1996 J.League
The 1996 J. League season was the fourth season since the establishment of the J. League Division 1. The season began on March 16, 1996 and ended on November 9, 1996.
Clubs
The following sixteen clubs participated in J. League during the 1996 season. Of these clubs, Kyoto Purple Sanga, and Avispa Fukuoka were newly promoted from Japan Football League (former).
- Kashima Antlers
- Urawa Red Diamonds
- JEF United Ichihara
- Kashiwa Reysol
- Verdy Kawasaki
- Yokohama Marinos
- Yokohama Flügels
- Ballmare Hiratsuka
- Shimizu S-Pulse
- Júblio Iwata
- Nagoya Grampus Eight
- Kyoto Purple Sanga
- Gamba Osaka
- Cerezo Osaka
- Sanfrecce Hiroshima
- Avispa Fukuoka
Format
In the 1996 season, the league abolished the split-season format and followed a single-season format; sixteen clubs played in double round-robin format, a total of 30 games per club. The games went to golden-goal extra time and penalties if needed after regulation. A club received 3 points for any win, 1 point for PK loss, and 0 pts for regulation or extra time loss. The clubs were ranked by points, and tie breakers are in the following order:
- Goal differential
- Goals scored
- Head-to-head results
- Extra match or a coin toss
The club that finished at the top of the table was declared season champion.
- Changes in competition format
- Number of competing clubs increased from 14 to 16
- Followed single-season format instead of split-season format
- Suntory Final Series was held this year, instead of Suntory Championship
- Number of games per club reduced to 30 from 52 games per season
Final standings
| Pos | Club Name | Pld. | Win | Loss | Pts | GF | GA | GD | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90, E.T. | P.K. | |||||||||
| 1. |  Kashima Antlers | 30 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 66 | 61 | 34 | - | 1996 J. League Champions Qualifies to 1996 Suntory Cup*, 1997/98 ACC, and 1997 Super Cup |
| 2. |  Nagoya Grampus Eight | 30 | 21 | 9 | 0 | 63 | 63 | 39 | - | Qualifies to 1996 Suntory Cup* |
| 3. |  Yokohama Flugels | 30 | 21 | 9 | 0 | 63 | 58 | 44 | - | |
| 4. |  Jubilo Iwata | 30 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 62 | 53 | 38 | - | |
| 5. |  Kashiwa Reysol | 30 | 20 | 10 | 0 | 60 | 67 | 52 | - | |
| 6. |  Urawa Red Diamonds | 30 | 19 | 9 | 2 | 59 | 51 | 31 | - | |
| 7. |  Verdy Kawasaki | 30 | 19 | 11 | 0 | 57 | 68 | 42 | - | |
| 8. | Yokohama Marinos | 30 | 14 | 16 | 0 | 42 | 39 | 40 | - | |
| 9. | JEF United Ichihara | 30 | 13 | 16 | 1 | 40 | 45 | 47 | - | |
| 10. | Shimizu S-Pulse | 30 | 12 | 17 | 1 | 37 | 50 | 60 | - | |
| 11. | Bellmare Hiratsuka | 30 | 12 | 18 | 0 | 36 | 47 | 58 | - | |
| 12. |  Gamba Osaka | 30 | 11 | 19 | 0 | 33 | 38 | 59 | - | |
| 13. | Cerezo Osaka | 30 | 10 | 20 | 0 | 30 | 38 | 56 | - | |
| 14. |  Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 30 | 10 | 20 | 0 | 30 | 36 | 60 | - | |
| 15. |  Avispa Fukuoka | 30 | 9 | 19 | 2 | 29 | 42 | 64 | - | |
| 16. |  Kyoto Purple Sanga | 30 | 8 | 22 | 0 | 24 | 22 | 54 | - |
† Points system: Win = 3 pts; P.K. loss = 1 pt; Regulation, E.T. loss = 0 pts
Golden Boots ranking
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kazuyoshi Miura |
Verdy Kawasaki | 23 |
| 2 |  Edílson |
Kashiwa Reysol | 21 |
| 3 | Evair |
Yokohama Flügels | 20 |
| 4 |  Salvatore Schillaci |
Jubilo Iwata | 15 |
| 5 | Magrão |
Verdy Kawasaki | 13 |
| 6 | Yoshiyuki Hasegawa |
Kashima Antlers | 12 |
 Ivan Hasek |
JEF United Ichihara | 12 | |
| 8 |  Mladen Mladenovic |
Gamba Osaka | 11 |
 Dragan Stojkovic |
Nagoya Grampus Eight | 11 | |
| Takuya Takagi |
Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 11 | |
| Yasuyuki Moriyama |
Nagoya Grampus Eight | 11 | |
| Koji Noguchi |
Bellmare Hiratsuka | 11 | |
| Mazinho |
Kashima Antlers | 11 | |
| Masayuki Okano |
Urawa Red Diamonds | 11 |
Awards
Individual awards
Best Eleven
See also
- J.League '96 Dream Stadium (Super Famicom video game based on the 1996 season)
- J-League Jikkyō Winning Eleven 97 (PlayStation video game based on the 1996 season)