Japanese Non-league Football News

Any lingering hopes Grulla Morioka may have had of fighting for the Tohoku League Division 1 title were ended on Sunday, for even though the beleaguered Iwate prefecture team beat FC Primeiro, deadly rivals TDK Akita thrashed Nippon Steel Kamaishi 6-0 to maintain their 100% record at the top of the table. Elsewhere, Morioka Zebra managed a potentially valuable draw with third placed NEC Tokin, while Wiese Shiogama thrashed struggling neighbours Sendai Nakata Club 4-0 in the other fixture.



Sendai Nakata Club prepare to defend a Wiese Shiogama free kick

Sun 10 Sep: Grulla Morioka 2-1 FC Primeiro
Sun 10 Sep: Morioka Zebra 2-2 NEC Tokin
Sun 10 Sep: Nippon Steel Kamaishi 0-6 TDK Akita
Sun 10 Sep: Wiese Shiogama 4-0 Sendai Nakata Club

1 TDK Akita 36 (+48)
2 Grulla Morioka 24 (+7)
3 NEC Tokin 17 (+6)
4 FC Primeiro 16 (-7)
5 Wiese Shiogama 12 (-)
6 Morioka Zebra 6 (-15)
7 Nippon Steel Kamaishi 4 (-25)
8 Sendai Nakata Club 3 (-14)



Grulla Morioka go for goal in style against FC Primeiro

Frustratingly for all fans in the Shikoku League, the big match over the weekend between title hopefuls Kamatamare Sanuki and current championship holders Nangoku Kochi was postponed due to bad weather, although it has now been confirmed that Nangoku will play their vital game in hand against Sanyo Electric Tokushima this coming weekend. Sanyo's draw with Ehime Shimanami means the latter move into second place, but the more significant action was lower down the table, where Sanwa Club will now definitely have to participate in the promotion / relegation play-offs after losing to Tokushima Vortis Amateur, but Ventana AC boosted their chances of avoding the drop with a vital win at Alex SC.



Ventana AC in white on their way to beating Alex SC

10 Sep 06: Alex SC 1-2 Ventana AC
10 Sep 06: Sanwa Club 2-4 Tokushima Vortia Amateur
10 Sep 06: Sanyo Electric Tokushima 2-2 Ehime Shimanami

1 Kamatamare Sanuki 30 (+30)
2 Ehime Shimanami 26 (+25)
3 Nangoku Kochi 25 (+35)
4 Sanyo Electric Tokushima 20 (+8)
5 Tokushima Vortis Amateur 12 (-5)
6 Ventana AC 10 (-27)
7 Alex SC 8 (-25)
8 Sanwa Club 1 (-41)

FC Machida Zelvia confirmed their second successive promotion on Sunday, a 1-0 win over relegated All Kamisu SC in front of 1200 fans giving them the Kanto League Division 2 title. They will be joined at the top tier of Regional football by Hitachi Tochigi Uva, whose 3-1 defeat of the other relegated team, Aries FC, enabled them to withstand the challenge of a strong Furukawa Electrics Chiba side. The other match saw mid-table Nirasaki Astros draw with Kanagawa Teachers.



Machida Zelvia fans at the club’s final league game of the year against All Kamisu

Sun 10 Sep: FC Machida Zelvia 1-0 All Kamisu SC
Sun 10 Sep: Hitachi Tochigi Uva 3-1 Aries FC
Sun 10 Sep: Kanagawa Teachers 1-1 Nirasaki Astros
Sun 10 Sep: Ome FC 2-3 Furukawa Electrics Chiba

1 Machida Zelvia 32 (+28)
2 Hitachi Tochigi Uva 30 (+18)
3 Furukawa Electrics Chiba 28 (+12)
4 Nirasaki Astros 22 (-4)
5 Ome FC 18 (-3)
6 Kanagawa Teachers 12 (-12)
7 Aries FC 8 (-16)
8 All Kamisu SC 6 (-23)

They might have been shock leaders of the Kanto League Division 1 right from the start of the season, but Yaita SC blew it in mighty spectacular fashion come the final fixture of the year on Sunday. With two places for Kanto sides in the Regional League Championship Winnners' Play-off tournament, even second position would have been fine - but Yaita missed out not on points or goal difference, but instead, agonisingly, on goals scored. YSCC beat them 4-1 to take top spot and 2005 champions Luminozo Sayama ended up second despite a 6-1 hammering by Saitama SC. Relegated are Hanno Bruder, and MSDF Atsugi Marcus, in spite of wins over Toshiba Fuchu and Toho Titanium respectively.



Kanto League title winners YSCC

Sun 10 Sep: Hanno Bruder 3-2 Toshiba Fuchu
Sun 10 Sep: Saitama SC 6-1 Luminozo Sayama
Sun 10 Sep: Toho Titanium 1-2 MSDF Atsugi Marcus
Sun 10 Sep: Yaita SC 1-4 YSCC

1 YSCC 24 (+10)
2 Luminozo Sayama 24 (+7)
3 Yaita SC 24 (+7)
4 Saitama SC 20 (+9)
5 Toshiba Fuchu 19 (-)
6 Toho Titanium 17 (-11)
7 MSDF Atsugi Marcus 15 (-9)
8 Hanno Bruder 13 (-13)

The Hokushinetsu League Division 2 title decider between TOP Niigata and Valiente Toyama was taken 3-2 by Valiente, who achieved automatic promotion to Division 1 as a result. But that defeat means that TOP have missed out even on the second place play-off spot, beaten on goal difference by FC Kanazu's via a 5-1 drubbing of relegated Nissei Resin. LionPower Komatsu face the tension of a relegation play-off, following their 1-0 defeat by Maruoka Phoenix and Toyama Shinjo Club's win over FC Antelope.



Valiente Toyama fans get autographs from their title-winning heroes

Sun 10 Sep: FC Kanazu 5-1 Nissei Resin
Sun 10 Sep: LionPower Komatsu 0-1 Maruoka Phoenix
Sun 10 Sep: TOP Niigata 2-3 Valiente Toyama
Sun 10 Sep: Toyama Shinjo Club 1-0 FC Antelope

1 Valiente Toyama 24 (+4)
2 FC Kanazu 22 (+9)
3 TOP Niigata 22 (+5)
4 Maruoka Phoenix 22 (+2)
5 FC Antelope 18 (+1)
6 Toyama Shinjo Club 18 (-7)
7 LionPower Komatsu 16 (-14)
8 Nissei Resin 12 (-)

It was right down to the wire in the final round of the Hokushinetsu League Division 1 on Sunday, with a head-to-head between Japan Soccer College and reigning title holders Nagano Elsa to decide the destination of this year's championship crown. And it was the students who took it with a 1-0 win, to deny Nagano the opportunity to take anothe crack at a JFL slot; indeed, Elsa even failed to hold on to second place in the division, thanks to neighbours' Matsumoto Yamaga Club's 3-2 defeat of Niigata University of Management. The true disappointments of the season, however, have undoubtedly been Zweigen Kanazawa, whose 2-1 loss at Fervorosa meant they could finish only fourth. Teihens FC are relegated to Division 2, while Ueda Gentian must face a play-off to keep their place in the top division.



The distinctly chirpy-looking Japan Soccer College, Hokushinetsu League champions

Sun 10 Sep: Fervorosa 2-1 Zweigen Kanazawa
Sun 10 Sep: Japan Soccer College 1-0 Nagano Elsa
Sun 10 Sep: Matsumoto Yamaga Club 3-2 Niigata University of Management
Sun 10 Sep: Ueda Gentian 4-0 Teihens FC

1 Japan Soccer College 35 (+33)
2 Matsumoto Yamaga Club 34 (+24)
3 Nagano Elsa 33 (+43)
4 Zweigen Kanazawa 21 (+21)
5 Fervorosa 14 (-9)
6 Niigata University of Management 11 (-33)
7 Ueda Gentian 10 (-25)
8 Teihens FC 2 (-54)



Pick that one out! Fervorosa go one up against Zweigen

Two games over one weekend in Nagasaki wound up the 2006 Kyushu League season, but with the local big guns of V Varen Nagasaki already crowned champions and Nippon Steel Oita 99% certain to follow them into the Regional League Championship Winners' Play-off, there wasn't in truth a whole lot to play for. V Varen eased to a 3-1 win over Volca Kagoshima on Saturday, but then rather blotted their season's copybook when they lost for the first time this year against Nippon Steel the following day. All of which left New Wave Kitakyushu to finish strongly in third, a standing that must ultimately rank as a disappointment considering the level of investment that went into the club pre-season.

It's not clear what will happen at the bottom of the table just at present as far as relegation is concerned, but it can probably be fairly safely assumed that the Okinawans of Kaiho Bank SC won't be playing Regional level football next year, despite rounding off the season with a win over Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki. The former Fukuoka University students of Nanakuma Tombies have to some extent been the whipping boys of the league in 2006 and conceded another twelve goals over the weekend to finish a point ahead of Kaiho. Mitsubishi Nagasaki meanwhile dropped to third bottom as a consequence of their two defeats, to be overtaken by Osumi NIFS United.



Nanakuma Tombies concede against New Wave Kitakyushu

Sat 09 Sep: Kaiho Bank SC 1-4 Osumi NIFS United
Sat 09 Sep: New Wave Kitakyushu 6-3 Nanakuma Tombies
Sat 09 Sep: Okinawa Kariyushi 3-1 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki
Sat 09 Sep: V Varen Nagasaki 3-1 Volca Kagoshima

Sun 10 Sep: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki 1-3 Kaiho Bank SC
Sun 10 Sep: Nanakuma Tombies 1-6 Volca Kagoshima
Sun 10 Sep: Nippon Steel Oita 2-1 V Varen Nagasaki
Sun 10 Sep: Osumi NIFS United 2-6 New Wave Kitakyushu

1 V Varen Nagasaki 43 (+30)
2 Nippon Steel Oita 39 (+26)
3 New Wave Kitakyushu 36 (+22)
4 Volca Kagoshima 30 (+17)
5 Okinawa Kariyushi 27 (+3)
6 Osumi NIFS United 14 (-15)
7 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki 12 (-14)
8 Nanakuma Tombies 8 (-43)
9 Kaiho Bank SC 7 (-28)

The Hokkaido League staged a double-header of fixtures over the weekend and with now only one match remaining, Norbritz Hokkaido have reclaimed the title. Their 3-0 defeat of closest challengers Barefoot Hokkaido on Saturday did the trick, a draw against Sapporo Football Group on Sunday meaning that the Hokkaido Electric Power company side are now six points clear at the top. But while Barefoot and Sapporo are left to fight it out for second place - and ACSC Asahikawa are definitely relegated - the relegation play-off that comes with a seventh place finish is up for grabs. At the moment it looks as if Toyota Motors Hokkaido's recent slump might mean that they end up in the same position as last year, as they picked up just a single point from the two weekend games. The other contenders are Thank FC from Kuriyama and first timers at this level of football Tokachi Fairsky, who both picked up valuable wins on Saturday and may just squeeze to safety as a result.



Norbritz Hokkaido line up to celebrate their Hokkaido League title win

Sat 09 Sep: Barefoot Hokkaido 0-3 Norbritz Hokkaido
Sat 09 Sep: Sapporo Football Group 4-2 ACSC Asahikawa
Sat 09 Sep: Thank FC 3-2 Blackpecker Hakodate
Sat 09 Sep: Toyota Motors Hokkaido 1-4 Tokachi Fairsky

Sun 10 Sep: ACSC Asahikawa 0-5 Blackpecker Hakodate
Sun 10 Sep: Barefoot Hokkaido 0-0 Toyota Motors Hokkaido
Sun 10 Sep: Norbritz Hokkaido 1-1 Sapporo Football Group
Sun 10 Sep: Tokachi Fairsky 1-1 Thank FC

1 Norbritz Hokkaido 30 (+30)
2 Barefoot Hokkaido 24 (+2)
3 Sapporo Football Group 23 (+15)
4 Blackpecker Hakodate 18 (+2)
5 Tokachi Fairsky 16 (-6)
6 Thank FC 15 (-1)
7 Toyota Motors Hokkaido 15 (-12)
8 ACSC Asahikawa 5 (-30)



Sapporo FC on the attack against ACSC Asahikawa

It's been a disaster of a weekend for Rosso Kumamoto. The Kyushu club, hoping for a second successive promotion after having won their Regional league last year, require a top two JFL finish in order to achieve their dream of a place in the J-League itself in 2007. Occupying second spot and with a third of the season remaining, they yesterday hosted leaders Honda FC in front of more than 7000 expectant fans and lost 2-1. On Sunday, they slipped down into third position as a result of the resurgent YKK AP's 5-1 hammering of Arte Takasaki and with Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo breathing down their necks following a good draw at Tochigi SC, the pressure could scarcely be more intense for Rosso.

The other action on Sunday was all down at the bottom of the table, where almost-certain relegation play-off candidates Honda Lock picked up a rare point in a draw with SC Tottori. It was all go for the other teams in the bottom third, however, as Mitsubishi Mizushima scored twice in the first ten minutes and ended up getting a crucial 3-1 win over Sagawa Printing - a good result for Mitsubishi that would have been even better if FC Ryukyu hadn't managed a shock win over Sagawa Kyubin Osaka, which also makes life extremely difficult for Ryutsu Keizai University. In the other game, the utterly unpredictable JEF Club came from behind to crush Kanto neighbours Yokogawa Musashino 4-1 and move above Arte Takasaki, who could still find themselves dragged down into the relegation quagmire.



In among the Honda Lock fans at the match with Tottori

Sun 10 Sep: FC Ryukyu 2-1 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka
Sun 10 Sep: Honda Lock 1-1 SC Tottori
Sun 10 Sep: JEF Club 4-1 Yokogawa Musashino
Sun 10 Sep: Mitsubishi Mizushima 3-1 Sagawa Printing
Sun 10 Sep: Tochigi SC 0-0 Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo
Sun 10 Sep: YKK AP 5-1 Arte Takasaki

1 Honda FC 58 (+27)
2 YKK AP 52 (+30)
3 Rosso Kumamoto 52 (+24)
4 Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo 50 (+33)
5 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka 48 (+25)
6 Alo's Hokuriku 44 (+21)
7 Tochigi SC 43 (+13)
8 Yokogawa Musashino 41 (+7)
9 Sony Sendai 33 (-1)
10 SC Tottori 28 (+4)
11 JEF Club 25 (-14)
12 Arte Takasaki 25 (-23)
13 Sagawa Printing 24 (-19)
14 FC Ryukyu 23 (-12)
15 FC Kariya 23 (-15)
16 Ryutsu Keizai University 22 (-19)
17 Mitsubishi Mizushima 20 (-37)
18 Honda Lock 12 (-42)



Hiroki Kishida, two-goal hero for YKK AP

There was only one place to be for JFL fans this weekend and that was at the clash between the top two sides in the elite league of the Japanese non-league game. It was frontrunners Honda FC who emerged triumphant over Rosso Kumamoto thanks to a late goal from Daiju Kawashima - which means that his side now stand six points clear at the top of the table, with time running out for those sides still holding on to some hope of catching them. It's almost certainly too late for the likes of Alo's Hokuriku to make an impression, but they nevertheless managed a 4-2 win over Sony Sendai that included a hat-trick from Yoshio Kitagawa, while the relegation battle of the day also featured a hat-trick hero in the shape of Tomohiro Ito. His goals enabled FC Kariya to come from behind and so deliver a 5-1 crushing to Ryutsu Keizai University, meaning that the Aichi prefecture-based club leapfrog three of their rivals to move clear of the drop zone.



Honda FC celebrate their early lead in Kumamoto against Rosso

Sat 09 Sep: Alo's Hokuriku 4-2 Sony Sendai
Sat 09 Sep: FC Kariya 5-1 Ryutsu Keizai University
Sat 09 Sep: Rosso Kumamoto 1-2 Honda FC

1 Honda FC 58 (+27)
2 Rosso Kumamoto 52 (+24)
3 Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo 49 (+33)
4 YKK AP 49 (+26)
5 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka 48 (+26)
6 Alo's Hokuriku 44 (+21)
7 Tochigi SC 42 (+13)
8 Yokogawa Musashino 41 (+10)
9 Sony Sendai 33 (-1)
10 SC Tottori 27 (+4)
11 Arte Takasaki 25 (-19)
12 Sagawa Printing 24 (-17)
13 FC Kariya 23 (-15)
14 Ryutsu Keizai University 22 (-19)
15 JEF Club 22 (-17)
16 FC Ryukyu 20 (-13)
17 Mitsubishi Mizushima 17 (-39)
18 Honda Lock 11 (-42)



Cheery FC Kariya fans after their team’s biffing of RKU

Crucially out-of-form Honda Suzuka lost 3-0 to challengers Konica Minolta Toyokawa to concede vital ground at the top of the Tokai League Division 2 last weekend, enabling Kasugai Club to move three points ahead thanks to their comfortable win at relegated FC Kawasaki. Old hands Nagoya Club beat Fuyo Club in the mid-table fixture and still have an outside chance of gaining promotion back to the top division.

Sun 03 Sep: FC Kawasaki 0-4 Kasugai Club
Sun 03 Sep: Fuyo Club 1-4 Nagoya Club
Sun 03 Sep: Konica Minolta Toyokawa 3-0 Honda Suzuka

1 Kasugai Club 25 (+14)
2 Honda Suzuka 22 (+5)
3 Konica Minolta Toyokawa 19 (+8)
4 Nagoya Club 18 (+3)
5 Fuyo Club 17 (-3)
6 Mind House TC 16 (+2)
7 Morishin's FC 11 (-3)
8 FC Kawasaki 3 (-26)

Last weekend's round of Tokai League Division 1 matches saw Shizuoka FC pick up the win necessary to keep their faint grip on the title, as they beat neighbours Fujieda City Hall 5-3 while odds-on championship favourites FC Gifu had a weekend free. Still in third place and having enjoyed a solid season are Yazaki Valente, 4-0 winners over Chukyo University - but ACM Central have had a wretched year and a 3-2 defeat at mid-table Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo meant that they were unable to add to their single pont obtained thus far.

Sun 03 Sep: Fujieda City Hall 3-5 Shizuoka FC
Sun 03 Sep: Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo 3-2 ACM Central
Sun 03 Sep: Yazaki Valente 4-0 Chukyo University

1 FC Gifu 34 (+37)
2 Shizuoka FC 26 (+25)
3 Yazaki Valente 24 (+7)
4 Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo 18 (-5)
5 Maruyasu Industry 14 (-6)
6 Fujieda City Hall 9 (-12)
7 Chukyo University 8 (-16)
8 ACM Central 1 (-30)

JNFN is going to take a short holiday and will be back on Sunday 10th September.