# 2002–03 National Soccer League

The 2002–03 National Soccer League season, was the 27th season of the National Soccer League in Australia. The finals format was revised for this season, with the top six teams at the end of the regular season qualifying for a home-and-away championship series. The top two teams from the championship series progressed to the grand final. Olympic Sharks were crowned premiers and Perth Glory were champions.

## Teams

| Team | Home city | Home ground |
| Adelaide City FC | Adelaide | Hindmarsh Stadium |
| Brisbane Strikers | Brisbane | Ballymore Stadium |
| Football Kingz | Auckland | Mt Smart Stadium |
| Marconi-Stallions | Sydney | Marconi Stadium |
| Melbourne Knights | Melbourne | Knights Stadium |
| Newcastle United | Newcastle | Newcastle Stadium |
| Northern Spirit | Sydney | North Sydney Oval |
| Olympic Sharks | Sydney | Endeavour Field |
| Parramatta Power | Sydney | Parramatta Stadium |
| Perth Glory | Perth | Perth Oval |
| South Melbourne | Melbourne | Lakeside Stadium |
| Sydney United | Sydney | Edensor Park |
| Wollongong City | Wollongong | Brandon Park |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Olympic Sharks | 24 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 51 | 28 | +23 | 51 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 2 | Perth Glory (C) | 24 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 48 | 22 | +26 | 50 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 3 | Parramatta Power | 24 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 51 | 27 | +24 | 40 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 4 | Newcastle United | 24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 37 | 25 | +12 | 37 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Adelaide Force | 24 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 40 | 34 | +6 | 37 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 6 | Northern Spirit | 24 | 11 | 3 | 10 | 37 | 44 | −7 | 36 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 7 | South Melbourne | 24 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 36 | 37 | −1 | 35 | |
| 8 | Sydney United | 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 23 | 31 | −8 | 27 | |
| 9 | Melbourne Knights | 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 38 | 52 | −14 | 27 | |
| 10 | Brisbane Strikers | 24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 38 | 45 | −7 | 26 | |
| 11 | Football Kingz | 24 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 26 | 45 | −19 | 24 | |
| 12 | Marconi Fairfield | 24 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 25 | 42 | −17 | 23 | |
| 13 | Wollongong Wolves | 24 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 25 | 43 | −18 | 23 | |

### Home and Away Results
#### Round 1

* This match was awarded to Parramatta 3-0 after it was found that Perth Glory breached regulation 16.13 in playing an unregistered player - Andre Gumprecht. The determination was made on 4 February 2003.

#### Round 26
## Championship play-offs

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Perth Glory (C) | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 7 | +20 | 27 | Qualification for the Grand Final |
| 2 | Olympic Sharks | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 14 | +3 | 19 | Qualification for the Grand Final |
| 3 | Adelaide Force (R) | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 17 | Joined the SASF Premier League |
| 4 | Parramatta Power | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 21 | −5 | 13 | |
| 5 | Northern Spirit | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 22 | −15 | 8 | |
| 6 | Newcastle United | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 17 | −8 | 7 | |
* ↑ Awarded 3 bonus points, due to regular season position.
* ↑ Awarded 6 bonus points, due to regular season position.
* ↑ Adelaide Force was not forcibly relegated, but voluntarily left the league due to financial difficulties.
* 1 2 The Round 9 match between Northern Spirit and Newcastle United was not played, as neither team could progress.

### Championship Playoff Results
#### Playoff Round 9

* This match was initially postponed due to heavy rains in Sydney making the pitch unplayable. It was intended to be rescheduled for Rat Park. Neither side could affect the championship, so the match was not played.

#### Playoff Round 10
## Grand final

PERTH GLORY: :
| GK | 1 | Jason Petkovic |
| MF | 2 | Matt Horsley |
| DF | 3 | Jamie Harnwell |
| MF | 4 | Bradley Hassell | | 60' |
| MF | 6 | Andre Gumprecht |
| MF | 7 | Scott Miller |
| FW | 10 | Bobby Despotovski (c) | | 87' |
| FW | 16 | Damian Mori | | 89' |
| DF | 18 | Shane Pryce |
| DF | 22 | Simon Colosimo |
| DF | 23 | David Tarka | 40' | |
| Substitutes: |||
| GK | 20 | Vince Matassa |
| FW | 9 | Nik Mrdja | | 89' |
| DF | 12 | Mark Byrnes | | 60' |
| MF | 15 | Edgar Aldrighi | | 87' |
| FW | 21 | Adrian Caceres |
| Manager: |||
| Mich d'Avray ||||
| Joe Marston Medal: |||
| Simon Colosimo ||||
OLYMPIC SHARKS: :
| GK | 1 | Clint Bolton |
| DF | 4 | Paul Kohler | | | 80' |
| DF | 6 | Ante Jurić (c) |
| MF | 8 | Tom Pondeljak |
| FW | 9 | Ante Milicic |
| MF | 10 | Troy Halpin |
| MF | 11 | Jade North |
| FW | 17 | Jeromy Harris | | | 76' |
| FW | 18 | Joel Porter | 58' | | 80' |
| DF | 23 | Andrew Packer |
| MF | 27 | Hiroyuki Ishida |
| Substitutes: |||
| GK | 20 | Brett Hughes |
| MF | 7 | Wayne Srhoj | | | 80' |
| FW | 12 | Franco Parisi | | | 80' |
| MF | 14 | Greg Owens | | 76' |
| DF | 24 | Andrew Durante |
| Manager: |||
| Lee Sterrey ||||