2003 J.League Division 1

J.League Division 1
Season	2003
Champions	Yokohama F. Marinos; 2nd J. League title; 4th Japanese title
Relegated	Vegalta Sendai; Kyoto Purple Sanga
Champions League	Yokohama F. Marinos; Júbilo Iwata; (all to the group stage)
Matches played	240
Goals scored	718 (2.99 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ueslei (22 goals total)
Highest attendance	59,728 (Round 15,; F. Marinos vs. Vissel)
Lowest attendance	3,452 (Round 3,; JEF United vs. Vissel)
Average attendance	17,351
	← 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

At the end of the 2002 Season, Oita Trinita and Cerezo Osaka were promoted to division 1.
At the end of the 2002 Season, Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Consadole Sapporo were relegated to division 2.

Changes in competition formats

Extra time was scratched for J.League Division 1. After regulation time, clubs now receives 3pts for a win, 1pt for a tie, and 0pts for a loss.

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

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.

Vegalta Sendai
Kashima Antlers
Urawa Red Diamonds
JEF United Ichihara
Kashiwa Reysol
FC Tokyo
Tokyo Verdy 1969
Yokohama F. Marinos
Shimizu S-Pulse
Jublio Iwata
Nagoya Grampus Eight
Kyoto Purple Sanga
Gamba Osaka
Cerezo Osaka
Vissel Kobe
Oita Trinita

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:

Goal differential
Goals scored
Head-to-head results

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

Extra time was abandoned, now every regular season game ends after 90 minutes.

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	Qualification for AFC Champions League 2004 group stage
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	Relegation to 2004 J.League Division 2

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	Ueslei	Nagoya Grampus Eight	22
2	Rodrigo Gral	Júbilo Iwata	21
3	Emerson Sheik	Urawa Red Diamonds	18
4	Choi Yong-soo	JEF United Ichihara	17
5	Tatsuhiko Kubo	Yokohama F. Marinos	16
5	Yoshito Ōkubo	Cerezo Osaka	16
7	Magrão	Gamba Osaka	15
8	Patrick M'Boma	Tokyo Verdy 1969	13
8	Oséas	Vissel Kobe	13
10	Ahn Jung-hwan	Shimizu S-Pulse	11
	Keiji Tamada	Kashiwa Reysol	11
	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	Emerson Sheik	Urawa Red Diamonds
Young Player of the Year	Daisuke Nasu	Yokohama F. Marinos
Manager of the Year	Takeshi Okada	Yokohama F. Marinos
Top Scorer	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

^ "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.