The 2002–03 Primeira Liga was the 69th edition of top flight of Portuguese football. It started on 25 August 2002 with a match between Varzim and Paços de Ferreira, and ended on 1 June 2003. The league was contested by 18 clubs with Sporting CP as the defending champions.
Porto won the league and qualified for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League group stage, along with Benfica, who qualified for the third round. Sporting and União de Leiria qualified for the 2003–04 UEFA Cup. In opposite, Varzim, Santa Clara and Vitória de Setúbal were relegated to the Segunda Liga. Faye Fary was the top scorer with 18 goals.
Promotion and relegation
Teams relegated to Segunda Liga Salgueiros Farense Alverca
Salgueiros, Farense and Alverca, were consigned to the Segunda Liga following their final classification in 2001–02 season.
Teams promoted from Segunda Liga Moreirense Académica de Coimbra Nacional
The other three teams were replaced by Moreirense, Académica and Nacional from the Segunda Liga.
Teams
Stadia and locations
Team Head coach City Stadium2001–02 finish Académica de Coimbra João Alves Coimbra Estádio Cidade de Coimbra 2nd in Segunda Liga Beira-Mar António Sousa Aveiro Estádio Mário Duarte 11th Belenenses Marinho Peres Lisbon Estádio do Restelo 5th Benfica Jesualdo Ferreira Lisbon Estádio Nacional 4th Boavista Jaime Pacheco Porto Estádio do Bessa 2nd Braga Castro Santos Braga Estádio Primeiro de Maio 10th Marítimo Nelo Vingada Funchal Estádio dos Barreiros 11th Moreirense Manuel Machado Moreira de Cónegos Parque de Jogos 1st in Segunda Liga Nacional José Peseiro Funchal Estádio da Madeira 3rd in Segunda Liga Paços de Ferreira José Mota Paços de Ferreira Estádio da Mata Real 8th Porto José Mourinho Porto Estádio das Antas 3rd Gil Vicente Vítor Oliveira Barcelos Estádio Adelino Ribeiro Novo 12th Santa Clara Manuel Fernandes Ponta Delgada Estádio de São Miguel 14th Sporting CP László Bölöni Lisbon Estádio José Alvalade 1st União de Leiria Manuel Cajuda Leiria Estádio Municipal da Marinha Grande 7th Varzim José Alberto Costa Póvoa de Varzim Estádio do Varzim Sport Club 15th Vitória de Guimarães Augusto Inácio Guimarães Estádio D. Afonso Henriques 9th Vitória de Setúbal Luís Campos Setúbal Estádio do Bonfim 13th
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment Académica de Coimbra João Alves 26 October 2002 18th Artur Jorge 26 October 2002 Santa Clara Manuel Fernandes 17 November 2002 16th Carlos Alberto Silva 18 November 2002 Benfica Jesualdo Ferreira 24 November 2002 3rd Fernando Chalana 25 November 2002 Benfica Fernando Chalana 1 December 2002 3rd Camacho 2 December 2002 Vitória de Setúbal Luís Campos 3 February 2003 16th Diamantino Miranda 4 February 2003 Belenenses Marinho Peres 9 February 2003 10th Manuel José 10 February 2003 Varzim José Alberto Costa 8 March 2003 10th Luís Campos 9 March 2003 Vitória de Setúbal Diamantino Miranda 9 March 2003 17th Carlos Cardoso 10 March 2003 Braga Castro Santos 6 April 2003 14th Jesualdo Ferreira 20 April 2003
League table
Results
Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Faye Fary Beira-Mar 18 2 Simão Benfica 18 3 Adriano Nacional 16 4 Gaúcho Marítimo 15 5 Hélder Postiga Porto 13 Tiago Benfica 7 Maciel União de Leiria 12 José Barroso Braga 9 Paulo Alves Gil Vicente 11 Mário Jardel Sporting Dário Académica Ricardo Sousa Beira-Mar Source:
Attendances
# Club Average 1 Porto 28,248 2 Benfica 22,541 3 Sporting 14,789 4 Os Belenenses 5,382 5 Braga 5,194 6 Boavista 5,147 7 Marítimo 5,147 8 Académica 5,059 9 Beira-Mar 4,735 10 Vitória SC 4,729 11 Vitória FC 4,706 12 Santa Clara 3,971 13 Paços de Ferreira 3,500 14 Varzim 3,353 15 CD Nacional 3,000 16 Moreirense 2,294 17 União de Leiria 2,206 18 Gil Vicente 2,206Source:
Footnotes
External links Portugal 2002-03 - RSSSF (Jorge Miguel Teixeira) Portugal - Table of Honor - Soccer Library