World 80 Japan League - A historical perspective

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Past Winners

Top 4 Finishes

The Big 4

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After reading the post that hoosiers did for World 80, I approached him about blogging for the league we compete in - The J-League. I had jokingly dubbed my team (the Banana Boys) the Liverpool of our league, given that we routinely finish in the top 4 but can't ever seem to finish in 1st. Hopefully we will see some built-in competitions for the top teams in the future, akin to the AFC Champions League.
I started to do a little homework to see if we did indeed have our own version of the Big 4, like in the Premier League. In the past seven seasons, the J-League has seen four teams take home first place. Godzilla - now defunct - took home the silverware in season 1, followed by two time winners Kobe Beef, the KH Shoguns, and two time winners in the Robots. As our seventh season comes down the final stretch, it comes as no surprise that a member of the Big 4 leads the way - the Kobe Beef. As I looked further into how the top 4 positions have panned out thus far, you can see a pretty clear picture.

The Big 4

The Kobe Beef have not only won the League twice, they have also never finished outside of the top 4. They are a lock to finish in the top 4 again and are in pole position to win the league for a record third time.

The Banana Boys have played the role of bridesmaid to perfection. We finished in second place for 4 consecutive seasons before finally breaking the streak in season 6! We finished 3rd that year. We are all but assured of at least a 4th place finish for season 7, something we have done each season except for season 1 where we finished in 6th place.

The Shoguns have not had the consistency of finishing in the top 4 like the previous two teams, but they unlike the Banana Boys, they have laid claim to 1st place. Other than a mid table finish in season 1, the Shoguns have finished in 3rd, 1st, 5th, 5th, and 2nd. The Shoguns have also all but secured a top 4 finish for season 7 and are still within striking distance of 1st place.

The choice for the final member of our Big 4 came down to two teams, and I ultimately gave the nod to the Robots for two reasons - tenure and silverware. The Robots arrived in season 2 and delivered consecutive titles in seasons 4 and 5. The Robots have slipped back to the middle of the pack a bit (5th in season 6) but that was due to coach cyno being away.

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Here is a quick look at the squads trying to break the Big 4:

Spurs - one could argue that the Spurs should be one of the Big 4, but they are relative newcomers, having only been in the J-League for three seasons. To their credit, they have had two consecutive 4th place finishes after their inaugural 12th place finish in season 4. As of this writing, they are on the outside looking in, sitting 8 points behind the Banana Boys for 4th place with 4 games remaining.

Ants - speaking of newcomers, where the hell did these pesky ants come from? The Ants ended their first season in the J-League in 9th place, and they continue to show the mettle that it takes to hold down a top 4 position. They are currently in 2nd place and are nearly assured of their first top 4 finish.

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Japan League Past Winners
From season 7 onward, you can click the season number to view its blog.

Season	Winner	W-D-L	GF	GA	+/-	Home	Away
1	Godzilla	25-8-5	65	27	+38	N/A	N/A
2	Kobe Beef	21-10-7	63	40	+23	10-6-3	11-4-4
3	KH Shoguns	29-3-6	79	38	+41	17-2-0	12-1-6
4	Robots	35-2-1	129	29	+97	19-0-0	16-2-1
5	Robots	30-3-5	112	32	+80	14-1-0	16-2-1
6	Kobe Beef	32-2-4	121	28	+93	16-1-2	16-1-2
7	Kobe Beef	31-3-4	137	35	+102	18-0-1	13-3-3
8	Robots	32-3-3	138	46	+92	17-0-2	15-3-1
Season	Winner	W-D-L	GF	GA	+/-	Home	Away
Season	Winner	W-D-L	GF	GA	+/-	Home	Away
Season	Winner	W-D-L	GF	GA	+/-	Home	Away
Season	Winner	W-D-L	GF	GA	+/-	Home	Away
Season	Winner	W-D-L	GF	GA	+/-	Home	Away
Season	Winner	W-D-L	GF	GA	+/-	Home	Away
Season	Winner	W-D-L	GF	GA	+/-	Home	Away

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Japan League Top 4

*Denotes team is no longer in operation

From season 7 onward, you can click the season number to view its blog.

Season	Winner	Second Place	Third Place	Fourth Place
1	Godzilla*	Desert Flames*	Astros*	Kobe Beef
2	Kobe Beef	Banana Boys	KH Shoguns	Negishi FC*
3	KH Shoguns	Banana Boys	Kobe Beef	Golden Eagles*
4	Robots	Banana Boys	Kobe Beef	Astros*
5	Robots	Banana Boys	Kobe Beef	Spurs
6	Kobe Beef	KH Shoguns	Banana Boys	Spurs
7	Kobe Beef	Ants	KH Shoguns	Banana Boys
8	Robots	Kobe Beef	ants	FC Fishsticks
Season	Winner	Second Place	Third Place	Fourth Place
Season	Winner	Second Place	Third Place	Fourth Place
Season	Winner	Second Place	Third Place	Fourth Place
Season	Winner	Second Place	Third Place	Fourth Place
Season	Winner	Second Place	Third Place	Fourth Place
Season	Winner	Second Place	Third Place	Fourth Place
Season	Winner	Second Place	Third Place	Fourth Place

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