2003–04 Croatian First League

2003–04 Croatian First League was the 13th season of the Croatian handball league since its independence and the third season of the First League format.

First League

Season	2003–04
Champions	Zagreb
EHF Champions League	Zagreb, Metković
EHF Cup	Perutnina PIPO IPC, Osijek Elektromodul
EHF Cup Winners' Cup	Medveščak Infosistem Zagreb
Matches played	38
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

League table

First phase

In the first part of the season, 16 teams played single-circuit league (15 matches). After 15 rounds the first six teams qualified for the Championship play-offs - playing for the Championship title and the remaining 10 in the Relegation play-offs - playing to stay in the league.

	Club	P	W	D	L	G+	G−	Dif	Pts	Qualification
1.	Zagreb	15	15	0	0	489	373	116	30	Championship play-offs
2.	Metković	15	12	1	2	460	384	76	25
3.	Zamet Crotek Rijeka	15	10	1	4	421	361	60	21
4.	Medveščak Infosistem Zagreb	15	10	1	4	434	383	51	21
5.	Osijek Elektromodul	15	10	0	5	409	390	29	20
6.	Perutnina PIPO IPC Čakovec	15	9	1	5	422	405	19	19
7.	Crikvenica	15	9	1	5	417	381	36	19	Relegation play-offs
8.	Dubrava Zagreb	15	6	0	9	452	476	-24	12
9.	Split	15	3	4	8	367	412	-45	10
10.	Đakovo	15	4	2	9	375	411	-36	10
11.	Bjelovar	15	5	0	10	418	423	-5	10
12.	Varteks di Caprio Varaždin	15	4	2	9	363	402	-39	10
13.	Ekol Ivančica Ivanec	15	4	2	9	384	433	-49	10
14.	Moslavina Kutina	15	3	3	9	388	449	-61	9
15.	Umag	15	2	3	10	366	437	-71	7
16.	Karlovac	15	3	1	11	393	438	-45	7

^[1]

Championship play-offs

Intermediate matches from the first part of the championship were transferred, and the clubs played three more times (15 matches).^[2]

	Club	P	W	D	L	G+	G−	Dif	Pts
1.	Zagreb	20	18	0	2	618	515	103	36
2.	Metković	20	11	3	6	588	510	78	25
3.	Perutnina PIP IPC Čakovec	20	10	2	8	562	592	-30	22
4.	Zamet Crotek Rijeka	20	8	1	11	540	537	3	17
5.	Medveščak Infosistem Zagreb	20	6	0	14	526	537	-9	12
6.	Osijek Elektromodul	20	3	2	15	519	610	-109	8

^[2]

Relegation play-offs

Relegation play-offs determined the placement of clubs that were between 7th and 16th place in the first phase of the championship. 18 matches were played (double league system).

	Club	P	W	D	L	G+	G−	Dif	Pts
1.	Đakovo	18	10	0	8	512	483	29	23
2.	Split	18	10	0	8	534	531	3	23
3.	Ekol Ivančica Ivanec	18	11	0	7	529	532	7	23
4.	Varteks di Caprio Varaždin	18	10	0	8	518	514	4	22
5.	Crikvenica	18	9	0	9	516	524	-8	22
6.	Moslavina Kutina	18	10	0	8	585	560	25	21
7.	Dubrava Zagreb	18	7	0	10	562	573	-11	19
8.	Umag	18	9	0	9	554	532	22	18
9.	Bjelovar	18	7	0	11	504	529	-25	16
10.	Karlovac	18	6	1	11	522	554	-32	13

^[3]

2003-04 Croatian First League winners
Zagreb Thirteenth title

Final standings

	Zagreb
	Metković
	Perutnina PIPO IPC
4	Zamet Crotek Rijeka
5	Medveščak Infosistem Zagreb
6	Osijek Elektromodul
7	Đakovo
8	Split
9	Ekol Ivančica Ivanec
10	Varteks di Caprio Varaždin
11	Crikvenica
12	Moslavina Kutina
13	Dubrava Zagreb
14	Umag
15	Bjelovar
16	Karlovac

Qualified for the 2004-05 EHF Champions League

Qualified for the 2004-05 EHF Cup Winners' Cup

Qualified for the 2004-05 EHF Cup

Sources

• Fredi Kramer, Dražen Pinević: Hrvatski rukomet = Croatian handball, Zagreb, 2009.; str. 180
• hrt.hr, ljestvica i rezultati 1. dijela
• hrt.hr, rezultati i ljestvice drugog dijela prvenstva