# 2003–04 Nemzeti Bajnokság I

The 2003–04 Nemzeti Bajnokság I, also known as NB I, was the 102nd season of top-tier football in Hungary. The league was officially named Arany Ászok Liga for sponsoring reasons. The season started on 25 July 2003 and ended on 27 May 2004.

## Overview

It was contested by 12 teams, and Ferencvárosi TC won the championship under headcoach Attila Pintér. The green and whites started the season well, winning 9 of their 16 matches of the first half of the campaign. However, the team went on a 4-game losing streak in April, including a blow-out 0-4 loss against Balaton FC at home, and two 1-goal losses to their two biggest rivals, MTK and Újpest. The purple and whites on the other hand won five consecutive games in the same timeframe, and defeated Ferencváros twice within a 3-week period, with the latter being on the penultimate day of the season.
Going into the last gameday, Újpest were leading the table by one point, and looked destined to win their first championship since 1998. Much to their misfortune, they were unable to beat MTK, as the teams drew 1-1, while Ferencváros defeated Debrecen 3-1 in front of 10,000 people at Üllői Út to win their 28th national championship.

## First stage
### League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Ferencváros | 22 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 29 | 15 | +14 | 44 | Qualification for championship playoff |
| 2 | Siófok | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 11 | +13 | 41 | Qualification for championship playoff |
| 3 | Debrecen | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 34 | 17 | +17 | 39 | Qualification for championship playoff |
| 4 | MTK Hungária | 22 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 35 | 21 | +14 | 38 | Qualification for championship playoff |
| 5 | Újpest | 22 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 32 | 22 | +10 | 35 | Qualification for championship playoff |
| 6 | Sopron | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 35 | 28 | +7 | 31 | Qualification for championship playoff |
| 7 | Pécs | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 19 | 21 | −2 | 27 | Qualification for relegation playoff |
| 8 | Videoton | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 27 | 37 | −10 | 23 | Qualification for relegation playoff |
| 9 | Zalaegerszeg | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 24 | 35 | −11 | 20 | Qualification for relegation playoff |
| 10 | Győr | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 23 | 38 | −15 | 20 | Qualification for relegation playoff |
| 11 | Békéscsaba | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 23 | 34 | −11 | 19 | Qualification for relegation playoff |
| 12 | Haladás | 22 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 38 | −26 | 17 | Qualification for relegation playoff |

### Results

| Home \ Away | BÉK | DEB | FTC | GYŐ | HAL | MTK | PÉC | SIÓ | SOP | UTE | VID | ZTE |
| Békéscsaba | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 |
| Debrecen | 1–0 | | 5–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| Ferencváros | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Győr | 1–0 | 1–5 | 0–1 | | 6–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 4–3 |
| Haladás | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| MTK Hungária | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| Pécs | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Siófok | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Sopron | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 |
| Újpest | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Videoton | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | | 2–2 |
| Zalaegerszeg | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–1 | |

## Second stage
### Championship playoff
#### League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Ferencváros (C) | 32 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 44 | 30 | +14 | 57 | Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Újpest | 32 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 48 | 29 | +19 | 56 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Debrecen | 32 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 51 | 32 | +19 | 56 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round |
| 4 | Siófok (R) | 32 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 34 | 24 | +10 | 50 | Relegation to Nemzeti Bajnokság II |
| 5 | Sopron | 32 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 53 | 42 | +11 | 48 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round |
| 6 | MTK Hungária | 32 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 42 | 40 | +2 | 44 | |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | DEB | FTC | MTK | SIÓ | SOP | UTE |
| Debrecen | | 3–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Ferencváros | 3–1 | | 2–0 | 0–4 | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| MTK Hungária | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Siófok | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Sopron | 2–3 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 3–0 | | 1–1 |
| Újpest | 0–2 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | |

### Relegation playoff
#### League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 7 | Pécs | 32 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 36 | 37 | −1 | 40 | |
| 8 | Videoton | 32 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 55 | 51 | +4 | 40 | |
| 9 | Zalaegerszeg | 32 | 11 | 6 | 15 | 45 | 47 | −2 | 39 | |
| 10 | Győr | 32 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 36 | 54 | −18 | 36 | |
| 11 | Békéscsaba | 32 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 36 | 50 | −14 | 32 | |
| 12 | Haladás (R) | 32 | 4 | 11 | 17 | 19 | 63 | −44 | 23 | Relegation to Nemzeti Bajnokság II |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | BÉK | GYŐ | HAL | PÉC | VID | ZTE |
| Békéscsaba | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 |
| Győr | 3–0 | | 3–2 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 2–1 |
| Haladás | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Pécs | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | | 3–3 | 1–3 |
| Videoton | 1–3 | 4–1 | 6–1 | 3–3 | | 5–0 |
| Zalaegerszeg | 3–0 | 0–1 | 7–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | |

## Statistical leaders
### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Mihály Tóth | FC Sopron | 17 |
| 2 | Zoltán Gera | Ferencvárosi TC | 11 |
| 3 | Róbert Waltner | Zalaegerszegi TE | 10 |
| 4 | Péter Bajzát | Debreceni VSC | 9 |
| 4 | Zoltán Hercegfalvi | Videoton FC | 9 |
| 4 | Béla Kovács | Előre FC Békéscsaba | 9 |
| 4 | Zoltán Kovács | Újpest FC | 9 |
| 4 | Sándor Torghelle | MTK Budapest FC | 9 |
| 9 | Zsombor Kerekes | Pécsi Mecsek FC | 8 |
| 9 | Attila Tököli | Ferencvárosi TC | 8 |