Japan Soccer League (JSL)

Founded	1965
Folded	1992
Replaced by	J.League
Country	Japan
Confederation	AFC
Divisions	1 (1965–1971) 2 (1972–1992)
Number of clubs	12
Level on pyramid	1 (1965–1971) 1–2 (1972–1992)
Relegation to	Regional Leagues
Domestic cup(s)	Emperor's Cup JSL Cup
International cup(s)	Asian Club Championship Asian Cup Winners' Cup
Last champions	Yomiuri (1991–92)
Most championships	Mazda Yomiuri (5 titles each)

Japan Soccer League (日本サッカーリーグ,Nihon Sakkā Rīgu);JSL) was the top flightassociation football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, theJ.League.JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professionalJapanese Baseball League that was founded in 1936. JSL was the first-ever national league of an amateur team sport in Japan.

Each JSL team represented a corporation, and likeJapanese baseball teams, went by the name of the company that owned the team. Unlike in baseball, however,promotion and relegation was followed, as J.League follows today. The players were officially amateur and were employees of the parent corporations, but especially in later years, top players were generally paid strictly to play soccer.

Originally, the JSL consisted of a single division, but in 1972 a Second Division was added. Clubs could join in by winning theAll Japan Senior Football Championship cup competition and then winning a promotion/relegation series against the bottom teams in the JSL. From 1973 to 1980, both the champions and runners-up of the Second Division had to play the promotion/relegation series against the First Division's bottom clubs; afterwards and until 1984, only the runners-up had to play the series.

Top JSL teams includedHitachi,Furukawa Electric,Mitsubishi Heavy Industries,Nissan, Toyo Industries (Mazda) andYomiuri Shimbun, which are now, respectively,Kashiwa Reysol,JEF United Chiba,Urawa Red Diamonds,Yokohama F. Marinos,Sanfrecce Hiroshima andTokyo Verdy. Furukawa/JEF United was the only one never to be relegated to the Second Division and kept this distinction until 2009.

JSL played its final season in 1991/92 and the J.League began play in 1993. Top nine JSL clubs, (along with the independentShimizu S-Pulse) became the original J.League members. The others except Yomiuri Junior who merged with their parent clubYomiuri Club joined the newly formedJapan Football League.

All clubs are listed under the names they were using in 1991–92, when the league ceased to exist. Clubs initalic no longer exist.

All clubs are listed under the names they were using in 1991–92, when the league ceased to exist. Clubs initalic no longer exist.

SeeJSL Cup.

SeeKonica Cup (football).

CurrentJ.League identity (inbold if competing in any J. League division) and/or standing in theJapanese football league system follows each name.

• Furukawa Electric (1965–1992), becameJEF United Chiba
• Hitachi SC (1965–1992), becameKashiwa Reysol
• Mitsubishi Motors (1965–1992), becameUrawa Red Diamonds
• Toyota Industries (1965–1968, 1972–1973), becameToyota Industries SC
• Nagoya Mutual Bank (1965–1966, 1968–1971), becameNagoya WEST FC
• Yanmar Diesel (1965–1992), becameCerezo Osaka
• Toyo Industries / Mazda (1965–1992), becameSanfrecce Hiroshima
• Yawata Steel / Nippon Steel (1965–1991), becameNippon Steel Yawata SC,defunct

In order of their promotion to the top-flight:

• Nippon Kokan (Nippon Steel Piping) /NKK SC (1967–1992),defunct
• Towa Real Estate / Fujita Industry / Fujita (1972–1992), becameShonan Bellmare
• Toyota Motor (1972–1992), becameNagoya Grampus
• Tanabe Pharmaceutical (1972–1992), becameTanabe Mitsubishi Pharma SC,defunct
• Eidai Industries (1972–1977), becameEidai SC,defunct
• Fujitsu SC (1972–1992), becameKawasaki Frontale
• Yomiuri FC (1972–1992), becameTokyo Verdy
• Nissan Motor (1976–1992), becameYokohama F. Marinos
• Yamaha Motor (1979–1992), becameJúbilo Iwata
• Honda (1975–1992), becameHonda FC
• Sumitomo Metal (1973–1992), becameKashima Antlers
• Yokohama Tristar / All Nippon Airways SC (1983–1992), becameYokohama Flügels,defunct
• Matsushita Electric (1984–1992), becameGamba Osaka
• Toshiba (1978–1992), becameHokkaido Consadole Sapporo

Many of these clubs would only be promoted to the top-flight after the J.League was created.

• Kofu Club (1972–1992), becameVentforet Kofu
• Kyoto Shiko Club (1972–1978, 1988–1992), becameKyoto Sanga. Note that phoenix Kyoto Shiko Club was formed in 1993 and now competes in theKansai Soccer League.
• Kawasaki Steel (1986–1992), becameVissel Kobe
• NTT Kanto (1987–1992), becameOmiya Ardija
• Otsuka Pharmaceutical (1990–1992), becameTokushima Vortis
• Tokyo Gas (1992), becameFC Tokyo
• Chūō Bohan (Central Crime Prevention, 1992), becameAvispa Fukuoka
• TDK SC (1985–1987), becameBlaublitz Akita

A total of 22 teams played in the JSL First Division between1965 and1991–92. Fifteen of these became professionalJ.League clubs; the rest were relegated to the regional leagues and/or folded.

DespiteMazda andYomiuri's record five titles,Mitsubishi holds the record on points.Furukawa Electric holds the record for most seasons, all 27 the JSL played, never been relegated.

Name changes made outside First Division play and following the advent of theJ.League system are not mentioned; see individual club pages for more information. All statistics are within JSL First Division play except for "Current division" and "Tier", which denote standing in theJapanese league system as of2023 season.

In this ranking, three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and zero for a loss, regardless of the transition of regulation through the time as follows:

• 1965–1976, 1980 to 1987–88: 2 points for a win, 1 per draw, 0 per loss.
• 1977–1979: 4 points for a regulation time win, 2 for winning penalty shoot-out after a draw, 1 for a penalty shoot-out loss, 0 for a regulation time loss.
• 1988–89 to 1991–92: 3 points for a win, 1 per draw, 0 per loss.

• Category:Japan Soccer League players
• Category:Japan Soccer League seasons

• Final tables from 1965 on (First Division only) at rsssf.com
• Soccerphile: History of Japanese football
• BBC Sport: "How football went Japanese"
• Contents of Domestic Competition of Football in Japan
• JSL Ganbare!Archived 2020-08-18 at theWayback Machine

• Japan Soccer League
• Defunct football leagues in Japan
• Sports leagues established in 1965
• Organizations disestablished in 1992
• Defunct top-level football leagues in Asia

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Japanese-language text
• Webarchive template wayback links