| Season | 2008 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1stJ2 title 1stD2 title |
| Promoted | Sanfrecce Hiroshima Montedio Yamagata |
| Matches | 315 |
| Goals | 851 (2.7 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Hisato Satō (28 goals total) |
| Highest attendance | 36,945 (Round 24, Yokohama vs.Thespa) |
| Lowest attendance | 1,036 (Round 17, HollyHock vs.Vortis) |
| Average attendance | 7,072 |
←2007 2009 → | |
The2008 J. League Division 2 season was the 37th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 10th season since the establishment ofJ2 League. The season started on March 8 and ended on December 6.
In this season, the number of participating clubs was increased by two, making the total number, fifteen. Unlike the first nine seasons, the clubs played in triple round-robin format, instead of quadruple round-robin format. At the end of the season, top two clubs were promoted and third-placed club advanced to thePro/Rele Series. There were no relegation to third-tierJapan Football League.
Following fifteen clubs played in J. League Division 2 during 2008 season. Of these clubs, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Ventforet Kofu, and Yokohama F.C. relegated from Division 1 last year. Also, Roasso Kumamoto and F.C. Gifu newly joined fromJapan Football League.





Fifteen clubs will play in triple round-robin format, a total of 42 games each. A club receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order:
A draw would be conducted, if necessary. However, if two clubs are tied at the first place, both clubs will be declared as the champions. The top two clubs will be promoted to J1, while the 3rd placed club plays a two-leggedPromotion/relegation series.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima(C, P) | 42 | 31 | 7 | 4 | 99 | 35 | +64 | 100 | Promotion to2009 J. League Division 1 |
| 2 | Montedio Yamagata(P) | 42 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 66 | 40 | +26 | 78 | |
| 3 | Vegalta Sendai | 42 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 62 | 47 | +15 | 70 | 2008 promotion/relegation Series |
| 4 | Cerezo Osaka | 42 | 21 | 6 | 15 | 81 | 60 | +21 | 69 | |
| 5 | Shonan Bellmare | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 68 | 48 | +20 | 65 | |
| 6 | Sagan Tosu | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 50 | 51 | −1 | 64 | |
| 7 | Ventforet Kofu | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 56 | 47 | +9 | 59 | |
| 8 | Avispa Fukuoka | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 55 | 66 | −11 | 58 | |
| 9 | Thespa Kusatsu | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 45 | 52 | −7 | 53 | |
| 10 | Yokohama FC | 42 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 51 | 56 | −5 | 50 | |
| 11 | Mito HollyHock | 42 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 52 | 70 | −18 | 47 | |
| 12 | Roasso Kumamoto | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 46 | 72 | −26 | 43 | |
| 13 | FC Gifu | 42 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 41 | 69 | −28 | 42 | |
| 14 | Ehime FC | 42 | 9 | 10 | 23 | 39 | 66 | −27 | 37 | |
| 15 | Tokushima Vortis | 42 | 7 | 8 | 27 | 40 | 72 | −32 | 29 |
| Home \ Away | SFR | MON | VEG | CER | BEL | SAG | VEN | AVI | SPA | YFC | HOL | ROS | GIF | EHI | VOR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 5–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | |
| Montedio Yamagata | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–5 | 3–0 | 2–0 | |
| Vegalta Sendai | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | |
| Cerezo Osaka | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | |
| Shonan Bellmare | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 4–1 | 2–3 | |
| Sagan Tosu | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | |
| Ventforet Kofu | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
| Avispa Fukuoka | 0–3 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 2–0 | 2–1 | |
| Thespa Kusatsu | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | |
| Yokohama FC | 1–2 | 2–5 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | |
| Mito HollyHock | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | |
| Roasso Kumamoto | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | |
| FC Gifu | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | |
| Ehime FC | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | |
| Tokushima Vortis | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 |
| Home \ Away | SFR | MON | VEG | CER | BEL | SAG | VEN | AVI | SPA | YFC | HOL | ROS | GIF | EHI | VOR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 2–0 | 5–1 | 4–0 | 4–3 | 7–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | ||||||||
| Montedio Yamagata | 0–4 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | ||||||||
| Vegalta Sendai | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | ||||||||
| Cerezo Osaka | 2–3 | 2–2 | 3–4 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | ||||||||
| Shonan Bellmare | 1–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | ||||||||
| Sagan Tosu | 4–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | ||||||||
| Ventforet Kofu | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 4–0 | ||||||||
| Avispa Fukuoka | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | ||||||||
| Thespa Kusatsu | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | ||||||||
| Yokohama FC | 1–1 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | ||||||||
| Mito HollyHock | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–4 | 2–0 | ||||||||
| Roasso Kumamoto | 1–2 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | ||||||||
| FC Gifu | 1–2 | 0–6 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | ||||||||
| Ehime FC | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | ||||||||
| Tokushima Vortis | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 5–0 |
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vegalta Sendai | 295,679 | 23,745 | 10,317 | 14,080 | −4.1%† |
| 2 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 227,631 | 19,349 | 4,622 | 10,840 | −5.1%† |
| 3 | Cerezo Osaka | 221,629 | 21,200 | 5,554 | 10,554 | +59.3%† |
| 4 | Ventforet Kofu | 217,428 | 14,521 | 7,267 | 10,354 | −24.6%† |
| 5 | Avispa Fukuoka | 211,651 | 15,158 | 5,729 | 10,079 | +5.8%† |
| 6 | Sagan Tosu | 152,486 | 21,029 | 3,869 | 7,261 | +18.8%† |
| 7 | Yokohama FC | 142,655 | 36,945 | 2,536 | 6,793 | −51.6%† |
| 8 | Montedio Yamagata | 131,725 | 15,422 | 2,479 | 6,273 | +47.8%† |
| 9 | Shonan Bellmare | 125,865 | 11,660 | 3,543 | 5,994 | +28.2%† |
| 10 | Roasso Kumamoto | 110,860 | 20,635 | 2,026 | 5,279 | +47.9%‡ |
| 11 | Thespa Kusatsu | 88,510 | 8,096 | 1,819 | 4,215 | +10.7%† |
| 12 | Tokushima Vortis | 81,093 | 11,897 | 2,146 | 3,862 | +17.4%† |
| 13 | FC Gifu | 78,650 | 8,374 | 2,028 | 3,745 | +6.1%‡ |
| 14 | Ehime FC | 77,775 | 7,809 | 2,088 | 3,704 | +11.7%† |
| 15 | Mito HollyHock | 63,933 | 5,573 | 1,036 | 3,044 | +26.0%† |
| League total | 2,227,570 | 36,945 | 1,036 | 7,072 | +8.4%† |
Updated to games played on December 6, 2008
Source:J. League Division 2
Notes:
† Team played previous season in J1.
‡ Team played previous season in JFL.