The 2003 J.League Division 1 season was the 11th season since the establishment of the J.League Division 1. The league began on March 15 and ended on November 29.

General

Promotion and relegation

Changes in competition formats

Changes in clubs

none

Honours

Clubs

The following were sixteen clubs participated in J.League Division 1 during 2003 season. Of these clubs, Oita Trinita and Cerezo Osaka were newly promoted from Division 2.

Foreign players

Format

In the 2003 season, the league was conducted split-season format, 1st Stage and 2nd Stage. In each stage, sixteen clubs played in a single round-robin format, a total of 15 games per club (per stage). A club received 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs were ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order: A draw would be conducted, if necessary. The club that finished at the top of the table is declared stage champion and qualifies for the Suntory Championship. The first stage winner, hosts the first leg in the championship series. If a single club wins both stages, the club is declared the season champions and championship series will not be held. Two bottom-placed clubs are relegated to J2.

First stage

Table

Results

Second stage

Table

Results

Championship

In 2003, Suntory Championship was again not held because Yokohama F. Marinos had won both the first and the second stage and thus were automatically declared 2003 J.League Division 1 Champions.

Overall table

Top scorers

Attendance figures

Awards

Individual

Best Eleven

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• The number in brackets denotes the number of times that the footballer has appeared in the Best 11.