2002–03 Macedonian First Football League

The 2002–03 Macedonian First League was the 11th season of the Macedonian First Football League, the highest football league of Macedonia. The first matches of the season were played on 10 August 2002 and the last on 1 June 2003. Vardar defended their championship title, having won their fifth title, second in a row.

Macedonian First League

Season	2002–03
Dates	10 August 2002 – 1 June 2003
Champions	Vardar 5th Macedonian title 6th domestic title
Relegated	Pelister Kumanovo
Champions League	Vardar
UEFA Cup	Belasica Cementarnica
Intertoto Cup	Pobeda
Matches played	198
Goals scored	540 (2.73 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ljubiša Savić (25 goals)
Biggest home win	Belasica 6–0 Pelister (20 March 2003) Cementarnica 6–0 Kumanovo (21 May 2003)
Biggest away win	Kumanovo 0–4 Cementarnica (3 November 2002)
Highest scoring	Pelister 3–6 Sloga J. (21 May 2003)
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

Promotion and relegation

At the start of the 2002–03 season Promoted from 2001–02 Second League Tikvesh (winners) Bregalnica Delchevo (runners-up) Relegated to 2002–03 Second League Makedonija G.P. (11th) Osogovo (12th)

At the end of the 2002–03 season Promoted from 2002–03 Second League Bashkimi (winners) Madjari Solidarnost (runners-up) Relegated to 2003–04 Second League Pelister (11th) Kumanovo (12th)

Participating teams

Skopje

Pelister

Kumanovo

Napredok

Pobeda

Bregalnica

Belasica

Sileks

Tikvesh

Skopje clubs:

Cementarnica
Rabotnichki
Sloga Jugomagnat
Vardar

Location of teams in 2002–03 Macedonian First League

Club	City	Stadium
Belasica Geras Cunev	Strumica	Stadion Mladost
Bregalnica	Delchevo	Gradski stadion Goce Delchev
Cementarnica 55	Skopje	Stadion Cementarnica
Kumanovo	Kumanovo	Gradski stadion Kumanovo
Napredok	Kichevo	Gradski stadion Kichevo
Pelister	Bitola	Stadion Tumbe Kafe
Pobeda	Prilep	Stadion Goce Delchev
Rabotnichki Kometal	Skopje	Gradski stadion Skopje
Sileks	Kratovo	Stadion Sileks
Sloga Jugomagnat	Skopje	Chair Stadium
Tikvesh	Kavadarci	Gradski stadion Kavadarci
Vardar	Skopje	Gradski stadion Skopje

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Vardar (C)	33	22	6	5	73	37	+36	72	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Belasica	33	20	9	4	50	32	+18	69	Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round
3	Pobeda	33	20	5	8	55	33	+22	65	Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round
4	Rabotnichki Kometal	33	16	6	11	41	35	+6	54
5	Sloga Jugomagnat	33	15	6	12	62	50	+12	51
6	Sileks	33	14	4	15	40	35	+5	46
7	Napredok	33	13	3	17	39	41	−2	42[a]
8	Cementarnica 55	33	11	9	13	45	39	+6	42[a]	Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round[b]
9	Tikvesh	33	11	4	18	37	58	−21	37
10	Bregalnica Delchevo	33	10	6	17	44	49	−5	36
11	Pelister (R)	33	7	7	19	30	60	−30	28	Relegation to the Macedonian Second League
12	Kumanovo (R)	33	4	5	24	24	71	−47	17

Source: MacedonianFootball.com, RSSSF.org
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored (only if two teams); 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Draw; 9) Play-off. (Note: Criteria 2, 3 and 8 is only used if not deciding Champion, teams for UEFA competitions or relegation).
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Head-to-head record: Napredok: 7 pts, Cementarnica 55: 1 pts.
2. Cementarnica 55 qualified for the UEFA Cup qualifying round by winning the 2002–03 Macedonian Football Cup.

Results

Every team will play three times against each other team for a total of 33 matches. The first 22 matchdays will consist of a regular double round-robin schedule. The league standings at this point will then be used to determine the games for the last 11 matchdays.

Home \ Away	BEL	BRD	CEM	KUM	NAP	PEL	POB	RAB	SIL	SLO	TIK	VAR	BEL	BRD	CEM	KUM	NAP	PEL	POB	RAB	SIL	SLO	TIK	VAR
Belasica	—	2–1	3–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	4–2	3–2	—	1–1	—	—	—	6–0	—	—	3–1	4–3	1–0	1–0
Bregalnica Delchevo	0–1	—	1–1	3–2	2–1	3–0[a]	1–1	1–1	1–0	5–2	0–1	0–1	—	—	3–2	—	2–1	—	—	—	3–1	2–4	—	0–1
Cementarnica 55	1–1	1–0	—	2–1	0–1	1–2	1–1	3–0	3–0	2–4	0–2	1–1	2–0	—	—	6–0	—	1–0	0–1	2–0	—	—	—	—
Kumanovo	1–1	0–0	0–4	—	1–0	0–0	0–2	0–1	0–1	2–1	1–2	2–4	0–3	2–4	—	—	—	2–0	1–2	1–3	—	—	—	—
Napredok	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	—	4–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	5–0	0–1	3–1	0–1	—	0–0	4–2	—	—	1–2	0–2	—	—	—	—
Pelister	1–1	3–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	—	1–1	1–0	0–1	0–0	3–2	1–2	—	2–2	—	—	0–2	—	—	—	0–3	3–6	—	0–2
Pobeda	4–0	4–3	2–1	0–2	2–1	1–0	—	1–0	2–0	3–1	2–1	3–1	6–1	1–0	—	—	—	1–1	—	—	2–1	2–1	3–0	—
Rabotnichki	1–0	1–0	2–0	4–1	1–0	2–0	0–0	—	1–0	1–4	3–1	1–2	1–1	1–0	—	—	—	3–1	0–2	—	—	1–2	4–1	—
Sileks	1–1	1–0	1–1	3–0	3–0	1–0	1–0	4–1	—	1–0	3–0	1–3	—	—	0–1	3–1	2–0	—	—	0–2	—	—	2–0	0–1
Sloga Jugomagnat	0–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	3–3	2–0	1–1	1–0	—	5–1	2–1	—	—	3–1	3–0	2–3	—	—	—	2–1	—	3–0	2–3
Tikvesh	1–1	0–1	4–2	2–0	2–0	1–2	1–0	0–2	1–1	2–1	—	1–1	—	4–2	0–1	0–0	0–1	2–0	—	—	—	—	—	—
Vardar	0–0	2–1	1–1	5–2	3–0	3–1	2–0	4–0	1–1	2–1	3–0	—	—	—	2–1	5–1	3–2	—	4–3	1–1	—	—	6–2	—

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

1. Match awarded

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Ljubiša Savić	Bregalnica Delchevo & Sloga Jugomagnat	25
2	Zoran Baldovaliev	Belasica	21
3	Vasko Georgiev	Napredok & Bregalnica Delchevo	15
	Rogério Oliveira	Vardar
	Antonio Tasev	Tikvesh
6	Dragan Dimitrovski	Napredok & Pobeda	13
7	Mario Petkov	Vardar	12
8	Goran Stankovski	Sloga Jugomagnat	11
9	Bojan Dimitrievski	Sileks	10

Source: rsssf.org

See also

• 2002–03 Macedonian Football Cup
• 2002–03 Macedonian Second Football League

External links

• Macedonia - List of final tables (RSSSF)
• Football Federation of Macedonia