CSKA won their first Russian title. It was their first championship since the last edition of the

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (), served as the top division (tier) of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The league's name was a conditional designation used for brevity since being completely owned and g ...

in 1991. Newly promoted Rubin got the bronze.

Teams

As in the previous season, 16 teams are playing in the 2003 season. After the 2002 season,

Anzhi Makhachkala Football Club Anzhi Makhachkala (, ), known simply as FC Anji, was a Russian professional football club based in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. Founded in 1991, the club last competed in the third-tier Russian Football National League 2. ...

and

Sokol Saratov PFC Sokol () is a Russian association football club based in Saratov. In 2001 and 2002, Sokol played in the Russian Premier League. For the 2025–26 season, the club will be relegated to the third-level Russian Second League Division A. Histor ...

were relegated to the

2003 Russian First Division The 2003 Russian First Division was the 12th edition of Russian First Division. There were 22 teams. Teams Standings Results Top goalscorers See also *2003 Russian Premier League References PFL {{Russian First Division seasons ...

. They were replaced by

Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (; ) is a Russian professional football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the Russian Premier League. Founded in 1958, Rubin played its first-ever top flight season in 2003. It has remained there through the 2021–2 ...

and Chernomorets Novorossiysk, the winners and runners up of the 2002 Russian First Division.

Venues

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Standings

Results

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Awards

On November 14

Russian Football Union The Russian Football Union (, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of association football in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it organizes Russian amateur and professional football, includi ...

named its list of 33 top players:

;Goalkeepers # Sergei Ovchinnikov (Lokomotiv Moscow) #

Vyacheslav Malafeev Vyacheslav Aleksandrovich Malafeev ( rus, Вячесла́в Алекса́ндрович Малафе́ев, p=vʲɪtɕɪˈslaf ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ məlɐˈfʲe(j)ɪf; born 4 March 1979) is a Russian football official and a former player ...

(Zenit) # Sergei Kozko (Rubin) ;Right backs #

Vadim Evseev Vadim Valentinovich Yevseyev ( rus, Вади́м Валенти́нович Евсе́ев, p=vɐˈdʲim vəlʲɪnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ jɪfˈsʲe(j)ɪf; born 8 January 1976) is a Russian association football, football coach and a former player. H ...

(Lokomotiv Moscow) #

Deividas Šemberas Deividas Šemberas (born 2 August 1978) is a Lithuanian former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. Between 1996 and 2013, he earned 82 international caps for Lithuania national footba ...

(CSKA Moscow) #

Andrés Scotti Andrés Scotti Ponce de León (born 14 December 1975) is a Uruguayan former professional footballer who played as centre-back and rarely as left-back. Between 2006 and 2013, he made 40 appearances and scored one goal for the Uruguay national t ...

(Rubin) ;Right-centre backs #

Sergei Ignashevich Sergei Nikolayevich Ignashevich ( rus, links=no, Сергей Николаевич Игнашевич, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ɪɡnɐˈʂɛvʲɪtɕ; born 14 July 1979) is a Russian professional football coach and a former p ...

(Lokomotiv Moscow) #

Viktor Onopko Viktor Savelyevich Onopko (; born 14 October 1969) is a former Russian Association football, football Defender (association football), defender. He is the assistant manager of both FC Rostov in the Russian Premier League and the Russia national ...

(Spartak-Alania) # Matthew Booth (Rostov) ;Left-centre backs # Oleg Pashinin (Lokomotiv Moscow) # Géder (Saturn) #

Roman Sharonov Roman Sergeyevich Sharonov (; born 8 September 1976) is a Russian football coach and a former player who played as a right back. Club career He played most of his career for Rubin Kazan. International career He played for the country at Euro ...

(Rubin) ;Left backs # Jacob Lekgetho (Lokomotiv Moscow) # Andrei Solomatin (CSKA Moscow) #

Orlando Calisto de Souza Orlando Calisto de Souza or simply Calisto (born 18 December 1975) is a Brazilian former football left back. Club career He previously played for Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan and Brazilian Série A club Vasco and Atlético Mineiro ...

(Rubin) ;Defensive midfielders #

Evgeni Aldonin Evgeni Valerievich Aldonin (; born 22 January 1980)Vladimir Maminov Vladimir Aleksandrovich Maminov (; born 4 September 1974) is a Russian-born football manager and a former player who represented Uzbekistan internationally. Career He played all his career for Russian Premier League club FC Lokomotiv Moscow as ...

(Lokomotiv Moscow) #

Elvir Rahimić Elvir Rahimić (born 4 April 1976) is a Bosnian football manager and former player. He is the current sporting director of Bosnian Premier League club Željezničar. Rahimić spent the majority of his career playing for Russian Premier League ...

(CSKA Moscow) ;Right wingers # Rolan Gusev (CSKA Moscow) # Denis Boyarintsev (Rubin) #

Vladimir Bystrov Vladimir Sergeyevich Bystrov (, born 31 January 1984) is a Russian former footballer who played as a right winger. Career FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Bystrov began his career in youth club Smena. In 2001, he transferred to Zenit. On 8 May 200 ...

(Zenit) ;Central midfielders #

Dmitri Loskov Dmitri Vyacheslavovich Loskov (; born 12 February 1974) is a Russian football coach and a former player. He works as an analyst with Lokomotiv Moscow. A former midfielder, he was often considered Russia's best playmaker in the late 1990s and ea ...

(Lokomotiv Moscow) #

Jiří Jarošík Jiří Jarošík (born 27 October 1977) is a Czech professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Kazakhstani club Shakhter Karagandy. In his playing career, he played as a defender and midfielder. Jarošík started his ...

(CSKA Moscow) #

Yegor Titov Yegor Ilyich Titov (; born 29 May 1976) is a Russian Association football, football coach and former player who played as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder. He was known for his Playmaker, playmaking abilities, vision, ba ...

(Spartak Moscow) ;Left wingers #

Andrei Karyaka Andrei Konstantinovich Karyaka (; born 1 April 1978) is a Russian football coach and a former player who played as a midfielder. Club career Early career Growing up in Dnipropetrovsk in the 1980s, Karyaka was deeply influenced and inspired by ...

(Krylia Sovetov) #

Marat Izmailov Marat Nailevich Izmailov (, ; born 21 September 1982) is a Russian former professional footballer turned linesman. Mainly a right midfielder, he could also appear as an attacking midfielder, being best known for his dribbling skills and pace wh ...

(Lokomotiv Moscow) # Aleksandr Pavlenko (Spartak Moscow) ;Right forwards # Valery Yesipov (Rotor) #

Dmitri Bulykin Dmitri Olegovich Bulykin (; born 20 November 1979) is a retired Russian footballer. Between 2003 and 2005, he played regularly for the Russian national team. Club career Lokomotiv Moscow Bulykin began his football career with Lokomotiv Moscow ...

(Dynamo Moscow) #

Mikheil Ashvetia Mikheil Ashvetia ( ka, მიხეილ აშვეთია; born 10 November 1977) is a Georgian former footballer who played as a striker. Most recently he was the head coach of 2nd division club Samtredia. Career Player Ashvetia played mo ...

(Lokomotiv Moscow) ;Left forwards #

Aleksandr Kerzhakov Aleksandr Anatolyevich Kerzhakov ( ; born 27 November 1982) is a Russian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He used ...

(Zenit) #

Ivica Olić Ivica Olić (; born 14 September 1979) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is an assistant coach of the Croatia national team. During his career, Olić played for German Bundesliga clubs such as Hamburger SV, VfL W ...

(CSKA Moscow) # Roni (Rubin)

Medal squads

References

External links

RSSSF
{{2003–04 in European football (UEFA)

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...