J. League Cup

J. League Cup

Yamazaki Nabisco Cup
Founded	1992
Region	Japan
Number of teams	18
Current champions	Kashima Antlers
Most successful club	Kashima Antlers (4 titles)
Television broadcasters	Fuji TV
Website	http://www.j-league.or.jp/yncup/
2011 J. League Cup

J. League Cup is a Japanese football (soccer) competition organized by J. League. It is also known as Yamazaki Nabisco Cup or Nabisco Cup because confectionery/bakery company Yamazaki Nabisco (the Japanese Nabisco licensee) have sponsored the competition since its inception in 1992.

It is generally regarded as the Japanese equivalent to league cup competitions played in many countries such as the Football League Cup in England. Before the J. League Cup was created, the old Japan Soccer League had its own Japan Soccer League Cup since the 1976 season.

The tournament format varies almost each year largely depending on the schedule of international matches such as the Olympic games and World Cup games (see the "Format" section below). The 18 J. League Division 1 sides participated in the 2009 competition that was won by F.C. Tokyo.

Since 2007, the winners are qualified for the Suruga Bank Championship held in the following summer as well as the Pan-Pacific Championship held in the following February.

Format

Early years (1992-1998)

1992

The founding 10 clubs of the J. League participated as a warm-up to the upcoming inaugural league season. At the group stage, each team played the other teams once. There was no draw and the golden goal, extra time and penalty shootout were employed to decided a tie if necessary. A sudden death was applied to the penalty shoot-out from the first kicker. The winner of a game got four points. A team who scored two or more goals in a game also won one point. The top four teams of the group stage went on to the knock-out stage where the ties were single matches.

1993

Thirteen teams (the ten J. League sides as well as the three JFL sides who had J. League associate membership) took part. At the group stage, the teams were divided into two groups, one consisting seven and the other consisting six. Each team played the other teams in the same group once. The top two teams of each group were qualified for the knock-out stage where the ties were single matches.

1994

Fourteen teams (the twelve J. League sides as well as the two JFL sides who had J. League associate membership) took part. There was no group stage. The ties were single matches all through the competition.

1995

No competition

1996

The sixteen J. League sides participated. J. League associate member team did not take part due to the congested schedule. At the group stage, the teams were divided into two groups. Each team played the other teams in the same group twice (home and away). A tie was decided by the aggregate of two matches. The winner of a tie got three points and a draw earned one point. The top two teams of each group were qualified for the knock-out stage where the ties were single matches.

1997

Twenty teams (all the J. League clubs and the JFL clubs with J. League associate membership) participated. At the group stage, the teams were divided into five groups. Each team played the other teams in the same group once. A win earned three points, a draw earned one point. There was no extra time at this stage. The top team of each group as well as the three second-placed teams with the best records were qualified for the knock-out stage where the ties were played over two matches (home and away). Although Sagan Tosu had forfeited their associate membership because of the bankruptcy of their forerunner Tosu Futures, they were allowed to enter the competition as a special case.

1998

Twenty teams (all the J. League clubs and the JFL clubs with J. League associate membership) participated. At the group stage, the teams were divided into four groups. Each team played the other teams in the same group once. The top team of the each group was qualified for the knock-out stage where the ties were single matches.

As tournaments for J1 and J2 (1999-2001)

1999

All the twenty-six J1 and J2 clubs participated. There was no group stage. The ties were played over two matches (home and away) except the final where the winners were decided by a single game.

2000

All the twenty-seven J1 and J2 clubs participated. There was no group stage. The ties were played over two matches (home and away) except the final where the winners were decided by a single game.

2001

All the twenty-eight J1 and J2 clubs participated. There was no group stage. The ties were played over two matches (home and away) except the final where the winners were decided by a single game.

As tournaments for only J1 (2002-)

The 2008 Final

2002

All the sixteen J1 teams took part. At the group stage, the teams were divided into four groups. Each team played the other teams in the same group twice. The top two teams of the each group were qualified for the knock-out stage where the ties were single matches.

2003

All the sixteen J1 teams took part. Kashima Antlers and Shimizu S-Pulse were exempted from the group stage because they participated in the AFC Champions League. The remaining fourteen teams were divided into four groups, two groups containing four teams and the other two groups containing three. The top team of the each group and the second placed teams of the groups containing four teams as well as Kashima and Shimizu were qualified for the knock-out stage. The ties were played over two matches (home and away) except the final where the winners were decided by a single game.

2004

All the sixteen J1 teams took part. At the group stage, the teams were divided into four groups. Each team played the other teams in the same group twice. The top two teams of the each group were qualified for the knock-out stage where the ties were single matches.

2005

All the eighteen J1 teams took part. Yokohama F. Marinos and Jubilo Iwata were exempted from the group stage because they participated in the AFC Champions League. The remaining sixteen teams were divided into four groups. Each team played the other teams in the same group twice. The top team of the each group and the two second-placed teams with the best records as well as Marinos and Iwata were qualified for the knock-out stage. The ties were played over two matches (home and away) except the final where the winners were decided by a single game. From this year's competition, the golden goal rule was abolished and the extra time was always played for thirty minutes.

2006

All the eighteen J1 teams took part. Gamba Osaka were exempted from the group stage because they participated in the 2006 AFC Champions League. The remaining seventeen teams were divided into four groups, three of them containing four teams and the other containing five teams. Each team played the other teams in the same group twice but only one game was played between some pairs of teams in the group containing five teams. The top team of the each group and the three second placed teams with the best records as well as Gamba Osaka were qualified for the knock-out stage. The ties were played over two matches (home and away) except the final where the winners were decided by a single game. The away goal rule was employed for this year's competition but it was not applied to a goal in the extra time.

2007

The format of the 2007 competition was similar to that of 2006's, but the number of clubs participating from the group stage has been decreased to 16 due to two clubs', Kawasaki Frontale and Urawa Red Diamonds, participation in the 2007 AFC Champions League. See 2007 J. League Cup for details.

2008

The format of the 2008 competition was similar to that of 2007's. See 2008 J. League Cup for details.

2009

The format of the 2009 group stage was changed due to the number of clubs participating 2009 AFC Champions League increased from two to four. 14 remaining clubs were divided into two groups with seven clubs each, then two top clubs of each group were qualified for the knock-out stage. See 2009 J. League Cup for more details.

2010

The format of the 2010 competition was same as that of 2009's. See 2010 J. League Cup for details.

2011

Although the format of the 2011 competition is planned to be same as that of 2009's and 2010's, it was abandoned due to 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and replaced by a format without group stage (five knockout stages only). See 2011 J. League Cup for details.

Prizes

• Champions: J. League Cup, Yamazaki Nabisco Cup, Champion medals and 100 million yen
• Runners-up: J. League Shield, Runner-up medals and 50 million yen
• 3rd place (2 clubs): J. League Shield and 20 million yen for each 3rd placed club

Finals

Year	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Venue
1992	Verdy Kawasaki	1-0	Shimizu S-Pulse	National Olympic Stadium
1993	Verdy Kawasaki	2-1	Shimizu S-Pulse	National Olympic Stadium
1994	Verdy Kawasaki	2-0	Júbilo Iwata	Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium
1995	Not played
1996	Shimizu S-Pulse	3-3 (5-4)	Verdy Kawasaki	National Olympic Stadium
1997	Kashima Antlers	2-1 5-1 7-2 agg.	Júbilo Iwata	1st leg: Yamaha Stadium 2nd leg: Kashima Soccer Stadium
1998	Júbilo Iwata	4-0	JEF United Ichihara	National Olympic Stadium
1999	Kashiwa Reysol	2-2 (5-4)	Kashima Antlers	National Olympic Stadium
2000	Kashima Antlers	2-0	Kawasaki Frontale	National Olympic Stadium
2001	Yokohama F. Marinos	0-0 (3-1)	Júbilo Iwata	National Olympic Stadium
2002	Kashima Antlers	1-0	Urawa Red Diamonds	National Olympic Stadium
2003	Urawa Red Diamonds	4-0	Kashima Antlers	National Olympic Stadium
2004	F.C. Tokyo	0-0 (4-2)	Urawa Red Diamonds	National Olympic Stadium
2005	JEF United Chiba	0-0 (5-4)	Gamba Osaka	National Olympic Stadium
2006	JEF United Chiba	2-0	Kashima Antlers	National Olympic Stadium
2007	Gamba Osaka	1-0	Kawasaki Frontale	National Olympic Stadium
2008	Oita Trinita	2-0	Shimizu S-Pulse	National Olympic Stadium
2009	F.C. Tokyo	2-0	Kawasaki Frontale	National Olympic Stadium
2010	Júbilo Iwata	5-3(ET)	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	National Olympic Stadium
2011	Kashima Antlers	1-0(ET)	Urawa Red Diamonds	National Olympic Stadium

Performances by team

Club	Winners	Runners-Up	Winning Seasons	Runners-up Seasons
Kashima Antlers	4	3	1997, 2000, 2002, 2011	1999, 2003, 2006
Tokyo Verdy	3	1	1992, 1993, 1994	1996
Júbilo Iwata	2	3	1998, 2010	1994, 1997, 2001
JEF United Chiba	2	1	2005, 2006	1998
F.C. Tokyo	2	0	2004, 2009
Shimizu S-Pulse	1	3	1996	1992, 1993, 2008
Urawa Red Diamonds	1	3	2003	2002, 2004, 2011
Gamba Osaka	1	1	2007	2005
Kashiwa Reysol	1	0	1999
Yokohama F. Marinos	1	0	2001
Oita Trinita	1	0	2008
Kawasaki Frontale	0	3		2000, 2007, 2009
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	0	1		2010

MVP

Year	Winner	Club	Nation
1992	Kazuyoshi Miura	Verdy Kawasaki	Japan
1993	Bismarck	Verdy Kawasaki	Brazil
1994	Bismarck	Verdy Kawasaki	Brazil
1996	Santos	Shimizu S-Pulse	Brazil
1997	Jorginho	Kashima Antlers	Brazil
1998	Nobuo Kawaguchi	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
1999	Takeshi Watanabe	Kashiwa Reysol	Japan
2000	Koji Nakata	Kashima Antlers	Japan
2001	Tatsuya Enomoto	Yokohama F. Marinos	Japan
2002	Mitsuo Ogasawara	Kashima Antlers	Japan
2003	Tatsuya Tanaka	Urawa Red Diamonds	Japan
2004	Yoichi Doi	F.C. Tokyo	Japan
2005	Tomonori Tateishi	JEF United Chiba	Japan
2006	Koki Mizuno	JEF United Chiba	Japan
2007	Michihiro Yasuda	Gamba Osaka	Japan
2008	Daiki Takamatsu	Oita Trinita	Japan
2009	Takuji Yonemoto	F.C. Tokyo	Japan
2010	Ryoichi Maeda	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
2011	Yuya Osako	Kashima Antlers	Japan

New Hero Award

This award is presented to an under-23 player who made the biggest contribution to his team in the competition. The winner is decided based on votes from football journalists.

Year	Winner	Club
1996	Hiroshi Nanami	Júbilo Iwata
	Toshihide Saito	Shimizu S-Pulse
1997	Atsuhiro Miura	Yokohama Flügels
1998	Naohiro Takahara	Júbilo Iwata
1999	Yukihiko Sato	F.C. Tokyo
2000	Takayuki Suzuki	Kashima Antlers
2001	Hitoshi Sogahata	Kashima Antlers
2002	Keisuke Tsuboi	Urawa Red Diamonds
2003	Tatsuya Tanaka	Urawa Red Diamonds
2004	Makoto Hasebe	Urawa Red Diamonds
2005	Yuki Abe	JEF United Chiba
2006	Hiroyuki Taniguchi	Kawasaki Frontale
2007	Michihiro Yasuda	Gamba Osaka
2008	Mu Kanazaki	Oita Trinita
2009	Takuji Yonemoto	F.C. Tokyo
2010	Yojiro Takahagi	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
2011	Genki Haraguchi	Urawa Red Diamonds

See also