2002–03 Alpha Ethniki

The 2002–03 Alpha Ethniki was the 67th season of the highest football league of Greece. The season began on 24 August 2002 and ended on 25 May 2003. Olympiacos won their seventh consecutive and 32nd Greek title. Olympiacos and Panathinaikos finished the League with the same points total but Olympiacos were crowned champions due to more favourable results between the two teams. It was a very dramatic end to the season, with the decisive game between the two clubs taking place in the penultimate round. The season was interrupted by strike action after television broadcaster Alpha Digital collapsed in September 2002, following which the players didn't play for a month.[1]

Alpha Ethniki
Season2002–03
ChampionsOlympiacos
32nd Greek title
RelegatedPanachaiki
PAS Giannina
Champions LeagueOlympiacos
Panathinaikos
AEK Athens
UEFA CupPAOK
Panionios
Aris
Matches played240
Goals scored617 (2.57 per match)
Top goalscorerNikos Liberopoulos
(16 goals)

Teams

Stadia and personnel
Location of teams in 2002–03 Alpha Ethniki
Team Manager1 Location Stadium Capacity
AEK Athens Bosnia and Herzegovina Dušan Bajević Athens Nikos Goumas Stadium 27,729
Akratitos Romania Dumitru Dumitriu Athens Yiannis Pathiakakis Stadium 4,944
Aris Greece Giorgos Foiros Thessaloniki Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium 23,220
Egaleo Greece Georgios Chatzaras Athens Stavros Mavrothalassitis Stadium 8,217
Ionikos Poland Jacek Gmoch Piraeus Neapoli Stadium 4,999
Iraklis Netherlands Eugène Gerards Thessaloniki Makedonikos Stadium 8,100
Kallithea Greece Babis Tennes Kallithea Grigoris Lambrakis Stadium 4,250
OFI Czech Republic Zdeněk Ščasný Heraklion Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium 9,000
Olympiacos Ukraine Oleh Protasov Piraeus Georgios Kamaras Stadium 14,856
Panachaiki Greece Dimitrios Genas Patras Kostas Davourlis Stadium 11,321
Panathinaikos Uruguay Sergio Markarián Athens Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium 16,620
Panionios Slovakia Jozef Bubenko Nea Smyrni Nea Smyrni Stadium 11,756
PAOK Greece Angelos Anastasiadis Thessaloniki Toumba Stadium 28,803
PAS Giannina Greece Nikos Anastopoulos Ioannina Zosimades Stadium 7,652
Proodeftiki Greece Soulis Papadopoulos Piraeus Nikaia Municipal Stadium 5,000
Skoda Xanthi Greece Nikos Karageorgiou Xanthi Xanthi Ground 9,500
  • 1 On final match day of the season, played on 25 May 2003.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Olympiacos (C) 30 21 7 2 75 21 +54 70[lower-alpha 1] Qualification for Champions League group stage
2 Panathinaikos 30 22 4 4 50 19 +31 70[lower-alpha 1]
3 AEK Athens 30 21 5 4 74 29 +45 68 Qualification for Champions League third qualifying round
4 PAOK 30 16 5 9 59 38 +21 53[lower-alpha 2] Qualification for UEFA Cup first round
5 Panionios 30 15 8 7 35 25 +10 53[lower-alpha 2]
6 Aris 30 15 6 9 37 34 +3 51
7 Iraklis 30 15 4 11 44 37 +7 49
8 OFI 30 12 8 10 39 34 +5 44
9 Skoda Xanthi 30 8 11 11 31 33 −2 35
10 Egaleo 30 7 10 13 28 44 −16 31 Qualification for Intertoto Cup third round
11 Proodeftiki 30 7 9 14 25 38 −13 30
12 Akratitos 30 7 5 18 33 62 −29 26[lower-alpha 3] Qualification for Intertoto Cup second round
13 Kallithea 30 6 8 16 29 46 −17 26[lower-alpha 3]
14 Ionikos (O) 30 5 9 16 22 42 −20 24 Qualification for Relegation play-off
15 Panachaiki (R) 30 1 6 23 11 71 −60 9 Relegation to Beta Ethniki
16 PAS Giannina[lower-alpha 4] (R) 30 6 7 17 25 44 −19 −65
Source: Galanis Sports Data
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Goals against; 7) Play-offs (neutral ground); 8) Draw.
(Note: Criterion 7 is only used if needed to decide champion, teams for relegation or teams for UEFA competitions).
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points (goal difference): Olympiacos 3 (+2), Panathinaikos 3 (-2).
  2. Head-to-head points (goal difference): PAOK 3 (+1), Panionios 3 (-1).
  3. Head-to-head points: Akratitos 4, Kallithea 1.
  4. PAS Giannina were deducted 3 points per match for having debts of €900,000 to former players.

Results
Home \ Away AEK AKR ARIS EGA ION IRA KLT OFI OLY PNA PAO PGSS PAOK PAS PRO XAN
AEK Athens 6–2 4–0 3–2 3–0 6–1 1–0 3–1 1–1 6–0 1–0 4–2 3–4 3–1 4–1 3–2
Akratitos 3–2 0–2 0–1 1–0 0–2 3–3 1–1 2–5 3–0 1–3 0–3 1–3 3–0 2–1 0–1
Aris 1–1 4–1 2–1 2–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–3 1–0 2–0 2–0 2–1 1–1
Egaleo 1–1 3–1 3–0 0–0 0–2 0–0 0–4 0–2 4–0 0–0 0–0 2–3 2–1 1–0 0–0
Ionikos 0–3 1–1 0–1 0–0 2–4 1–1 1–1 0–2 3–0 0–1 1–2 4–0 2–0 0–1 0–0
Iraklis 0–2 1–0 4–0 2–1 3–2 2–1 3–0 2–2 1–1 0–3 3–1 1–1 3–0 1–0 2–0
Kallithea 1–3 0–2 0–2 2–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–4 3–1 1–3 1–1 1–2 2–2 1–1 0–1
OFI 1–0 2–0 1–2 2–2 2–1 3–1 2–1 0–1 3–0 0–2 1–1 2–3 1–0 2–0 2–0
Olympiacos 1–2 4–0 1–0 4–0 6–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 7–0 3–0 3–0 4–3 2–1 0–0 1–1
Panachaiki 0–2 2–0 0–1 0–2 0–0 0–2 1–2 0–2 1–4 0–3 0–2 2–2 0–2 1–1 0–2
Panathinaikos 2–1 3–1 3–2 3–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 5–1 3–2 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0
Panionios 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 3–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 0–3
PAOK 0–1 1–1 2–0 4–0 3–0 0–1 2–3 2–0 1–1 4–0 4–1 3–0 1–0 4–1 1–0
PAS Giannina 0–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 2–3 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–3 3–0 0–0 1–2 3–2 2–1 1–1
Proodeftiki 1–1 5–1 3–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–3 1–0 0–2 0–1 0–3 1–0 1–1
Skoda Xanthi 0–1 1–2 0–2 5–0 0–0 1–0 3–0 1–4 1–5 1–1 0–0 0–1 1–1 3–3 1–0
Source: finalscore.gr
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-off
Ionikos2–1Apollon Kalamarias
  • Rodrigues 47', 78'
 Report
  • Hartwig 77'
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Giorgos Kasnaferis (Athens)

Ionikos retained their spot in 2003–04 Alpha Ethniki. Apollon Kalamarias placed on 2003–04 Beta Ethniki

Top scorers

Source: Galanis Sports Data

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Greece Nikos Liberopoulos Panathinaikos 16
2 Greece Stelios Giannakopoulos Olympiacos 15
3 Greece Georgios Georgiadis PAOK 14
Serbia and Montenegro Predrag Đorđević Olympiacos
5 The Gambia Njogu Demba-Nyrén Aris 12
Greece Vasilios Lakis AEK Athens
Greece Demis Nikolaidis AEK Athens
8 Cyprus Ioannis Okkas PAOK 11
Greece Vasilios Tsiartas AEK Athens
10 Brazil Alessandro Soares OFI 10
Greece Dimitris Nalitzis AEK Athens
Brazil Giovanni Olympiacos
Greece Lampros Choutos Olympiacos

Awards

Annual awards

Annual awards were announced on 10 November 2003.[2]

Award Winner Club
Greek Player of the Season Greece Stelios Giannakopoulos Olympiacos
Foreign Player of the Season Serbia Predrag Đorđević Olympiacos
Young Player of the Season Greece Vangelis Mantzios Panionios
Goalkeeper of the Season Greece Antonios Nikopolidis Panathinaikos
Golden Boot Greece Nikos Liberopoulos Panathinaikos
Manager of the Season Bosnia and Herzegovina Dušan Bajević AEK Athens

References
  1. "Greek football at the crossroads". UEFA. 7 February 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  2. "Λάμψη αστέρων!". sport.gr (in Greek). 10 November 2003. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
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