The 2009 J. League Division 1 season is the 45th season of the top-flight club football in Japan and the 17th season since the establishment of J1 League. The season started on March 7, 2009 and ended on December 5, 2009.
A total of eighteen clubs participated in double round-robin format. At the end of the season, top three clubs received automatic qualification to the following years' AFC Champions League. Also starting this season, the bottom three clubs were relegated to J2 League by default.
Kashima Antlers became the first Japanese club win J. League Championship in three straight seasons.
Read more about 2009 J. League Division 1: Participating Clubs, League Format, Final League Table, Results, Top Scorers
Famous quotes containing the words league and/or division:
“Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward the Light Brigade!”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“In this world, which is so plainly the antechamber of another, there are no happy men. The true division of humanity is between those who live in light and those who live in darkness. Our aim must be to diminish the number of the latter and increase the number of the former. That is why we demand education and knowledge.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)