1996 J.League

The 1996 J.League season was the fourth season since the establishment of the J.League. 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
 * Bellmare Hiratsuka
 * Shimizu S-Pulse
 * Júbilo Iwata
 * Nagoya Grampus Eight
 * Kyoto Purple Sanga [[Image:Arrowupgreen.png]]
 * Gamba Osaka
 * Cerezo Osaka
 * Sanfrecce Hiroshima
 * Avispa Fukuoka [[Image:Arrowupgreen.png]]

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: The club that finished at the top of the table was declared season champion.
 * Goal differential
 * Goals scored
 * Head-to-head results
 * Extra match or a coin toss


 * 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