2020 Nadeshiko League

The 2020 Nadeshiko League was the 32nd season of the Nadeshiko League, the main league for women's association football in Japan. It was also the 16th season in its current format.

The league was originally scheduled to begin on 2 May 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league was finally rescheduled to begin on 18 July 2020 with the first two rounds of matches played behind closed doors.[1]

Division 1

Football league season
Nadeshiko League Division 1
Season2020
Dates18 July 2020 – 21 November 2020
ChampionsUrawa Reds Ladies
(4th title)
RelegatedCerezo Osaka
Iga Kunoichi
Ehime
AFC Women's Club ChampionshipUrawa Reds Ladies
Matches played90
Goals scored273 (3.03 per match)
Top goalscorerYuika Sugasawa (17 goals)
Biggest home winMynavi Vegalta Sendai 5–0 Ehime (1 November 2020)

INAC Kobe Leonessa 5–0 Ehime (30 August 2020)
Biggest away winCerezo Osaka 1–10 NTV Beleza (15 August 2020)
Highest scoringCerezo Osaka 1–10 NTV Beleza (15 August 2020)
Longest winning runUrawa Reds Ladies
(6 matches)
Longest unbeaten runUrawa Reds Ladies
(8 matches)
Longest winless runEhime
(9 matches)
Longest losing runIga FC Kunoichi
(6 matches)
← 2019
2021–22 (WE)
2021 (N) →
All statistics correct as of 21 November 2020.

The season started on 18 July 2020 and ended in November 2020 with the play-offs to be held days later. Prior to the league start date, PCR were carried out on all the players and staffs of the teams participating in the leagues to check their health conditions, almost all test cases came out negative.[citation needed]

Urawa Reds Ladies won their fourth Nadeshiko League title and therefore will earn the right to participate in the 2021 AFC Women's Club Championship.

This is its final year as the highest division of the Japan women's football league system as the WE League is set to commence next year. Similar to the men's J. League in 1992 and the English women's FA WSL in 2011, not all Division 1 clubs will be admitted to the new league.[2]

Teams

The league was contested by 10 teams, debutants Ehime winners of the 2019 Nadeshiko League Division 2 and runners up Cerezo Osaka replaced Nittidai and AC Nagano Parceiro Ladies, who were relegated from the 2019 Nadeshiko League Division 1.

Club Hometown(s) First Season in
Top Flight 		Current Spell in
Top Flight
NTV Beleza Inagi, Tokyo 1989 1989–present
INAC Kobe Leonessa Kobe, Hyogo 2005 2005–present
Mynavi Vegalta Sendai Sendai, Miyagi 2013 2013–present
Albirex Niigata Niigata Prefecture 2007 2007–present
Cerezo Osaka Osaka 2018 2020–present
Ehime Matsuyama 2020 2020–present
JEF United Chiba Chiba, Chiba 2000 2009–present
Urawa Reds Ladies Saitama, Saitama 1999 1999–present
Nojima Stella Sagamihara, Kanagawa 2017 2017–present
Iga Kunoichi Iga, Mie 1989 2019–present
class=notpageimage|
Locations of 2020 Nadeshiko League Division 1 teams

Table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Urawa Reds Ladies 18 14 2 2 37 17 +20 44 Champions, form WE League
2 INAC Kobe Leonessa 18 11 2 5 33 19 +14 35 Form WE League
3 NTV Beleza 18 9 4 5 45 22 +23 31
4 Cerezo Osaka 18 8 6 4 32 36 −4 30
5 Albirex Niigata 18 8 3 7 19 17 +2 27 Form WE League
6 JEF United Chiba 18 6 5 7 30 29 +1 23
7 Mynavi Vegalta Sendai 18 6 4 8 26 24 +2 22
8 Nojima Stella 18 4 3 11 18 30 −12 15
9 Iga Kunoichi 18 4 2 12 17 33 −16 14
10 Ehime 18 3 3 12 16 46 −30 12
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored

Results

Home \ Away ALB CER EHI INA IGA JEF NTV NOJ URA VEG
Albirex Niigata — 0–1 2–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 0–0 1–0 2–3 0–1
Cerezo Osaka 2–1 — 3–2 2–0 2–1 2–2 1–10 3–1 0–0 2–2
Ehime 1–0 3–2 — 0–1 2–1 1–5 1–5 2–2 0–1 0–2
INAC 2–0 3–1 5–0 — 2–1 2–0 4–1 2–1 0–1 3–0
Iga Kunoichi 0–1 2–2 3–0 0–1 — 0–5 1–6 3–1 0–1 0–2
JEF United 1–2 3–3 0–0 2–1 2–1 — 1–3 1–2 2–4 1–1
NTV Beleza 2–2 1–1 2–2 1–2 3–0 0–1 — 1–0 3–2 4–1
Nojima Stella 0–1 0–3 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–3 2–1 — 2–3 2–1
Urawa Reds Ladies 2–1 0–1 5–1 4–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 — 2–1
Vegalta Sendai 0–1 5–1 5–0 2–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–2 —
Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

Source: Soccerway
  = Leader;   = To Relegation Series;   = Relegation to Nadeshiko League Division 2

Attendance

[a]

Average attendance

[a]

Highest attendance

[a]

  1. ^ a b c Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, spectators were not allowed into stadiums.

Statistics

Topscorers

As of matches played on 21 November 2020.
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Japan Yuika Sugasawa Urawa Reds Ladies 17
2 Japan Haruka Hamada Vegalta Sendai 15
3 Japan Mina Tanaka INAC Kobe Leonessa 13
4 Japan Rikako Kobayashi NTV Beleza 9
Japan Ami Otaki JEF United
6 Japan Jun Endo NTV Beleza 8
7 Japan Yui Hasegawa NTV Beleza 7
Japan Honoka Hayashi Cerezo Osaka
Japan Arisa Minamino Nojima Stella
10 4 players 6

Awards

Best XI

Division 2

Football league season
Nadeshiko League Division 2
Season2020
Dates18 July – 21 November 2020
Matches played90
Goals scored225 (2.5 per match)
Biggest home winHarima 4–0 Nittaidai (24 October 2020)

Elfen Saitama 4–0 Nittaidai (26 July 2020)

Kamogawa 4–0 Bunnys Kyoto (20 September 2020)
Highest scoringSfida Setagaya 5–2 Jumonji Ventus (20 September 2020)
← 2019
2021 →
All statistics correct as of 15 November 2020.

The season began on 18 July 2020.

Teams and format

10 teams contested the league, Jumonji Ventus were promoted while Shizuoka Sangyo were relegated from the previous season, additionally Nittaidai and Nagano Parceiro Ladies also joined from the Nadeshiko League Division 1.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Sfida Setagaya 18 11 4 3 34 18 +16 37
2 Elfen Saitama 18 11 3 4 33 13 +20 36 Promoted to WE League
3 Kamogawa 18 10 4 4 37 18 +19 34
4 Yokohama 18 8 8 2 29 8 +21 32
5 Nagano Parceiro 18 8 4 6 22 13 +9 28 Promoted to WE League
6 Harima 18 8 2 8 25 22 +3 26
7 Yamato Sylphid 18 7 5 6 15 16 −1 26
8 Jumonji Ventus 18 3 4 11 15 40 −25 13 Promoted to WE League
9 Nittaidai 18 2 3 13 7 46 −39 9
10 Bunnys Kyoto 18 1 5 12 8 31 −23 8
Source: Soccerway

Results

Home \ Away KYO ELF HAR JUM KAM NIT NAG SET YAM YOK
Bunnys Kyoto — 0–3 1–3 0–1 0–3 0–1 0–3 1–2 2–1 0–1
Elfen Saitama 2–1 — 4–1 1–0 5–1 4–0 1–2 1–1 0–1 0–0
Harima 0–0 0–1 — 2–1 0–1 4–0 1–2 3–0 2–1 1–0
Jumonji Ventus 2–2 1–2 2–1 — 1–4 2–0 0–5 0–5 0–2 0–5
Kamogawa 4–0 2–2 3–0 3–0 — 4–1 0–0 0–1 2–1 0–0
Nittaidai 0–0 1–0 0–5 1–1 0–5 — 1–3 0–2 1–1 0–5
Nagano Parceiro 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–2 2–0 — 1–1 0–1 0–0
Sfida Setagaya 3–0 0–3 2–0 5–2 3–1 2–1 2–0 — 1–2 2–2
Yamato Sylphid 1–0 0–3 0–0 0–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 — 0–3
Yokohama 0–0 2–0 4–1 1–1 2–2 3–0 1–0 0–1 0–0 —
Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Statistics

Top scorers

Awards

Challenge League

Football league season
Challenge League (Division 3)
Season2020
ChampionsJFA Academy
← 2019
2021 →
All statistics correct as of 30 December 2020.

12 teams contested the third tier, divided into two groups of 6 each for East and West. Newly promoted clubs were Shizuoka SSU Asregina (formerly Iwata Bonita) and Fukuoka J. Anclas, both returning to the national tiers, and Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls, Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies's B-team.

Teams

Clubs (East) Hometown(s)
Norddea Hokkaido Sapporo, Hokkaido
Tsukuba FC Ladies Tsukuba, Ibaraki
Niigata University of Health and Welfare LSC Niigata, Niigata
JFA Academy Fukushima LSC Susono, Shizuoka[3]
Shizuoka SSU Asregina Iwata, Shizuoka
NGU Loveledge Nagoya Nagoya, Aichi
Clubs (West) Hometown(s)
Speranza Osaka Takatsuki Takatsuki, Osaka
Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls Osaka
KIU Charme Takahashi, Okayama
Yunogo Belle Mimasaka, Okayama
Angeviolet Hiroshima Hiroshima
Fukuoka J. Anclas Fukuoka

Challenge League Championship

Angeviolet Hiroshima0–0JFA Academy Fukushima LSC
JFA Academy Fukushima LSC1–0Angeviolet Hiroshima
Numao 77'

JFA Academy wins the title.

Challenge League Third Place

NGU Loveledge Nagoya0–1 (a.e.t.)Speranza Osaka-Takatsuki
Sakanaka 106'

Speranza is promoted to the Nadeshiko League.

References

  1. ^ "Nadeshiko League to finally kick off on 18 July". Japantimes.com. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Japan unveils professional WE league". AFC. 3 June 2020.
  3. ^ Due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the team has relocated from Naraha, Fukushima to sport facilities in Shizuoka Prefecture. http://www.jfa.jp/youth_development/jfa_academy/fukushima/operation.html

External links

  • 2020 Nadeshiko League Division 1 at Soccerway.
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