| Season | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 13 March – 5 December |
| Champions | Roasso Kumamoto (1st title) |
| Promoted | Roasso Kumamoto Iwate Grulla Morioka |
| Relegated | No relegation |
| Matches | 210 |
| Goals | 533 (2.54 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Shota Kawanishi,FC Gifu (13 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Azul Claro Numazu vVanraure Hachinohe 7-2 |
| Highest scoring | Gainare Tottori vNagano Parceiro 1-8 Azul Claro Numazu vVanraure Hachinohe 7-2 |
| Longest winning run | Roasso Kumamoto 7 (28/08/21 - 16/10/2021) |
| Longest unbeaten run | Roasso Kumamoto 12 (13/06/21 - 24/10/2021) |
| Highest attendance | 11,314 Roasso Kumamoto 2–0FC Gifu (5 December 2021) |
| Lowest attendance | 264 Fukushima United FC 2–1Iwate Grulla Morioka (26 May 2021) |
| Total attendance | 401,776 |
| Average attendance | 1,913 |
←2020 2022 → All statistics correct as of complete. | |
The2021 J3 League, referred to as the2021Meiji Yasuda J3 League (Japanese:2021 明治安田生命J3リーグ,Hepburn:2021 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J3 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 8th season ofJ3 League under its current name.
Roasso Kumamoto won the J3 title for the first time in their history, in their debut campaign at the J3 League, just three years after being relegation from the J2 League. They were promoted to the2022 J2 League alongsideIwate Grulla Morioka. Iwate team won promotion for theJ2 League for the first time.
There were no relegations fromJ2 League in 2020 and the number of teams decreased for 2021.
This is first season without three U-23 teams from J1 in 2021 season. Four teams from J2 League automatically relegation for 2021 and two teams from J3 League automatically promotion. J3 League has been scheduled for a expansion to 18 clubs before the 2022 season. This is the last season played with 15 teams.
| Promoted from2020 JFL | Promoted to2021 J2 League | Withdrawn / Disbanded |
|---|---|---|
| Tegevajaro Miyazaki | Blaublitz Akita SC Sagamihara | Cerezo Osaka U-23 Gamba Osaka U-23 FC Tokyo U-23 |
2020 was also the last season where U-23 teams played in the professional setup. After two separate stints involving youth clubs in this division. First it was theJ.League U-22 Selection in 2014 and 2015, and then three U-23 teams were involved from 2016 to 2020.FC Tokyo U-23 pulled out of the competition prior to the start of the 2020 season.Cerezo Osaka U-23 andGamba Osaka U-23 were disbanded at the end of 2020 after completing the full season.[1]
Blaublitz Akita andSC Sagamihara were promoted to J2 League, the later being the last club from the original clubs which started the maiden season in2014 to be promoted from the third division.
One new team was promoted to the professional ranks of Japanese football,Tegevajaro Miyazaki, as runners-up in the2020 JFL season and were promoted.[2]
| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Exit date | Position in table | Incoming | Incoming date | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Announced on | Departed on | Announced on | Arrived on | ||||||
| Kamatamare Sanuki | Resigns | 31 March 2021 | 31 March 2021 | 15th | 1 April 2021 | 1 April 2021 | [10] | ||
| Kamatamare Sanuki | End of Interim period | 11 April 2021 | 11 April 2021 | 15th | 12 April 2021 | 12 April 2021 | [11] | ||
| Gainare Tottori | Dismissed | 6 May 2021 | 4 May 2021 | 12th | 10 May 2021 | 10 May 2021 | [12][13] | ||
| FC Imabari | Dismissed | 19 May 2021 | 18 May 2021 | 13th | 19 May 2021 | 19 May 2021 | [14] | ||
| FC Imabari | End of Interim period | 23 May 2021 | 23 May 2021 | 13th | 24 May 2021 | 24 May 2021 | [15] | ||
| Kagoshima United | Resigned | 28 May 2021 | 28 May 2021 | 9th | 28 May 2021 | 28 May 2021 | [16] | ||
| Fujieda MYFC | Resigned | 12 July 2021 | 12 July 2021 | 12th | 12 July 2021 | 12 July 2021 | [17] | ||
| FC Imabari | Resigned | 29 September 2021 | 29 September 2021 | 12th | 29 September 2021 | 29 September 2021 | [18][19] | ||
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roasso Kumamoto(C, P) | 28 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 39 | 20 | +19 | 54 | Promotion toJ2 League[a] |
| 2 | Iwate Grulla Morioka(P) | 28 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 43 | 28 | +15 | 53 | |
| 3 | Tegevajaro Miyazaki[b] | 28 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 44 | 31 | +13 | 53 | |
| 4 | Kataller Toyama | 28 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 40 | 34 | +6 | 46 | |
| 5 | Fukushima United[b] | 28 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 41 | 32 | +9 | 45[c] | |
| 6 | FC Gifu | 28 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 38 | 35 | +3 | 41 | |
| 7 | Kagoshima United | 28 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 34 | 35 | −1 | 40 | |
| 8 | YSCC Yokohama | 28 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 31 | 33 | −2 | 40 | |
| 9 | Nagano Parceiro | 28 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 35 | 28 | +7 | 36 | |
| 10 | Fujieda MYFC | 28 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 42 | 42 | 0 | 32 | |
| 11 | FC Imabari[b] | 28 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 34 | 33 | +1 | 30 | |
| 12 | Gainare Tottori | 28 | 9 | 2 | 17 | 36 | 53 | −17 | 29 | |
| 13 | Vanraure Hachinohe | 28 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 24 | 44 | −20 | 29[c] | |
| 14 | Azul Claro Numazu[b] | 28 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 32 | 44 | −12 | 27 | |
| 15 | Kamatamare Sanuki | 28 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 20 | 41 | −21 | 21 |
Primary venues used in the J3 League:
| Vanraure Hachinohe | Iwate Grulla Morioka | Fukushima United FC | YSCC Yokohama | Nagano Parceiro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prifoods Stadium | Iwagin Stadium | Toho Stadium | Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium | Nagano U Stadium | |
| Capacity:5,124 | Capacity:5,046 | Capacity:6,464 | Capacity:15,440 | Capacity:15,515 | |
| Kataller Toyama | Fujieda MYFC | Azul Claro Numazu | FC Gifu | Gainare Tottori | |
| Toyama Stadium | Fujieda Soccer Stadium | Ashitaka Park Stadium | Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium | Axis Bird Stadium | |
| Capacity:18,588 | Capacity:5,056 | Capacity:5,104 | Capacity:16,310 | Capacity:11,999 | |
| Kamatamare Sanuki | FC Imabari | Roasso Kumamoto | Tegevajaro Miyazaki | Kagoshima United FC | |
| Pikara Stadium | Arigato Service Dream Stadium | Egao Kenko Stadium | Unilever Stadium Shintomi | Shiranami Stadium | |
| Capacity:22,338 | Capacity:5,063 | Capacity:30,449 | Capacity:5,354 | Capacity:12,606 | |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nagano Parceiro | Gainare Tottori | 1–8 (A)[23] | 13 June 2021 |
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