2003 Veikkausliiga
Football league season
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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.
| Season | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Champions | HJK Helsinki |
| Top goalscorer | Saku 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:
- Allianssi Vantaa
- FC Jazz Pori
- FC Hämeenlinna
- FC KooTeePee - Promoted from Ykkönen
- FC Lahti
- Haka Valkeakoski
- HJK Helsinki
- Inter Turku
- Jaro Pietarsaari
- FC Jokerit - Promoted from Ykkönen
- KuPS Kuopio
- MyPa 47 Anjalankoski
- Tampere United
- TPS Turku - Promoted from Ykkönen
League standings
| 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[a] |
| 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 |
- 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]
Results
Leading scorers
| Pos. | Player | Nat. | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Saku Puhakainen |  | MyPa | 14 |
| 2. | Juho Mäkelä | | HJK | 13 |
| - | Gábor Szilágyi |  | FC KooTeePee | 13 |
| 4. | Luciano Álvarez |  | FC Inter | 12 |
| - | Arístides Pertot | | FC Inter | 12 |
| 6. | Mika Kottila | | HJK | 11 |
| - | Valeri Popovitch |  | FC Haka | 11 |
| 8. | Ryan Botha |  | MyPa | 10 |
| - | Jari Niemi | | Tampere Utd | 10 |
| - | Sami Ristilä | | FC Haka | 10 |
Attendances
| No. | Club | Average | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HJK | 3,646 | 7,716 |
| 2 | TPS | 3,203 | 5,624 |
| 3 | Tampere | 3,062 | 5,040 |
| 4 | Inter Turku | 2,520 | 6,211 |
| 5 | Lahti | 2,403 | 6,450 |
| 6 | KooTeePee | 2,348 | 3,378 |
| 7 | KuPS | 2,242 | 3,015 |
| 8 | Jokerit | 2,231 | 3,789 |
| 9 | Haka | 2,067 | 3,121 |
| 10 | MyPa | 1,995 | 3,111 |
| 11 | Jazz | 1,898 | 3,248 |
| 12 | Hämeenlinna | 1,892 | 3,105 |
| 13 | Jaro | 1,709 | 2,627 |
| 14 | Allianssi | 1,701 | 2,402 |
Source:[4]