J3 League ended with another surprise, actually… two! Next year the third tier will feature 20 teams for the first time. For the fourth year in a row (solidifying this tradition for our readers), J. League Regista assigned its awards. To do that, we summed up a small panel to pick the possible options, then saw the votes coming through polls by our readers and followers:
J3 League will welcome Nara Club and FC Osaka next year, but now it’s time to focus on what’s happened in 2022.
Best team | Iwaki FC (90,5%)
You could basically copy-paste what we wrote last year. Teams have a good tradition when they join J3. Just look at this record:
- 2015 – Renofa Yamaguchi: Champions
- 2016 – Kagoshima United FC: 5th
- 2017 – Azul Claro Numazu: 3rd
- 2019 – Vanraure Hachinohe: 10th
- 2020 – FC Imabari: 7th
- 2021 – Tegevajaro Miyazaki: 3rd
We frankly struggle to remember such a win in one of our end-of-season polls. 90,5% is a landslide, without any discussion. Just like Iwaki FC’s season. Promoted from JFL, Iwaki won the league with two games to go and never showed a real dip in performance. Sure, sometimes they lost a game – like against Matsumoto or Imabari (who actually got six points from the two matches against Iwaki) – but they immediately bounced back.
But a squad coming from the JFL and losing just four times all season long… not even Renofa Yamaguchi showed this level of readiness for a new category. It’s more than fair that we’re seeing this level of acknowledgment.
Flop Team | FC Gifu (52,4%)
Can you win twice in a row? Yes, Kamatamare Sanuki did that in 2019 and 2020. But seeing FC Gifu matching this record was surprising. Let us be clear: we never thought they would have been promoted, given how stacking names doesn’t necessarily mean that the squad will show up on the pitch. And we already wrote about their terrible season.
But ending fourteenth – with a final home loss against Giravanz Ktakyushu – and racking up just 38 points, despite Kosuke Fujioka’s masterful year… that’s even worse than we forecasted in the preseason.
MVP | Ayumu Yokoyama, Matsumoto Yamaga (45,5%)
A young gem, finally who could turn around Matsumoto’s narrative of an old team for good. We’ll see: meanwhile, we wrote about him.
Best Goalkeeper and Best Foreign Player | Víctor Ibañez (38,1% / 66,7%)
We know Víctor. He’s been a proud part of the J.League-sphere in the last six years, between Gifu, Sagamihara, and Montedio Yamgata. But his stint with Pete Cklamovski seemed to have ruined his profile. He wasn’t surely fit for that kind of style of play, and Montedio let him go at the end of 2021. Therefore, he found a new home in Yamaga with Matsumoto.
He had an excellent season, winning two awards. As for the “Best Goalkeeper”, surely Kenta Tokushige shone as well with Ehime FC – he did pull off some majestic saves –, but Yamaga had a 40,6% of clean sheets under him. Better than him – among keepers with at least 19+ games played – Daiki Sakata from Iwaki FC (45,0%) and Kei Uchiyama from Fujieda MYFC (41,2%).
As for the “Best Foreign Player”, probably Marcus Indio from Imabari built a good case for himself, but the Spanish keeper had the best of him. Now it’s about the future: will Víctor stay in Yamaga to try another chase at a direct promotion to J2?
MIP | Akiyuki Yokoyama, Fujieda MYFC (70%)
It’s surprising to notice how Yokoyama is actually the only member from Fujieda MYFC to have won an award in 2022. Despite manager Daisuke Sudo and rookie Tojiro Kubo having a decent shot in their categories, Akiyuki Yokoyama won the “MIP” award. It wasn’t a surprise though. And it’s also strange since the no. 26 has been with Fujieda MYFC since 2020.
But the offensive fantasista has been fundamental to snatch promotion: 13 goals, 8 assists, and seven game-winners, including crucial goals against SC Sagamihara and a couple against Fukushima United FC. Class ’97 and grew into Verdy’s youth ranks, Yokoyama featured in just six games between 2020 and 2021. A total of 399 minutes didn’t forecast such success in 2022.
Furthermore, Yokoyama is a witness to the offensive brand Fujieda have built throughout the years. The club scored 58 goals, had the all-time top-scorer of J3 League – Tsugutoshi Oishi, who surprisingly remained scoreless in 2022 – and featured just a negative goal difference in the last seven seasons.
Best Rookie | Ryo Arita, Iwaki FC (94,7%)
All the Iwaki-related awards were mostly landslides, wins with huge popular support. Ryo Arita made no exception, triumphing in the “Best Rookie” award. Signed from Kokushikan University, Arita started from the bench. But as destiny intervened, the no. 11 scored the winner at Ehime FC to win 2-1, sealing the first away win of the club in the J3 League.
From there, Arita gradually gained minutes, although he scored just three goals in the first 17 games, starting just once. His incredible run of eight goals in five games between mid-September and mid-October – including three braces – sealed his starting spot for good. Who knows how he’ll play in J2 next year: J3 top scorers tend to have solid careers.
Best Signing | Koki Arita, Ventforet Kofu » Kagoshima United FC (58,8%)
They haven’t won promotion in the end, but there are many positives for Kagoshima United FC. Koki Arita is among them: discover why in this piece.
Best Wish | Yuya Takazawa, Oita Trinita » Girvanz Kitakyushu (37,5%)
We were a bit surprised. And we were worried Junya Takahashi would have won a second time. Instead, the readers chose Yuya Takazawa, who joined Giravanz Kitakyushu on loan from Oita Trinita. We could probably say his adventure with Trinita is over and his career followed such a strange path: star in his rookie year in J3 with Thespakusatsu Gunma, he then made the double leap to J1 to Trinita.
But in Oita the space for him was mostly in the J.League Cup. Loaned to Albirex Niigata last year, he didn’t find the necessary goals to sell Oita the point of keeping him. He was then loaned to Giravanz Kitakuyshu, where he found an initial run of form – culminated in a brace against Iwaki to snatch a point – and then interrupted in 7 goals in 19 games. Who knows if he’ll stay in Kyushu after all?
Best Goal | Loris Tinelli, YSCC Yokohama @ Matsumoto Yamaga (MD12 – 42,9%)
For once, our readers and the J.League agreed. Loris Tinelli arrived mid-season from Luxembourg and had an impact with YSCC Yokohama, who are gradually integrating players outside of their youth ranks (especially with relegations coming into place next year). That goal was worth a win in Yamaga, which probably hindered Matsumoto’s chances of promotion.
Best Manager | Hiromasa Suguri, Iwaki FC (60%)
We wondered often if Suguri has been the real architect of this operation. Iwaki had a great run last year as well, but they had an extra mile this season. Daisuke Sudo has done a masterful job in Shizuoka with Fujieda MYFC, especially after a career that wasn’t exactly screaming “gaffer to keep” (although his results with Gainare Tottori in 2018 were notorious).
A past mostly between J1 and J2 League as a player, Suguri obtained the S-Class license only in 2021. Nevertheless, the 46 years-old head coach was an assistant for more than a decade between FC Gifu, Machida Zelvia, and Matsumoto Yamaga. Probably a chance was more than logic, but he took Iwaki to a new level. Next year we’ll find out if it’s been a case of a “one-hit-wonder”.
Thank all our panelists for featuring here, we can’t wait to see them again in action for 2023. You can recover J1 League and J2 League awards at the links reported. It’s been a blast to have another year of the Regista Awards: thank you!
