2003–04 National Football League (India)

8th season of National Football League Football league season

National Football League
Season	2003–04
Dates	28 November 2003 – 14 May 2004
Champions	East Bengal 3rd NFL title 3rd Indian title
Relegated	Mohammedan Sporting Indian Bank
AFC Cup	East Bengal Dempo
Top goalscorer	Cristiano Júnior (15 goals)
Biggest home win	East Bengal 4–0 Mohammedan Sporting (16 January 2004) Vasco 5–1 Mohun Bagan (16 April 2004)
Biggest away win	Mohammedan Sporting 1–5 Mahindra United (17 March 2004)
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

The 2003–04 National Football League was the eighth season of National Football League, the top Indian league for association football clubs, since its inception in 1996.

Overview

The fixtures for the first phase of the season (till round 11) were announced on 20 November 2003. It was contested by 12 teams, and East Bengal won the championship, in the month of April under the coach Subhas Bhowmick. Dempo came second and Mahindra came third. Indian Bank and Mohammedan were relegated from the National Football League next season.

League standings

JCT Mills

Indian Bank

Mahindra United

KolkataKolkata clubs:
East Bengal
Mohammedan
Mohun Bagan
Tollygunge Agragami

GoaGoa clubs:
Churchill Brothers
Dempo
Salgaocar
Sporting Goa
Vasco
class=notpageimage| Locations of teams in the 2003–04 National Football League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	East Bengal	22	15	4	3	37	13	+24	49
2	Dempo	22	12	9	1	28	12	+16	45
3	Mahindra United	22	12	5	5	34	21	+13	41
4	Churchill Brothers	22	10	6	6	29	24	+5	36
5	JCT Mills	22	8	9	5	23	21	+2	33
6	Vasco	22	6	10	6	22	19	+3	28
7	Salgaocar	22	7	6	9	24	23	+1	27
8	Sporting Goa	22	7	6	9	34	35	−1	27
9	Mohun Bagan	22	6	6	10	22	23	−1	24
10	Tollygunge Agragami	22	4	8	10	16	24	−8	20
11	Mohammedan Sporting	22	4	7	11	20	39	−19	19
12	Indian Bank	22	2	2	18	15	50	−35	8

Source: rsssf.com

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Cristiano Júnior	East Bengal	15
2	Yusif Yakubu	Churchill Brothers	14
3	Dudu Omagbemi	Mohammedan Sporting	13
4	Bhaichung Bhutia	East Bengal	12
5	Abdul Seriki	Mohammedan Sporting	11
6	Sunday Seah	Dempo	9
7	Abhishek Yadav	Mahindra United	7
7	Harvinder Singh	JCT Mills	7

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Ashim Biswas	Mohun Bagan	Indian Bank	3–0 (H)	15 December 2003
Yusif Yakubu	Churchill Brothers	Indian Bank	4–1 (H)	5 March 2004
Felix Aboagye	Mahindra United	Mohammedan Sporting	5–1 (A)	17 March 2004
Dudu Omagbemi	Sporting Clube	Indian Bank	4–1 (H)	5 April 2004
Marcos Pereira	Vasco	Mohun Bagan	5–1 (H)	16 April 2004

Note: (H) – Home; (A) – Away

References

"From the History Book". All India Football Federation. the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
"East Bengal downs Sporting". The Hindu. 17 January 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
^ "Vasco trounces Mohun Bagan". The Hindu. 17 April 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
^ "Felix stars in Mahindra's big win". The Hindu. 18 March 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
"National Football League fixtures". Rediff.com. 20 November 2003. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
"Leading Goal Scorers". Rediff.com. 14 May 2004. Archived from the original on 28 August 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
"Biswas 'tricks' for Bagan". Rediff.com. 15 December 2003. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
"Yakubu nets three in Churchill's big win". Rediff.com. 5 March 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
"Haywards Sporting downs Indian Bank". The Hindu. 6 April 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2018.

External links

v t e National Football League
Seasons	1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07
Former Clubs	Air India Border Security Force Churchill Brothers Dempo East Bengal Fransa-Pax Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Indian Bank Indian Telephone Industries JCT Kerala Police Kochin Mahindra United Mohammedan Sporting Mohun Bagan Punjab Police Salgaocar Sporting Goa State Bank of Travancore Tollygunge Agragami Vasco
Associated competitions	Asian Club Championship/AFC Champions League AFC Cup (performances by clubs) I-League

Indian football league seasons

First tier league seasons (1996–present)
National Football League	1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07
I-League	2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Indian Super League	2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
List of champions

Second tier league seasons (1997–present)
NFL 2nd Division	1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07
I-League 2nd Division	2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2020 2021
I-League	2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

Third tier league seasons (2006–07, 2022–present)
NFL 3rd Division	2006–07
I-League 2	2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

Fourth tier league seasons (2023–present)
I-League 3	2023–24 2024–25

Youth league seasons (2008–present)
Youth League	2008 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2022–23 2023–24

2003–04 in Indian football

« 2002–03 2004–05 »

Domestic leagues

National Football League

International cups

2003 POMIS Cup

National team

Men's	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Stage Group 3

v t e 2004 in Asian Football (AFC)
« 2003 2005 »
Domestic leagues	Bahrain '03–'04 '04–'05 China India '03–'04 '04–'05 Iran '03–'04 '04–'05 Iraq '03–'04 '04–'05 Japan Jordan '03–'04 '04–'05 Korea DPR Korea Republic Kuwait '03–'04 '04–'05 Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon '03–'04 '04–'05 Macau Malaysia Mongolia Oman '03–'04 '04–'05 Pakistan Qatar '03–'04 '04–'05 Saudi Arabia '03–'04 '04–'05 Singapore Sri Lanka '03–'04 '04–'05 Syria '03–'04 '04–'05 Tajikistan Thailand '03–'04 '04–'05 Turkmenistan UAE '03–'04 '04–'05 Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen
Domestic cups	Bahrain China FA Cup League Cup Hong Kong FA Cup '03–'04 '04–'05 League Cup '03–'04 '04–'05 Iran '03–'04 '04–'05 Japan League Cup Emperor's Cup Jordan Shield FA Cup '03–'04 '04–'05 Korea DPR Korea Republic Kuwait Fed Cup '03–'04 '04–'05 Emir Cup '03–'04 '04–'05 Kyrgyzstan Lebanon Elite Cup FA Cup '03–'04 '04–'05 Malaysia FA Cup Malaysia Cup Maldives Oman Qatar Crown Prince Cup Emir Cup Sheikh Jassem Cup Saudi Arabia '03–'04 '04–'05 Singapore Sri Lanka Syria '03–'04 '04–'05 Tajikistan Turkmenistan UAE President's Cup '03–'04 '04–'05 League Cup '04–'05 Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen
Regional club competitions	A3 Champions Cup
AFC club competitions	AFC Champions League Group stage Knock-out stage Final AFC Cup Group stage Knock-out stage Final
National team competitions	2004 AFC Asian Cup 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 2004 Gulf Cup of Nations 2004 AFC Youth Championship 2004 AFC U-17 Championship 2004 WAFF Championship

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