2002–03 Israeli Premier League

The 2002–03 Israeli Premier League season saw Maccabi Tel Aviv win the title. It took place from the first match on 14 September 2002 to the final match on 31 May 2003.

Israeli Premier League
Season2002–03
ChampionsMaccabi Tel Aviv
18th title
RelegatedHapoel Kfar Saba
Hapoel Rishon LeZion
Top goalscorerShay Holtzman
Yaniv Abargil (18)

Two teams from Liga Leumit were promoted at the end of the previous season: Hapoel Kfar Saba and Bnei Yehuda. The two teams relegated were Hapoel Haifa and Maccabi Kiryat Gat.

Teams and Locations

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Twelve teams took part in the 2002-03 Israeli Premier League season, including ten teams from the 2001-02 season, as well as two teams that were promoted from the 2001-02 Liga Leumit.

Hapoel Kfar Saba were promoted as champions of the 2001-02 Liga Leumit. Bnei Yehuda were promoted as runners up. Bnei Yehuda and Hapoel Kfar Saba returned to the top flight after an absence of one and two seasons respectively.

Hapoel Haifa and Maccabi Kiryat Gat were relegated after finishing in the bottom two places in the 2001-02 season.

Club Stadium Capacity
Beitar Jerusalem Teddy Stadium 021,600
Bnei Yehuda Bloomfield Stadium 015,700
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Haifa Kiryat Eliezer Stadium 014,002
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Vasermil Stadium 013,000
F.C. Ashdod Yud-Alef Stadium 07,800
Maccabi Netanya Sar-Tov Stadium 07,500
Maccabi Petah Tikva Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium 06,800
Hapoel Petah Tikva
Ironi Rishon LeZion Haberfeld Stadium 06,000
Hapoel Kfar Saba Levita Stadium 05,800
Beitar Jerusalem Bnei Yehuda
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Teddy Stadium
Bloomfield Stadium
Vasermil Stadium
     
Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Petah Tikva
Hapoel Petah Tikva
F.C. Ashdod
Kiryat Eliezer Stadium
Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium Yud-Alef Stadium
     
Maccabi Netanya Ironi Rishon LeZion Hapoel Kfar Saba
Sar-Tov Stadium Haberfeld Stadium Levita Stadium
     

Final table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Maccabi Tel Aviv (C) 33 22 3 8 66 31 +35 69 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2 Maccabi Haifa 33 21 6 6 75 42 +33 69 Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round
3 Hapoel Tel Aviv 33 19 10 4 53 22 +31 67
4 Maccabi Netanya 33 15 9 9 47 36 +11 54 Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round
5 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 33 15 6 12 56 41 +15 51
6 Maccabi Petah Tikva 33 13 11 9 45 37 +8 50
7 F.C. Ashdod 33 11 7 15 35 49 −14 40
8 Hapoel Petah Tikva 33 11 6 16 41 53 −12 39
9 Beitar Jerusalem 33 10 6 17 46 59 −13 36
10 Bnei Yehuda 33 9 7 17 39 63 −24 34
11 Hapoel Kfar Saba[a] (R) 33 7 5 21 43 81 −38 23 Relegation to Liga Leumit
12 Ironi Rishon LeZion (R) 33 4 6 23 35 67 −32 18
Source: futbol24.com
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Deducted 3 points

Results

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First and second round

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Home \ Away BEI BnY ASH HBS HKS HPT HTA IRZ MHA MNE MPT MTA
Beitar Jerusalem 2–3 5–0 1–4 1–0 0–0 0–1 2–0 4–0 1–1 1–3 2–1
Bnei Yehuda 1–0 2–1 0–0 2–3 1–2 1–4 4–1 1–3 1–2 1–3 2–0
F.C. Ashdod 0–0 1–1 2–2 0–5 2–0 0–0 2–1 2–3 2–1 2–0 0–1
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2–0 2–3 3–0 1–2 4–0 0–2 1–0 2–0 2–1 2–0 1–0
Hapoel Kfar Saba 1–3 0–1 0–2 3–1 0–2 1–1 1–0 1–3 2–1 1–3 0–3
Hapoel Petah Tikva 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–1 1–3 2–3 2–3 1–1 2–1 1–3 1–2
Hapoel Tel Aviv 2–0 3–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–2 2–0 0–0 3–1
Ironi Rishon LeZion 4–0 2–3 1–0 1–1 2–2 0–3 1–2 0–3 0–2 1–1 0–1
Maccabi Haifa 0–1 5–2 1–0 4–2 5–0 3–1 1–1 4–3 2–1 3–1 2–3
Maccabi Netanya 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 4–1 1–0 2–2 2–1 0–0 0–0 3–1
Maccabi Petah Tikva 5–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 3–3 0–3 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–1
Maccabi Tel Aviv 4–1 1–0 4–1 0–3 3–0 5–1 1–0 2–1 0–1 5–0 4–2
Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Third round

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Home \ Away BEI BnY ASH HBS HKS HPT HTA IRZ MHA MNE MPT MTA
Beitar Jerusalem 4–1 4–2 3–4 0–2 2–3
Bnei Yehuda 0–0 2–2 0–0 1–3 1–4
F.C. Ashdod 2–1 2–1 1–5 2–0 0–3
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 3–2 0–1 1–2 0–1 5–1 3–3
Hapoel Kfar Saba 1–1 2–5 1–2 1–6 0–1
Hapoel Petah Tikva 4–1 2–0 0–5 3–2 0–3
Hapoel Tel Aviv 4–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 0–1 0–0
Ironi Rishon LeZion 1–1 1–2 2–4 5–2 0–3
Maccabi Haifa 2–2 3–1 5–1 1–1 2–1 1–1
Maccabi Netanya 2–0 4–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0
Maccabi Petah Tikva 0–1 2–1 1–3 3–1 1–0 2–1
Maccabi Tel Aviv 5–0 2–1 2–2 3–0 2–0 0–0
Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goal scorers

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Rank Player Club Goals
1   Shay Holtzman Ironi Rishon LeZion / F.C. Ashdod 18
  Yaniv Abargil Hapoel Kfar Saba 18
3   Kobi Refua Maccabi Petah Tikva 15
4   Alon Mizrahi Hapoel Kfar Saba 14
  Avi Nimni Maccabi Tel Aviv 14
  Michael Zandberg Maccabi Haifa 14
7   Vladimir Andonov Bnei Yehuda 12
  Manor Hassan Hapoel Petah Tikva 12
  Andrzej Kubica Beitar Jerusalem 12
10   Lior Asulin Maccabi Petah Tikva 11
  Đovani Roso Maccabi Haifa 11
  Itzik Zohar Beitar Jerusalem 11

See also

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