The 2024 Prince Takamado JFA U-18 Football Premier League (Japanese: 高円宮杯 JFA U-18サッカープレミアリーグ 2024, Hepburn: Takamado no Miya-hai JFA U-18 Sakkā Puremia Rīgu 2024) is the 35th season of the main competition for under-18 teams in Japan, the 14th after rebranding the competition to the current "Premier League" format, and the 3rd season with 24 clubs participating in the league.[1]
Changes from the previous season
The Premier League/Prince League play-offs gives an opportunity for teams to be promoted from the Prince Leagues (a conglomerate of regional leagues that forms the 2nd division of youth football in Japan). The 11th and 12th-placed teams of each division will be directly relegated.
| Promoted from the Prince Leagues | Relegated by bottom-league finish (East) | Relegated by bottom-league finish (West) |
|---|---|---|
| Kashima Antlers Teikyo Nagaoka HS Fagiano Okayama Kagoshima Josei HS |
Asahikawa Jitsugyo HS Yokohama F. Marinos |
Júbilo Iwata Riseisha HS |
Participating clubs
As usual, the teams were allocated to each division by the JFA based on geographical positions. Yokohama FC U-18s was the only team to be relocated, switching from the West to the East on 2024, a year after relocating to the West.[2]
Premier League East
| Team | Prefecture | 2023 record |
|---|---|---|
| Aomori Yamada High School | Aomori | 1st |
| Shoshi High School | Fukushima | 2nd |
| Kashima Antlers | Ibaraki |  Play-offs win
|
| Maebashi Ikuei High School | Gunma | 8th |
| Shohei High School | Saitama | 7th |
| Omiya Ardija | Saitama | 9th |
| RKU Kashiwa High School | Chiba | 6th |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Chiba | 4th |
| Ichiritsu Funabashi High School | Chiba | 5th |
| FC Tokyo | Tokyo | 10th |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Kanagawa | 3rd |
| Yokohama FC | Kanagawa | 5th (WEST) |
Premier League West
| Team | Prefecture | 2023 record |
|---|---|---|
| Teikyo Nagaoka High School | Niigata | Play-offs win
|
| Shizuoka Gakuen High School | Shizuoka | 3rd |
| Nagoya Grampus | Aichi | 8th |
| Vissel Kobe | Hyogo | 2nd |
| Yonago Kita High School | Tottori | 7th |
| Fagiano Okayama | Okayama | Play-offs win
|
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Hiroshima | 1st |
| Higashi Fukuoka High School | Fukuoka | 6th |
| Sagan Tosu | Saga | 9th |
| Ohzu High School | Kumamoto | 4th |
| Kagoshima Josei High School | Kagoshima | Play-offs win
|
| Kamimura Gakuen High School | Kagoshima | 10th |
League table
Premier League East
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yokohama FC | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 12 | +7 | 22 | Qualification for Premier League final |
| 2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 22 | 14 | +8 | 21 | |
| 3 | RKU Kashiwa | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 15 | +4 | 21 | |
| 4 | Kashima Antlers | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 16 | +4 | 20 | |
| 5 | Kashiwa Reysol | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 22 | 17 | +5 | 17 | |
| 6 | Shohei | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 22 | 15 | +7 | 16 | |
| 7 | Aomori Yamada | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 15 | |
| 8 | Maebashi Ikuei | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 14 | |
| 9 | FC Tokyo | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 17 | −1 | 13 | |
| 10 | Shoshi | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 13 | |
| 11 | Omiya Ardija | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 21 | −9 | 9 | Relegation to the Prince Leagues |
| 12 | Ichiritsu Funabashi | 11 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 25 | −22 | 3 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goal scored; 7) Fair-play points.
Premier League West
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohzu | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 40 | 11 | +29 | 28 | Qualification for Premier League final |
| 2 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 11 | +11 | 22 | |
| 3 | Nagoya Grampus | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 17 | +8 | 20 | |
| 4 | Vissel Kobe | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 13 | +8 | 18 | |
| 5 | Teikyo Nagaoka | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 16 | +7 | 18 | |
| 6 | Higashi Fukuoka | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 16 | |
| 7 | Kamimura Gakuen | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 26 | 27 | −1 | 16 | |
| 8 | Sagan Tosu | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 19 | 20 | −1 | 16 | |
| 9 | Shizuoka Gakuen | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 16 | 28 | −12 | 10 | |
| 10 | Fagiano Okayama | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 26 | −13 | 10 | |
| 11 | Yonago Kita | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 28 | −15 | 9 | Relegation to the Prince Leagues |
| 12 | Kagoshima Josei | 11 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 28 | −23 | 2 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goal scored; 7) Fair-play points.
Promotion/relegation play-offs
Qualifies for the stage the 16 top-ranked teams of the nine Prince League divisions, with each region having its amount of qualifying slots predetermined by the JFA[a].[3] They will be divided into four blocks, with their respective block winners (or 2nd round winners) qualifying for the next season's Premier League.
Kanto's Prince League is the only one to qualify three teams from, whereas Tohoku, Tokai, Kansai, Chugoku and Kyushu qualifies two teams each, and just one each qualifies from Hokkaido and Shikoku. The play-offs will be played at 6 (1st round) and 8 December (2nd round).
- ^ Reserve teams, however, can not participate in the play-offs. If their final league placement sits in the qualifying zone for the play-offs, their slot will be allocated to the next best-ranked team.
Final
| East Champion | v | West Champion |
|---|---|---|
Top scorers
- As of 14 July 2024.
East
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[4] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kantaro Maeda
|
Yokohama FC | 6 |
| Yutaro Onda
|
Kawasaki Frontale | ||
| Futo Yoshihara
|
Kashiwa Reysol | ||
| 4 | Hayate Cho
|
Kashima Antlers | 5 |
| Ryuki Osa
|
Shohei | ||
| Kelly Ononoju
|
Maebashi Ikuei | ||
| Divine Chinedu Otani
|
FC Tokyo | ||
| Keitaro Shoji
|
Yokohama FC | ||
| Mohammed Sadiki Waad
|
Kashiwa Reysol | ||
| 10 | Cheon Chi-sot
|
Shohei | 4 |
| Takeshi Katori
|
Kawasaki Frontale | ||
| Shotaro Kodama
|
Kawasaki Frontale | ||
| Yudai Miura
|
Shohei | ||
| Teppei Wada
|
RKU Kashiwa | ||
| Minato Yoshida
|
Kashima Antlers |
West
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[5] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keiji Yamashita
|
Ohzu | 13 |
| 2 | Gaku Nawata
|
Kamimura Gakuen | 9 |
| 3 | Aren Inoue
|
Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 8 |
| 4 | Kento Hamasaki
|
Vissel Kobe | 7 |
| Yudai Shimamoto
|
Ohzu | ||
| Daichi Suzuki
|
Sagan Tosu | ||
| Takumi Yasuno
|
Teikyo Nagaoka | ||
| 8 | Tasuku Kanematsu
|
Ohzu | 6 |
| Daigo Niino
|
Teikyo Nagaoka | ||
| Ritsu Onishi
|
Nagoya Grampus | ||
| Kanshiro Suemune
|
Fagiano Okayama | ||
| Shungo Sugiura
|
Nagoya Grampus |
References
- ^ "高円宮杯プレミアリーグのリーグ編成が決定". news.yahoo.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "大会・試合". jfa.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "高円宮杯 JFA U-18サッカープレミアリーグ 2023 ファイナルおよびプレーオフ大会概要、ビジュアル「アオアシ」のお知らせ". jfa.jp (in Japanese). Japan Football Association. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- ^ "得点ランキング/\". jfa.jp. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ "得点ランキング/\". jfa.jp. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
See also
- League
External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
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