The 2016 Meiji YasudaJ1 League (2016 明治安田生命J1リーグ) season was the 51st season of top-flight football in Japan and the 24th since the establishment of the J.League in 1992. This was second season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1.
For a five-year period starting in 2015, the J.League changed to a newly conceived multistage system, with the year split into two halves and a third and final championship stage. The winners of the first and second stages and the highest ranking club of the aggregate table (other than the first or second stage winners) qualified for the Championship Stage. Kashima Antlers, the winner of the Championship Stage, advanced to the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup as the host nation's entrant.
Teams play a single round-robin in the first stage and a single round-robin in the second stage.[12] After that an overall table is calculated and a championship stage is played. The winners of the first and second stages and any team that finishes in the top 3 of the overall rankings advance to the championship stage. The team that finishes atop the overall table automatically qualifies for the final, while the remaining teams play-off for the other spot in the final.
Two games for Matchday 7 (Avispa Fukuoka vs. Nagoya Grampus; Sagan Tosu vs. Vissel Kobe) scheduled on 16 April 2016 were affected by the series of earthquakes in Kumamoto prefecture, and thus postponed and rescheduled on 2 June 2016. Results of these matches were included in Matchday 15 ranking.
Matchday 10 results for 2016 AFC Champions League Participants (FC Tokyo vs. Sanfrecce Hiroshima; Gamba Osaka vs. Urawa Red Diamonds), held on 15 June 2016, were included in Matchday 16 ranking.
Matchday 13 results for 2016 AFC Champions League Knockout Stage Participants (Urawa Red Diamonds vs. FC Tokyo), held on 22 June 2016, were included in Matchday 17 ranking.
Two games for Matchday 7 (Avispa Fukuoka vs. Nagoya Grampus; Sagan Tosu vs. Vissel Kobe) scheduled on 16 April 2016 were affected by the series of earthquakes in Kumamoto prefecture, and thus postponed and rescheduled on 2 June 2016. Results of these matches were included in Matchday 15 ranking.
Matchday 10 results for 2016 AFC Champions League Participants (FC Tokyo vs. Sanfrecce Hiroshima; Gamba Osaka vs. Urawa Red Diamonds), held on 15 June 2016, were included in Matchday 16 ranking.
Matchday 13 results for 2016 AFC Champions League Knockout Stage Participants (Urawa Red Diamonds vs. FC Tokyo), held on 22 June 2016, were included in Matchday 17 ranking.
Championship stage
Meiji Yasuda 2016 J.League Championship (明治安田生命 2016 Jリーグチャンピオンシップ)
The Championship stage consisted of a knockout tournament involving the champions of the First and Second stages, and any team that finishes in the top 3 of the overall table. The team with the best aggregate record earned a bye to the final. The remaining teams playoff for the other spot in the final.
These are the attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season. The table does not include the Championship stages attendances.