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Croatian First Football League
Season	2002–03
Champions	Dinamo Zagreb; 7th Croatian title; 11th domestic title
Relegated	Šibenik; Pomorac
Champions League	Dinamo Zagreb
UEFA Cup	Hajduk Split; Varteks; Kamen Ingrad
Intertoto Cup	Cibalia; NK Zagreb
Matches played	192
Goals scored	521 (2.71 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ivica Olić (16)
Biggest home win	Rijeka 7–0 Zadar
Biggest away win	Osijek 1–5 Dinamo Z.; Zadar 1–5 Varteks
Highest scoring	Šibenik 6–3 Zadar
Average attendance	3,326
	← 2001–02 2003–04 →

The 2002–03 Croatian First Football League was the twelfth season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 24 July 2002 and ended on 31 May 2003. NK Zagreb were the defending champions, having won their first championship title the previous season. Dinamo Zagreb won the title, after a win against Varteks on 17 May 2003.

Teams

The league format was changed from the previous 2001–02 season and the number of teams were reduced from sixteen to twelve for the 2002–03 Prva HNL. Because of this, the four bottom-placed teams were automatically relegated to Croatian Second Football League at the end of the season, while the 11th placed Šibenik and 12th placed Kamen Ingrad qualified for the Relegation play-offs. Both clubs then went on to win the two-legged play-off ties against second level sides Vukovar '91 and Istra Pula. Therefore, no team was promoted from the 2001–02 Croatian Second Football League and all twelve teams which contested the 2002–03 Prva HNL were also top flight members in the previous season.

Changes from last season

Teams relegated to the 2002–03 Croatian Second Football League

13th placed: Hrvatski Dragovoljac
14th placed: Čakovec
15th placed: Marsonia
16th placed: TŠK Topolovac

Summaries

The following is an overview of teams which competed in the 2002–03 Prva HNL. Manager list is correct as of 24 July 2002, first day of the season.

Locations of teams in 2002–03 Prva HNL

Team	Manager	Home city	Stadium	Capacity
Cibalia	Mile Petković	Vinkovci	Stadion HNK Cibalia	9,920
Dinamo Zagreb	Miroslav Blažević	Zagreb	Stadion Maksimir	37,168
Hajduk Split	Zoran Vulić	Split	Stadion Poljud	35,000
Kamen Ingrad	Vjeran Simunić	Velika	Stadion Kamen Ingrad	8,000
Osijek	Milan Đuričić	Osijek	Stadion Gradski vrt	19,500
Pomorac	Predrag Stilinović	Kostrena	Stadion Žuknica	3,000
Rijeka	Zlatko Kranjčar	Rijeka	Stadion Kantrida	10,275
Slaven Belupo	Rajko Magić	Koprivnica	Gradski stadion	4,000
Šibenik	Franko Bogdan	Šibenik	Stadion Šubićevac	8,000
Varteks	Dražen Besek	Varaždin	Stadion Varteks	10,800
Zadar	Stanko Mršić	Zadar	Stadion Stanovi	5,860
NK Zagreb	Ivan Katalinić	Zagreb	Stadion Kranjčevićeva	8,850

First stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Dinamo Zagreb	22	18	3	1	51	17	+34	57	Qualification to championship group
2	Hajduk Split	22	16	2	4	42	14	+28	50
3	Varteks	22	15	0	7	40	21	+19	45
4	Cibalia	22	9	5	8	28	28	0	32
5	Kamen Ingrad	22	7	9	6	23	22	+1	30
6	NK Zagreb	22	8	6	8	28	30	−2	30
7	Slaven Belupo	22	9	2	11	24	26	−2	29	Qualification to relegation group
8	Osijek	22	6	5	11	21	39	−18	23
9	Zadar	22	5	6	11	21	40	−19	21
10	Rijeka	22	5	3	14	23	33	−10	18
11	Pomorac	22	3	8	11	26	41	−15	17
12	Šibenik	22	4	5	13	23	39	−16	17

Source: RSSSF.org
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Rounds 1–22 results

Home \ Away	CIB	DIN	HAJ	KAM	OSI	POM	RIJ	SLA	ŠIB	VAR	ZAD	ZAG
Cibalia		1–1	4–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	3–1	1–0	3–1	0–1	0–0	2–1
Dinamo Zagreb	4–1		2–1	1–1	6–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–1
Hajduk Split	4–0	1–0		0–0	2–0	5–1	2–1	2–0	3–1	3–1	4–0	3–0
Kamen Ingrad	1–0	0–1	1–1		1–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	4–0	0–1	1–1	1–1
Osijek	1–0	1–5	0–2	1–0		2–2	1–1	1–2	1–0	1–2	3–0	2–2
Pomorac	0–0	2–3	0–3	1–1	2–2		1–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–2	1–2
Rijeka	2–1	0–1	0–1	2–1	0–1	1–1		0–1	5–1	0–2	3–1	3–2
Slaven Belupo	2–3	1–3	1–0	1–2	4–0	2–1	2–0		2–1	2–1	1–2	0–0
Šibenik	2–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	3–1	0–0	1–0		1–3	3–3	3–0
Varteks	3–0	0–2	0–1	3–0	2–0	4–2	2–1	2–0	2–1		3–1	2–0
Zadar	0–2	1–3	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–3	1–0	1–2	0–0	1–5		2–1
NK Zagreb	0–1	1–3	2–1	3–1	1–1	2–1	4–1	2–0	2–1	1–0	0–0

Source: RSSSF.org
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship group

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Dinamo Zagreb (C)	32	25	3	4	76	27	+49	78	Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2	Hajduk Split	32	22	4	6	56	22	+34	70	Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round
3	Varteks	32	18	3	11	52	38	+14	57
4	Kamen Ingrad	32	11	11	10	34	34	0	44
5	Cibalia	32	12	7	13	39	44	−5	43	Qualification to Intertoto Cup second round
6	NK Zagreb	32	9	9	14	40	52	−12	36	Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round

Source: RSSSF.org
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Rounds 23–32 results

Home \ Away	CIB	DIN	HAJ	KAM	VAR	ZAG
Cibalia		3–2	1–1	3–2	1–2	2–1
Dinamo Zagreb	3–0		0–1	1–0	5–1	5–0
Hajduk Split	1–0	4–1		2–0	1–0	1–0
Kamen Ingrad	2–0	0–2	1–0		1–0	1–0
Varteks	1–0	0–3	2–2	1–1		3–1
NK Zagreb	1–1	1–3	3–1	3–3	2–2

Source: RSSSF.org
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation group

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation
7	Slaven Belupo	32	12	4	16	37	36	+1	40
8	Osijek	32	10	9	13	32	51	−19	39
9	Rijeka	32	9	6	17	40	41	−1	33
10	Zadar	32	9	6	17	36	71	−35	33
11	Pomorac (R)	32	7	11	14	42	52	−10	32	Qualification to relegation play-off
12	Šibenik (R)	32	8	7	17	37	53	−16	31	Relegation to Croatian Second Football League

Source: RSSSF.org
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

Rounds 23–32 results

Home \ Away	OSI	POM	RIJ	SLA	ŠIB	ZAD
Osijek		0–0	3–2	1–1	1–0	2–1
Pomorac	5–0		1–1	3–2	1–1	4–1
Rijeka	0–0	2–0		2–0	2–0	7–0
Slaven Belupo	0–0	0–1	2–0		3–0	5–0
Šibenik	0–2	2–0	0–0	2–0		6–3
Zadar	3–2	2–1	2–1	1–0	2–3

Source: RSSSF.org
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-off

10 June 2003

Pomorac	0 – 0	Inker Zaprešić
	Report (in Croatian)

Stadion Žuknica, Kostrena

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Vlado Svilokos (Sisak)

14 June 2003

Inker Zaprešić	3 – 1	Pomorac
Lalić 38' Eduardo 45', 80'	Report (in Croatian)	Karabogdan 12'

Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić, Zaprešić

Attendance: 4,500

Referee: Željko Širić (Osijek)

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Ivica Olić	Dinamo Zagreb	16
2	Boško Balaban	Dinamo Zagreb	15
3	Zoran Zekić	Kamen Ingrad	14
4	Marijo Dodik	Slaven Belupo	12
4	Sandro Klić	Rijeka	12
6	Milan Pavličić	Osijek	11
7	Veldin Karić	Varteks	10
7	Petar Krpan	Hajduk Split	10
9	Mladen Bartolović	Cibalia	9
	Ivan Bulat	Šibenik
	Ivica Karabogdan	Pomorac
	Dumitru Mitu	Dinamo Zagreb