J.League Division 1
Season2003
ChampionsYokohama F. Marinos
2nd J. League title
4th Japanese title
RelegatedVegalta Sendai
Kyoto Purple Sanga
Champions LeagueYokohama F. Marinos
Júbilo Iwata
(all to the group stage)
Matches played240
Goals scored718 (2.99 per match)
Top goalscorerUeslei (22 goals total)
Highest attendance59,728 (Round 15,
F. Marinos vs. Vissel)
Lowest attendance3,452 (Round 3,
JEF United vs. Vissel)
Average attendance17,351
← 2002
2004 →

The 2003 season was the 11th season since the establishment of the J.League. The league began on March 15 and ended on November 29.

General

Promotion and relegation

Changes in competition formats

Changes in clubs

none

Honours

Competition Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place
J.League Division 1 Yokohama F. Marinos Júbilo Iwata JEF United Chiba
J.League Division 2 Albirex Niigata Sanfrecce Hiroshima Kawasaki Frontale
Emperor's Cup Júbilo Iwata Cerezo Osaka Kashima Antlers
Shimizu S-Pulse
Nabisco Cup Urawa Red Diamonds Kashima Antlers Júbilo Iwata
Shimizu S-Pulse
Xerox Super Cup Júbilo Iwata Kyoto Purple Sanga

Clubs

2003 J.League Division 1 is located in Japan
Vegalta Sendai
Kashima Antlers
Urawa Red Diamonds
Tokyo Verdy 1969
FC Tokyo
Yokohama F. Marinos
Kashiwa Reysol
JEF United Ichihara
Shimizu S-Pulse
Júbilo Iwata
Nagoya Grampus Eight
Kyoto Purple Sanga
Gamba Osaka
Cerezo Osaka
Vissel Kobe
Oita Trinita
Location of the clubs in Japan

Following sixteen clubs participated in J.League Division 1 during 2003 season. Of these clubs, Oita Trinita and Cerezo Osaka were newly promoted from Division 2.

Format

In the 2003 season, the league was conducted split-season format, 1st Stage and 2nd Stage. In each stage, sixteen clubs played in a single round-robin format, a total of 15 games per club (per stage). A club received 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs were ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order:

A draw would be conducted, if necessary. The club that finished at the top of the table is declared stage champion and qualifies for the Suntory Championship. The first stage winner, hosts the first leg in the championship series. If a single club wins both stages, the club is declared the season champions and championship series will not be held. Two bottom-placed clubs are relegated to J2.

Changes in Competition Format

First stage

Table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Yokohama F. Marinos (A) 15 10 2 3 29 16 +13 32 Qualification for Suntory Championship
2 Júbilo Iwata 15 9 4 2 34 17 +17 31
3 JEF United Ichihara 15 8 3 4 33 20 +13 27
4 FC Tokyo 15 7 4 4 14 11 +3 25
5 Cerezo Osaka 15 8 1 6 29 29 0 25
6 Urawa Red Diamonds 15 7 3 5 25 23 +2 24
7 Nagoya Grampus Eight 15 5 8 2 19 16 +3 23
8 Kashima Antlers 15 7 2 6 23 21 +2 23
9 Kashiwa Reysol 15 6 3 6 19 19 0 21
10 Tokyo Verdy 1969 15 6 1 8 28 32 −4 19
11 Shimizu S-Pulse 15 5 3 7 20 18 +2 18
12 Gamba Osaka 15 4 4 7 26 29 −3 16
13 Vissel Kobe 15 5 1 9 18 34 −16 16
14 Oita Trinita 15 4 3 8 20 21 −1 15
15 Vegalta Sendai 15 3 3 9 17 28 −11 12
16 Kyoto Purple Sanga 15 3 1 11 14 34 −20 10
Updated to match(es) played on August 2, 2003. Source: J. League Division 1
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(A) Advance to a further round

Results

Home \ Away ANT CER GAM GRA JEF JÚB SAN REY SSP TOK TRI RED VEG VER VIS FMA
Kashima Antlers 0–1 0–2 5–2 2–0 3–1 1–0 3–3 1–3
Cerezo Osaka 2–1 1–3 1–3 0–0 6–4 0–2 0–1 1–4
Gamba Osaka 1–2 0–2 3–3 1–1 2–3 1–0 1–2
Nagoya Grampus Eight 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–1 1–4
JEF United Ichihara 1–2 5–1 0–0 1–2 5–1 2–1 0–3 3–1
Júbilo Iwata 1–1 2–2 5–0 1–0 1–0 7–2 1–0 2–4
Kyoto Purple Sanga 3–1 2–4 1–2 0–1 0–3 0–2 1–0 2–5
Kashiwa Reysol 1–2 3–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–1 3–1
Shimizu S-Pulse 2–0 4–5 3–0 0–2 0–2 3–0 0–1
FC Tokyo 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–0 2–1 2–0
Oita Trinita 1–1 1–2 3–2 0–4 0–4 0–0 0–0
Urawa Red Diamonds 4–4 0–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–1 3–2
Vegalta Sendai 0–2 1–2 0–2 1–1 1–2 3–1 1–0 3–3
Tokyo Verdy 1969 2–3 3–1 1–2 2–1 0–2 0–2 3–2 0–3
Vissel Kobe 4–3 0–3 0–2 0–1 0–8 3–2 1–2
Yokohama F. Marinos 0–0 2–1 3–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 3–0
Updated to match(es) played on August 2, 2003. Source: J. League Division 1
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second stage

Table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Yokohama F. Marinos (A) 15 7 5 3 27 17 +10 26 Qualification for Suntory Championship
2 JEF United Ichihara 15 7 5 3 24 18 +6 26
3 Júbilo Iwata 15 7 5 3 22 17 +5 26
4 Kashima Antlers 15 6 7 2 21 19 +2 25
5 FC Tokyo 15 6 6 3 32 20 +12 24
6 Urawa Red Diamonds 15 6 5 4 29 19 +10 23
7 Gamba Osaka 15 6 5 4 24 17 +7 23
8 Nagoya Grampus Eight 15 6 4 5 30 26 +4 22
9 Tokyo Verdy 1969 15 5 6 4 28 25 +3 21
10 Shimizu S-Pulse 15 6 3 6 19 26 −7 21
11 Kashiwa Reysol 15 3 7 5 16 20 −4 16
12 Cerezo Osaka 15 4 3 8 26 27 −1 15
13 Vissel Kobe 15 3 5 7 17 29 −12 14
14 Kyoto Purple Sanga 15 3 4 8 14 26 −12 13
15 Vegalta Sendai 15 2 6 7 14 28 −14 12
16 Oita Trinita 15 1 8 6 7 16 −9 11
Updated to match(es) played on November 29, 2003. Source: J. League Division 1
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(A) Advance to a further round

Results

Home \ Away ANT CER GAM GRA JEF JÚB SAN REY SSP TOK TRI RED VEG VER VIS FMA
Kashima Antlers 2–2 1–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 0–0
Cerezo Osaka 1–1 0–2 2–3 0–1 5–1 2–0 4–2
Gamba Osaka 3–1 5–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 0–1 2–2 2–2
Nagoya Grampus Eight 3–1 1–3 2–2 3–2 4–1 1–2 3–2
JEF United Ichihara 2–3 1–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–1
Júbilo Iwata 1–1 2–2 2–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–0
Kyoto Purple Sanga 1–2 3–2 1–0 1–1 0–0 0–2 0–0
Kashiwa Reysol 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–3 2–4 0–0 1–0 0–2
Shimizu S-Pulse 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–3 0–0 1–0 2–2 3–1
FC Tokyo 5–1 2–1 2–2 1–2 1–1 1–1 4–1 4–1
Oita Trinita 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–3 1–1 0–2 2–2 1–1
Urawa Red Diamonds 2–2 3–0 2–2 3–1 0–0 5–1 2–0 0–3
Vegalta Sendai 0–3 1–2 3–1 2–2 1–6 1–1 0–4
Tokyo Verdy 1969 1–1 4–2 4–4 0–2 1–2 4–1 0–0
Vissel Kobe 2–1 0–4 0–1 1–3 2–2 1–2 0–3 1–1
Yokohama F. Marinos 1–2 2–2 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–0 5–1 2–2
Updated to match(es) played on November 29, 2003. Source: J. League Division 1
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Suntory Championship

In 2003, Suntory Championship was again not held because Yokohama F. Marinos had won both the first and the second stage and thus were automatically declared 2003 J.League Champions.

Overall table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Yokohama F. Marinos (C) 30 17 7 6 56 33 +23 58 Qualification for AFC Champions League 2004 group stage
2 Júbilo Iwata 30 16 9 5 56 34 +22 57
3 JEF United Ichihara 30 15 8 7 57 38 +19 53
4 FC Tokyo 30 13 10 7 46 31 +15 49
5 Kashima Antlers 30 13 9 8 44 40 +4 48
6 Urawa Red Diamonds 30 13 8 9 54 42 +12 47
7 Nagoya Grampus Eight 30 11 12 7 49 42 +7 45
8 Tokyo Verdy 1969 30 11 7 12 56 57 −1 40
9 Cerezo Osaka 30 12 4 14 55 56 −1 40
10 Gamba Osaka 30 10 9 11 50 46 +4 39
11 Shimizu S-Pulse 30 11 6 13 39 44 −5 39
12 Kashiwa Reysol 30 9 10 11 35 39 −4 37
13 Vissel Kobe 30 8 6 16 35 63 −28 30
14 Oita Trinita 30 5 11 14 27 37 −10 26
15 Vegalta Sendai (R) 30 5 9 16 31 56 −25 24 Relegation to 2004 J.League Division 2
16 Kyoto Purple Sanga (R) 30 6 5 19 28 60 −32 23
Updated to match(es) played on November 29, 2003. Source: J. League Division 1 first stage, J. League Division 1 second stage
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Top scorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals[1]
1 Brazil Ueslei Nagoya Grampus Eight
22
2 Brazil Rodrigo Gral Júbilo Iwata
21
3 Brazil Emerson Sheik Urawa Red Diamonds
18
4 South Korea Choi Yong-soo JEF United Ichihara
17
5 Japan Tatsuhiko Kubo Yokohama F. Marinos
16
Japan Yoshito Ōkubo Cerezo Osaka
16
7 Brazil Magrão Gamba Osaka
15
8 Cameroon Patrick M'Boma Tokyo Verdy 1969
13
Brazil Oséas Vissel Kobe
13
10 South Korea Ahn Jung-hwan Shimizu S-Pulse
11
Japan Keiji Tamada Kashiwa Reysol
11
Japan Tatsuya Tanaka Urawa Red Diamonds
11

Attendance figures

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Urawa Red Diamonds 432,825 51,195 18,335 28,855 +9.7%†
2 Yokohama F. Marinos 374,359 59,728 59,728 24,957 +3.5%†
3 FC Tokyo 373,978 35,109 15,509 24,932 +12.4%†
4 Vegalta Sendai 325,621 33,443 18,696 21,708 −0.7%†
5 Oita Trinita 320,597 34,823 11,431 21,373 +73.1%†
6 Kashima Antlers 318,064 39,684 14,045 21,204 −1.8%†
7 Tokyo Verdy 1969 263,438 33,597 8,165 17,563 +16.1%†
8 Júbilo Iwata 259,010 35,313 10,081 17,267 +4.2%†
9 Nagoya Grampus Eight 251,523 30,199 8,570 16,768 +2.7%†
10 Shimizu S-Pulse 244,264 33,679 10,445 16,284 +8.8%†
11 Cerezo Osaka 207,813 22,931 7,783 13,854 +74.2%†
12 Vissel Kobe 167,931 17,246 6,325 11,195 +7.0%†
13 Kashiwa Reysol 163,091 22,968 6,580 10,873 −3.9%†
14 Kyoto Purple Sanga 162,751 16,614 7,135 10,850 +4.8%†
15 Gamba Osaka 153,324 16,146 4,828 10,222 −19.9%†
16 JEF United Ichihara 145,640 29,757 3,452 9,709 +22.9%†
League total 4,164,229 59,728 3,452 17,351 +6.0%†

Updated to games played on November 29, 2003
Source: J.League Division 1: first stage, second stage
Notes:
† Team played previous season in J2.

Awards

Individual

Award Recipient Club Notes
Player of the Year Brazil Emerson Sheik Urawa Red Diamonds
Young Player of the Year Japan Daisuke Nasu Yokohama F. Marinos
Manager of the Year Japan Takeshi Okada Yokohama F. Marinos
Top Scorer Brazil Ueslei Nagoya Grampus Eight 22 goals.

Best Eleven

Position Footballer Club Nationality
GK Seigo Narazaki (3) Nagoya Grampus Eight  Japan
DF Keisuke Tsuboi (1) Urawa Red Diamonds  Japan
DF Dutra (1) Yokohama F. Marinos  Brazil
DF Yuji Nakazawa (2) Yokohama F. Marinos  Japan
MF Mitsuo Ogasawara (3) Kashima Antlers  Japan
MF Takashi Fukunishi (4) Júbilo Iwata  Japan
MF Daisuke Oku (2) Yokohama F. Marinos  Japan
MF Yasuhito Endō (1) Gamba Osaka  Japan
FW Emerson Sheik (2) Urawa Red Diamonds  Brazil
FW Ueslei (1) Nagoya Grampus Eight  Brazil
FW Tatsuhiko Kubo (1) Yokohama F. Marinos  Japan

* The number in brackets denotes the number of times that the footballer has appeared in the Best 11.

References

  1. ^ "2003 J1 first stage top scorers". j-league.or.jp. J-League. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2010.; "2003 J1 second stage top scorers". j-league.or.jp. J-League. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2010.

External links

Japanese club football
2003 in Japanese football
J1 League champions
Categories