2002–03 FA Premier League

FA Premier League

Season	2002–03
Champions	Manchester United 8th Premier League title 15th English title overall
Relegated	West Ham United West Bromwich Albion Sunderland
Champions League	Manchester United (Group stage) Arsenal (Group stage) Newcastle United (Third qualifying round) Chelsea (Third qualifying round)
UEFA Cup	Southampton (First round; via FA Cup) Blackburn Rovers (First round) Liverpool (First round; via League Cup & position) Manchester City (First qualifying round; via Fair Play)
Goals scored	1,000
Average goals/game	2.64
Top goalscorer	Ruud van Nistelrooy (25)
Biggest home win	Chelsea 5–0 Manchester City (22 March 2003) Arsenal 6–1 Southampton (7 May 2003)
Biggest away win	West Bromwich Albion 0–6 Liverpool (26 April 2003)
Highest scoring	Manchester United 5–3 Newcastle United (23 November 2002) Newcastle United 2–6 Manchester United (12 April 2003)
Longest winning run	Liverpool (7)
Longest unbeaten run	Manchester United (18)
Highest attendance	67,721 – Manchester United v Charlton Athletic
Lowest attendance	14,017 – Fulham v Blackburn Rovers
Average attendance	35,470
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

The 2002–03 FA Premier League (referred to as the 2002–03 Barclaycard Premiership, due to sponsorship rights) was the eleventh season of the Premier League, the top division in English football. The first matches were played on 17 August 2002 and the last were played on 11 May 2003. Manchester United ended the campaign as champions for the eighth time in eleven years – an achievement made all the more remarkable by virtue of defending champions Arsenal having led by eight points on March 2. Although this was a season of breaking new English domestic records for the Gunners and leading at all fronts come the halfway stage, they threw away a priceless lead against Bolton Wanderers and finally surrendered the title with a 3–2 home defeat to Leeds United, in the 3rd-last game of the season. This result all but saved Leeds from relegation.

Newcastle United and Chelsea were the remaining two teams who qualified for the UEFA Champions League at the expense of Liverpool who had to settle for the UEFA Cup; they would be joined in Europe by Blackburn Rovers for their second successive season. Newly promoted sides Manchester City and Birmingham City finished in ninth and thirteenth, respectively. Sunderland broke the record for the fewest points and goals scored in a Premier League season, while West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United went with them to the First Division.

Michael Ricketts had the honour of scoring the first goal of the new season for Bolton against Fulham, inside five minutes. The first hat-trick of the season was scored by Michael Owen in the match between Liverpool and Manchester City, at Maine Road in late September. Wayne Rooney, at the young age of 16, made his breakthrough at Everton, scoring an impressive goal against Arsenal, helping the Toffees to a 2–1 win. However, Rooney also got his first Premiership straight red card two months later on Boxing Day, for a reckless foul on Birmingham City's Steve Vickers at St. Andrew's.

League table

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Comments
1	Manchester United	38	25	8	5	74	34	+40	83	UEFA Champions League 2003–04 Group stage
2	Arsenal	38	23	9	6	85	42	+43	78
3	Newcastle United	38	21	6	11	63	48	+15	69	UEFA Champions League 2003–04 Third qualifying round
4	Chelsea	38	19	10	9	68	38	+30	67
5	Liverpool	38	18	10	10	61	41	+20	64	UEFA Cup 2003–04 First round1
6	Blackburn Rovers	38	16	12	10	52	43	+9	60
7	Everton	38	17	8	13	48	49	−1	59
8	Southampton	38	13	13	12	43	46	−3	52	UEFA Cup 2003–04 First round2
9	Manchester City	38	15	6	17	47	54	−7	51	UEFA Cup 2003–04 Qualifying round3
10	Tottenham Hotspur	38	14	8	16	51	62	−11	50
11	Middlesbrough	38	13	10	15	48	44	+4	49
12	Charlton Athletic	38	14	7	17	45	56	−11	49
13	Birmingham City	38	13	9	16	41	49	−8	48
14	Fulham	38	13	9	16	41	50	−9	48
15	Leeds United	38	14	5	19	58	57	+1	47
16	Aston Villa	38	12	9	17	42	47	−5	45
17	Bolton Wanderers	38	10	14	14	41	51	−10	44
18	West Ham United	38	10	12	16	42	59	−17	42	Relegation to Football League First Division 2003–04
19	West Bromwich Albion	38	6	8	24	29	65	−36	26
20	Sunderland	38	4	7	27	21	65	−44	19

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

¹Since Liverpool qualified for the UEFA Cup via the league, their place in the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners reverted to the league and was awarded to Blackburn Rovers.

²Since Arsenal qualified for the Champions League, their place in the UEFA Cup as FA Cup winners went to Southampton, who were the FA Cup runners-up.

³Manchester City qualified for the UEFA Cup as Fair Play winners.

Results

Home \ Away1

ARS

AST

BIR

BLB

BOL

CHA

CHE

EVE

FUL

LEE

LIV

MNC

MNU

MID

NEW

SOT

SUN

TOT

WBA

WHU

Arsenal

3–0

2–0

1–2

2–1

2–0

3–2

2–1

2–1

2–3

1–1

2–1

2–2

2–0

1–0

6–1

3–2

3–0

5–2

3–1

Aston Villa

1–1

0–2

3–0

2–0

2–0

2–1

3–2

3–1

0–0

0–1

1–0

0–1

3–0

0–1

0–1

1–0

0–1

2–1

4–1

Birmingham City

0–4

3–0

0–1

3–1

1–1

1–3

1–1

2–1

1–0

2–1

0–2

0–1

3–0

0–2

3–2

2–0

0–1

2–1

4–1

Blackburn Rovers

2–0

0–0

1–1

0–0

1–0

2–3

0–1

2–1

1–0

2–2

1–0

1–0

1–0

5–2

1–0

0–0

1–2

1–1

2–2

Bolton Wanderers

2–2

1–0

4–2

1–1

1–2

1–1

1–2

2–0

0–3

2–3

2–0

1–1

2–1

4–3

1–1

1–1

1–0

1–1

1–0

Charlton Athletic

0–3

3–0

0–2

3–1

1–1

2–3

2–1

0–1

1–6

2–0

2–2

1–3

1–0

0–2

2–1

1–1

0–1

1–0

4–2

Chelsea

1–1

2–0

3–0

1–2

1–0

4–1

4–1

1–1

3–2

2–1

5–0

2–2

1–0

3–0

0–0

3–0

1–1

2–0

2–3

Everton

2–1

2–1

1–1

2–1

0–0

1–0

1–3

2–0

2–0

1–2

2–2

1–2

2–1

2–1

2–1

2–1

2–2

1–0

0–0

Fulham

0–1

2–1

0–1

0–4

4–1

1–0

0–0

2–0

1–0

3–2

0–1

1–1

1–0

1–2

2–2

1–0

3–2

3–0

0–1

Leeds United

1–4

3–1

2–0

2–3

2–4

1–2

2–0

0–1

2–0

0–1

3–0

1–0

2–3

0–3

1–1

0–1

2–2

0–0

1–0

Liverpool

2–2

1–1

2–2

1–1

2–0

2–1

1–0

0–0

2–0

3–1

1–2

1–2

1–1

2–2

3–0

0–0

2–1

2–0

2–0

Manchester City

1–5

3–1

1–0

2–2

2–0

0–1

0–3

3–1

4–1

2–1

0–3

3–1

0–0

1–0

0–1

3–0

2–3

1–2

0–1

Manchester United

2–0

1–1

2–0

3–1

0–1

4–1

2–1

3–0

3–0

2–1

4–0

1–1

1–0

5–3

2–1

2–1

1–0

1–0

3–0

Middlesbrough

0–2

2–5

1–0

1–0

2–0

1–1

1–1

1–1

2–2

2–2

1–0

3–1

3–1

1–0

2–2

3–0

5–1

3–0

2–2

Newcastle United

1–1

1–1

1–0

5–1

1–0

2–1

2–1

2–1

2–0

0–2

1–0

2–0

2–6

2–0

2–1

2–0

2–1

2–1

4–0

Southampton

3–2

2–2

2–0

1–1

0–0

0–0

1–1

1–0

4–2

3–2

0–1

2–0

0–2

0–0

1–1

2–1

1–0

1–0

1–1

Sunderland

0–4

1–0

0–1

0–0

0–2

1–3

1–2

0–1

0–3

1–2

2–1

0–3

1–1

1–3

0–1

0–1

2–0

1–2

0–1

Tottenham Hotspur

1–1

1–0

2–1

0–4

3–1

2–2

0–0

4–3

1–1

2–0

2–3

0–2

0–2

0–3

0–1

2–1

4–1

3–1

3–2

West Bromwich Albion

1–2

0–0

1–1

0–2

1–1

0–1

0–2

1–2

1–0

1–3

0–6

1–2

1–3

1–0

2–2

1–0

2–2

2–3

1–2

West Ham United

2–2

2–2

1–2

2–1

1–1

0–2

1–0

0–1

1–1

3–4

0–3

0–0

1–1

1–0

2–2

0–1

2–0

2–0

0–1

Source: Barclays Premier League
¹The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from Nationwide Division 1

• Champions: Manchester City
• Runners-up: West Bromwich Albion
• Play-offs: Birmingham

Teams relegated to Nationwide Division 1

• West Ham United
• West Bromwich Albion
• Sunderland

Monthly awards

Month	Manager	Player
August	Glenn Hoddle (Tottenham Hotspur)	Sylvain Wiltord (Arsenal)
September	Arsène Wenger (Arsenal)	Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
October	Gérard Houllier (Liverpool)	Gianfranco Zola (Chelsea)
November	David Moyes (Everton)	James Beattie (Southampton)
December	Gordon Strachan (Southampton)	Alan Shearer (Newcastle United)
January	Sir Bobby Robson (Newcastle United)	Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
February	Alan Curbishley (Charlton Athletic)	Robert Pires (Arsenal)
March	Glenn Roeder (West Ham United)	Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
April	Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United)	Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United)

Annual awards

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 2003 was won by Thierry Henry of Arsenal. This was the Frenchman's first award of the season and he beat off competition from the previous winner Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, in alphabetical order, was as follows:

Player	Team
James Beattie	Southampton
Thierry Henry	Arsenal
Ruud van Nistelrooy	Manchester United
Paul Scholes	Manchester United
Alan Shearer	Newcastle United
Gianfranco Zola	Chelsea

PFA Young Player of the Year

The PFA Young Player of the Year award was won by Jermaine Jenas of Newcastle United. Wayne Rooney was voted runner-up, and John O'Shea finished third in one of his first full seasons as a United player.

The shortlist for the award was as follows:

Player	Team
Craig Bellamy	Newcastle United
Jermain Defoe	West Ham United
Jermaine Jenas	Newcastle United
John O'Shea	Manchester United
Scott Parker	Charlton Athletic
Wayne Rooney	Everton

PFA Team of the Year

Goalkeeper:	Brad Friedel (Blackburn Rovers)
Defence:	Stephen Carr (Tottenham Hotspur), Sol Campbell (Arsenal), William Gallas (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Arsenal)
Midfield:	Patrick Vieira (Arsenal), Paul Scholes (Manchester United), Kieron Dyer (Newcastle United), Robert Pires (Arsenal)
Attack:	Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Alan Shearer (Newcastle United)

Barclaycard Manager of the Year

The award was won by Sir Alex Ferguson for winning his eighth title and regaining the league after a superb second half to the season, involving an 18-match unbeaten run.

Barclaycard Player of the Year

The award was given to Ruud van Nistelrooy, whose form, creativity and goals all helped Manchester United regain the league from Arsenal.

Barclaycard Golden Boot

This award was also won by Ruud van Nistelrooy who scored 25 goals in 38 league matches and 44 in all competitions. He also equalled his record of eight goals in eight successive matches at the beginning of the season, a milestone he had reached the previous season. Van Nistelrooy finished one goal ahead of Arsenal's Thierry Henry while James Beattie managed 23 league goals for Southampton. Since the reduction of the number of games from 42 to 38 in 1996, only Kevin Phillips had scored more Premiership goals in one season – 30 for Sunderland in the 1999–2000 season.

Barclaycard Golden Gloves

The award was given to Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, who proved vital in their quest for UEFA Champions League football. He kept twelve clean sheets – the most in the season – and only conceded 35 goals. Viewers of ITV's On the Ball voted Cudicini ahead of Southampton keeper Antti Niemi and Blackburn Rovers' Brad Friedel.

Goal of the Season

The annual award was won by a wonder goal from Thierry Henry against Tottenham Hotspur, on 16 November 2002, voted by viewers of ITV's The Premiership.

Henry – chance for a break out, Wiltord to his right, Bergkamp to his left...they'll do well to catch up with Thierry Henry though...he's drifted away from Carr – HENRY! What a fabulous solo goal by Thierry Henry. A long distance goal followed by a long distance celebration...and Arsenal are back in the goalscoring business, after their midweek blank. Henry's been short of a goal or two just recently...but look at the confidence as he breaks from inside his own half, shrugging off Etherington, stepping away from Carr and from King...and picking his spot – he had options...but he had eyes for only one thing – the back of Kasey Keller's net. Thierry Henry moves into double figures for the season.

— Clive Tyldesley on Thierry Henry's solo goal when commentating the North London derby for The Premiership on ITV1.

The French striker picked up the ball from his side of the pitch and ran almost 30 yards (27 m), twisting and turning the Spurs defence to unleash a thunderous shot. In celebration, he ran the distance of the whole pitch and skidded in front of the Spurs faithful. The goal proved important as it helped them regain their position at the top of the Premiership from Liverpool.

Personnel and kits

(as of 11 May 2003)

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Arsenal	Arsène Wenger	Patrick Vieira	Nike	O2
Aston Villa	Graham Taylor	Steve Staunton	Diadora	Rover Company
Birmingham City	Steve Bruce	Jeff Kenna	Le Coq Sportif	Phones4U
Blackburn Rovers	Graeme Souness	Garry Flitcroft	Kappa	AMD processors
Bolton Wanderers	Sam Allardyce	Guðni Bergsson	Reebok	Reebok
Charlton Athletic	Alan Curbishley	Mark Fish	Le Coq Sportif	All Sport
Chelsea	Claudio Ranieri	Marcel Desailly	Umbro	Fly Emirates
Everton	David Moyes	David Weir	Puma	Kejian
Fulham	Chris Coleman	Andy Melville	adidas	Betfair
Leeds United	Peter Reid	Lucas Radebe	Nike	Strongbow
Liverpool	Gérard Houllier	Sami Hyypiä	Reebok	Carlsberg
Manchester City	Kevin Keegan	Steve Howey	Le Coq Sportif	First Advice
Manchester United	Alex Ferguson	Roy Keane	Nike	Vodafone
Middlesbrough	Steve McClaren	Gareth Southgate	Errea	Dial-a-Phone
Newcastle United	Bobby Robson	Alan Shearer	Adidas	NTL
Southampton	Gordon Strachan	Jason Dodd	Saints	Friends Provident
Sunderland	Mick McCarthy	Michael Gray	Nike	Reg Vardy
Tottenham Hotspur	Glenn Hoddle	Teddy Sheringham	Kappa	Thomson
West Bromwich Albion	Gary Megson	Sean Gregan	No kit manufacturer	West Bromwich Building Society
West Ham United	Trevor Brooking (caretaker)	Joe Cole	Fila	Dr. Martens

Notable changes

Managers

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Sunderland	Peter Reid	Sacked	7 October 2002	Howard Wilkinson	10 October 2002	17th
Leeds United	Terry Venables	Sacked	21 March 2003	Peter Reid	21 March 2003	15th
Fulham	Jean Tigana	Sacked	17 April 2003	Chris Coleman	15 May 2003	15th
West Ham United	Glenn Roeder	Temporary	17 April 2003	Trevor Brooking	11 May 2003	18th

Stadia

Arsenal

Aston Villa

Birmingham

Blackburn

Bolton

Charlton

Chelsea

Everton

Fulham

Leeds

Liverpool

Man City

Man United

Middlesbrough

Newcastle

Southampton

Sunderland

Tottenham

West Brom

West Ham

Locations of the Premier League 2002–03 teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Manchester United	Old Trafford	68,174
Newcastle United	St James' Park	52,387
Sunderland	Stadium of Light	49,000
Liverpool	Anfield	45,522
Aston Villa	Villa Park	42,573
Chelsea	Stamford Bridge	42,055
Everton	Goodison Park	40,569
Leeds United	Elland Road	40,242
Arsenal	Highbury	38,419
Tottenham Hotspur	White Hart Lane	36,240
West Ham United	Boleyn Ground	35,647
Manchester City	Maine Road	35,150
Middlesbrough	Riverside Stadium	35,049
Southampton	St Mary's Stadium	32,689
Blackburn Rovers	Ewood Park	31,367
Birmingham City	St Andrew's Stadium	30,009
Charlton Athletic	The Valley	27,111
Bolton Wanderers	Reebok Stadium	28,723
West Bromwich Albion	The Hawthorns	28,003
Fulham	Loftus Road	19,148

Records and statistics

Liverpool had the longest winning run in the league – 7, which started on 14 September 2002 against Bolton Wanderers and ended on 9 November against Middlesbrough.

Manchester United hold the record for the longest unbeaten run – 18, starting against Birmingham and lasting throughout the entire season.

Arsenal hold the record for the most goals scored in the season – 83, while Manchester United conceded the least amount of goals – 34, four better than Chelsea. Arsenal also broke the record for the most away games without defeat, goals scored in consecutive games and equalled Manchester United's unbeaten record. However, the Gunners failed to set a new all-time English football record of 15 consecutive victories after drawing to West Ham United in August 2002.

Birmingham City were given the most yellow cards in the season, while Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur were given the most red cards. Manchester United were the most disciplined side with only one red card and 45 yellow cards.

The most goals in one match were between Manchester United and Newcastle, which involved eight goals. The biggest home win was between Chelsea's 5–0 win against Manchester City, while the biggest away win was Liverpool's 6–0 victory over West Bromwich Albion.

Sunderland ended the season relegated with the fewest points, while West Ham United became the first team to be relegated with more than 40 points. Sunderland also had the longest losing run of 15 games.

The highest attendance in the season was 67,721 who watched Manchester United against Charlton at Old Trafford, while the lowest attendance was between Fulham and Blackburn Rovers at Loftus Road; 14,017 watched the match. The average attendance of the season was 35,470.

Goals

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Ruud van Nistelrooy	Manchester United	25
2	Thierry Henry	Arsenal	24
3	James Beattie	Southampton	23
4	Mark Viduka	Leeds United	20
5	Michael Owen	Liverpool	19
6	Alan Shearer	Newcastle United	17
7	Nicolas Anelka	Manchester City	15
8	Gianfranco Zola	Chelsea	14
	Robert Pirès	Arsenal	14
	Harry Kewell	Leeds United	14
	Paul Scholes	Manchester United	14

Top assists

Rank	Assistant	Club	Assists
1	Thierry Henry	Arsenal	15
2	Ryan Giggs	Manchester United	18
3	David Beckham	Manchester United	9
4	Dennis Bergkamp	Arsenal	8
	Eyal Berkovic	Manchester City	8
	Geremi	Middlesbrough	8
	Steven Gerrard	Liverpool	8
	Ole Gunnar Solskjær	Manchester United	8

See also

• 2002-03 in English football
• FA Premier League 2003-04

Footnotes

A. ^ After defeating Birmingham at the start of the season, Arsenal equalled a top-flight record of fourteen straight wins but in their next game at West Ham United failed to extend it, being held to a 2–2 draw. They remained unbeaten for 30 Premiership games, (23 of which were played away) until late October and Arsène Wenger's all conquering Gunners scored in 55 consecutive league games up until the visit to Old Trafford.

B ^ This was the last season Manchester City played in Maine Road. They would move to the redeveloped 48,000 seater City of Manchester Stadium. Highlights of the season was the last ever Manchester derby, which was won emphatically by City. However, Manchester City did lose their last game at the stadium to Southampton.

C ^ Fulham temporarily relocated to Loftus Road after Craven Cottage was in need of a refurbishment. They were on course to move back in August 2004.

D ^ West Ham United manager Glenn Roeder was forced to take sick leave in mid-April after being diagnosed with a brain tumour during a Premier League match against Middlesbrough at Upton Park. Former Hammers legend Sir Trevor Brooking took temporary charge for the remaining three matches. Despite Brooking's efforts, the Hammers failed to beat the drop after drawing against Birmingham on the final day of the season.

External links

• 2002–03 Premier League Season at RSSSF
• 2002–03 FA Premier League Review
• Soccerbot's 2002–03 Premier League Review
• Barclaycard Premiership club-by-club Season Review