
All your Japanese team buses are here.
Mito HollyHock visit Ehime. After sitting atop the table in week four Mito have drifted to a more familiar 17th place. Ehime are 21st, in the relegation zone. There are 22 teams in J2, and the bottom two will be relegated. At the moment both relegation spots are occupied by teams from Shikoku: Ehime and Kamatamare Sanuki. Last season there was only one relegation spot at the bottom of J2. The increase to two this year can be taken as a sign that J3 is now regarded as a quality league. [Ehime 0 - 1 Mito.]
Shikoku is a modestly-sized region of just four prefectures. The island separates the Pacific Ocean from the Inland Sea. How do you get to Shikoku by bus? There are bridges at Naruto, Utazu and Imabari.
What teams come from Shikoku, and what divisions are they in?
J1 none
J2 Ehime FC, Kamatamare Sanuki, Tokushima Vortis
J3 none
JFL FC Imabari
Shikoku Adult League: Kōchi United SC, Kōchi University FC, Tadotsu FC, FC Tokushima Celeste, R.Velho Takamatsu, Llamas Kōchi FC, Niisho Club, Koyo Sealing Techno SC
Which teams play in Kyushu?
J1 Sagan Tosu
J2 Avispa Fukuoka, Oita Trinita, Roasso Kumamoto, V-Varen Nagasaki
J3 Kagoshima United, Giravanz Kitakyushu
JFL Honda Lock, Verspah Oita, Tegevagaro Miyazaki
Kyushu Soccer League: J.FC Miyazaki, Kaiho Bank SC, Kyushu Mitsubishi Motors SC, Nippon Steel Oita, National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya SC, FC Nakatsu, Kumamoto Teacher Kickoff Foundation, Kawabe Club, Saga Lixil FC, Okinawa SV
Kyushu is the southernmost of the four big Japanese islands. Teams from Ryukyu get rolled into this league.
This is the 20th season of the J2 league. Which teams have spent the most years in it?
19 Mito HollyHock
17 Yokohama FC
16 Montedio Yamagata
14 Consadole Sapporo
14 Shonen Bellmare
14 Avispa Fukuoka
13 Sagan Tosu
13 Tokushima Vortis
13 Thespakusatsu Gunma
13 Ehima FC
Which teams are in J2 this year, when did they last join, and did they come from above or below?
2018 Albirex Niigata (above)
2018 Omiya Ardija (above)
2018 Ventforet Kofu (above)
2018 Tochigi FC (below)
2017 Avispa Fukuoka (above)
2017 Oita Trinita (above)
2016 Montedio Yamagata (above)
2016 Matsumoto Yamaga (above)
2016 Machida Zelvia (below)
2016 Renofa Yamaguchi (below)
2015 Tokushima Vortis (above)
2015 Zweigen Kanazawa (below)
2014 Kamatamare Sanuki (below)
2011 Kyoto Sanga (above)
2010 JEF United Chiba (above)
2009 Tokyo Verdy (above)
2009 Fagiano Okayama (below)
2008 Yokohama FC (above)
2008 Roasso Kumamoto (below)
2008 FC Gifu (below)
2006 Ehime FC (below)
2000 Mito HollyHock (below)
Mito HollyHock are a second-tier football club par excellence.
Morton watch: Lee Kilday has signed on for another year, as has Lewis Strapp. On Wednesday goalkeeper Ryan Scully signed with Morton. He has played for Partick Thistle, junior side Petershill, Albion Rovers and Dunfermline. And Morton got midfielder Ross MacLean on loan from Motherwell. Pre-season training began Thursday. Mark Russell won't be back with Morton. Jai Quitongo is training with Livingston, a pretty good sign that he won't be back with Morton.
[Douglas Rae has died. He was chairman of Greenock Morton from 2001 until this April. He's credited with rescuing the club from liquidation.]
World Cup group stage:
Group D: Nigeria 2 - 0 Iceland (at Volgograd Arena, June 22nd)
Group H: Japan [2 - 2] Senegal (at Central Stadium, Yekaterinburg, June 24th)
SWFL Division 1 South: Morton [5 - 3] Falkirk
[That's Morton's first win in SWFL Division 1.]
2018 Canadian Championship, 2QR, first leg:
AS Blainville 0 - 1 Ottawa Fury (June 20). Match report.
This is the eleventh year of the Canadian Championship. The first three years there were only three entrants; the next three years there were four; the next four there were five; and this year there are six. It sounds small-scale, but look at the early years of the Emperor's Cup. The first four years of the Emperor's Cup there were only four entrants, and at no time before World War Two were there more than eight, and one year there were three. This year there are eighty-eight, out of the hundreds and hundreds that could qualify. From acorns oaks.
USL: New York Red Bulls II [0 - 3] Ottawa Fury (June 24)
JFL: Vanraure Hachinohe [1 - 2] Sony Sendai
Honda 2 - 0 Honda Lock
Kantō Soccer League: Tokyo 23 FC [2 - 0] Saitama SC