# 2002–03 Israeli Premier League

The 2002–03 Israeli Premier League season saw Maccabi Tel Aviv win the title. It took place from the first match on 14 September 2002 to the final match on 31 May 2003.
Two teams from Liga Leumit were promoted at the end of the previous season: Hapoel Kfar Saba and Bnei Yehuda. The two teams relegated were Hapoel Haifa and Maccabi Kiryat Gat.

## Teams and Locations

Twelve teams took part in the 2002-03 Israeli Premier League season, including ten teams from the 2001-02 season, as well as two teams that were promoted from the 2001-02 Liga Leumit.
Hapoel Kfar Saba were promoted as champions of the 2001-02 Liga Leumit. Bnei Yehuda were promoted as runners up. Bnei Yehuda and Hapoel Kfar Saba returned to the top flight after an absence of one and two seasons respectively.
Hapoel Haifa and Maccabi Kiryat Gat were relegated after finishing in the bottom two places in the 2001-02 season.
| Club | Stadium | Capacity |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Teddy Stadium | 021,600 |
| Bnei Yehuda | Bloomfield Stadium | 015,700 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | Bloomfield Stadium | 015,700 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | Bloomfield Stadium | 015,700 |
| Maccabi Haifa | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | 014,002 |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | Vasermil Stadium | 013,000 |
| F.C. Ashdod | Yud-Alef Stadium | 07,800 |
| Maccabi Netanya | Sar-Tov Stadium | 07,500 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium | 06,800 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium | 06,800 |
| Ironi Rishon LeZion | Haberfeld Stadium | 06,000 |
| Hapoel Kfar Saba | Levita Stadium | 05,800 |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Bnei Yehuda Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Be'er Sheva |
| Teddy Stadium | Bloomfield Stadium | Vasermil Stadium |
| Maccabi Haifa | Maccabi Petah Tikva Hapoel Petah Tikva | F.C. Ashdod |
| Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium | Yud-Alef Stadium |
| Maccabi Netanya | Ironi Rishon LeZion | Hapoel Kfar Saba |
| Sar-Tov Stadium | Haberfeld Stadium | Levita Stadium |

## Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Maccabi Tel Aviv (C) | 33 | 22 | 3 | 8 | 66 | 31 | +35 | 69 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Maccabi Haifa | 33 | 21 | 6 | 6 | 75 | 42 | +33 | 69 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 3 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 33 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 53 | 22 | +31 | 67 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 4 | Maccabi Netanya | 33 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 47 | 36 | +11 | 54 | Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round |
| 5 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 33 | 15 | 6 | 12 | 56 | 41 | +15 | 51 | |
| 6 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 33 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 45 | 37 | +8 | 50 | |
| 7 | F.C. Ashdod | 33 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 35 | 49 | −14 | 40 | |
| 8 | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 33 | 11 | 6 | 16 | 41 | 53 | −12 | 39 | |
| 9 | Beitar Jerusalem | 33 | 10 | 6 | 17 | 46 | 59 | −13 | 36 | |
| 10 | Bnei Yehuda | 33 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 39 | 63 | −24 | 34 | |
| 11 | Hapoel Kfar Saba (R) | 33 | 7 | 5 | 21 | 43 | 81 | −38 | 23 | Relegation to Liga Leumit |
| 12 | Ironi Rishon LeZion (R) | 33 | 4 | 6 | 23 | 35 | 67 | −32 | 18 | Relegation to Liga Leumit |
* ↑ Deducted 3 points

## Results
### First and second round

| Home \ Away | BEI | BnY | ASH | HBS | HKS | HPT | HTA | IRZ | MHA | MNE | MPT | MTA |
| Beitar Jerusalem | — | 2–3 | 5–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 |
| Bnei Yehuda | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 |
| F.C. Ashdod | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–2 | 0–5 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 2–0 | 2–3 | 3–0 | — | 1–2 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Hapoel Kfar Saba | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–3 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | — | 2–3 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Ironi Rishon LeZion | 4–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | — | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 0–1 | 5–2 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 5–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–3 | — | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 5–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 4–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 4–2 | — |

### Third round

| Home \ Away | BEI | BnY | ASH | HBS | HKS | HPT | HTA | IRZ | MHA | MNE | MPT | MTA |
| Beitar Jerusalem | — | 4–1 | — | — | 4–2 | — | — | — | 3–4 | 0–2 | — | 2–3 |
| Bnei Yehuda | — | — | 0–0 | 2–2 | — | 0–0 | 1–3 | — | — | — | 1–4 | — |
| F.C. Ashdod | 2–1 | — | — | — | — | 2–1 | — | — | 1–5 | 2–0 | — | 0–3 |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 3–2 | — | 0–1 | — | — | 1–2 | 0–1 | 5–1 | — | 3–3 | — | — |
| Hapoel Kfar Saba | — | 1–1 | 2–5 | 1–2 | — | — | 1–6 | — | — | — | 0–1 | — |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | 4–1 | — | — | — | 2–0 | — | — | — | 0–5 | 3–2 | — | 0–3 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 4–1 | — | 1–0 | — | — | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | — | 0–1 | — | 0–0 |
| Ironi Rishon LeZion | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–4 | — | 5–2 | 0–3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Maccabi Haifa | — | 2–2 | — | 3–1 | 5–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | — | 1–1 | — |
| Maccabi Netanya | — | 2–0 | — | — | 4–1 | — | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–3 | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | — | — | — |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | — | 5–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–2 | — | — | 3–0 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | — |

## Top goal scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Shay Holtzman | Ironi Rishon LeZion / F.C. Ashdod | 18 |
| 1 | Yaniv Abargil | Hapoel Kfar Saba | 18 |
| 3 | Kobi Refua | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 15 |
| 4 | Alon Mizrahi | Hapoel Kfar Saba | 14 |
| 4 | Avi Nimni | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 14 |
| 4 | Michael Zandberg | Maccabi Haifa | 14 |
| 7 | Vladimir Andonov | Bnei Yehuda | 12 |
| 7 | Manor Hassan | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 12 |
| 7 | Andrzej Kubica | Beitar Jerusalem | 12 |
| 10 | Lior Asulin | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 11 |
| 10 | Đovani Roso | Maccabi Haifa | 11 |
| 10 | Itzik Zohar | Beitar Jerusalem | 11 |