1997 J.League

The 1997 J.League season was the fifth season of the J.League. The league began in April 12 and ended in December 13. For this year, the league was contested by 17 teams. Kashima Antlers won the 1st stage and Júbilo Iwata won the 2nd stage. Júbilo won the J.League title after winning both matches in the Suntory Championship.

Clubs

The following seventeen clubs participated in J.League during the 1997 season. Of these clubs, Vissel Kobe was the only newly promoted team from Japan Football League.

• Avispa Fukuoka
• Bellmare Hiratsuka
• Cerezo Osaka
• Gamba Osaka
• JEF United Ichihara
• Júbilo Iwata
• Kashima Antlers
• Kashiwa Reysol
• Kyoto Purple Sanga
• Nagoya Grampus Eight
• Sanfrecce Hiroshima
• Shimizu S-Pulse
• Urawa Red Diamonds
• Verdy Kawasaki
• Vissel Kobe File:Arrowupgreen.png
• Yokohama Flügels
• Yokohama Marinos

Personnel

Club	Head coach
Avispa Fukuoka	Template:Flagicon Carlos Pachamé
Bellmare Hiratsuka	Template:Flagicon Shigeharu Ueki
Cerezo Osaka	Template:Flagicon Levir Culpi
Gamba Osaka	Template:Flagicon Josip Kuže
JEF United Ichihara	Template:Flagicon Jan Versleijen
Júbilo Iwata	Template:Flagicon Takashi Kuwahara
Kashima Antlers	Template:Flagicon João Carlos
Kashiwa Reysol	Template:Flagicon Nicanor de Carvalho
Kyoto Purple Sanga	Template:Flagicon Pedro Rocha
Nagoya Grampus Eight	Template:Flagicon Carlos Queiroz
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Template:Flagicon Eddie Thomson
Shimizu S-Pulse	Template:Flagicon Osvaldo Ardiles
Urawa Red Diamonds	Template:Flagicon Horst Köppel
Verdy Kawasaki	Template:Flagicon Valdir Espinosa
Vissel Kobe	Template:Flagicon Stuart Baxter
Yokohama Flügels	Template:Flagicon Otacílio Gonçalves
Yokohama Marinos	Template:Flagicon Xabier Azkargorta

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Non-visa foreign	Former players
Avispa Fukuoka	Template:Flagicon Julio Hernán Rossi	Template:Flagicon Sergio Vázquez	Template:Flagicon Michael Obiku	Template:Flagicon Pablo Maqueda			Template:Flagicon Marcelo Carracedo Template:Flagicon Rodrigo Riep
Bellmare Hiratsuka	Template:Flagicon Cláudio	Template:Flagicon Simão	Template:Flagicon Hong Myung-bo
Cerezo Osaka	Template:Flagicon Alex Lopes	Template:Flagicon Claudinho	Template:Flagicon Gilmar	Template:Flagicon Jean Elias	Template:Flagicon Ko Jeong-woon		Template:Flagicon Sérgio Manoel
Gamba Osaka	Template:Flagicon Patrick Mboma	Template:Flagicon Nebojša Krupniković	Template:Flagicon Boban Babunski	Template:Flagicon Amir Karić			Template:Flagicon Mladen Mladenović
JEF United Ichihara	Template:Flagicon Nenad Maslovar	Template:Flagicon Arnold Scholten	Template:Flagicon Peter Bosz				Template:Flagicon Rade Bogdanović
Júbilo Iwata	Template:Flagicon Adilson Batista	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Cambalhota	Template:Flagicon Dunga				Template:Flagicon Marcelo Mabilia Template:Flagicon Salvatore Schillaci
Kashima Antlers	Template:Flagicon Bismarck	Template:Flagicon Jorginho	Template:Flagicon Mazinho	Template:Flagicon Rodrigo Mendes
Kashiwa Reysol	Template:Flagicon Edílson	Template:Flagicon Elpídio Silva	Template:Flagicon Paulo Jamelli	Template:Flagicon Valdir			Template:Flagicon Antônio Carlos Zago
Kyoto Purple Sanga	Template:Flagicon Capone	Template:Flagicon Daniel	Template:Flagicon Luiz Carlos	Template:Flagicon Mineiro			Template:Flagicon Cléber Arado Template:Flagicon Edmílson Matias
Nagoya Grampus Eight	Template:Flagicon Alexandre Torres	Template:Flagicon Ricardinho	Template:Flagicon Valdo	Template:Flagicon Dragan Stojković
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Template:Flagicon Graham Arnold	Template:Flagicon Tony Popovic	Template:Flagicon Antônio Carlos Santos	Template:Flagicon Ian Crook	Template:Flagicon Noh Jung-yoon
Shimizu S-Pulse	Template:Flagicon Fernando Oliva	Template:Flagicon Santos				Template:Flagicon Alex	Template:Flagicon Mark Bowen
Urawa Red Diamonds	Template:Flagicon Željko Petrović	Template:Flagicon Basile Boli	Template:Flagicon Guido Buchwald	Template:Flagicon Alfred Nijhuis	Template:Flagicon Txiki Begiristain		Template:Flagicon Michael Baur
Verdy Kawasaki	Template:Flagicon Alcindo	Template:Flagicon Argel Fuchs	Template:Flagicon Dias	Template:Flagicon Magrão		Template:Flagicon Ko Ishikawa
Vissel Kobe	Template:Flagicon Matthew Bingley	Template:Flagicon Budimir Vujačić	Template:Flagicon Lee Baxter			Template:Flagicon Michael Yano Template:Flagicon Cho Kwi-jae	Template:Flagicon Michael Laudrup Template:Flagicon Thomas Bickel Template:Flagicon Ziad Tlemçani
Yokohama Flügels	Template:Flagicon César Sampaio	Template:Flagicon Fernando	Template:Flagicon Marcelo	Template:Flagicon Válber	Template:Flagicon Cyrille Ndongo-Keller		Template:Flagicon Zinho
Yokohama Marinos	Template:Flagicon Julio César Baldivieso	Template:Flagicon Dušan Petković	Template:Flagicon Julio Salinas

Standings

Second stage

Key

• PLD = Games Played
• W = Games Won - 3 points for a win
• OTW = Games won in overtime - 2 points for overtime win
• PKW = Games won by penalty kicks after overtime played - 1 point for a win
• OTL = Games lost in overtime - zero points for overtime loss
• PKL = Games lost by penalty kicks after overtime played - zero points for a penalty loss
• GF = Goals scored for
• GA = Goals conceded
• GD = Goal difference - GF - GA = GD

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Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Template:Flagicon Patrick Mboma	Gamba Osaka	25
2	Template:Flagicon Edílson	Kashiwa Reysol	23
3	Template:Flagicon Mazinho	Kashima Antlers	22
	Template:Flagicon Akihiro Nagashima	Vissel Kobe
5	Template:Flagicon Masahiro Fukuda	Urawa Red Diamonds	21
	Template:Flagicon Julio Salinas	Yokohama Marinos
7	Template:Flagicon Válber	Yokohama Flügels	20
8	Template:Flagicon Masashi Nakayama	Júbilo Iwata	18
	Template:Flagicon Wagner Lopes	Bellmare Hiratsuka
10	Template:Flagicon Paulo Jamelli	Kashiwa Reysol	14

Awards

Individual awards

Award	Recipient	Club
Most Valuable Player	Template:Flagicon Dunga	Júbilo Iwata
Rookie of the Year	Template:Flagicon Atsushi Yanagisawa	Kashima Antlers
Manager of the Year	Template:Flagicon João Carlos	Kashima Antlers
Top Scorer	Template:Flagicon Patrick Mboma	Gamba Osaka

Best Eleven

Pos	Footballer	Club	Nationality
GK	Tomoaki Ogami	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
DF	Masami Ihara	Yokohama Marinos	Japan
DF	Naoki Soma	Kashima Antlers	Japan
DF	Yutaka Akita	Kashima Antlers	Japan
MF	Bismarck	Kashima Antlers	Brazil
MF	Dunga	Júbilo Iwata	Brazil
MF	Hidetoshi Nakata	Bellmare Hiratsuka	Japan
MF	Hiroshi Nanami	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
MF	Motohiro Yamaguchi	Yokohama Flügels	Japan
FW	Patrick Mboma	Gamba Osaka	Cameroon
FW	Masashi Nakayama	Júbilo Iwata	Japan