# 2002–03 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 2002–03 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 18th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 10 teams. Bohemians were declared champions.

## Regular season

The 2003 season would see the League of Ireland Premier Division change from a winter league to a summer league. To facilitate this change, the 2002–03 season was a shortened season. This saw each team play three rounds of games, totalling 27 games each.

### Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Bohemians (C) | 27 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 47 | 27 | +20 | 54 | Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Shelbourne | 27 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 44 | 26 | +18 | 49 | Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 3 | Shamrock Rovers | 27 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 42 | 29 | +13 | 43 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 4 | Cork City | 27 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 37 | 34 | +3 | 39 | |
| 5 | Longford Town | 27 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 25 | 29 | −4 | 35 | |
| 6 | UCD | 27 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 23 | 25 | −2 | 33 | |
| 7 | St Patrick's Athletic | 27 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 27 | 33 | −6 | 33 | |
| 8 | Derry City | 27 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 31 | 37 | −6 | 31 | Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 9 | Drogheda United (O) | 27 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 26 | 40 | −14 | 30 | Qualification to Relegation play-off |
| 10 | Bray Wanderers (R) | 27 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 31 | 53 | −22 | 20 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
* ↑ Longford Town had 9 points deducted for fielding Avery John against Cork City, Bohemians and Bray Wanderers but this decision was revoked on appeal.
* ↑ Derry City qualified for the UEFA Cup qualifying round after winning the 2002–03 FAI Cup.

### Results
#### Matches 1–18

| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COR | DER | DRO | LON | SHM | SHE | StP | UCD |
| Bohemians | — | 4–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Bray Wanderers | 1–1 | — | 2–3 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Cork City | 1–1 | 3–0 | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 |
| Derry City | 0–3 | 3–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Drogheda United | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Longford Town | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Shelbourne | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 0–1 | — | 1–2 | 2–1 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 2–2 |
| UCD | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | — |

#### Matches 19–27

| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COR | DER | DRO | LON | SHM | SHE | StP | UCD |
| Bohemians | — | — | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | — | 3–2 | — | — | 1–1 |
| Bray Wanderers | 1–3 | — | — | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | — | — | — | — |
| Cork City | — | 3–1 | — | 2–1 | — | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 |
| Derry City | — | — | — | — | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — |
| Drogheda United | — | — | 0–0 | 3–1 | — | — | 0–2 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Longford Town | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | — | — | — | — | 0–2 |
| Shamrock Rovers | — | 3–1 | — | — | — | 3–2 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Shelbourne | 0–1 | 3–1 | — | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | — | 2–0 | — |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 2–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | — | — | 0–2 | — | — | — | — |
| UCD | — | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | — | — | — | 0–2 | 0–0 | — |

## Promotion/relegation play-off

The promotion/relegation play-off format was changed this season. It now featured four teams, the second, third and fourth placed teams from the 2002–03 League of Ireland First Division plus the ninth placed team from the Premier Division.

### Semi-final
#### 2nd Legs

Galway United win 2–1 on aggregate
Drogheda United win 4–2 on aggregate

### Final

Drogheda United win 3–2 on aggregate and retain their place in the Premier Division.