2002–03 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 2002–03 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 18th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 10 teams. Bohemians were declared champions.

League of Ireland Premier Division
Season2002–03
ChampionsBohemians (9th title)
RelegatedBray Wanderers
UEFA Champions LeagueBohemians
UEFA CupShelbourne
Derry City
UEFA Intertoto CupShamrock Rovers
Top goalscorerGlen Crowe: 18
(Bohemians) [1][2]
2003 →

Regular season

The 2003 season would see the League of Ireland Premier Division change from a winter league to a summer league. To facilitate this change, the 2002–03 season was a shortened season. This saw each team play three rounds of games, totalling 27 games each. [2][3]

Final table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Bohemians (C) 27 15 9 3 47 27 +20 54 Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
2 Shelbourne 27 15 4 8 44 26 +18 49 Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round
3 Shamrock Rovers 27 12 7 8 42 29 +13 43 Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round
4 Cork City 27 11 6 10 37 34 +3 39
5 Longford Town[lower-alpha 1] 27 8 11 8 25 29 −4 35
6 UCD 27 8 9 10 23 25 −2 33
7 St Patrick's Athletic 27 8 9 10 27 33 −6 33
8 Derry City 27 8 7 12 31 37 −6 31 Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
9 Drogheda United (O) 27 8 6 13 26 40 −14 30 Qualification to Relegation play-off
10 Bray Wanderers (R) 27 4 8 15 31 53 −22 20 Relegation to League of Ireland First Division
Source: www.rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Longford Town had 9 points deducted for fielding Avery John against Cork City, Bohemians and Bray Wanderers but this decision was revoked on appeal.
  2. Derry City qualified for the UEFA Cup qualifying round after winning the 2002–03 FAI Cup.

Matches 1–18
Home \ Away BOH BRW COR DER DRO LON SHM SHE StP UCD
Bohemians — 4–0 1–1 3–2 3–1 1–0 3–2 1–2 1–1 2–1
Bray Wanderers 1–1 — 2–3 3–3 3–2 2–2 1–1 1–5 0–0 0–0
Cork City 1–1 3–0 — 3–1 1–0 1–1 3–2 3–0 2–0 3–2
Derry City 0–3 3–1 0–0 — 2–1 1–1 1–2 1–0 2–0 1–0
Drogheda United 0–2 2–1 1–0 2–1 — 0–1 3–2 0–3 1–2 1–0
Longford Town 1–2 1–0 3–2 1–1 2–1 — 0–0 0–2 0–1 1–1
Shamrock Rovers 1–1 2–1 4–1 3–1 5–0 0–1 — 0–0 0–1 0–0
Shelbourne 1–2 2–1 2–1 2–0 3–3 3–0 0–1 — 1–2 2–1
St Patrick's Athletic 1–1 1–2 4–1 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–2 2–2 — 2–2
UCD 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–2 3–0 0–0 1–2 1–3 1–0 —
Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–27
Home \ Away BOH BRW COR DER DRO LON SHM SHE StP UCD
Bohemians — — 2–0 2–2 1–1 — 3–2 — — 1–1
Bray Wanderers 1–3 — — 1–2 0–2 2–0 — — — —
Cork City — 3–1 — 2–1 — — 1–1 2–1 — 0–1
Derry City — — — — — 1–1 0–0 0–1 2–0 —
Drogheda United — — 0–0 3–1 — — 0–2 — 0–0 0–1
Longford Town 1–0 — 1–0 — 0–0 — — — — 0–2
Shamrock Rovers — 3–1 — — — 3–2 — 0–1 2–1 0–1
Shelbourne 0–1 3–1 — — 0–1 1–1 — — 2–0 —
St Patrick's Athletic 2–0 1–4 1–0 — — 0–2 — — — —
UCD — 0–0 — 1–0 — — — 0–2 0–0 —
Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion/relegation play-off

The promotion/relegation play-off format was changed this season. It now featured four teams, the second, third and fourth placed teams from the 2002–03 League of Ireland First Division plus the ninth placed team from the Premier Division.

Semi-final
1st Legs
29 January 2003 Galway United 2–0 Finn Harps
29 January 2003 Cobh Ramblers 2–2 Drogheda United
2nd Legs
1 February 2003 Finn Harps 1–0 Galway United

Galway United win 2–1 on aggregate

1 February 2003 Drogheda United 2–0 Cobh Ramblers

Drogheda United win 4–2 on aggregate

Final
5 February 2003 Galway United 2–0 Drogheda United
8 February 2003 Drogheda United 3–0 Galway United

Drogheda United win 3–2 on aggregate and retain their place in the Premier Division. [2][4]

Locations of the Premier Division teams

See also

References
  1. "Ireland - List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  2. Graham, Alex. Football in the Republic of Ireland a Statistical Record 1921–2005. Soccer Books Limited. ISBN 1-86223-135-4.
  3. "(Republic of) Ireland League Tables". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 21 February 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  4. "(Republic of) Ireland League Tables - Second Level". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
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