2002-03 In English Football Article Index for
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2002-03 In English Football
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OVERVIEW


Biggest rise


Wigan Athletic marked their 25th season of Football League membership by winning the Division Two championship and reaching the league's second tier for the very first time.


Biggest fall


Sheffield Wednesday went down to Division Two , just 10 years after reaching the finals of both domestic cup competitions and 11 years after coming two places short of the league title.


EVENTS

  • Manchester United overhauled Arsenal in the Premiership title race during the final three months of the season and were crowned champions for the eighth time in eleven seasons.

  • Arsenal compensated for their failure to retain the Premiership title by retaining the F.A Cup after a 1-0 win over Southampton at the Millennium Stadium.

  • Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Sheffield United 3-0 in the Division One playoff final to return to the top flight for the first time since the 1983-84 season.

  • Sunderland were relegated from the Premiership with a record low of 4 wins, 19 points and 21 goals.

  • Cameroon international midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe, 28, whose clubs included Premiership sides West Ham United and Manchester City, collapsed and died from an undetected heart condition in a Confederations Cup tie.

  • Shrewsbury Town beat Everton 2-1 in a shock F.A Cup Third Round victory, but were relegated to the Conference at the end of the season, ending 53 years of Football League membership.

  • Manchester United broke the English transfer record for the third time in just over a year after they paid Leeds United £29million for central defender Rio Ferdinand.

  • Legendary goalkeeper David Seaman, approaching 40, left Arsenal after 13 years and nine major trophies to join Manchester City on a free transfer.

  • Peter Schmeichel called time on his footballing career six months before his 40th birthday after helping Manchester City finish ninth in the Premiership.

  • Leeds United, £80million in debt come March, sacked Terry Venables as manager and replaced him with former Manchester City and Sunderland manager Peter Reid - on a temporary basis. After ensuring their Premiership survival, Reid was given a one-year rolling contract.



ENGLAND NATIONAL TEAM


''Key: ECQ = 2004 European Championship qualifiers, F = Friendly; scores are written England first''


EUROPEAN CLUB COMPETITIONS



UEFA Champions League




UEFA Cup




UEFA Intertoto Cup




HONOURS



LEAGUE COMPETITIONS



FA Premier League

P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts
1 Manchester United 38 16 2 1 42 12 9 6 4 32 22 +40 83 Champions League
2 Arsenal 38 15 2 2 47 20 8 7 4 38 22 +43 78 Champions League
3 Newcastle United 38 15 2 2 36 17 6 4 9 27 31 +15 69 Champions League (qualifying)
4 Chelsea 38 12 5 2 41 15 7 5 7 27 23 +30 67 Champions League (qualifying)
5 Liverpool 38 9 8 2 30 16 9 2 8 31 25 +20 64 UEFA Cup ( League Cup winners)
6 Blackburn Rovers 38 9 7 3 24 15 7 5 7 28 28 +9 60 UEFA Cup
7 Everton 38 11 5 3 28 19 6 3 10 20 30 -1 59
8 Southampton 38 9 8 2 25 16 4 5 10 18 30 -3 52 UEFA Cup ( FA Cup runners up)
9 Manchester City 38 9 2 8 28 26 6 4 9 19 28 -7 51 UEFA Cup ( Fair Play winners)
10 Tottenham Hotspur 38 9 4 6 30 29 5 4 10 21 33 -11 50
11 Middlesbrough 38 10 7 2 36 21 3 3 13 12 23 +4 49
12 Charlton Athletic 38 8 3 8 26 30 6 4 9 19 26 -11 49
13 Birmingham City 38 8 5 6 25 23 5 4 10 16 26 -8 48
14 Fulham 38 11 3 5 26 18 2 6 11 15 32 -9 48
15 Leeds United 38 7 3 9 25 26 7 2 10 33 31 +1 47
16 Aston Villa 38 11 2 6 25 14 1 7 11 17 33 -5 45
17 Bolton Wanderers 38 7 8 4 27 24 3 6 10 14 27 -10 44
18 West Ham United 38 5 7 7 21 24 5 5 9 21 35 -17 42 Relegated
19 West Bromwich Albion 38 3 5 11 17 34 3 3 13 12 31 -36 26 Relegated
20 Sunderland 38 3 2 14 11 31 1 5 13 10 34 -44 19 Relegated

Leading goalscorer: Ruud Van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), 25


Football League First Division




P W D L F A GD PTS
1. Portsmouth 46 29 11 6 97 45 +52 98
2. Leicester City 46 26 14 6 73 40 +33 92
3. Sheffield Utd 46 23 11 12 72 52 +20 80
4. Reading 46 25 4 17 61 46 +15 79
5. Wolves 46 20 16 10 81 44 +37 76
6. Nottm Forest 46 20 14 12 82 50 +32 74
7. Ipswich Town 46 19 13 14 80 64 +16 70
8. Norwich City 46 19 12 15 60 49 +11 69
9. Millwall 46 19 9 18 59 69 -10 66
10. Wimbledon 46 18 11 17 76 73 +3 65
11. Gillingham 46 16 14 16 56 65 -9 62
12. Preston NE 46 16 13 17 68 70 -2 61
13. Watford 46 17 9 20 54 70 -16 60
14. Crystal Palace 46 14 17 15 59 52 +7 59
15. Rotherham Utd 46 15 14 17 62 62 0 59
16. Burnley 46 15 10 21 65 89 -24 55
17. Walsall 46 15 9 22 57 69 -12 54
18. Derby County 46 15 7 24 55 74 -19 52
19. Bradford City 46 14 10 22 51 73 -22 52
20. Coventry City 46 12 14 20 46 62 -16 50
21. Stoke City 46 12 14 20 45 69 -24 50
22. Sheffield Wednesday 46 10 16 20 56 73 -17 46
23. Brighton 46 11 12 23 49 67 -18 45
24. Grimsby Town 46 9 12 25 48 85 -37 39


Football League Second Division





P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS
1. Wigan Athletic 46 14 7 2 37 16 15 6 2 31 9 +43 100
2. Crewe Alexandra 46 11 5 7 29 19 14 6 3 47 21 +36 86
3. Bristol City 46 15 5 3 43 15 9 6 8 36 33 +31 83
4. Queens Park Rangers 46 14 4 5 38 19 10 7 6 31 26 +24 83
5. Oldham Athletic 46 11 6 6 39 18 11 10 2 29 20 +30 82
6. Cardiff City 46 12 6 5 33 20 11 6 6 35 23 +25 81
7. Tranmere Rovers 46 14 5 4 38 23 9 6 8 28 34 +9 80
8. Plymouth Argyle 46 11 6 6 39 24 6 8 9 24 28 +11 65
9. Luton Town 46 8 8 7 32 28 9 6 8 35 34 +5 65
10. Swindon Town 46 10 5 8 34 27 6 7 10 25 36 -4 60
11. Peterborough United 46 8 7 8 25 20 6 9 8 26 34 -3 58
12. Colchester United 46 8 7 8 24 24 6 9 8 28 32 -4 58
13. Blackpool 46 10 8 5 35 25 5 5 13 21 39 -8 58
14. Stockport County 46 8 8 7 39 38 7 2 14 26 32 -5 55
15. Notts County 46 10 7 6 37 32 3 9 11 25 38 -8 55
16. Brentford 46 8 8 7 28 21 6 4 13 19 35 -9 54
17. Port Vale 46 9 5 9 34 31 5 6 12 20 39 -16 53
18. Wycombe Wanderers 46 8 7 8 39 38 5 6 12 20 28 -7 52
19. Barnsley 46 7 8 8 27 31 6 5 12 24 33 -13 52
20. Chesterfield 46 11 4 8 29 28 3 4 16 14 45 -30 50
21. Cheltenham Town 46 6 9 8 26 31 4 9 10 27 37 -15 48
22. Huddersfield Town 46 7 9 7 27 24 4 3 16 12 37 -22 45
23. Mansfield Town 46 9 2 12 38 45 3 6 14 28 52 -31 44
24. Northampton Town 46 7 4 12 23 31 3 5 15 17 48 -39 39


Football League Third Division




P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS
1. Rushden & Diamonds 46 16 5 2 48 19 8 10 5 25 28 +26 87
2. Hartlepool United 46 16 5 2 49 21 8 8 7 22 30 +20 85
3. Wrexham 46 12 7 4 48 26 11 8 4 36 24 +34 84
4. Bournemouth 46 14 7 2 38 18 6 7 10 22 30 +12 74
5. Scunthorpe United 46 11 8 4 40 20 8 7 8 28 29 +19 72
6. Lincoln City 46 10 9 4 29 18 8 7 8 17 19 +9 70
7. Bury 46 8 8 7 25 26 10 8 5 32 30 +1 70
8. Oxford United 46 9 7 7 26 20 10 5 8 31 27 +10 69
9. Torquay United 46 9 11 3 41 31 7 7 9 30 40 0 66
10. York City 46 11 9 3 34 24 6 6 11 18 29 -1 66
11. Kidderminster Harriers 46 8 8 7 30 33 8 7 8 32 30 -1 63
12. Cambridge United 46 10 7 6 38 25 6 6 11 29 45 -3 61
13. Hull City 46 9 10 4 34 19 5 7 11 24 34 +5 59
14. Darlington 46 8 10 5 36 27 4 8 11 22 32 -1 54
15. Boston United 46 11 6 6 34 22 4 7 12 21 34 -1 54
16. Macclesfield Town 46 8 6 9 29 28 6 6 11 28 35 -6 54
17. Southend United 46 12 1 10 29 23 5 2 16 18 36 -12 54
18. Leyton Orient 46 9 6 8 28 24 5 5 13 23 37 -10 53
19. Rochdale 46 7 6 10 30 30 5 10 8 33 40 -7 52
20. Bristol Rovers 46 7 7 9 25 27 5 8 10 25 30 -7 51
21. Swansea City 46 9 6 8 28 25 3 7 13 20 40 -17 49
22. Carlisle United 46 5 5 13 26 40 8 5 10 26 38 -26 49
23. Exeter City 46 7 7 9 24 31 4 8 11 26 33 -14 48
24. Shrewsbury Town 46 5 6 12 34 39 4 8 11 28 53 -30 41


Football Conference





National League System



TRANSFER DEALS


For subsequent transfer deals see 2003-04 In English Football .


DEATHS