda Lock SC2005 F C Ryukyu JEF United Ichihara Chiba B Rosso Kumamoto2006 TDK SC FC Gifu Fagiano Okayama F C 2007 Fagiano Okayama New Wave Kitakyushu F C Mi O Biwako Kusatsu2008 Machida Zelvia V Varen Nagasaki Honda Lock2009 Matsumoto Yamaga Hitachi Tochigi Uva Zweigen Kanazawa2010 Kamatamare Sanuki Nagano Parceiro Sanyo Electric Sumoto2011 YSCC Yokohama Fujieda MYFC Hoyo AC Elan Ōita2012 SC Sagamihara Fukushima United Norbritz Hokkaido2013 Grulla Morioka Fagiano Okayama Next FC Kagoshima merged with Volca Kagoshimato form Kagoshima United FC Vanraure HachinoheAzul Claro NumazuRenofa YamaguchiMaruyasu Okazaki2014 Nara Club FC Osaka Club Dragons2015 ReinMeer Aomori Briobecca Urayasu Saurcos Fukui2016 FC Imabari Veertien Mie Suzuka Unlimited2017 Cobaltore Onagawa Tegevajaro Miyazaki Vonds Ichihara2018 Matsue City Suzuka Unlimited FC Kariya2019 Iwaki FC Kochi United SC Ococias Kyoto AC2020 FC Tiamo Hirakata FC Kariya Tochigi City FC2021 Criacao Shinjuku FC Ise Shima Ococias Kyoto AC2022 Briobecca Urayasu Okinawa SV Tochigi City2023 Tochigi City FC Vonds Ichihara Tsukuba FCSource JFA Wins by region edit Clubs in bold compete in the J League any division in the 2023 season Clubs in italics no longer exist A dagger indicates clubs that moved away from the region after winning the title Region Number of titles ClubsKantō 15 Saitama SC Toho Titanium SC Yokohama Flugels Omiya Ardija Yomiuri S C Juniors FC Tokyo Yokogawa Musashino Sagawa Express Tokyo Thespa Kusatsu Machida Zelvia YSCC Yokohama SC Sagamihara Criacao Shinjuku Briobecca Urayasu Tochigi City FCTōkai 10 Jubilo Iwata 2 Cosmo Oil Yokkaichi 2 Nagoya S C Seino Transportation Tosu Futures FC Kariya 2 Jatco SCTōhoku 7 Vegalta Sendai Sony Sendai Blaublitz Akita Grulla Morioka ReinMeer Aomori Cobaltore Onagawa Iwaki FCKansai 5 Osaka Gas Sagawa Express Osaka Ain Foods Nara Club FC Tiamo HirakataChugoku 4 Mazda Auto Hiroshima Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima Fagiano Okayama Matsue CityShikoku 3 Teijin SC Kamatamare Sanuki FC ImabariKoshin etsu 2 ALO s Hokuriku Matsumoto YamagaKyushu 1 FC RyukyuHokkaidō See also edit nbsp Asia portal nbsp Japan portal nbsp Sports portal nbsp Association football portal nbsp Women s association football portalSport in Japan Football in Japan Women s football in Japan Japan Football Association JFA Soccer Football League systemJapanese association football league system J League J1 League Tier 1 J2 League Tier 2 J3 League Tier 3 Japan Football League JFL Tier 4 Regional Champions League Promotion playoffs to JFL Regional Leagues Tier 5 6 Domestic cupFujifilm Super Cup Super Cup Emperor s Cup National Cup J League YBC Levain Cup League Cup FutsalF League F1 League Tier 1 F2 League Tier 2 JFA Futsal Championship National Cup F League Ocean Cup League Cup Beach soccerBeach Soccer Championship National Cup References editContents of Domestic Competition of Football in JapanExternal links editJFA official page Japanese Regional Leagues summary SOCCERWAY 2011 season at the JFA Unofficial site from JFL News Archived 2019 04 01 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Japanese Regional Football Champions League amp oldid 1187112193, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
