2002–03 Croatian First Football League

The 2002–03 Croatian First Football League was the twelfth season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 24 July 2002 and ended on 31 May 2003. NK Zagreb were the defending champions, having won their first championship title the previous season. Dinamo Zagreb won the title, after a win against Varteks on 17 May 2003.

Croatian First Football League
Season2002–03
ChampionsDinamo Zagreb
7th Croatian title
11th domestic title
RelegatedŠibenik
Pomorac
Champions LeagueDinamo Zagreb
UEFA CupHajduk Split
Varteks
Kamen Ingrad
Intertoto CupCibalia
NK Zagreb
Matches played192
Goals scored521 (2.71 per match)
Top goalscorerIvica Olić (16)
Biggest home winRijeka 7–0 Zadar
Biggest away winOsijek 1–5 Dinamo Z.
Zadar 1–5 Varteks
Highest scoringŠibenik 6–3 Zadar
Average attendance3,326

Teams

The league format was changed from the previous 2001–02 season and the number of teams were reduced from sixteen to twelve for the 2002–03 Prva HNL. Because of this, the four bottom-placed teams were automatically relegated to Croatian Second Football League at the end of the season, while the 11th placed Šibenik and 12th placed Kamen Ingrad qualified for the Relegation play-offs. Both clubs then went on to win the two-legged play-off ties against second level sides Vukovar '91 and Istra Pula. Therefore, no team was promoted from the 2001–02 Croatian Second Football League and all twelve teams which contested the 2002–03 Prva HNL were also top flight members in the previous season.

Changes from last season

Teams relegated to the 2002–03 Croatian Second Football League

Summaries

The following is an overview of teams which competed in the 2002–03 Prva HNL. Manager list is correct as of 24 July 2002, first day of the season.

Locations of teams in 2002–03 Prva HNL
Team Manager Home city Stadium Capacity
Cibalia Mile Petković Vinkovci Stadion HNK Cibalia 9,920
Dinamo Zagreb Miroslav Blažević Zagreb Stadion Maksimir 37,168
Hajduk Split Zoran Vulić Split Stadion Poljud 35,000
Kamen Ingrad Vjeran Simunić Velika Stadion Kamen Ingrad 8,000
Osijek Milan Đuričić Osijek Stadion Gradski vrt 19,500
Pomorac Predrag Stilinović Kostrena Stadion Žuknica 3,000
Rijeka Zlatko Kranjčar Rijeka Stadion Kantrida 10,275
Slaven Belupo Rajko Magić Koprivnica Gradski stadion 4,000
Šibenik Franko Bogdan Šibenik Stadion Šubićevac 8,000
Varteks Dražen Besek Varaždin Stadion NK Varteks 10,800
Zadar Stanko Mršić Zadar Stadion Stanovi 5,860
NK Zagreb Ivan Katalinić Zagreb Stadion Kranjčevićeva 8,850

First stage
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Dinamo Zagreb 22 18 3 1 51 17 +34 57 Qualification to championship group
2 Hajduk Split 22 16 2 4 42 14 +28 50
3 Varteks 22 15 0 7 40 21 +19 45
4 Cibalia 22 9 5 8 28 28 0 32
5 Kamen Ingrad 22 7 9 6 23 22 +1 30
6 NK Zagreb 22 8 6 8 28 30 −2 30
7 Slaven Belupo 22 9 2 11 24 26 −2 29 Qualification to relegation group
8 Osijek 22 6 5 11 21 39 −18 23
9 Zadar 22 5 6 11 21 40 −19 21
10 Rijeka 22 5 3 14 23 33 −10 18
11 Pomorac 22 3 8 11 26 41 −15 17
12 Šibenik 22 4 5 13 23 39 −16 17
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Rounds 1–22 results
Home \ Away CIB DIN HAJ KAM OSI POM RIJ SLA ŠIB VAR ZAD ZAG
Cibalia 1–1 4–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 3–1 1–0 3–1 0–1 0–0 2–1
Dinamo Zagreb 4–1 2–1 1–1 6–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 3–1 3–1 3–1 1–1
Hajduk Split 4–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 5–1 2–1 2–0 3–1 3–1 4–0 3–0
Kamen Ingrad 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 4–0 0–1 1–1 1–1
Osijek 1–0 1–5 0–2 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–2 1–0 1–2 3–0 2–2
Pomorac 0–0 2–3 0–3 1–1 2–2 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–2
Rijeka 2–1 0–1 0–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 5–1 0–2 3–1 3–2
Slaven Belupo 2–3 1–3 1–0 1–2 4–0 2–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 1–2 0–0
Šibenik 2–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–2 3–1 0–0 1–0 1–3 3–3 3–0
Varteks 3–0 0–2 0–1 3–0 2–0 4–2 2–1 2–0 2–1 3–1 2–0
Zadar 0–2 1–3 0–1 1–1 1–0 2–3 1–0 1–2 0–0 1–5 2–1
NK Zagreb 0–1 1–3 2–1 3–1 1–1 2–1 4–1 2–0 2–1 1–0 0–0
Source: RSSSF.com
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship group
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Dinamo Zagreb (C) 32 25 3 4 76 27 +49 78 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2 Hajduk Split 32 22 4 6 56 22 +34 70 Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round
3 Varteks 32 18 3 11 52 38 +14 57
4 Kamen Ingrad 32 11 11 10 34 34 0 44
5 Cibalia 32 12 7 13 39 44 −5 43 Qualification to Intertoto Cup second round
6 NK Zagreb 32 9 9 14 40 52 −12 36 Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion.

Rounds 23–32 results
Home \ Away CIB DIN HAJ KAM VAR ZAG
Cibalia 3–2 1–1 3–2 1–2 2–1
Dinamo Zagreb 3–0 0–1 1–0 5–1 5–0
Hajduk Split 1–0 4–1 2–0 1–0 1–0
Kamen Ingrad 2–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–0
Varteks 1–0 0–3 2–2 1–1 3–1
NK Zagreb 1–1 1–3 3–1 3–3 2–2
Source: RSSSF.com
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation group
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation
7 Slaven Belupo 32 12 4 16 37 36 +1 40
8 Osijek 32 10 9 13 32 51 −19 39
9 Rijeka 32 9 6 17 40 41 −1 33
10 Zadar 32 9 6 17 36 71 −35 33
11 Pomorac (R) 32 7 11 14 42 52 −10 32 Qualification to relegation play-off
12 Šibenik (R) 32 8 7 17 37 53 −16 31 Relegation to Croatian Second Football League
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated.

Rounds 23–32 results
Home \ Away OSI POM RIJ SLA ŠIB ZAD
Osijek 0–0 3–2 1–1 1–0 2–1
Pomorac 5–0 1–1 3–2 1–1 4–1
Rijeka 0–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 7–0
Slaven Belupo 0–0 0–1 2–0 3–0 5–0
Šibenik 0–2 2–0 0–0 2–0 6–3
Zadar 3–2 2–1 2–1 1–0 2–3
Source: RSSSF.com
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-off
Pomorac0 – 0Inker Zaprešić
Report
(in Croatian)
Stadion Žuknica, Kostrena
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Vlado Svilokos (Sisak)
Inker Zaprešić3 – 1Pomorac
Lalić  38'
Eduardo  45', 80'		 Report
(in Croatian)		 Karabogdan  12'
Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić, Zaprešić
Attendance: 4,500
Referee: Željko Širić (Osijek)

Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Ivica Olić Dinamo Zagreb 16
2 Boško Balaban Dinamo Zagreb 15
3 Zoran Zekić Kamen Ingrad 14
4 Marijo Dodik Slaven Belupo 12
Sandro Klić Rijeka
6 Milan Pavličić Osijek 11
7 Veldin Karić Varteks 10
Petar Krpan Hajduk Split
9 Mladen Bartolović Cibalia 9
Ivan Bulat Šibenik
Ivica Karabogdan Pomorac
Dumitru Mitu Dinamo Zagreb

Source: 1.hnl.net (in Croatian)

See also
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