# 2002–03 Alpha Ethniki

The 2002–03 Alpha Ethniki was the 67th season of the highest football league in Greece. The season began on 24 August 2002 and ended on 25 May 2003. Olympiacos won their seventh consecutive and 32nd Greek title. Olympiacos and Panathinaikos finished the League with the same points total but Olympiacos were crowned champions due to more favourable results between the two teams. It was a very dramatic end to the season, with the decisive game between the two clubs taking place in the penultimate round. The season was interrupted by strike action after television broadcaster Alpha Digital collapsed in September 2002, following which the players didn't play for a month.

## Teams
### Stadia and personnel

| Team | Manager$^1$ | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| AEK Athens | Dušan Bajević | Athens | Nikos Goumas Stadium | 27,729 |
| Akratitos | Dumitru Dumitriu | Athens | Yiannis Pathiakakis Stadium | 4,944 |
| Aris | Giorgos Foiros | Thessaloniki | Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium | 23,220 |
| Egaleo | Georgios Chatzaras | Athens | Stavros Mavrothalassitis Stadium | 8,217 |
| Ionikos | Jacek Gmoch | Piraeus | Neapoli Stadium | 4,999 |
| Iraklis | Eugène Gerards | Thessaloniki | Makedonikos Stadium | 8,100 |
| Kallithea | Babis Tennes | Kallithea | Grigoris Lambrakis Stadium | 4,250 |
| OFI | Zdeněk Ščasný | Heraklion | Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium | 9,000 |
| Olympiacos | Oleh Protasov | Piraeus | Georgios Kamaras Stadium | 14,856 |
| Panachaiki | Dimitrios Genas | Patras | Kostas Davourlis Stadium | 11,321 |
| Panathinaikos | Sergio Markarián | Athens | Leoforos Alexandras Stadium | 16,620 |
| Panionios | Jozef Bubenko | Nea Smyrni | Nea Smyrni Stadium | 11,756 |
| PAOK | Angelos Anastasiadis | Thessaloniki | Toumba Stadium | 28,803 |
| PAS Giannina | Nikos Anastopoulos | Ioannina | Zosimades Stadium | 7,652 |
| Proodeftiki | Soulis Papadopoulos | Piraeus | Nikaia Municipal Stadium | 5,000 |
| Skoda Xanthi | Nikos Karageorgiou | Xanthi | Xanthi Ground | 9,500 |
* $^1$ On final match day of the season, played on 25 May 2003.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Olympiacos (C) | 30 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 75 | 21 | +54 | 70 | Qualification for Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Panathinaikos | 30 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 50 | 19 | +31 | 70 | Qualification for Champions League group stage |
| 3 | AEK Athens | 30 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 74 | 29 | +45 | 68 | Qualification for Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | PAOK | 30 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 59 | 38 | +21 | 53 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Panionios | 30 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 35 | 25 | +10 | 53 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Aris | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 37 | 34 | +3 | 51 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Iraklis | 30 | 15 | 4 | 11 | 44 | 37 | +7 | 49 | |
| 8 | OFI | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 39 | 34 | +5 | 44 | |
| 9 | Skoda Xanthi | 30 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 31 | 33 | −2 | 35 | |
| 10 | Egaleo | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 28 | 44 | −16 | 31 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup third round |
| 11 | Proodeftiki | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 25 | 38 | −13 | 30 | |
| 12 | Akratitos | 30 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 33 | 62 | −29 | 26 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup second round |
| 13 | Kallithea | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 29 | 46 | −17 | 26 | |
| 14 | Ionikos (O) | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 22 | 42 | −20 | 24 | Qualification for Relegation play-off |
| 15 | Panachaiki (R) | 30 | 1 | 6 | 23 | 11 | 71 | −60 | 9 | Relegation to Beta Ethniki |
| 16 | PAS Giannina (R) | 30 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 25 | 44 | −19 | −65 | Relegation to Beta Ethniki |
* 1 2 Head-to-head points (goal difference): Olympiacos 3 (+2), Panathinaikos 3 (-2).
* 1 2 Head-to-head points (goal difference): PAOK 3 (+1), Panionios 3 (-1).
* 1 2 Head-to-head points: Akratitos 4, Kallithea 1.
* ↑ PAS Giannina were deducted 3 points per match for having debts of €900,000 to former players.

## Results

| Home \ Away | AEK | AKR | ARIS | EGA | ION | IRA | KLT | OFI | OLY | PNA | PAO | PGSS | PAOK | PAS | PRO | XAN |
| AEK Athens | | 6–2 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 3–2 |
| Akratitos | 3–2 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–5 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Aris | 1–1 | 4–1 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Egaleo | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Ionikos | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | | 2–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Iraklis | 0–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Kallithea | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| OFI | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Olympiacos | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 6–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 7–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Panachaiki | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–4 | | 0–3 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Panathinaikos | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Panionios | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 |
| PAOK | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 |
| PAS Giannina | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Proodeftiki | 1–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | | 1–1 |
| Skoda Xanthi | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 1–5 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | |

## Relegation play-off

Ionikos retained their spot in 2003–04 Alpha Ethniki. Apollon Kalamarias placed on 2003–04 Beta Ethniki

## Top scorers

Source: Galanis Sports Data
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Nikos Liberopoulos | Panathinaikos | 16 |
| 2 | Stelios Giannakopoulos | Olympiacos | 15 |
| 3 | Georgios Georgiadis | PAOK | 14 |
| 3 | Predrag Đorđević | Olympiacos | 14 |
| 5 | Njogu Demba-Nyrén | Aris | 12 |
| 5 | Vasilios Lakis | AEK Athens | 12 |
| 5 | Demis Nikolaidis | AEK Athens | 12 |
| 8 | Ioannis Okkas | PAOK | 11 |
| 8 | Vasilios Tsiartas | AEK Athens | 11 |
| 10 | Alessandro Soares | OFI | 10 |
| 10 | Dimitris Nalitzis | AEK Athens | 10 |
| 10 | Giovanni | Olympiacos | 10 |
| 10 | Lampros Choutos | Olympiacos | 10 |

## Awards
### Annual awards

Annual awards were announced on 10 November 2003.
| Award | Winner | Club |
| Greek Player of the Season | Stelios Giannakopoulos | Olympiacos |
| Foreign Player of the Season | Predrag Đorđević | Olympiacos |
| Young Player of the Season | Vangelis Mantzios | Panionios |
| Goalkeeper of the Season | Antonios Nikopolidis | Panathinaikos |
| Golden Boot | Nikos Liberopoulos | Panathinaikos |
| Manager of the Season | Dušan Bajević | AEK Athens |