2003 J.League Division 1

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

Clubs

1. 000000;"Vegalta Sendai]]}}
2. FFFFFF;"Kashima Antlers]]|position=top}}
3. 000000;"Urawa Red Diamonds]]|position=top}}
4. FFFFFF;"FC Tokyo]]|position=left}}
5. FFFFFF;"Yokohama F. Marinos]]|position=left}}
6. 000000;"Shimizu S-Pulse]]}}
7. 000000;"Júbilo Iwata]]}}
8. 000000;"Nagoya Grampus Eight]]|position=right}}
9. FFFFFF;"Gamba Osaka]]|position=left}}
10. FFFFFF;"Vissel Kobe]]|position=left}} 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 [[Image:Arrowupgreen.png]]
• FC Tokyo
• Gamba Osaka
• JEF United Ichihara
• Júbilo Iwata
• Kashima Antlers
• Kashiwa Reysol
• Kyoto Purple Sanga
• Nagoya Grampus Eight
• Oita Trinita [[Image:Arrowupgreen.png]]
• Shimizu S-Pulse
• Tokyo Verdy 1969
• Urawa Red Diamonds
• Vegalta Sendai
• Vissel Kobe
• Yokohama F. Marinos

Personnel

Foreign players

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

Attendance figures

--|notes=† Team played previous season in J2.|date=August 2017}}

Awards

Individual

Best Eleven

References

1. "2003 J1 first stage top scorers". J-League.