# 2002–03 Divizia A

The 2002–03 Divizia A was the eighty-fifth season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. Season began in August 2002 and ended in May 2003. Rapid București became champions on 24 May 2003.

## Team changes
### Relegated

The teams that were relegated to Divizia B at the end of the previous season:
* Petrolul Ploiești
* UM Timișoara

### Promoted

The teams that were promoted from Divizia B at the start of the season:
* Poli AEK Timișoara
* UTA Arad

### Venues

| Poli AEK Timișoara | Steaua București | Universitatea Craiova | Rapid București |
| Dan Păltinișanu | Steaua | Ion Oblemenco | Giulești-Valentin Stănescu |
| Capacity: 32,972 | Capacity: 28,365 | Capacity: 25,252 | Capacity: 19,100 |
| FCM Bacău | Farul Constanța | Dinamo București | Argeș Pitești |
| Dumitru Sechelariu | Gheorghe Hagi | Dinamo | Nicolae Dobrin |
| Capacity: 17,500 | Capacity: 15,520 | Capacity: 15,032 | Capacity: 15,000 |
| Sportul Studențesc | BucharestArgeșAstraBacăuBrașovCeahlăulCraiovaFarulGloriaOțelulPoli AEKUTABucharest teams Dinamo Național Rapid Sportul Steaua2002–03 Divizia A (Romania) DinamoNaționalRapidSportulSteauaclass=notpageimage| Location of Bucharest teams. | BucharestArgeșAstraBacăuBrașovCeahlăulCraiovaFarulGloriaOțelulPoli AEKUTABucharest teams Dinamo Național Rapid Sportul Steaua2002–03 Divizia A (Romania) DinamoNaționalRapidSportulSteauaclass=notpageimage| Location of Bucharest teams. | Național București |
| Regie | BucharestArgeșAstraBacăuBrașovCeahlăulCraiovaFarulGloriaOțelulPoli AEKUTABucharest teams Dinamo Național Rapid Sportul Steaua2002–03 Divizia A (Romania) DinamoNaționalRapidSportulSteauaclass=notpageimage| Location of Bucharest teams. | BucharestArgeșAstraBacăuBrașovCeahlăulCraiovaFarulGloriaOțelulPoli AEKUTABucharest teams Dinamo Național Rapid Sportul Steaua2002–03 Divizia A (Romania) DinamoNaționalRapidSportulSteauaclass=notpageimage| Location of Bucharest teams. | Cotroceni |
| Capacity: 15,000 | BucharestArgeșAstraBacăuBrașovCeahlăulCraiovaFarulGloriaOțelulPoli AEKUTABucharest teams Dinamo Național Rapid Sportul Steaua2002–03 Divizia A (Romania) DinamoNaționalRapidSportulSteauaclass=notpageimage| Location of Bucharest teams. | BucharestArgeșAstraBacăuBrașovCeahlăulCraiovaFarulGloriaOțelulPoli AEKUTABucharest teams Dinamo Național Rapid Sportul Steaua2002–03 Divizia A (Romania) DinamoNaționalRapidSportulSteauaclass=notpageimage| Location of Bucharest teams. | Capacity: 14,542 |
| Oțelul Galați | BucharestArgeșAstraBacăuBrașovCeahlăulCraiovaFarulGloriaOțelulPoli AEKUTABucharest teams Dinamo Național Rapid Sportul Steaua2002–03 Divizia A (Romania) DinamoNaționalRapidSportulSteauaclass=notpageimage| Location of Bucharest teams. | BucharestArgeșAstraBacăuBrașovCeahlăulCraiovaFarulGloriaOțelulPoli AEKUTABucharest teams Dinamo Național Rapid Sportul Steaua2002–03 Divizia A (Romania) DinamoNaționalRapidSportulSteauaclass=notpageimage| Location of Bucharest teams. | Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț |
| Oțelul | BucharestArgeșAstraBacăuBrașovCeahlăulCraiovaFarulGloriaOțelulPoli AEKUTABucharest teams Dinamo Național Rapid Sportul Steaua2002–03 Divizia A (Romania) DinamoNaționalRapidSportulSteauaclass=notpageimage| Location of Bucharest teams. | BucharestArgeșAstraBacăuBrașovCeahlăulCraiovaFarulGloriaOțelulPoli AEKUTABucharest teams Dinamo Național Rapid Sportul Steaua2002–03 Divizia A (Romania) DinamoNaționalRapidSportulSteauaclass=notpageimage| Location of Bucharest teams. | Ceahlăul |
| Capacity: 13,500 | BucharestArgeșAstraBacăuBrașovCeahlăulCraiovaFarulGloriaOțelulPoli AEKUTABucharest teams Dinamo Național Rapid Sportul Steaua2002–03 Divizia A (Romania) DinamoNaționalRapidSportulSteauaclass=notpageimage| Location of Bucharest teams. | BucharestArgeșAstraBacăuBrașovCeahlăulCraiovaFarulGloriaOțelulPoli AEKUTABucharest teams Dinamo Național Rapid Sportul Steaua2002–03 Divizia A (Romania) DinamoNaționalRapidSportulSteauaclass=notpageimage| Location of Bucharest teams. | Capacity: 12,500 |
| FC Brașov | UTA Arad | Gloria Bistrița | Astra Ploiești |
| Tineretului | UTA | Gloria | Astra |
| Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 7,800 | Capacity: 7,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt Sponsor |
| Argeș Pitești | Ion Moldovan | Cristian Bălașa | Erreà | Pic |
| Astra Ploiești | Florin Marin | Daniel Petroesc | Lotto | Petrom, InterAgro |
| Brașov | Marius Lăcătuș | Cosmin Bodea | Joma | Prescon |
| Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț | Viorel Hizo | Radu Lefter | Ancada | Rifil, Romalfa |
| Dinamo București | Ioan Andone | Giani Kiriță | Lotto | Cosmorom |
| Farul Constanța | Marin Ion | Cristian Șchiopu | Erreà | Argus |
| Universitatea Craiova | Sorin Cârțu | Pavel Badea | Erreà | SIF Oltenia |
| FCM Bacău | Ilie Dumitrescu | Florin Prunea | Legea | Sonoma |
| Gloria Bistrița | Remus Vlad | Vasile Popa | Umbro | Darimex |
| Național București | Walter Zenga | Petre Marin | Lotto | Astra Asigurări, LG Corporation |
| Oțelul Galați | Costel Orac | Cătălin Tofan | Lotto | Ispat Sidex |
| Poli AEK Timișoara | Gheorghe Mulțescu | Florin Constantinovici | Erreà | ARGIROM |
| Rapid București | Mircea Rednic | Adrian Iencsi | Erreà | LaDorna |
| Sportul Studențesc | Cezar Zamfir | Laurențiu Diniță | Lotto | Omniasig |
| Steaua București | Victor Pițurcă | Mirel Rădoi | Nike | — |
| UTA Arad | Constantin Pană | Marius Popescu | Erreà | — |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Rapid București (C) | 30 | 20 | 3 | 7 | 59 | 25 | +34 | 63 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Steaua București | 30 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 42 | 27 | +15 | 56 | Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 3 | Gloria Bistrița | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 32 | 33 | −1 | 45 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 4 | Brașov | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 37 | 33 | +4 | 45 | |
| 5 | Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 43 | 33 | +10 | 44 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 6 | Dinamo București | 30 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 49 | 46 | +3 | 44 | Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 7 | Universitatea Craiova | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 36 | 37 | −1 | 44 | |
| 8 | Național București | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 41 | 36 | +5 | 43 | |
| 9 | Astra Ploiești | 30 | 13 | 3 | 14 | 42 | 42 | 0 | 42 | |
| 10 | Farul Constanța | 30 | 12 | 4 | 14 | 35 | 47 | −12 | 40 | |
| 11 | Argeș Pitești | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 37 | 41 | −4 | 38 | |
| 12 | Bacău | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 38 | |
| 13 | Oțelul Galați | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 25 | 37 | −12 | 36 | Qualification to relegation play-offs |
| 14 | Politehnica AEK Timișoara | 30 | 11 | 2 | 17 | 37 | 52 | −15 | 35 | Qualification to relegation play-offs |
| 15 | Sportul Studențesc București (R) | 30 | 9 | 4 | 17 | 44 | 55 | −11 | 31 | Relegation to Divizia B |
| 16 | UTA Arad (R) | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 37 | 52 | −15 | 30 | Relegation to Divizia B |
* 1 2 GLO 3-1 BRA; BRA 0-1 GLO
* 1 2 3 CH 3-2 D; D 5-0 CH; CR 3-1 D; D 1-0 CR; CR 0-0 CH; CH 3-0 CR
* 1 2 ARG 3-1 BAC; BAC 2-3 ARG

### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Argeș Pitești | 14 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 11 |
| Astra Ploiești | 13 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 |
| Bacău | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 |
| Brașov | 7 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț | 16 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 5 |
| Universitatea Craiova | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 7 |
| Dinamo București | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Farul Constanța | 8 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 10 |
| Gloria Bistrița | 9 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Oțelul Galați | 3 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| Național București | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| Rapid București | 6 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sportul Studențesc | 11 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Steaua București | 10 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Politehnica AEK Timișoara | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| UTA Arad | 12 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |

### Results

| Home \ Away | ARG | AST | BAC | BRA | CEA | FCU | DIN | FAR | GBI | OȚE | NAT | RAP | SPO | STE | TIM | UTA |
| Argeș Pitești | — | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 5–1 | 1–0 |
| Astra Ploiești | 2–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Bacău | 2–3 | 2–0 | — | 4–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Brașov | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | — | 3–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 6–0 |
| Universitatea Craiova | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Dinamo București | 3–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 2–1 | 5–0 |
| Farul Constanța | 2–1 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Gloria Bistrița | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 |
| Oțelul Galați | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Național București | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Rapid București | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 5–2 | 2–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Sportul Studențesc | 4–2 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 5–6 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| Steaua București | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 4–3 | — | 0–1 | 5–2 |
| Politehnica AEK Timișoara | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–3 | — | 3–4 |
| UTA Arad | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 6–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | — |

## Promotion / relegation play-off

The teams placed on the 13th and 14th place in the Divizia A faced the 2nd placed teams from both groups of the Divizia B. Politehnica AEK Timișoara and FC Oradea won the relegation play-offs.
Even though Oțelul Galați lost the relegation play-off against FC Oradea, they kept their place in the Divizia A because Petrolul Ploiești, the club that won the Divizia B, Seria I, sold its promotion place to Oțelul Galați and merged with Astra Ploiești, the other team from the city of Ploiești, which finished on the 9th position this season.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Politehnica AEK Timișoara | 8–4 | Gloria Buzău | 5–3 | 3–1 |
| Oțelul Galați | 3–4 | Oradea | 2–1 | 1–3 |

## Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Politehnica Timișoara | 324,000 | 40,000 | 6,000 | 21,600 | n/a$^1$ |
| 2 | Universitatea Craiova | 280,000 | 40,000 | 4,000 | 18,666 | n/a$^†$ |
| 3 | Rapid București | 157,000 | 20,000 | 3,000 | 10,466 | n/a$^†$ |
| 4 | Steaua București | 142,250 | 24,000 | 250 | 9,483 | n/a$^†$ |
| 5 | UTA Arad | 124,000 | 12,000 | 4,000 | 8,266 | n/a$^1$ |
| 6 | FCM Bacău | 120,000 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 8,000 | n/a$^†$ |
| 7 | Oțelul Galați | 94,000 | 12,000 | 3,000 | 6,266 | n/a$^†$ |
| 8 | Dinamo București | 87,000 | 15,000 | 2,000 | 5,800 | n/a$^†$ |
| 9 | Farul Constanța | 74,000 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 4,933 | n/a$^†$ |
| 10 | FC Brașov | 71,500 | 12,000 | 1,000 | 4,766 | n/a$^†$ |
| 11 | Argeș Pitești | 64,000 | 12,000 | 300 | 4,266 | n/a$^†$ |
| 12 | Național București | 60,100 | 12,000 | 900 | 4,006 | n/a$^2$ |
| 13 | Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț | 52,750 | 10,000 | 250 | 3,516 | n/a$^†$ |
| 14 | Gloria Bistrița | 48,100 | 12,000 | 300 | 3,206 | n/a$^†$ |
| 15 | Astra Ploiești | 44,000 | 10,000 | 500 | 2,933 | n/a$^†$ |
| 16 | Sportul Studențesc București | 35,150 | 8,000 | 150 | 2,510 | n/a$^†$ |
| | League total | 1,777,850 | 40,000 | 150 | 7,438 | n/a$^†$ |
Updated to games played on 2 June 2019 Source: League matches: Divizia A 2002/2003 Notes: 1: Played last season in Divizia B. 2: Național București played 1 match out of their stadium.

## Top goalscorers

| Position | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Claudiu Răducanu | Steaua București | 21 |
| 2 | Ionel Dănciulescu | Dinamo București | 16 |
| 3 | Laurențiu Diniță | Sportul Studențesc | 15 |
| 4 | Cosmin Bărcăuan | Dinamo București | 13 |
| 5 | Sergiu Radu | Național București | 12 |

## Champion squad

* Rapid București
* Goalkeepers: Emilian Dolha (22 / 0); Ionuț Curcă (4 / 0); Boban Savić (3 / 0); Răzvan Lucescu (1 / 0).
* Defenders: Cornel Buta (3 / 0); Nicolae Constantin (3 / 0); Adrian Iencsi (27 / 4); Vasile Maftei (29 / 3); Camille Muzinga (2 / 0); Dănuț Perjă (20 / 3); Răzvan Raț (28 / 2); Ion Voicu (19 / 1).
* Midfielders: Valentin Bădoi (30 / 7); Roberto Bisconti (8 / 0); Emmanuel Godfroid (24 / 5); Nicolae Grigore (15 / 0); Robert Ilyes (23 / 5); Claudiu Mircea Ionescu (1 / 0); Marius Măldărășanu (14 / 2); Dorin Pandele (1 / 0); Ioan Sabău (16 / 1); Claudiu Saghin (1 / 0); Constantin Schumacher (10 / 1); Florin Costin Șoavă (28 / 1).
* Forwards: Florin Bratu (27 / 11); Henry Makinwa (11 / 2); Daniel Niculae (28 / 6); Robert Niță (19 / 5).
* (league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
* Manager: Mircea Rednic.