2002–03 Slovak Superliga

The 2002–03 Slovak First Football League was the tenth season of first-tier football league in Slovakia, since its establishment in 1993. It began on 12 July 2002 and ended on 17 June 2003.^[1] MŠK Žilina were the defending champions.

1. Liga

Season	2002–03
Dates	12 July 2002 – 17 June 2003
Champions	MŠK Žilina
Relegated	1. FC Košice
Champions League	MŠK Žilina
UEFA Cup	Artmedia Petržalka Matador Púchov
Intertoto Cup	Spartak Trnava ZTS Dubnica
Matches played	180
Goals scored	502 (2.79 per match)
Top goalscorer	Marek Mintál Martin Fabuš (20 goals)
Biggest home win	Žilina 5:0 Inter Dubnica 5:0 Ružomberok Slovan 7:2 Košice
Biggest away win	Inter 0:4 Žilina Trenčín 1:5 Žilina
Highest scoring	Slovan 7:2 Košice
Average attendance	3,372
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

Teams

A total of 10 teams was contested in the league, including 9 sides from the 2001–02 season and one promoted from the 2. Liga.

Relegation for 1. FC Tatran Prešov to the 2002–03 2. Liga was confirmed on 8 June 2002. The one relegated team were replaced by FC Spartak Trnava.

Stadiums and locations

Trenčín

Dubnica

Púchov

Košice

Artmedia

Ružomberok

Inter

Slovan

Trnava

Žilina

Location of teams in 2002–03 1. Liga

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity
1. FC Košice	Košice	Lokomotíva Stadium	9,000
Artmedia Petržalka	Petržalka	Štadión Petržalka	7,500
Inter Slovnaft Bratislava	Bratislava	Štadión Pasienky	12,000
Laugaricio Trenčín	Trenčín	Štadión na Sihoti	4,500
Matador Púchov	Púchov	Mestský štadión	6,614
MFK SCP Ružomberok	Ružomberok	Štadión MFK Ružomberok	4,817
MŠK Žilina	Žilina	Štadión pod Dubňom	11,181
Slovan Bratislava	Bratislava	Tehelné pole	30,085
Spartak Trnava	Trnava	Štadión Antona Malatinského	18,448
ZTS Dubnica nad Váhom	Dubnica	Štadión Zimný	5,450

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Žilina (C)	36	21	7	8	69	31	+38	70	Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2	Artmedia Petržalka	36	20	7	9	49	32	+17	67	Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round
3	Slovan Bratislava	36	19	6	11	60	42	+18	63
4	Spartak Trnava	36	15	11	10	55	47	+8	56	Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
5	Matador Púchov	36	14	8	14	46	47	−1	50	Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round[a]
6	Inter Bratislava	36	12	7	17	48	58	−10	43
7	ZTS Dubnica	36	12	7	17	41	52	−11	43	Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
8	Ružomberok	36	12	6	18	45	60	−15	42
9	Trenčín	36	11	5	20	48	69	−21	38
10	1. FC Košice (R)	36	6	12	18	41	64	−23	30	Relegation to 2. Liga

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

1. Matador Púchov qualify for 2003–04 UEFA Cup as winner of 2002–03 Slovak Cup.

Results

First half of season Home \ Away ART DUB INT KOŠ PÚC RUŽ SLO TRE TRN ŽIL Artmedia Petržalka 3–0 1–0 2–1 1–2 1–0 1–1 4–2 1–1 0–0 ZTS Dubnica 0–0 2–0 0–1 0–2 5–0 2–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 Inter Bratislava 4–1 2–0 2–1 2–0 0–2 1–3 1–0 5–1 3–2 1. FC Košice 1–1 1–1 3–3 1–1 0–1 1–0 2–3 2–2 0–2 Matador Púchov 1–2 2–0 1–1 1–0 5–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–0 Ružomberok 1–2 2–0 3–0 0–2 4–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 1–3 Slovan Bratislava 2–1 2–1 3–0 7–2 3–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–2 Trenčín 2–0 3–1 2–1 1–2 2–0 4–3 0–2 1–1 1–2 Spartak Trnava 2–2 2–0 2–1 2–0 2–1 1–0 1–2 3–0 3–1 Žilina 1–0 4–1 5–0 2–2 2–1 4–0 0–1 4–0 0–1 Source: RSSSF.org Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season Home \ Away ART DUB INT KOŠ PÚC RUŽ SLO TRE TRN ŽIL Artmedia Petržalka 2–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 2–1 ZTS Dubnica 0–1 3–0 1–0 3–1 3–3 3–2 1–2 2–1 0–0 Inter Bratislava 0–1 1–2 3–1 1–1 0–1 5–2 2–0 1–1 0–4 1. FC Košice 0–3 2–2 0–0 1–1 2–1 0–1 3–3 2–0 1–3 Matador Púchov 0–1 2–1 2–2 3–1 0–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 0–1 Ružomberok 2–1 3–0 0–2 2–2 2–1 0–0 3–0 1–3 1–2 Slovan Bratislava 1–0 0–1 1–1 2–1 2–2 3–0 1–0 2–1 1–2 Trenčín 3–1 2–2 3–1 2–2 1–2 2–1 0–2 2–2 1–5 Spartak Trnava 2–2 3–2 2–1 2–1 4–0 2–0 4–3 1–2 1–1 Žilina 1–0 2–0 0–1 3–0 1–1 2–2 1–0 4–2 2–0 Source: RSSSF.org Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[2]
1	Marek Mintál	Žilina	20
	Martin Fabuš	Trenčín(8)/Žilina(12)
3	Róbert Vittek	Slovan Bratislava	19
4	Pavol Straka	ZTS Dubnica	12
	Roland Števko	SCP Ružomberok
	Vladimír Kožuch	Spartak Trnava
7	Ľuboš Perniš	Matador Púchov	10
	Juraj Halenár	Inter Bratislava
	Miroslav Drobňák	Inter Bratislava
	Ľubomír Mati	1. FC Košice
	Milan Ivana	Laugaricio Trenčín

Awards

Top Eleven

• Goalkeeper: Tomáš Bernady (Púchov)
• Defence: Radoslav Zabavník, Branislav Labant (all Žilina), Peter Dzúrik (Slovan), Vladimír Kinder (Artmedia)
• Midfield: Marek Mintál, Zdeno Štrba, Martin Ďurica (all Žilina), Mário Breška (Púchov)
• Attack: Róbert Vittek (Slovan), Martin Fabuš (Trenčín/Žilina)

See also

• 2002–03 Slovak Cup
• 2002–03 2. Liga (Slovakia)