2002–03 Football Conference
| Conference National 2002-03 | |
| Winners: | Yeovil Town |
|---|---|
| Runners Up: | Morecambe |
| Relegated: | Nuneaton Borough, Southport, Kettering Town |
| Promoted: | Accrington Stanley, Tamworth, Aldershot Town |
The Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference. It is the fifth highest level of the overall English Football League System. The top team and the winner of the play-offs were promoted to the Football League Division Three, while the bottom three were relegated to either the Northern Premier League, the Southern Premier League or the Isthmian League.
Yeovil Town clinched the league title and won promotion to the Football League Division Three.
Doncaster Rovers also earned promotion to Division Three following their 3-2 play-off win over Dagenham & Redbridge.
The regular season began on August 17 2002, and ended on April 26 2003.
Final League Table
| Position | Club | Pts | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 1 | Yeovil Town | 95 | 42 | 28 | 11 | 3 | 100 | 37 | 63 |
| 2 | Morecambe | 78 | 42 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 86 | 42 | 44 | |
| P | 3 | Doncaster Rovers | 78 | 42 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 73 | 47 | 26 |
| 4 | Chester City | 75 | 42 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 59 | 31 | 28 | |
| 5 | Dagenham & Redbridge | 72 | 42 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 71 | 59 | 12 | |
| 6 | Hereford United | 64 | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 64 | 51 | 13 | |
| 7 | Scarborough | 64 | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 63 | 54 | 9 | |
| 8 | Halifax Town | 64 | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 50 | 51 | -1 | |
| 9 | Forest Green Rovers | 59 | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 61 | 62 | -1 | |
| 10 | Margate | 56 | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 60 | 66 | -6 | |
| 11 | Barnet | 53 | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 65 | 68 | -3 | |
| 12 | Stevenage Borough | 52 | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 61 | 55 | 6 | |
| 13 | Farnborough Town | 51 | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 57 | 56 | 1 | |
| 14 | Northwich Victoria | 51 | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 66 | 72 | -6 | |
| 15 | Telford United | 49 | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 54 | 69 | -15 | |
| 16 | Burton Albion | 49 | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 52 | 77 | -25 | |
| 17 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 48 | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 62 | 73 | -11 | |
| 18 | Leigh RMI | 48 | 42 | 14 | 6 | 22 | 44 | 71 | -27 | |
| 19 | Woking | 47 | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 52 | 81 | -29 | |
| RS | 20 | Nuneaton Borough | 46 | 42 | 13 | 7 | 22 | 51 | 78 | -27 |
| RN | 21 | Southport | 45 | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 54 | 69 | -15 |
| RR | 22 | Kettering Town | 31 | 42 | 8 | 7 | 27 | 37 | 73 | -36 |
Notes:
- P Promoted to Football League Third Division
- RS Relegated to Southern League
- RN Relegated to Northern Premier League
- RR Relegated to Isthmian League
Play-offs
The Conference National play-offs determine the second team that will be promoted to the Football League Division Three. The teams placed second through fifth qualify for the play-offs. The semi-finals are played in a two-leg, home and away format, while the final is played as one leg, and was held on May 10 2003 at Britannia Stadium, Stoke.
Qualified teams
Bracket
| Semi-finals 1st leg - May 1 2003; 2nd leg - May 5 2003 | Final Britania Stadium,May 102003 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Chester City | 1 | 1 | 2 (3) | |||||||||
| 3 | Doncaster Rovers (pen.) | 1 | 1 | 2 (4) | |||||||||
| 3 | Doncaster Rovers | 3 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Dagenham & Redbridge | 2 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Dagenham & Redbridge | 2 | 1 | 3 (3) | |||||||||
| 2 | Morecambe (pen.) | 1 | 2 | 3 (2) | |||||||||