The 2002–03 Swiss Cup was the 78th season of Switzerland's cup competition held annually by the Swiss Football Association (SFV-ASF). It began on 9 August with the first games of Round 1 and ended on 11 May 2003 with the Final held at St. Jakob-Park, Basel. The cup winners qualified for a place in the first round of the UEFA Cup.

Overview This season's cup competition began on the week-end 9, 10–11 August with the first round. The competition ended on Sunday 11 May 2003 with the final, which was held for the third time in succession at the St. Jakob-Park in Basel. The 48 clubs from the 2002–03 Swiss 1. Liga were granted byes for the first round and were to join the competition in the second round. The 11 clubs from the Nationalliga B were granted byes for the first three rounds. The Liechtensteiner football club Vaduz who played their league season in the NLB competed only in the Liechtenstein Cup and were not admitted to the Swiss Cup. The 12 clubs from the Nationalliga A were granted byes for the first four rounds. The winners of the cup were to qualify for the first round of the first round of the UEFA Cup in the following season.

When possible, the draw respected regionalities and the lower classed team was granted home advantage. In the entire competition, the matches were played in a single knockout format. In the event of a draw after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time. In the event of a draw at the end of extra time, a penalty shoot-out was to decide which team qualified for the next round. No replays were foreseen in the entire competition.

Round 1 In the first round a total of 136 amateur clubs participated from the fourth-tier and lower. Reserve teams were not admitted to the competition, however the U-21 teams who played in the fourth-tier were qualified. The draw respected regionalities, when possible, and the lower classed team was granted home advantage.

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|9 August 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|10 August 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|11 August 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|13 August 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|14 August 2002

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Round 2 The 54 teams, including the U-21 teams, from the 2002–03 1. Liga that had been granted byes for the first round, joined the competition in this the second round. These teams were seeded and cound not be drawn against each other. The draw respected regionalities, when possible, and the lower classed team was granted the home advantage.

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|22 August 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|24 August 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|25 August 2002

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Round 3

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|6 September 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|7 September 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|8 September 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|2 October 2002

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Round 4 Eleven teams from the 2002–03 Nationalliga B (NLB) were granted byes for the first three rounds and they joined the competition in the fourth round. Second-tier club Vaduz who competed their league season in the NLB, however, played only in the Liechtenstein Cup and not here in the Swiss Cup. These eleven teams were seeded and cound not be drawn against each other. The draw respected regionalities, when possible, and the lower classed team was granted home advantage.

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|9 October 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|10 October 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|11 October 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|12 October 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|13 October 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|23 October 2002

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Round 5 The twelve first-tier clubs from the 2002–03 Nationalliga A had been granted byes for the first four rounds and they joined the competition in this round. The first-tier teams were seeded and cound not be drawn against each other. The draw respected regionalities, when possible, and the lower classed team was granted home advantage.

Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|9 November 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|10 November 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|4 December 2002

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|22 February 2003

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Matches

Round 6 Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|23 February 2003

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|4 March 2003

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Matches

Quarter-finals Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|26 March 2003

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|30 March 2003

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Matches

Semi-finals The four winners of the quarter-finals played in the semi-finals. The winners of the first drawn semi-final is considered as home team in the final. Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|15 April 2003

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Matches

Final The final was played in the St. Jakob-Park on Sunday 11 May 2003. Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|11 May 2003

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Telegram

Basel won the cup and this was the club's seventh cup title to this date and their second consecutive cup title.

Further in Swiss football 2002-03 Nationalliga A 2002-03 Nationalliga B 2002-03 Swiss 1. Liga

References

Sources and external links Official site Cup finals at Fussball-Schweiz Switzerland 2002/03 at RSSSF