2002–03 Irish League

The 2002–03 Irish League was the 102nd edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football. The league consisted of 12 teams, and Glentoran won the championship.

Irish League Premier Division

Season	2002–03
Champions	Glentoran 21st Irish title
Matches played	228
Goals scored	597 (2.62 per match)
Top goalscorer	Vinny Arkins (29)
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

Premier Division

Belfast

Ards

Coleraine

Glenavon

Institute

Lisburn Distillery

Newry Town

Omagh Town

Portadown

Belfast teams : Cliftonville
Crusaders
Glentoran
Linfield

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Location of teams in the 2002–03 Irish League Premier Division

Cliftonville

Crusaders

Glentoran

Linfield

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Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 2002–03 Irish League Premier Division

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Glentoran (C)	38	28	6	4	78	22	+56	90	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Portadown	38	24	8	6	89	36	+53	80	Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round
3	Coleraine	38	21	10	7	66	38	+28	73
4	Linfield	38	17	12	9	70	41	+29	63
5	Omagh Town	38	15	6	17	47	57	−10	51	Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round
6	Institute	38	12	6	20	44	75	−31	42
7	Ards	38	12	10	16	27	39	−12	46
8	Lisburn Distillery	38	12	6	20	39	49	−10	42
9	Cliftonville	38	9	14	15	37	43	−6	41
10	Glenavon	38	8	12	18	41	67	−26	36
11	Crusaders	38	9	9	20	26	61	−35	36
12	Newry Town	38	8	7	23	33	69	−36	31	Qualification for the promotion/relegation play-off

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions

Results

Source: Irish League Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

During matches 23–33 each team will play every other team for the third time (either at home, or away).

Home \ Away	ARD	CLI	COL	CRU	GLV	GLT	INS	LIN	DIS	NEW	OMA	POR
Ards		0–0		0–0		0–2	1–0			1–0		0–3
Cliftonville				0–1		0–2	1–3			1–1
Coleraine	3–1	4–3			4–1				2–1		0–1
Crusaders			0–2		2–0			0–5		0–2	2–0	0–5
Glenavon	3–0	1–1				0–1	0–2	2–2	0–2
Glentoran			1–0	0–1			6–1	0–0		2–1		1–0
Institute			0–1	2–1				2–0		0–1	3–1	1–0
Linfield	1–0	0–0	2–0							4–0		3–2
Lisburn Distillery	0–1	1–1		0–1		0–1	1–1	1–2
Newry Town			0–0		2–2				0–1		0–1	0–3
Omagh Town	0–1	2–1			2–0	0–4		1–1	0–3
Portadown		2–1	1–5		2–1				1–1		5–1

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

During matches 34–38 each team will play every other team in their half of the table once. As this is the fourth time that teams play each other this season, home sides are chosen so that they will have played each other twice at home and twice away.