Episode 509 - J1 Matchday 1

History was made, and repeated, in J1 Matchday 1, and Dan Orlowitz joined us to chat about some of the biggest games, and storylines, from the opening weekend of the new campaign.

Dan guests in Part 1, and we begin with the two games he was at, starting with Tokyo Verdy's return to the big time on Sunday, and the Greens were very impressive even though Yokohama F.Marinos spoilt their party late on (to 19:00), before we move on to Hiroshima's 2-0 win over Urawa, as they officially christened their brand new stadium in style, with Yuki Ohashi the two-goal hero (to 34:40).

We then move on to Gamba Osaka getting a 1-1 draw away at promoted Machida, with a discussion on the transportation/access issues that threaten to tarnish Zelvia's name with away supporters (to 57:35), before we finish with FC Tokyo's 2-2 draw away at Cerezo Osaka, with Ryotaro Araki stealing the show with two goals in his Tokyo debut (to 1:09:35).

Then in Part 2 we round up the other six games, including Kashima's cruise away at Nagoya, before we finish with a look ahead to the best games on the Matchday 2 slate.

If you haven't already, please check out Dan's new(ish) newsletter, The Hachi.