Yanmar wins the League
Yanmar Diesel of Osaka won the Japanese League in 1974. The season closed on Dec.8. The competition of this season was the hardest ever in the ten years' history of the Japanese Soccer League.
At the end of the season, Yanmar had the same number of points as the defending champions, Mitsubishi F.C. of Tokyo but Yanmar were above Mitsubishi on goal difference. It is the first time that the League championship has been decided on goal difference.
Kunishige Kamamoto very largely contributed to Yanmar's second league title since 1971 and became the leading goal scorer of the season. He scored 21 goals in 18 games, the highest number of goals that one player has scored in one league season.
|
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts. |
| Yanmar Diesel (Osaka) |
10 |
5 |
3 |
47 |
24 |
25 |
| Mitsubishi F.C. (Tokyo) |
11 |
3 |
4 |
37 |
18 |
25 |
| Hitachi F.C. (Tokyo) |
7 |
5 |
6 |
33 |
22 |
19 |
| Furukawa F C. (Tokyo) |
7 |
5 |
6 |
25 |
24 |
19 |
| Shin Nittetsu (Kita-Kyushu) |
8 |
3 |
7 |
24 |
25 |
19 |
| Toyo Kogyo (Hiroshima) |
6 |
6 |
6 |
20 |
25 |
18 |
| Nihon Kokan (Yokohama) |
6 |
5 |
7 |
24 |
28 |
17 |
| Towa Fudosan (Utsunomiya) |
5 |
6 |
7 |
25 |
30 |
16 |
| Eidai Sangyo (Yamaguchi) |
4 |
6 |
8 |
19 |
30 |
14 |
| Toyota Auto(Toyota) |
3 |
2 |
13 |
8 |
36 |
8 |
|
The 10 year anniversary of the Japanese League
The Japanese Soccer League celebrated its 10 year anniversary on Dec. 14 at the Kishi Memorial Hall in Tokyo, when the presentation ceremony for last season was held.
21 players who had completed more than 100 appearances in league matches were officially commended by the League, Koji Funamoto, the goalkeeper of Toyo Kogyo, received the most applause from those who attended the ceremony.
Funamoto played in the match between Toyota Textile Machines and Toyo Kogyo at Kariya city on June 6, 1965, the day that the Japanese Soccer League inaugurated its first season. Since then, he has defended Toyo's goal in all of the 148 league matches of the past ten years. During this period, he also kept goal for the national team in two preliminary tournaments for World Cup competitions and in other international matches.
The Japanese Soccer League was founded by 8 company teams in 1965 as the first nation-wide league in all Japanese sports except professional baseball.
In the first four years, the attendances of league matches increased remarkably, because the players who had been trained for the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 attracted the younger generation to the game. The League added a second division in 1972 comprising ten teams, and the number of teams in the first division also increased from eight to ten in 1973. Soccer attendances began to decrease in 1969.
However the figures for last season showed a slight increase again, and league officials are confident as to the future prosperity of the soccer league.
Japanese League champions (1st Div.) Pts
1965 Toyo Kogyo (Hiroshima) 26
1966 Toyo Kogyo (Hiroshima) 25
1967 Toyo Kogyo (Hiroshima) 22
1968 Toyo Kogyo (Hiroshima) 21
1969 Mitsubishi F. C. (Tokyo) 24
1970 Toyo Kogyo (Hiroshima) 23
1971 Yanmar Diesel (Osaka) 22
1972 Hitachi F. C. (Tokyo) 21
1973 Mitsubishi F. C. (Tokyo) 30
1974 Yanmar Diesel (Osaka) 25
*Until 1972 maximum points were 28
After 1973 maximum points were 36 |
