F.League Knowpia

F.League
Founded	2007; 12 years ago
Country	Japan
Confederation	AFC
Number of teams	12
Level on pyramid	1
Domestic cup(s)	All Japan Futsal Championship; F.League Ocean Cup
International cup(s)	AFC Futsal Club Championship
Current champions	Nagoya Oceans (15th title) ; (2022–23 season)
Most championships	Nagoya Oceans (15 titles)
Website	www.fleague.jp
	Current: 2022–23

The F. League (in Japanese: "F・リーグ", officially "日本フットサルリーグ", Nihon Futtosaru Rīgu) is the top league for Futsal in Japan. The winning team obtains the participation right to the AFC Futsal Club Championship.^[1]

History edit

The league was formed in 2007 as a complement for the elimination tournament, (the current Puma Cup) which groups regional futsal champions into a final elimination phase.^[2]

The league operates on the sports franchise system, with no promotion or relegation of clubs. The clubs are thus expansion teams. In 2009 the number of clubs was increased from 8 to 10 with the addition of Fuchu Athletic and Espolada Hokkaido.

In F. League play, the clubs battle each other three times: once at home, once away and once in a neutral venue (generally Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo). The season runs from August to February.

An elimination league cup, the Ocean Cup is played every season by the 12 F.League teams.

2022–23 season edit

Participating clubs edit

Division 1 edit

Team	City/Area	Ground	Founded
Bardral Urayasu	Urayasu, Chiba	Urayasu General Gymnasium	1998
Boaluz Nagano	Nagano, Nagano	White Ring	2018
Borkbullet Kitakyushu	Kitakyushu, Fukuoka	Kitakyushu City General Gymnasium	2018
Espolada Hokkaido	Sapporo, Hokkaido	Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center	2008
Fugador Sumida	Sumida, Tokyo	Sumida City Gymnasium	2001
Nagoya Oceans	Nagoya, Aichi	Takeda Teva Ocean Arena	2006
Pescadola Machida	Machida, Tokyo	Machida Municipal General Gymnasium	1999
Shonan Bellmare	Hiratsuka, Kanagawa	Odawara Arena	2007
Shriker Osaka	Osaka, Osaka	Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium	2002
Tachikawa Athletic	Fuchū, Tokyo	Fuchu Sports Center	2000
Vasagey Oita	Oita, Oita	Oozu Sports Park	2003
YSCC Yokohama	Yokohama, Kanagawa	Yokohama City Hiranuma Memorial Gymnasium	2018

Division 2 edit

Team	City/Area	Ground	Founded
Agleymina Hamamatsu	Hamamatsu, Shizuoka	Hamamatsu Arena	1996
Deução Kobe	Kobe, Hyogo	Kobe Green Arena	2007
Hiroshima F DO	Hiroshima, Hiroshima	Hiroshima City Asakita-ku Sports Center	2018
Ligarevia Katsushika	Katsushika, Tokyo	Katsushika Ward Mizumoto Comprehensive Sports Center Gymnasium	2022
Malva Mito	Mito, Ibaraki	Adastria Mito Arena	1996
Porseid Hamada	Hamada, Shimane	Shimane Prefectural Gymnasium	2018
Shinagawa City Futsal Club	Shinagawa, Tokyo	Shinagawa Municipal General Gymnasium	2018
Vincedor Hakusan	Hakusan, Ishikawa	Matto General Sports Park Gymnasium	2018
Voscuore Sendai	Sendai, Miyagi	Sendai Gymnasium	2012

Withdrawing clubs edit

Team	City/Area	Ground	Founded	Withdraw
F.League selection	Nagoya, Aichi	Takeda Teva Ocean Arena	2018	2019–20
Stellamigo Iwate Hanamaki	Hanamaki, Iwate	Hanamaki Gymnasium Center	2007	2011–12

Statistics edit

Champions edit

Seasons	Winner	Runner-up	Third place
2007–08	Nagoya Oceans	Bardral Urayasu	Deução Kobe
2008–09	Nagoya Oceans	Bardral Urayasu	Deução Kobe
2009–10	Nagoya Oceans	Pescadola Machida	Shriker Osaka
2010–11	Nagoya Oceans	Deução Kobe	Vasagey Oita
2011–12	Nagoya Oceans	Shriker Osaka	Deução Kobe
2012–13	Nagoya Oceans	Shriker Osaka	Fuchu Athletic
2013–14	Nagoya Oceans	Shriker Osaka	Vasagey Oita
2014–15	Nagoya Oceans	Shriker Osaka	Bardral Urayasu
2015–16	Nagoya Oceans	Fuchu Athletic	Shriker Osaka
2016–17	Shriker Osaka	Pescadola Machida	Nagoya Oceans
2017–18	Nagoya Oceans	Pescadola Machida	Shonan Bellmare
2018–19	Nagoya Oceans	Shriker Osaka	Tachikawa Fuchu Athletic
2019–20	Nagoya Oceans	Vasagey Oita	Pescadola Machida
2020–21	Nagoya Oceans	Vasagey Oita	Pescadola Machida
2021–22	Nagoya Oceans	Shonan Bellmare	Pescadola Machida
2022–23	Nagoya Oceans	Tachikawa Athletic	Bardral Urayasu

Most Valuable Player (MVP) edit

Seasons	Player
2007–08	Kaoru Morioka (Nagoya Oceans)
2008–09	Wataru Kitahara (Nagoya Oceans)
2009–10	Higor Pires (Shriker Osaka)
2010–11	Ricardinho (Nagoya Oceans)
2011–12	Kaoru Morioka (Nagoya Oceans)
2012–13	Ricardinho (Nagoya Oceans)
2013–14	Kaoru Morioka (Nagoya Oceans)
2014–15	Kaoru Morioka (Nagoya Oceans)
2015–16	Vinicius Crepaldi (Shriker Osaka)
2016–17	Nobuya Osodo (Shriker Osaka)
2017–18	Rafa (Nagoya Oceans)
2018–19	Tomoki Yoshikawa (Nagoya Oceans)
2019–20	Pepita (Nagoya Oceans)
2020–21	Pepita (Nagoya Oceans)
2021–22	Rodrigo (Shonan Bellmare)
2022–23	Andresito (Nagoya Oceans)

References edit

^ ARITA, KENICHI (18 May 2012). "F.League hopes World Cup will boost sport's popularity". asahi.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
^ "Futsal league ready for the off". fifa.com. 20 September 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2013.^{[dead link]}