2003 Latvian Higher League

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Latvian football league season for the highest division

Football league season

Latvian Higher League

Season	2003
Champions	Skonto FC
Relegated	Gauja RKB-Arma
UEFA Champions League	Skonto FC
UEFA Cup	FK Liepajas Metalurgs FK Ventspils
UEFA Intertoto Cup	Dinaburg FC
Top goalscorer	Viktors Dobrecovs (36 goals)
← 2002 2004 →

The 2003 season in the Latvian Higher League, named Virslīga, was the thirteenth domestic competition since the Baltic nation gained independence from the Soviet Union on 6 September 1991. Eight teams competed in this edition, with Skonto FC claiming the title.

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Skonto (C)	28	23	4	1	91	9	+82	73	Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2	Liepājas Metalurgs	28	22	2	4	100	29	+71	68	Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3	Ventspils	28	19	4	5	89	18	+71	61
4	Dinaburg	28	13	5	10	43	36	+7	44	Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
5	Rīga	28	8	5	15	34	63	−29	29
6	Gauja (R)	28	6	5	17	27	70	−43	23	Relegation to Latvian First League[a]
7	Auda	28	4	1	23	21	88	−67	13
8	RKB-Arma (R)	28	2	4	22	23	115	−92	10	Relegation to Latvian First League

Source: RSSSF
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. ^ Gauja were relegated to the lower league due to financial difficulties.

Match table

First half of the season Home \ Away AUD DIN GAU MET RĪG RKB SKO VEN Auda 0–1 0–2 1–4 1–1 1–0 0–7 0–7 Dinaburg 1–0 1–0 4–2 1–0 6–0 0–2 0–2 Gauja 3–2 2–3 1–6 1–5 2–0 0–2 1–1 Liepājas Metalurgs 6–0 2–0 4–2 6–2 8–0 2–0 2–1 Rīga 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–3 3–1 0–2 0–6 RKB-Arma 6–1 0–1 1–1 1–7 1–3 0–6 0–7 Skonto 4–0 2–0 3–0 0–0 0–0 5–0 2–1 Ventspils 5–0 0–0 4–0 2–1 4–0 4–0 0–0 Source: RSSSF Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of the season Home \ Away AUD DIN GAU MET RĪG RKB SKO VEN Auda 0–3 3–1 0–2 0–1 1–0 1–4 0–4 Dinaburg 3–1 4–0 0–2 4–0 2–2 0–4 2–2 Gauja 1–0 0–0 1–3 2–1 3–0 0–2 0–1 Liepājas Metalurgs 3–0 3–0 9–2 5–0 8–0 0–0 3–2 Rīga 3–2 0–2 3–1 0–1 4–0 2–7 0–2 RKB-Arma 2–5 4–2 1–1 2–6 2–2 0–2 0–7 Skonto 8–0 2–1 6–0 5–1 4–0 8–0 2–1 Ventspils 4–1 3–1 5–0 2–1 3–0 9–0 0–2 Source: RSSSF Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Viktors Dobrecovs (LAT)	FK Liepājas Metalurgs	36
2	Ģirts Karlsons (LAT)	FK Liepājas Metalurgs	26
3	Māris Verpakovskis (LAT)	Skonto FC	22
4	Vīts Rimkus (LAT)	FK Ventspils	20
5	Gatis Kalniņš (LAT)	Skonto FC	12

Awards

Best	Name	Team
Goalkeeper	Andrejs Piedels (LAT)	Skonto FC
Defender	Mihails Zemļinskis (LAT)	Skonto FC
Midfielder	Valentīns Lobaņovs (LAT)	Skonto FC
Forward	Māris Verpakovskis (LAT)	Skonto FC

References