2003 Russian Premier League

CSKA won their first Russian title. It was their first championship since the last edition of the Soviet Top League in 1991. Newly promoted Rubin got the bronze.

Russian Premier League

Season	2003
Champions	CSKA Moscow
Relegated	Uralan Elista Chernomorets Novorossiysk
Champions League	CSKA Moscow
UEFA Cup	Zenit St.Petersburg Rubin Kazan
Intertoto Cup	Shinnik Yaroslavl Spartak Moscow
Matches played	240
Goals scored	609 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorer	Dmitri Loskov (14)
← 2002 2004 →

Teams

As in the previous season, 16 teams are playing in the 2003 season. After the 2002 season, Anzhi Makhachkala and Sokol Saratov were relegated to the 2003 Russian First Division. They were replaced by Rubin Kazan and Chernomorets Novorossiysk, the winners and runners up of the 2002 Russian First Division.

Venues

Spartak-Alania	Chernomorets	CSKA	Dynamo
Republican Spartak Stadium	Central Stadium	Central Stadium	Central Stadium
Capacity: 32,464	Capacity: 12,500	Capacity: 36,540	Capacity: 36,540
Krylia Sovetov Samara	CSKA Dynamo Lokomotiv Saturn Spartak Torpedo Torpedo-ZIL Spartak-Alania Chernomorets Krylia Rostov Rotor Rubin Shinnik Uralan Zenit Locations of teams in 2003 Russian Premier League		Lokomotiv Moscow
Metallurg Stadium			RZD Arena
Capacity: 33,001			Capacity: 27,084
Rostov			Rotor
Olimp-2			Central Stadium
Capacity: 15,840			Capacity: 32,120
Rubin			Saturn
Central Stadium			Saturn Stadium
Capacity: 22,500			Capacity: 14,685
Shinnik			Spartak
Shinnik Stadium			Luzhniki Stadium
Capacity: 22,871			Capacity: 81,029
Torpedo	Torpedo-ZIL	Uralan	Zenit Saint Petersburg
Luzhniki Stadium	Eduard Streltsov Stadium	Uralan Stadium	Petrovsky Stadium
Capacity: 81,029	Capacity: 13,450	Capacity:	Capacity: 21,570

Personnel and kits

Team	Location	Head coach	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Spartak-Alania	Vladikavkaz	Bakhva Tedeyev	Umbro	-
Chernomorets	Novorossiysk	Igor Gamula (Caretaker)	Adidas	-
CSKA	Moscow	Valery Gazzaev	Umbro	-
Dynamo	Moscow	Viktor Prokopenko	Diadora	Yukos
Lokomotiv	Moscow	Yuri Semin	Nike	MZD
Krylia	Samara	Aleksandr Tarkhanov	Umbro	-
Rostov	Rostov-on-Don	Sergei Balakhnin	Nike	-
Rotor	Volgograd	Vladimir Fayzulin	Umbro	-
Rubin	Kazan	Kurban Berdyev	Nike	-
Saturn	Ramenskoye	Oleg Romantsev	Nike	-
Shinnik	Yaroslavl	Aleksandr Pobegalov	Nike	TM Holding
Spartak	Moscow	Vladimir Fedotov (Caretaker)	Umbro	Lukoil
Torpedo	Moscow	Sergei Petrenko	Diadora	-
Torpedo-Metallurg	Moscow	Aleksandr Ignatenko (Caretaker)	2K	ZiL
Uralan	Elista	Igor Shalimov	Adidas	-
Zenit	Saint Petersburg	Vlastimil Petržela	Umbro	Gazprom

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Torpedo-ZIL	Vadim Nikonov			Preseason	Sergei Aleinikov		Preseason
Rotor	Vladimir Salkov				Vladimir Fayzulin
Uralan Elista	Revaz Dzodzuashvili				Igor Shalimov
Spartak-Alania	Bakhva Tedeyev				Revaz Dzodzuashvili	22 December 2002[1]
Zenit	Boris Rappoport				Vlastimil Petržela	23 December 2002[2]
Chernomorets	Valeri Chetverik		March 2003		Igor Gamula	March 2003
Spartak-Alania	Revaz Dzodzuashvili	Resigned	22 June 2003[3]		Aleksandr Yanovsky (Caretaker)	June 2003
Torpedo-ZIL	Sergei Aleinikov		May 2003		Valentin Ivanov	May 2003
Spartak	Oleg Romantsev		June 2003		Andrey Chernyshov	June 2003
Spartak-Alania	Aleksandr Yanovsky (Caretaker)		June 2003		Nikolai Khudiyev	July 2003
Chernomorets	Igor Gamula		July 2003		Sergei Pavlov	July 2003
Spartak-Alania	Nikolai Khudiyev		July 2003		Bakhva Tedeyev	July 2003
Rostov	Sergei Balakhnin		August 2003		Vladimir Fedotov (Caretaker)	August 2003
Rostov	Vladimir Fedotov (Caretaker)		August 2003		Sergei Balakhnin	August 2003
Torpedo-ZIL	Valentin Ivanov		August 2003		Aleksandr Ignatenko (Caretaker)	August 2003
Saturn	Vladimir Shevchuk		September 2003		Oleg Romantsev	September 2003
Spartak	Andrey Chernyshov		September 2003		Vladimir Fedotov (Caretaker)	September 2003
Chernomorets	Sergei Pavlov		October 2003		Igor Gamula (Caretaker)	October 2003

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	CSKA Moscow (C)	30	17	8	5	56	32	+24	59	Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2	Zenit St. Petersburg	30	16	8	6	48	32	+16	56	Qualification to UEFA Cup second qualifying round
3	Rubin Kazan	30	15	8	7	44	29	+15	53
4	Lokomotiv Moscow	30	15	7	8	54	33	+21	52
5	Shinnik Yaroslavl	30	12	11	7	43	34	+9	47	Qualification to Intertoto Cup second round
6	Dynamo Moscow	30	12	10	8	42	29	+13	46
7	Saturn	30	12	9	9	40	37	+3	45
8	Torpedo Moscow	30	11	10	9	42	38	+4	43
9	Krylia Sovetov Samara	30	11	9	10	38	33	+5	42
10	Spartak Moscow	30	10	6	14	38	48	−10	36	Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round
11	Rostov	30	8	10	12	30	42	−12	34
12	Rotor Volgograd	30	9	5	16	33	44	−11	32
13	Spartak-Alania Vladikavkaz	30	9	4	17	23	43	−20	31
14	Torpedo-Metallurg Moscow	30	8	5	17	25	39	−14	29
15	Uralan Elista (R)	30	6	10	14	23	47	−24	28	Relegation to First Division
16	Chernomorets Novorossiysk (R)	30	6	6	18	30	49	−19	24

Source: RFPL
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd head-to-head (points, matches won, goal difference, goals scored, away goals scored); 4th goal difference
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	SAL	CHE	CSK	DYN	KRY	LOK	ROS	ROT	RUB	SAT	SHI	SPA	TOR	TMM	URE	ZEN
Spartak-Alania Vladikavkaz		1–0	0–1	0–1	1–1	3–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–1	3–0	0–0	2–0	0–1	0–2
Chernomorets Novorossiysk	3–0		0–1	0–1	1–3	2–5	2–2	1–0	1–0	0–1	2–1	2–3	2–4	1–2	1–1	1–0
CSKA Moscow	3–0	3–2		1–1	3–0	2–0	0–1	3–0	4–0	1–1	2–2	3–2	2–0	1–0	2–0	2–2
Dynamo Moscow	0–0	3–2	2–3		2–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	0–0	1–1	1–2	3–2	1–2	0–1	2–0	7–1
Krylia Sovetov Samara	3–0	1–1	0–2	1–0		3–0	3–0	3–0	0–0	3–1	1–0	0–2	4–2	2–0	0–0	2–1
Lokomotiv Moscow	2–0	1–0	1–3	2–0	2–1		0–0	3–0	1–1	2–1	6–1	2–1	1–2	1–0	6–0	1–2
Rostov	3–1	0–2	0–1	1–1	2–1	1–1		4–3	0–1	1–2	1–1	3–2	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–1
Rotor Volgograd	2–1	3–0	1–2	0–1	1–0	0–2	2–0		3–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–4
Rubin Kazan	4–0	3–1	3–2	2–1	3–1	3–1	5–0	1–0		0–0	1–0	1–0	3–1	1–0	0–0	1–2
Saturn	2–2	2–0	2–2	0–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	4–1	1–1		2–1	3–2	2–0	0–3	2–1	1–3
Shinnik Yaroslavl	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	4–1	2–2	2–2	1–0		1–2	1–1	3–0	2–1	3–0
Spartak Moscow	1–2	2–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	2–5	1–0	3–2	0–2	0–1	3–1		1–0	0–2	1–1	1–1
Torpedo Moscow	2–0	1–1	3–2	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	0–3	4–2	4–3	1–1	3–0		3–0	3–0	1–2
Torpedo-Metallurg Moscow	3–1	0–0	2–1	0–1	3–0	1–3	0–3	1–0	1–2	2–3	1–2	0–0	0–0		1–1	0–1
Uralan Elista	2–1	1–0	2–2	1–5	0–0	1–2	3–1	0–1	1–1	0–0	0–2	1–2	2–2	1–0		1–0
Zenit St. Petersburg	2–1	3–0	4–1	0–0	2–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–0	3–0	5–1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

As of matches played on 1 November 2003.

Rank	Player	Club	Goal
1	Dmitri Loskov	Lokomotiv	14
2	Aleksandr Kerzhakov	Zenit	13
	Valery Yesipov	Rotor
4	Aleksei Medvedev	Saturn	11
	Rôni	Rubin
6	Roman Pavlyuchenko	Spartak Moscow	10
7	Yegor Titov	Spartak Moscow	10
	Dmitri Bulykin	Dynamo
	Andrei Karyaka	Krylia
	Martin Kushev	Shinnik
	Rolan Gusev	CSKA
	Andrey Tikhonov	Krylia

Awards

On November 14 Russian Football Union named its list of 33 top players:^[4]

Goalkeepers

1. Sergei Ovchinnikov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
2. Vyacheslav Malafeev (Zenit)
3. Sergei Kozko (Rubin)

Right backs Vadim Evseev (Lokomotiv Moscow) Deividas Šemberas (CSKA Moscow) Andrés Scotti (Rubin)

Right-centre backs Sergei Ignashevich (Lokomotiv Moscow) Viktor Onopko (Spartak-Alania) Matthew Booth (Rostov)

Left-centre backs Oleg Pashinin (Lokomotiv Moscow) Géder (Saturn) Roman Sharonov (Rubin)

Left backs Jacob Lekgetho (Lokomotiv Moscow) Andrei Solomatin (CSKA Moscow) Orlando Calisto de Souza (Rubin)

Defensive midfielders

1. Evgeni Aldonin (Rotor)
2. Vladimir Maminov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
3. Elvir Rahimić (CSKA Moscow)

Right wingers Rolan Gusev (CSKA Moscow) Denis Boyarintsev (Rubin) Vladimir Bystrov (Zenit)

Central midfielders Dmitri Loskov (Lokomotiv Moscow) Jiří Jarošík (CSKA Moscow) Yegor Titov (Spartak Moscow)

Left wingers Andrei Karyaka (Krylia Sovetov) Marat Izmailov (Lokomotiv Moscow) Aleksandr Pavlenko (Spartak Moscow)

Right forwards Valery Yesipov (Rotor) Dmitri Bulykin (Dynamo Moscow) Mikheil Ashvetia (Lokomotiv Moscow)

Left forwards Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Zenit) Ivica Olić (CSKA Moscow) Roni (Rubin)

Medal squads

1. PFC CSKA Moscow

Goalkeepers: Veniamin Mandrykin (19), Igor Akinfeev (13). Defenders: Aleksei Berezutski (30), Bohdan Shershun (27 / 1), Denis Yevsikov (24), Vasili Berezutski (23), Deividas Šemberas (21), Andrei Solomatin (20). Midfielders: Elvir Rahimić (28 / 1), Jiří Jarošík (27 / 7), Rolan Gusev (26 / 9), Igor Yanovsky (25 / 5), Sergei Semak (24 / 7), Juris Laizāns (21 / 1), Spartak Gogniyev (11 / 2), Alan Kusov (11), Artur Tlisov (3 / 1). Forwards: Denis Popov (22 / 8), Dmitri Kirichenko (22 / 5), Ivica Olić (10 / 7), Alexander Geynrikh (2 / 1), Sergey Samodin (2), Vardan Mazalov (1). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets) One own goal scored by Andrés Scotti (FC Rubin Kazan). Manager: Valery Gazzaev. Transferred out during the season: Alan Kusov (on loan to FC Spartak-Alania Vladikavkaz).

2. FC Zenit St. Petersburg

Goalkeepers: Vyacheslav Malafeev (27), Kamil Čontofalský (3). Defenders: Milan Vještica (28), Pavel Mareš (26 / 2), Martin Horák (21 / 2), Daniel Chiriţă (21 / 1), Aleksei Katulsky (17 / 1), Aleksei Igonin (11), Sargis Hovsepyan (10), Konstantin Lobov (9), Valeri Tsvetkov (8), Igor Nedorezov (1). Midfielders: Andrei Arshavin (27 / 5), Aleksandr Spivak (26 / 6), Vladislav Radimov (21 / 3), Vladimir Bystrov (19 / 4), Igor Denisov (19 / 2), Radek Šírl (18 / 1), Konstantin Konoplyov (15 / 1), Oleg Vlasov (13 / 2), Sergei Osipov (8). Forwards: Aleksandr Kerzhakov (27 / 13), Dmitri Makarov (12 / 2), Lukáš Hartig (12 / 1), Andrei Nikolayev (6 / 2), Maksim Astafyev (4), Predrag Ranđelović (3). Manager: Vlastimil Petržela . Transferred out during the season: Sargis Hovsepyan (to FC Torpedo-Metallurg Moscow), Sergei Osipov (to FC Torpedo Moscow), Predrag Ranđelović (free agent).

3. FC Rubin Kazan

Goalkeepers: Sergei Kozko (24), Pavel Kharchik (4), Valeri Aleskarov (2). Defenders: Jiří Novotný (29 / 6), Mikhail Sinyov (27), Calisto (23 / 1), Roman Sharonov (18 / 1), Andrei Fyodorov (17 / 1), Leandro Samaroni (9), Sergei Kharlamov (7), Andrei Streltsov (1), Pape Magatte Kebe (1). Midfielders: Denis Boyarintsev (28 / 7), Andrés Scotti (27 / 4), Tomáš Čížek (25 / 1), MacBeth Sibaya (24 / 1), Andrei Konovalov (23 / 2), Ebrima Sillah (12 / 2), Abdelkarim Kissi (5), Dmitri Michkov (5), Carlos Castro (4), Baye Gueye Ndiaga (2 / 1). Forwards: Roni (29 / 11), Oleg Nechayev (25 / 2), David Chaladze (20 / 3), Aloísio (6), Wladimir Baýramow (1). Manager: Kurban Berdyev. One own goal scored by Denis Yevsikov (PFC CSKA Moscow). Transferred out during the season: Leandro Samaroni , Wladimir Baýramow (both to FC Terek Grozny).

See also

2003 in Russian football