2001–02 Leicester City F.C. season

Leicester City

2001–02 season
Chairman	John Elsom
Manager	Peter Taylor (until 30 September) Garry Parker (caretaker 30 September - 10 October) Dave Bassett (10 October - 8 April) Micky Adams (from 8 April)
Stadium	Filbert Street
Premiership	20th (relegated)
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Third round
Player of the Year	Robbie Savage
Top goalscorer	League: Deane (6) All: Scowcroft (7)
Highest home attendance	21,886 vs Liverpool (20 Oct 2001, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance	14,466 vs Mansfield Town (5 Jan 2002, FA Cup)
Average home league attendance	19,783
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2000–01 2002–03 →

During the 2001–02 English football season, Leicester City competed in the FA Premier League (known as the Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

Season summary

A terrible start to the season saw Peter Taylor sacked at the end of September^[1] and Dave Bassett named as his replacement, with Micky Adams joining as assistant manager.^[2] For a while, it looked as though Bassett was capable of keeping the Foxes in the Premiership, but a four-month winless run beginning in December killed their survival hopes and they were relegated on 6 April after losing 1–0 at home to Manchester United.

Just before relegation was confirmed, Bassett became Director of Football and Adams was promoted to the manager's seat, with former Cardiff City boss Alan Cork being named as his assistant.^[3]

On 12 May 2002, Leicester played their final game at Filbert Street before moving into their new 32,000-seat home. They ended up beating Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 to attain some satisfaction from winning the final game at their 111-year-old home; it was only their fifth league win of the season. The cost of relocation combined with the money lost from relegation plunged Leicester into a serious financial crisis. The priority for next season would be to secure the club's future financially, before thinking about a promotion challenge.

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Arsenal (C)	38	26	9	3	79	36	+43	87	2002–03 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2	Liverpool	38	24	8	6	67	30	+37	80
3	Manchester United	38	24	5	9	87	45	+42	77	2002–03 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
4	Newcastle United	38	21	8	9	74	52	+22	71
5	Leeds United	38	18	12	8	53	37	+16	66	2002–03 UEFA CupFirst round ^1
6	Chelsea	38	17	13	8	66	38	+28	64
7	West Ham United	38	15	8	15	48	57	−9	53
8	Aston Villa	38	12	14	12	46	47	−1	50	2002 UEFA Intertoto CupThird round
9	Tottenham Hotspur	38	14	8	16	49	53	−4	50
10	Blackburn Rovers	38	12	10	16	55	51	+4	46	2002–03 UEFA CupFirst round ^2
11	Southampton	38	12	9	17	46	54	−8	45
12	Middlesbrough	38	12	9	17	35	47	−12	45
13	Fulham	38	10	14	14	36	44	−8	44	2002 UEFA Intertoto CupSecond round
14	Charlton Athletic	38	10	14	14	38	49	−11	44
15	Everton	38	11	10	17	45	57	−12	43
16	Bolton Wanderers	38	9	13	16	44	62	−18	40
17	Sunderland	38	10	10	18	29	51	−22	40
18	Ipswich Town (R)	38	9	9	20	41	64	−23	36	2002–03 UEFA Cup Qualifying round ^3
										Relegation to the 2002–03 Football League First Division
19	Derby County (R)	38	8	6	24	33	63	−30	30	Relegation to the 2002–03 Football League First Division
20	Leicester City (R)	38	5	13	20	30	64	−34	28

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

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

¹Since Arsenal qualified for the Champions League, their UEFA Cup place as FA Cup winners defaulted to Chelsea, the losing finalists.

²Blackburn Rovers qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners

³Despite relegation, Ipswich Town qualified for the 2002–03 UEFA Cup Qualifying Round as Fair Play Award winners

Results

Leicester City's score comes first^[4]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
18 August 2001	Bolton Wanderers	H	0–5	19,987
25 August 2001	Arsenal	A	0–4	37,909
8 September 2001	Ipswich Town	H	1–1	18,774	Sturridge
15 September 2001	Derby County	A	3–2	26,863	Sturridge (2), Izzet (pen)
17 September 2001	Middlesbrough	H	1–2	15,412	Jones
22 September 2001	Fulham	H	0–0	18,918
26 September 2001	Newcastle United	A	0–1	49,185
29 September 2001	Charlton Athletic	A	0–2	20,451
13 October 2001	Chelsea	A	0–2	40,370
20 October 2001	Liverpool	H	1–4	21,886	Wise
29 October 2001	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–0	21,873
3 November 2001	Sunderland	H	1–0	20,573	Akinbiyi
17 November 2001	Manchester United	A	0–2	67,651
24 November 2001	Everton	H	0–0	21,539
1 December 2001	Aston Villa	A	2–0	30,711	Akinbiyi, Scowcroft
8 December 2001	Southampton	H	0–4	20,321
16 December 2001	Leeds United	A	2–2	38,337	Deane, Scowcroft
22 December 2001	West Ham United	H	1–1	20,131	Izzet
26 December 2001	Ipswich Town	A	0–2	24,403
29 December 2001	Bolton Wanderers	A	2–2	23,037	Ricketts (own goal), Deane
12 January 2002	West Ham United	A	0–1	34,698
19 January 2002	Newcastle United	H	0–0	21,354
23 January 2002	Arsenal	H	1–3	21,344	Izzet
30 January 2002	Liverpool	A	0–1	42,305
2 February 2002	Chelsea	H	2–3	19,950	Scowcroft (2)
9 February 2002	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–2	35,973	Oakes
23 February 2002	Derby County	H	0–3	21,620
2 March 2002	Middlesbrough	A	0–1	25,734
9 March 2002	Charlton Athletic	H	1–1	18,562	Scowcroft
16 March 2002	Southampton	A	2–2	30,012	Deane (2)
23 March 2002	Leeds United	H	0–2	18,976
30 March 2002	Blackburn Rovers	H	2–1	16,236	Dickov (2)
1 April 2002	Sunderland	A	1–2	44,950	Dickov
6 April 2002	Manchester United	H	0–1	21,447
13 April 2002	Everton	A	2–2	35,580	Deane (2)
20 April 2002	Aston Villa	H	2–2	18,125	Izzet (pen), Stevenson
27 April 2002	Fulham	A	0–0	21,106
11 May 2002	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–1	21,716	Dickov, Piper

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	5 January 2002	Mansfield Town	H	2–1	14,466	Scowcroft (2)
R4	26 January 2002	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–1	26,820

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2	10 September 2001	Blackpool	A	1–0	4,866	Akinbiyi
R3	9 October 2001	Leeds United	H	0–6	16,316

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[5]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Tim Flowers 2 DF Gary Rowett 3 DF Frank Sinclair[6] 4 DF Gerry Taggart 5 DF Alan Rogers 6 MF Muzzy Izzet[7] 7 MF Matt Jones 8 MF Robbie Savage 9 MF Darren Eadie 10 FW James Scowcroft 11 MF Dennis Wise 12 GK Simon Royce 14 DF Callum Davidson 15 DF Damien Delaney 16 GK Ian Walker 17 MF Stefan Oakes 18 DF Matt Elliott[8]

No. Position Player 20 FW Trevor Benjamin[9] 21 DF Jacob Laursen 22 FW Paul Dickov 23 MF Jordan Stewart 24 MF Andrew Impey 25 MF Junior Lewis 26 DF Lee Marshall 27 FW Brian Deane 28 DF Matt Heath 29 MF Matt Piper 30 GK Michael Price 31 GK Ian Andrews 32 FW Jon Stevenson 33 MF Martin Reeves 35 MF Jon Ashton 36 MF Tommy Wright 38 MF Tom Williamson

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. Position Player 35 FW Kevin Ellison (to Stockport County) 21 FW Dean Sturridge (to Wolverhampton Wanderers) 22 FW Ade Akinbiyi (to Crystal Palace)

No. Position Player MF Danny Thomas (to Bournemouth) 13 MF Arnar Gunnlaugsson (to Stoke City)

Reserve squad

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

No. Position Player DF Ashley Lyth DF Leon McSweeney MF Brett Darby

No. Position Player MF Alex Mortimer FW Éamon Zayed

Transfers

In

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee
25 June 2001	MF	Dennis Wise	Chelsea	£1,600,000
9 July 2001	GK	Ian Walker	Tottenham Hotspur	£2,500,000
31 July 2001	FW	James Scowcroft	Ipswich Town	£3,000,000
16 November 2001	DF	Alan Rogers	Nottingham Forest	£300,000
29 November 2001	FW	Brian Deane	Middlesbrough	£150,000
10 January 2002	DF	Jacob Laursen	Copenhagen	£400,000
22 February 2002	FW	Paul Dickov	Manchester City	Nominal

Out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee
30 May 2001	MF	Stuart Campbell	Grimsby Town	£200,000
22 June 2001	FW	Lawrie Dudfield	Hull City	£250,000
13 July 2001	FW	Richard Cresswell	Preston North End	£500,000
2 August 2001	MF	Steve Guppy	Celtic	£350,000
29 November 2001	FW	Kevin Ellison	Stockport County	£55,000
24 December 2001	FW	Dean Sturridge	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£350,000
5 February 2002	FW	Ade Akinbiyi	Crystal Palace	£2,200,000
8 February 2002	MF	Danny Thomas	Bournemouth	Signed
12 May 2002	DF	Gary Rowett	Charlton Athletic	£2,500,000

Transfers in: £7,950,000

Transfers out: £6,405,000

Total spending: £1,545,000

Awards

Club awards

At the end of the season, Leicester's annual award ceremony, including categories voted for by the players and backroom staff, the supporters and the supporters club, saw the following players recognised for their achievements for the club throughout the 2001–02 season.

Player of the Season	Robbie Savage[10]
Players' Player of the Season	Frank Sinclair[10]
Academy Player of the Season	Matt Piper[10]
Away Player of the Season	Robbie Savage[10]
Most Improved Player of the Season	Matt Piper[10]
Goal of the Season	James Scowcroft (vs. Leeds United, 16 December 2001)[10]
Save of the Season	Ian Walker (vs. Blackburn Rovers, 30 March 2002)[10]
Team Performance of the Season	vs. Derby County at Pride Park Stadium[10] (15 September 2001)[11]

References

1. "Sacked Taylor vows to return". BBC Sport. 1 October 2001. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
2. "Bassett becomes Foxes boss". BBC Sport. 10 October 2001. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
3. "Leicester appoint Adams". BBC News. 4 April 2002.
4. http://www.statto.com/football/teams/leicester-city/2001-2002/results
5. http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/2001-2002/faprem/leicester.htm
6. Sinclair was born in Lambeth, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in 1998.
7. Izzet was born in Tower Hamlets, England, but also qualified to represent Turkey internationally and made his international debut for Turkey in 2000.
8. Elliott was born in Wandsworth, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and made his international debut for Scotland in 1997.
9. Benjamin was born in Kettering, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in November 2002.
10. Savage Named Player Of The Season, LCFC.com, 17 Nov 2004, retrieved 19 Jan 2011
11. "Izzet finishes fraught Derby". BBC Sport. 15 September 2001. Retrieved 19 Jan 2011.