Season 2016 Goals scored 592 | Champions Oita Trinita Dates 13 Mar 2016 – 20 Nov 2016 Location Japan Matches played 240 | |
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Highest attendance 11,065Oita vs Yokohama(13 November) People also search for 2016 J1 League, 2015 J3 League | ||
The 2016 Meiji Yasuda J3 League is the 20th season of the third tier in Japanese football, and the 3rd season of the professional J3 League.
Contents
Clubs
To participate, a club must have held an associate membership, or have submitted an application before 30 June 2015, and then passed an inspection to obtain a participation license issued by the J.League Council. The J.League has confirmed the following clubs participating in the 2016 J3 season:
Competition rules
For this season, the league is played in two rounds (home-and-away), each team playing a total of 30 matches.
Each team must have at least 3 players holding professional contracts. Also for this season, three foreign players are allowed per team, plus 1 more from the ASEAN partner country of J.League or from other AFC countries. The matchday roster will consist of 18 players, and up to 3 substitutes will be allowed in a game. The three under-23 clubs can have up to three overage players and one of them must be a goalkeeper.
Promotion and relegation
Rules for promotion to J2 are largely similar to those of the Japan Football League in recent seasons: to be promoted, a club must hold a J2 license and finish in top 2 of the league. The champions will be promoted directly, in exchange with the 22nd placed J2 club, and the runners-up will participate in the playoffs with the 21st placed J2 club. If either or both top 2 finishers are ineligible for promotion, the playoffs and/or direct exchange will not be held in accordance with the exact positions of promotion-eligible clubs. Also, if an under-23 squad finishes in either one of the top 2 or both positions, the next-placed, promotion-eligible club takes automatic promotion to J2. Another next-placed eligible club will contest the playoff if any under-23 club occupies third to fourth place or both and the J3 champion is eligible for promotion.
No relegation to the JFL is planned. Up to 2 clubs may be promoted if they are licensed by the J.League for J3 participation and finish within the top 4 of the JFL.
Results
Updated to games played on 20 November 2016.
Source: J. League Data Site
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Top scorers
Updated to games played on 20 November 2016
Source: J.League Data
Attendances
Updated to games played on 20 November 2016
Source: J. League Data
Notes:
† from J2, ‡ from JFL