| Season | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 14 March – 5 December |
| Champions | Iwaki FC |
| Promoted | Iwaki FC |
| Relegated | FC Kariya |
| Matches | 272 |
| Goals | 694 (2.55 per match) |
←2020 2022 → | |
The2021Japan Football League (Japanese:第23回日本フットボールリーグ[第23回 JFL 2021],Hepburn:Dai Nijūsankai Nihon Futtobōru Rīgu [Dai Nijūsankai JFL 2021]) was the eighth season of the nationwide fourth tier ofJapanesefootball, and the 23rd season since the establishment of Japan Football League.
For the first time since2012, 17 clubs have taken part in the JFL season. Last year no relegations were in place in J3, the league had the intent of seeing two more teams joining from the start, but onlyTegevajaro Miyazaki got promoted with one game to play and joined J3 for the2021 season.[1][2] That’s becauseVerspah Oita, who won the JFL for the first time in their history,[3] were not promoted as they did not hold a J3 license, whileSony Sendai andHonda FC, who finished 3rd and 4th respectively, also didn’t hold a J3 license.
FC Tiamo Hirakata andFC Kariya won promotion to the JFL by qualifying in the top two spots of the 44th Regional Pro Series.[2] For the Hirataka-based side it was the first time in JFL, but Kariya are back after a twelve-year long hiatus.
There are six teams eligible for promotion with J3 licenses; these are highlighted in green in the following table.
| Club | Manager | Kit manufacturer |
|---|---|---|
| Honda FC |  Hiroyuki Abe |  Umbro |
| Honda Lock SC | Yosuke Miyaji[4] |  Kappa |
| Iwaki FC | Yuzo Tamura |  Under Armour |
| FC Kariya | Kazuhiro Murata | bonera |
| Kochi United SC | Akihiro Nishimura | bonera |
| Maruyasu Okazaki | Hiroyasu Ibata |  ATHLETA |
| Matsue City FC | Noriaki Sanenobu | soccer junky |
| MIO Biwako Shiga | Hiroshi Otsuki | JOGARBOLA |
| Nara Club |  Julián Marín Bazalo | SQUADRA |
| F.C. Osaka | Shinya Tsukahara | bonera |
| ReinMeer Aomori | Ryo Adachi | Umbro |
| Sony Sendai FC | Gen Nakamura | Umbro |
| Suzuka Point Getters | Yasutoshi Miura | ATHLETA |
| FC Tiamo Hirakata | Yoshizumi Ogawa | JOGARBOLA |
| Tokyo Musashino United FC | Hisayuki Ikegami | Yonex |
| Veertien Mie | Yoshihiko Yamamoto | Lwond |
| Verspah Oita | Takashi Yamahashi | YASUDA |
| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Exit date | Position in table | Incoming | Incoming date | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Announced on | Departed on | Announced on | Arrived on | ||||||
| Veertien Mie | Nobuhiro Ueno | Sacked | 21 June 2021 | 21 June 2021 | 12th | Yoshihiko Yamamoto | 22 June 2021 | 22 June 2021 | [5] |
| Suzuka Point Getters | Mila Martínez | Mutual consent | 5 July 2021 | 5 July 2021 | 14th | Tsukasa Ozawa (interim) | 5 July 2021 | 5 July 2021 | [6] |
| Suzuka Point Getters | Tsukasa Ozawa (interim) | Interim completed | 15 July 2021 | 15 July 2021 | 11th | Yasutoshi Miura | 15 July 2021 | 15 July 2021 | [7] |
| FC Kariya | Koji Kadota (interim) | Sacked | 16 July 2021 | 16 July 2021 | 17th | Ryo Iizuka | 16 July 2021 | 16 July 2021 | [8] |
| Maruyasu Okazaki | Ryuji Kitamura | Appointed technical director | 20 July 2021 | 31 July 2021 | 11th | Hiroyasu Ibata | 27 July 2021 | 1 August 2021 | [9] |
| FC Kariya | Ryo Iizuka (interim) | Interim completed | 2 August 2021 | 2 August 2021 | 17th | Kazuhiro Murata | 2 August 2021 | 2 August 2021 | [10] |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iwaki FC[a](C, P) | 32 | 21 | 8 | 3 | 65 | 28 | +37 | 71 | Promotion toJ3 League[b] |
| 2 | Honda FC | 32 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 69 | 25 | +44 | 67 | |
| 3 | Verspah Oita[a] | 32 | 19 | 5 | 8 | 46 | 24 | +22 | 62 | |
| 4 | Suzuka Point Getters[a] | 32 | 15 | 5 | 12 | 51 | 46 | +5 | 50 | |
| 5 | Matsue City | 32 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 38 | 37 | +1 | 50 | |
| 6 | Sony Sendai | 32 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 52 | 39 | +13 | 48 | |
| 7 | F.C. Osaka[a] | 32 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 37 | 35 | +2 | 48 | |
| 8 | Tiamo Hirakata | 32 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 58 | 57 | +1 | 48 | |
| 9 | ReinMeer Aomori[a] | 32 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 41 | 49 | −8 | 45 | |
| 10 | Nara Club[a] | 32 | 10 | 13 | 9 | 39 | 36 | +3 | 43 | |
| 11 | Veertien Mie[a] | 32 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 40 | 43 | −3 | 40 | |
| 12 | MIO Biwako Shiga[a] | 32 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 35 | 48 | −13 | 37 | |
| 13 | Kochi United | 32 | 9 | 6 | 17 | 30 | 49 | −19 | 33 | |
| 14 | Maruyasu Okazaki | 32 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 27 | 46 | −19 | 33 | |
| 15 | Tokyo Musashino United | 32 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 38 | 53 | −15 | 32 | |
| 16 | Honda Lock(O) | 32 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 48 | −22 | 27 | Qualification forrelegation play-offs[c] |
| 17 | FC Kariya(R) | 32 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 26 | 55 | −29 | 18 |
2021 JFL·Regional Leagues Playoffs (Japanese:2021年度JFL·地域リーグ入れ替え戦)
| Honda Lock (2021 JFL 16th) | 3 – 2 | FC Ise-Shima (2021 Japan Regional Football Champions League runners-up) |
|---|---|---|
| Arashi Tamaki (8 minutes); Tomoki Mera (11 minutes); Ken Takahashi (20 minutes) | JFL Official | Miki Uematsu (84 minutes); Elichi Nakata (87 minutes) |
Honda Lock remains in the JFL; FC Ise-Shima remains in theTōkai Adult Soccer League Division 1.
| FC Kariya (2021 JFL 17th) | 0 – 4 | Criacao Shinjuku (2021 Japan Regional Football Champions League winners) |
|---|---|---|
| JFL Official |
FC Kariya was relegated to the Tōkai Adult Soccer League Division 1; Criacao Shinjuku was promoted to the JFL.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yuki Okazaki | Honda FC | 16 |
| 2 | Motoki Fujiwara | Sony Sendai FC | 12 |
| Reon Kodama | Honda FC | ||
| Ryo Sato | FC Tiamo Hirakata | ||
| Kohei Matsumoto | FC Tiamo Hirakata | ||
| 6 | Daigo Furukawa | Iwaki FC | 11 |
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