2002–03 Everton F.C. season

Everton
2002–03 season
Chairman	Bill Kenwright
Manager	David Moyes
Stadium	Goodison Park
Premier League	7th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Fourth round
Top goalscorer	League: Tomasz Radzinski (11); All: Kevin Campbell (12)
	← 2001–02 2003–04 →

During the 2002–03 English football season, Everton competed in the Premier League (known as the Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons). They became the first club to play 100 seasons in England's top division this season.^[1]

Season summary

After spending the last few seasons struggling against relegation, Everton, revitalised under David Moyes, spent the season challenging for European qualification, at one stage going ahead of arch-rivals Liverpool, who had finished runners-up the previous season. Everton memorably ended Arsenal's unbeaten run in a match at Goodison Park which saw teenage striker Wayne Rooney score the winner, his debut Premiership goal. Rooney was later nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award, but lost to Newcastle United's Jermaine Jenas.

The club had less luck in the FA Cup. They were surprising knocked out by Third Division (now League Two) side Shrewsbury Town in the third round.

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
5	Liverpool	38	18	10	10	61	41	+20	64	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round^[a]
6	Blackburn Rovers	38	16	12	10	52	43	+9	60	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round^[a]
7	Everton	38	17	8	13	48	49	−1	59
8	Southampton	38	13	13	12	43	46	−3	52	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round^[b]
9	Manchester City	38	15	6	17	47	54	−7	51	Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round^[c]

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

^ Since 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 as the highest-placed team not already qualified for European competitions.
^ Since 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.
^ Manchester City qualified as the highest-ranked team not already qualified for European competitions of Premiership Fair Play League by The Football Association, the top association among UEFA Fair Play ranking winners.

First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ENG	Richard Wright
2	DF	ENG	Steve Watson
3	DF	ITA	Alessandro Pistone
4	DF	ENG	Alan Stubbs
5	DF	SCO	David Weir
6	DF	ENG	David Unsworth
7	MF	SWE	Niclas Alexandersson
8	FW	CAN	Tomasz Radzinski
9	FW	ENG	Kevin Campbell
10	FW	SCO	Duncan Ferguson
11	MF	WAL	Mark Pembridge
12	MF	CHN	Li Tie
13	GK	ENG	Steve Simonsen
15	DF	SCO	Gary Naysmith


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
16	MF	DEN	Thomas Gravesen
17	MF	SCO	Scot Gemmill
18	FW	ENG	Wayne Rooney
20	DF	NGA	Joseph Yobo
22	MF	SWE	Tobias Linderoth
23	MF	BRA	Juliano Rodrigo (on loan from Botafogo)
26	MF	EIR	Lee Carsley
27	DF	ENG	Peter Clarke
28	DF	ENG	Tony Hibbert
29	MF	ENG	Kevin McLeod
30	FW	ENG	Nick Chadwick
31	MF	ENG	Leon Osman
35	GK	ENG	Paul Gerrard

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	MF	ISR	Idan Tal (to Rayo Vallecano)
19	FW	USA	Joe-Max Moore (released)
19	FW	USA	Brian McBride (on loan from Columbus Crew)
21	DF	CHN	Li Weifeng (released)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
24	DF	EGY	Ibrahim Said (on loan from Al-Ahly)
25	GK	NOR	Espen Baardsen (released)
32	MF	ENG	Keith Southern (to Blackpool)
—	MF	GHA	Alex Nyarko (on loan to Paris Saint-Germain)

Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
33	DF	ENG	George Pilkington
34	MF	ENG	Sean O'Hanlon


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
37	GK	SCO	Iain Turner

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	ENG	Richard Wright	37	0	33	0	1	0	3	0
13	GK	ENG	Steve Simonsen	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
35	GK	ENG	Paul Gerrard	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
3	DF	ITA	Alessandro Pistone	17	0	10+5	0	0	0	2	0
4	DF	ENG	Alan Stubbs	38	0	34+1	0	1	0	1+1	0
5	DF	SCO	David Weir	34	1	27+4	1	1	0	2	0
6	DF	ENG	David Unsworth	37	6	32+1	5	1	0	3	1
20	DF	NGA	Joseph Yobo	26	0	22+2	0	0	0	2	0
27	DF	ENG	Peter Clarke	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
28	DF	ENG	Tony Hibbert	25	0	23+1	0	0	0	1	0
Midfielders
2	MF	ENG	Steve Watson	19	6	14+4	5	0	0	0+1	1
7	MF	SWE	Niclas Alexandersson	8	1	4+3	0	0+1	1	0	0
11	MF	WAL	Mark Pembridge	22	1	19+2	1	0	0	1	0
12	MF	CHN	Li Tie	33	0	28+1	0	0+1	0	3	0
15	MF	SCO	Gary Naysmith	32	2	24+4	1	1	0	2+1	1
16	MF	DEN	Thomas Gravesen	35	1	30+3	1	1	0	1	0
17	MF	SCO	Scot Gemmill	19	0	10+6	0	1	0	1+1	0
22	MF	SWE	Tobias Linderoth	6	0	2+3	0	0	0	1	0
23	MF	BRA	Rodrigo Beckham	4	0	0+4	0	0	0	0	0
26	MF	IRL	Lee Carsley	27	3	21+3	3	1	0	2	0
29	MF	ENG	Kevin McLeod	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
30	MF	ENG	Nick Chadwick	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
31	MF	ENG	Leon Osman	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
8	FW	CAN	Tomasz Radzinski	33	11	27+2	11	1	0	2+1	0
9	FW	ENG	Kevin Campbell	39	12	31+5	10	0	0	3	2
10	FW	SCO	Duncan Ferguson	8	0	0+7	0	0	0	0+1	0
18	FW	ENG	Wayne Rooney	37	8	14+19	6	1	0	2+1	2
Players transferred out during the season
19	FW	USA	Brian McBride	8	4	7+1	4	0	0	0	0
21	DF	CHN	Li Weifeng	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
25	GK	NOR	Espen Baardsen	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

Last updated: 30 May 2003
Source: ^[2]

Results

Premier League

28 August 2002 3	Everton	1–1	Birmingham City	Liverpool, Merseyside
19:45 BST (UTC+01)	Stubbs 49' Unsworth 90'	[ Report]	John 50' (pen.)	Stadium: Goodison Park Attendance: 37,197 Referee: Eddie Wolstenholme

31 August 2002 4	Manchester City	3–1	Everton	Manchester, Greater Manchester
15:00	Radzinski 14' (o.g.) Anelka 16' (al), 85'	[ Report]	Unsworth 29' (pen.)	Stadium: Maine Road Attendance: 34,835

28 September 2002 (2002-09-28)	Everton	2–0	Fulham	Liverpool, Merseyside
15:00 BST	Gravesen 45' Campbell 45+2'	Report		Stadium: Goodison Park Attendance: 34,371 Referee: Steve Dunn

19 October 2002 (2002-10-19)	Everton	2–1	Arsenal	Liverpool, Merseyside
15:00 BST	Radzinski 22' Rooney 90'	[ Report]	Ljungberg 8'	Stadium: Goodison Park Attendance: 39,038 Referee: Uriah Rennie

3 November 2002	Leeds United	0–1	Everton	Leeds, West Yorkshire
		Report	Rooney 80'	Stadium: Elland Road Attendance: 40,161 Referee: Neale Barry

1 December 2002	Newcastle United	2–1	Everton	Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyneside
14:15	Shearer 86' Li Tie 89' (o.g.)	Report	Campbell 17' Yobo 22'	Stadium: St James' Park Attendance: 51,607 Referee: Mark Halsey

22 December 2002	Liverpool	0–0	Everton	Liverpool, Merseyside
		Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 44,025 Referee: Graham Poll

26 December 2002	Birmingham City	1-1	Everton	Birmingham, West Midlands
15:00 GMT (UTC)	Kirovski 45'	[ Report]	Radzinski 45' Rooney 81'	Stadium: St Andrew's Attendance: 29,505 Referee: David Elleray

1 January 2003	Everton	2–2	Manchester City	Liverpool, Merseyside
15:00	Watson 6' Radzinski 90'	Guardian report	Anelka 33' Foé 82'	Stadium: Goodison Park Attendance: 40,163

1 February 2003	Everton	2–0	Leeds United	Leeds, West Yorkshire
	Unsworth 56' (pen.) Radzinski 68'	[ Report]		Stadium: Elland Road

23 March 2003	Arsenal	2–1	Everton	Islington, London
	Cygan 8' Vieira 64'		Rooney 56'	Stadium: Highbury

6 April 2003	Everton	2–1	Newcastle United	Liverpool, Merseyside
16:00	Rooney 18' Unsworth 65' (pen.)	Report	Robert 61'	Stadium: Goodison Park Attendance: 40,031 Referee: Neale Barry

19 April 2003	Everton	1–2	Liverpool	Liverpool, Merseyside
	Unsworth 58' (pen.)	Report	Owen 31' (pen.) Murphy 54'	Stadium: Goodison Park Attendance: 40,162 Referee: Paul Durkin

References

^ "All-Time Top-Flight Table". Toffee Web. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
^ https://www.11v11.com/teams/everton/tab/players/season/2003/

[table_note_res_UC10.10677726758028-2] Since 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 as the highest-placed team not already qualified for European competitions.

[table_note_res_SOU0.10677726758028-3] Since 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.

[table_note_res_UCQ0.10677726758028-4] Manchester City qualified as the highest-ranked team not already qualified for European competitions of Premiership Fair Play League by The Football Association, the top association among UEFA Fair Play ranking winners.

[1] "All-Time Top-Flight Table". Toffee Web. Retrieved 15 May 2015.

[5] ttps://www.11v11.com/teams/everton/tab/players/season/2003/

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