2003–04 Israeli Premier League
# 2003–04 Israeli Premier League

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

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 | Bloomfield Stadium | 015,700 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | Bloomfield Stadium | 015,700 |
| Maccabi Haifa | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | 014,002 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | 014,002 |
| 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 | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium | 06,800 |
| 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.

| Beitar Jerusalem | Bnei Yehuda Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Be'er Sheva |
| - | - | - |
| Teddy Stadium | Bloomfield Stadium | Vasermil Stadium |
| Maccabi Haifa Bnei Sakhnin | Maccabi Petah Tikva Hapoel Petah Tikva | F.C. Ashdod |
| Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium | Yud-Alef Stadium |
| Maccabi Netanya | Maccabi Ahi Nazareth |
| Sar-Tov Stadium | Beit She'an Municipal Stadium |

## 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 | Relegated to Liga Leumit |

* ↑ 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 | — |

### 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 | — |

## Top goal scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Shay Holtzman | F.C. Ashdod | 16 |
| 1 | Ofir Haim | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 16 |
| 3 | Assi Tubi | Maccabi Ahi Nazareth | 13 |
| 3 | Manor Hassan | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 13 |
| 3 | Omer Golan | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 13 |
| 6 | Tomislav Erceg | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 12 |
| 7 | Mate Baturina | Bnei Yehuda | 11 |
| 7 | Ibezito Ogbonna | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 11 |
| 9 | Lior Asulin | Bnei Sakhnin | 10 |
| 9 | Gustavo Boccoli | Maccabi Ahi Nazareth | 10 |
