2003 Veikkausliiga

The 2003 season was the 73rd completed season of Finnish Football League Championship, known as the Veikkausliiga. At the same time it was the 14th season of the Veikkausliiga.

Veikkausliiga
Season2003
ChampionsHJK Helsinki
Top goalscorerSaku Puhakainen, MyPa (14)
← 2002
2004 →

Overview

The Veikkausliiga is administered by the Finnish Football Association and the competition's 2003 season was contested by 14 teams. HJK Helsinki won the championship and qualified for the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League qualification round, while the second and sixth placed teams qualified for the first qualification round of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup. The third and fourth placed teams qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2004, while FC KooTeePee and KuPS Kuopio were relegated to the Ykkönen.[1]

Participating clubs

In 2003 there were 14 participants in the Veikkausliiga:

[2]

League standings
Location of teams in 2003 Veikkausliiga
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 HJK Helsinki (C) 26 17 6 3 51 15 +36 57 Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
2 Haka Valkeakoski 26 16 5 5 54 16 +38 53 Qualification to UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3 Tampere United 26 14 5 7 39 21 +18 47 Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round
4 MyPa Anjalankoski 26 13 4 9 46 29 +17 43
5 FC Lahti 26 11 8 7 40 31 +9 41
6 Allianssi Vantaa 26 10 6 10 43 44 −1 36 Qualification to UEFA Cup first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
7 FC Inter Turku 26 10 5 11 43 41 +2 35
8 Jaro Jakobstad 26 9 8 9 36 38 −2 35
9 TPS Turku 26 8 8 10 30 35 −5 32
10 FC Jokerit 26 7 7 12 29 37 −8 28
11 FC Hämeenlinna 26 7 7 12 25 48 −23 28
12 FC Jazz Pori 26 7 7 12 31 55 −24 28
13 FC KooTeePee (R) 26 6 4 16 28 53 −25 22 Qualification to relegation play-offs
14 KuPS (R) 26 4 6 16 25 57 −32 18 Relegation to Ykkönen
Source: [2]
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Allianssi Vantaa as runners-up of the 2003 Finnish Cup qualified for the first qualifying round of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup.

Promotion/Relegation Playoff
  • RoPS Rovaniemi - KooTeePee Kotka 4-1
  • KooTeePee Kotka - RoPS Rovaniemi 3-2

RoPS Rovaniemi promoted, KooTeePee Kotka relegated.[2]

Leading scorers
Pos. Player Nat. Club Goals
1.Saku PuhakainenMyPa14
2.Juho MäkeläHJK13
-Gábor SzilágyiFC KooTeePee13
4.Luciano ÁlvarezFC Inter12
-Arístides PertotFC Inter12
6.Mika KottilaHJK11
-Valeri PopovitchFC Haka11
8.Ryan BothaMyPa10
-Jari NiemiTampere Utd10
-Sami RistiläFC Haka10

[3]

Footnotes
  1. "Finland 2003". RSSSF Archive. 2003. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  2. "Finland - List of League First Level Tables". RSSSF Archive. 2003. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  3. "Finland - List of Topscorers (Mestaruussarja/Veikkausliiga)". RSSSF Archive. 2003. Retrieved 2012-01-05.

References
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