# 2003–04 Croatian First Football League

The 2003–04 Croatian First Football League (officially known as the Prva HNL Ožujsko for sponsorship reasons) was the thirteenth season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 24 July 2003 and ended on 15 May 2004. Dinamo Zagreb were the defending champions, having won their tenth championship title the previous season. Hajduk Split won the title, after a win against Varteks on 15 May 2004.

## Teams
### Stadia and personnel

| Team | Manager$^1$ | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Cibalia | Davor Mladina | Vinkovci | Stadion HNK Cibalia | 9,920 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Nikola Jurčević | Zagreb | Stadion Maksimir | 37,168 |
| Hajduk Split | Petar Nadoveza | Split | Stadion Poljud | 35,000 |
| Inter Zaprešić | Srećko Bogdan | Šibenik | Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić | 5,000 |
| Kamen Ingrad | Nenad Gračan | Velika | Stadion Kamen Ingrad | 8,000 |
| Marsonia | Vjekoslav Lokica | Slavonski Brod | Gradski stadion uz Savu | 10,000 |
| Osijek | Branko Karačić | Osijek | Stadion Gradski vrt | 19,500 |
| Rijeka | Ivan Katalinić | Rijeka | Stadion Kantrida | 10,275 |
| Slaven Belupo | Milo Nižetić | Koprivnica | Gradski stadion u Koprivnici | 4,000 |
| Varteks | Miroslav Blažević | Varaždin | Stadion Varteks | 10,800 |
| Zadar | Stanko Mršić | Zadar | Stadion Stanovi | 5,860 |
| NK Zagreb | Mile Petković | Zagreb | Stadion Kranjčevićeva | 8,850 |
* $^1$ On final match day of the season, played on 15 May 2004.

## First stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Hajduk Split | 22 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 46 | 18 | +28 | 55 | Qualification to championship group |
| 2 | Dinamo Zagreb | 22 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 47 | 16 | +31 | 50 | Qualification to championship group |
| 3 | Rijeka | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 26 | 25 | +1 | 31 | Qualification to championship group |
| 4 | Osijek | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 36 | 40 | −4 | 29 | Qualification to championship group |
| 5 | Varteks | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 21 | 25 | −4 | 29 | Qualification to championship group |
| 6 | Zadar | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 37 | 44 | −7 | 28 | Qualification to championship group |
| 7 | Kamen Ingrad | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 32 | 27 | +5 | 28 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 8 | Inter Zaprešić | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 23 | −1 | 27 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 9 | Slaven Belupo | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 22 | 27 | −5 | 26 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 10 | Cibalia | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 20 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 11 | NK Zagreb | 22 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 21 | 32 | −11 | 19 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 12 | Marsonia | 22 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 25 | 48 | −23 | 17 | Qualification to relegation group |
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Osijek–Varteks 3–1, Varteks–Osijek 1–1.
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Zadar–Kamen Ingrad 2–1, Kamen Ingrad–Zadar 2–2.

### Rounds 1–22 results

| Home \ Away | CIB | DIN | HAJ | INT | KAM | MAR | OSI | RIJ | SLA | VAR | ZAD | ZAG |
| Cibalia | | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 3–2 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 7–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 |
| Hajduk Split | 3–1 | 3–1 | | 1–4 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| Inter Zaprešić | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Kamen Ingrad | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | | 5–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Marsonia | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 |
| Osijek | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 5–2 |
| Rijeka | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | | 2–0 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 |
| Slaven Belupo | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 |
| Varteks | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 3–2 | 2–0 |
| Zadar | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | | 1–1 |
| NK Zagreb | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | |

## Championship group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Hajduk Split (C) | 32 | 25 | 3 | 4 | 63 | 24 | +39 | 78 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Dinamo Zagreb | 32 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 77 | 25 | +52 | 76 | Qualification to UEFA Cup second qualifying round |
| 3 | Rijeka | 32 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 36 | 41 | −5 | 42 | Qualification to UEFA Cup second qualifying round |
| 4 | Osijek | 32 | 11 | 6 | 15 | 50 | 57 | −7 | 39 | |
| 5 | Varteks | 32 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 33 | 42 | −9 | 38 | |
| 6 | Zadar | 32 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 46 | 71 | −25 | 32 | |

### Rounds 23–32 results

| Home \ Away | DIN | HAJ | OSI | RIJ | VAR | ZAD |
| Dinamo Zagreb | | 3–1 | 4–1 | 5–0 | 4–1 | 5–0 |
| Hajduk Split | 0–0 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 5–1 |
| Osijek | 2–3 | 0–1 | | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 |
| Rijeka | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| Varteks | 3–4 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 4–1 |
| Zadar | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | |

## Relegation group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 7 | Kamen Ingrad | 32 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 45 | 36 | +9 | 46 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup second round |
| 8 | Inter Zaprešić | 32 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 40 | 38 | +2 | 42 | |
| 9 | Slaven Belupo | 32 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 37 | 39 | −2 | 40 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 10 | NK Zagreb | 32 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 33 | 41 | −8 | 36 | |
| 11 | Cibalia (R) | 32 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 39 | 53 | −14 | 31 | Qualification to relegation play-off |
| 12 | Marsonia (R) | 32 | 5 | 10 | 17 | 32 | 64 | −32 | 25 | Relegation to Croatian Second Football League |

### Rounds 23–32 results

| Home \ Away | CIB | INT | KAM | MAR | SLA | ZAG |
| Cibalia | | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| Inter Zaprešić | 3–1 | | 3–2 | 3–0 | 4–3 | 0–1 |
| Kamen Ingrad | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Marsonia | 3–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Slaven Belupo | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 0–1 |
| NK Zagreb | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–2 | |

### Relegation play-off
#### Second leg

Međimurje win 4–2 on aggregate and are promoted to 2004–05 Prva HNL.

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Robert Špehar | Osijek | 18 |
| 2 | Goran Ljubojević | Osijek | 16 |
| 2 | Dario Zahora | Dinamo Zagreb | 16 |
| 4 | Zoran Zekić | Kamen Ingrad | 13 |
| 5 | Mate Brajković | Zadar | 12 |
| 5 | Petar Krpan | Hajduk Split | 12 |
| 5 | Marijan Vuka | Marsonia | 12 |
| 8 | Sandro Klić | Rijeka | 11 |
| 8 | Goce Sedloski | Dinamo Zagreb | 11 |
Source: 1.hnl.net (in Croatian)