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| Season | 2003–04 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Maccabi Haifa 8th title |
| Relegated | Maccabi Ahi Nazareth Maccabi Netanya |
| Top goalscorer | Shay Holtzman / Ofir Haim (16 goals) |
| ← 2002–03 2004–05 → | |
The 2003–04 Israeli Premier League season was held between 13 September 2003 and 22 May 2004. For the first time, there were two Israeli Arab clubs in the top division; Maccabi Ahi Nazareth and Bnei Sakhnin.
Maccabi Haifa won the title, whilst Nazareth and Maccabi Netanya were relegated. Bnei Sakhnin (who qualified for Europe by winning the State Cup) became the first Arab club to spend more than a single season in the top flight.
Teams and Locations
Beitar JerusalemBnei SakhninF.C. AshdodHapoel Be'er ShevaMaccabi HaifaMaccabi Petah TikvaHapoel Petah Tikva Bnei Yehuda Hapoel Tel AvivMaccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Ahi NazarethMaccabi Netanyaclass=notpageimage| Locations of the 2003–04 Israeli Premier League teams
Twelve teams took part in the 2003-04 Israeli Premier League season, including ten teams from the 2002-03 season, as well as two teams which were promoted from the 2002-03 Liga Leumit.
Maccabi Ahi Nazareth were promoted as champions of the 2002-03 Liga Leumit. Bnei Sakhnin were promoted as runners up. Both Maccabi Ahi Nazareth and Bnei Sakhnin made their debut in the top flight.
Hapoel Kfar Saba and Ironi Rishon LeZion were relegated after finishing in the bottom two places in the 2002-03 season.
| Club | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Beitar Jerusalem | Teddy Stadium | 021,600 |
| Bnei Yehuda | Bloomfield Stadium | 015,700 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | ||
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | ||
| Maccabi Haifa | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | 014,002 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | ||
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | Vasermil Stadium | 013,000 |
| F.C. Ashdod | Yud-Alef Stadium | 07,800 |
| Maccabi Netanya | Sar-Tov Stadium | 07,500 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium | 06,800 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | ||
| Maccabi Ahi Nazareth | Beit She'an Municipal Stadium | 03,000 |
The club played their home games at a neutral venue because their own ground did not meet Premier League requirements.
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Final table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maccabi Haifa (C) | 33 | 19 | 6 | 8 | 54 | 25 | +29 | 63 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 2 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 33 | 16 | 9 | 8 | 35 | 22 | +13 | 57 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 33 | 16 | 8 | 9 | 49 | 35 | +14 | 56 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup second qualifying round |
| 4 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 33 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 48 | 36 | +12 | 55 | Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round |
| 5 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 33 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 48 | 37 | +11 | 49 | |
| 6 | Bnei Yehuda | 33 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 34 | 42 | −8 | 45 | |
| 7 | F.C. Ashdod | 33 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 47 | 49 | −2 | 42 | |
| 8 | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 33 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 46 | 52 | −6 | 42 | |
| 9 | Beitar Jerusalem | 33 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 32 | 42 | −10 | 39 | |
| 10 | Bnei Sakhnin | 33 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 31 | 38 | −7 | 35 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup second qualifying round |
| 11 | Maccabi Netanya (R) | 33 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 28 | 52 | −24 | 31 | Relegated to Liga Leumit |
| 12 | Maccabi Ahi Nazareth (R) | 33 | 8 | 6 | 19 | 40 | 62 | −22 | 27 |
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- Deducted 3 points
Results
First and second round
| Home \ Away | BEI | BnS | BnY | ASH | HBS | HPT | HTA | MAN | MHA | MNE | MPT | MTA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beitar Jerusalem | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | 0–2 | — | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Bnei Yehuda | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| F.C. Ashdod | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 3–5 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | — | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | 3–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 4–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Maccabi Ahi Nazareth | 2–1 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 0–2 | — | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 4–1 | — | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 4–3 | — | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | — | 2–2 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | — |
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Third round
| Home \ Away | BEI | BnS | BnY | ASH | HBS | HPT | HTA | MAN | MHA | MNE | MPT | MTA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beitar Jerusalem | — | — | — | 0–3 | — | 1–0 | 3–2 | — | 0–1 | — | 2–4 | — |
| Bnei Sakhnin | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | — | — | — | — | 0–1 | — | 0–0 |
| Bnei Yehuda | 2–0 | — | — | — | 1–6 | — | — | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| F.C. Ashdod | — | 4–1 | 3–0 | — | 1–1 | — | — | — | — | 2–1 | — | 1–1 |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 0–1 | — | — | — | — | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–3 | — |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | — | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | — | — | 2–2 | 4–1 | 0–2 | — | — | — |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | — | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | — | — | 3–2 | 1–0 | — | — | 0–1 |
| Maccabi Ahi Nazareth | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 3–0 | — | — | — | — | — | 2–2 | 2–3 | — |
| Maccabi Haifa | — | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | — | — | 3–1 | — | — | — | 0–1 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1–1 | — | — | — | — | 1–3 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | — | 0–3 | — |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | — | 2–1 | — | 2–2 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | — | — | — |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 1–0 | — | — | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | — | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | — |
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Top goal scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Shay Holtzman
|
F.C. Ashdod | 16 |
| Ofir Haim
|
Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 16 | |
| 3 | Assi Tubi
|
Maccabi Ahi Nazareth | 13 |
| Manor Hassan
|
Hapoel Petah Tikva | 13 | |
| Omer Golan
|
Maccabi Petah Tikva | 13 | |
| 6 |  Tomislav Erceg
|
Hapoel Petah Tikva | 12 |
| 7 | Mate Baturina
|
Bnei Yehuda | 11 |
 Ibezito Ogbonna
|
Hapoel Tel Aviv | 11 | |
| 9 | Lior Asulin
|
Bnei Sakhnin | 10 |
 Gustavo Boccoli
|
Maccabi Ahi Nazareth | 10 |
See also
| 2003–04 in Israeli football | |||||||||||||
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