The 2003 J.League Division 1 season was the 11th season since the establishment of the J.League Division 1. The league began on March 15 and ended on November 29.
General Promotion and relegation At the end of the 2002 season, Oita Trinita and Cerezo Osaka were promoted to division 1. At the end of the 2002 season, Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Consadole Sapporo were relegated to division 2.
Changes in competition formats Extra time was scratched for Division 1. After regulation time, clubs now receives 3pts for a win, 1pt for a tie, and 0pts for a loss.
Changes in clubs none
Honours CompetitionChampionRunner-up3rd placeJ.League Division 1Yokohama F. MarinosJúbilo IwataJEF United IchiharaJ.League Division 2Albirex NiigataSanfrecce HiroshimaKawasaki FrontaleEmperor's CupJúbilo IwataCerezo OsakaKashima AntlersShimizu S-PulseNabisco CupUrawa Red DiamondsKashima AntlersJúbilo IwataShimizu S-PulseXEROX Super CupJúbilo IwataKyoto Purple Sanga
Clubs
The following were sixteen clubs participated in J.League Division 1 during 2003 season. Of these clubs, Oita Trinita and Cerezo Osaka were newly promoted from Division 2.
Cerezo Osaka FC Tokyo Gamba Osaka JEF United Ichihara Júbilo Iwata Kashima Antlers Kashiwa Reysol Kyoto Purple Sanga Nagoya Grampus Eight Oita Trinita Shimizu S-Pulse Tokyo Verdy 1969 Urawa Red Diamonds Vegalta Sendai Vissel Kobe Yokohama F. Marinos
Personnel Club Head coachCerezo Osaka Yuji TsukadaFC Tokyo Hiromi HaraGamba Osaka Akira NishinoJEF United Ichihara Ivica OsimJúbilo Iwata Masaaki YanagishitaKashima Antlers Toninho CerezoKashiwa Reysol Marco AurélioKyoto Purple Sanga Pim VerbeekNagoya Grampus Eight Nelsinho BaptistaOita Trinita Shinji KobayashiShimizu S-Pulse Takeshi OkiTokyo Verdy 1969 Osvaldo ArdilesUrawa Red Diamonds Hans OoftVegalta Sendai Zdenko VerdenikVissel Kobe Hiroshi SoejimaYokohama F. Marinos Takeshi Okada
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Non-visa foreign Type-C contract Former players Cerezo Osaka Axel Baron João Carlos Albin Pelak FC Tokyo Amaral Jean Kelly Oh Jang-eun Gamba Osaka Harison Magrão Francisco Arce Galeano Patrick Mboma JEF United Ichihara Sandro Željko Milinovič Choi Yong-soo Kim Wi-man Júbilo Iwata Rodrigo Gral Arno van Zwam Aleksandar Živković Kashima Antlers Euller Fernando Claudecir Sandro da Silva Kashiwa Reysol Jussiê Ricardinho Robert Márcio Nobre Kyoto Purple Sanga Biju Regillio Simons Ko Jong-soo Lim You-hwan Nagoya Grampus Eight Marques Ueslei Andrej Panadić Chong Yong-de Ivica Vastić Oita Trinita Edmilson Alves Róbson Will Sandro Kim Dong-hyun Andradina Rodrigo Mendes Shimizu S-Pulse Émerson Tuto Ahn Jung-hwan Tokyo Verdy 1969 Alexandre Lopes Ramon Menezes Patrick Mboma Urawa Red Diamonds Ned Zelic Emerson Sheik Yuriy Nikiforov Edmundo Vegalta Sendai Fabiano Silvinho Kim Eun-jung Éder Ceccon Marcos Vissel Kobe Bismarck Oséas Sidiclei Park Kang-jo Harison Yokohama F. Marinos Dutra Marquinhos Yoo Sang-chul
Format In the 2003 season, the league was conducted split-season format, 1st Stage and 2nd Stage. In each stage, sixteen clubs played in a single round-robin format, a total of 15 games per club (per stage). A club received 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs were ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order: Goal differential Goals scored Head-to-head results A draw would be conducted, if necessary. The club that finished at the top of the table is declared stage champion and qualifies for the Suntory Championship. The first stage winner, hosts the first leg in the championship series. If a single club wins both stages, the club is declared the season champions and championship series will not be held. Two bottom-placed clubs are relegated to J2.
Changes in Competition Format Extra time was abandoned, now every regular season game ends after 90 minutes.
First stage Table
Results
Second stage Table
Results
Championship In 2003, Suntory Championship was again not held because Yokohama F. Marinos had won both the first and the second stage and thus were automatically declared 2003 J.League Division 1 Champions.
Overall table
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals; 1 UesleiNagoya Grampus Eight 2 Rodrigo GralJúbilo Iwata 3 Emerson SheikUrawa Red Diamonds 4 Choi Yong-sooJEF United Ichihara5 Tatsuhiko KuboYokohama F. Marinos16 Yoshito ŌkuboCerezo Osaka 7 MagrãoGamba Osaka8 OséasVissel Kobe13 Patrick MbomaTokyo Verdy 196910 Keiji TamadaKashiwa Reysol11 Tatsuya TanakaUrawa Red Diamonds Ahn Jung-hwanShimizu S-Pulse
Attendance figures
Awards Individual AwardRecipientClubPlayer of the Year Emerson SheikUrawa Red DiamondsYoung Player of the Year Daisuke NasuYokohama F. MarinosManager of the Year Takeshi OkadaYokohama F. MarinosTop Scorer UesleiNagoya Grampus Eight
Best Eleven {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" |- !Position!!Footballer!!Club!!Nationality |- |GK||Seigo Narazaki (3)||Nagoya Grampus Eight|| |- |DF||Dutra (1)||Yokohama F. Marinos|| |- |DF||Yuji Nakazawa (2)||Yokohama F. Marinos|| |- |DF||Keisuke Tsuboi (1)||Urawa Red Diamonds|| |- |MF||Yasuhito Endō (1)||Gamba Osaka|| |- |MF||Takashi Fukunishi (4)||Júbilo Iwata|| |- |MF||Mitsuo Ogasawara (3)||Kashima Antlers|| |- |MF||Daisuke Oku (2)||Yokohama F. Marinos|| |- |FW||Emerson Sheik (2)||Urawa Red Diamonds|| |- |FW||Ueslei (1)||Nagoya Grampus Eight|| |- |FW |Tatsuhiko Kubo (1)||Yokohama F. Marinos||
* The number in brackets denotes the number of times that the footballer has appeared in the Best 11.
References
External links J. League Official Stats rsssf.com