2002–03 Football League First Division

Football League First Division
Season	2002–03
Champions	Portsmouth (1st divisional title)
Promoted	Portsmouth Leicester City Wolverhampton Wanderers
Relegated	Sheffield Wednesday Brighton & Hove Albion Grimsby Town
Matches played	557
Goals scored	1512 (2.71 per match)
Top goalscorer	Svetoslav Todorov (26 goals)
Biggest home win	Nottm Forest 6–0 Stoke, Wolves 6–0 Gillingham
Biggest away win	Millwall 0–6 Rotherham
Highest scoring	Grimsby 6–5 Burnley, Burnley 4–7 Watford
Longest winning run	7 games^[1] Portsmouth
Longest unbeaten run	15 games^[1] Leicester City
Longest winless run	16 games^[1] Stoke City
Longest losing run	12 games^[1] Brighton & Hove Albion
Average attendance	15,599^[2]
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

The 2002–03 Football League First Division (referred to as the Nationwide First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the tenth season under its league division format as the second level of English football.

Portsmouth won the division to return to the Premier League after a fifteen-year absence. In Harry Redknapp's first full season in charge the team secured the title on 27 April, with a victory over Rotherham, having been promoted with four games to spare by defeating Burnley.^[3]^[4]

Leicester City were promoted at the first attempt following their relegation. Their promotion was contentious as they entered administration during the season due to debts in excess of £50 million stemming from their loss of Premier League income and major investment in a new stadium, but were able to write-off these entirely when a new consortium took control and therefore avoided having to sell off players.^[5] Following this incident, the Football League would introduce rules that penalised any club entering administration with a ten-point points deduction;^[6] although Leicester would still have finished in second place had been this been applied.

Wolverhampton Wanderers won the play-offs to reach the modern-day Premiership for the first time after a 3–0 win in the play-off final against a Sheffield United team which had reached the semi-finals of both domestic cup competitions.^[7] This marked a return to top-flight football for Wolves after a nineteen-year exodus that had seen them fall as low as the fourth tier. Also leaving the division were Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton & Hove Albion and Grimsby Town, who were all relegated.

Team changes from previous season

Joining the First Division

Relegated from the Premiership:

Promoted from the Second Division:

Leaving the First Division

Promoted to the Premiership:

Relegated to the Second Division:

Team overview

Stadia and locations

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Locations of the 2002–03 First Division clubs

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Bradford City !Bradford City	Bradford	Bradford & Bingley Stadium	25,136
Burnley !Burnley	Burnley	Turf Moor	22,546
Brighton & Hove Albion !Brighton & Hove Albion	Brighton	Withdean Stadium	8,850
Coventry City !Coventry City	Coventry	Highfield Road	23,489
Crystal Palace !Crystal Palace	London	Selhurst Park	26,309
Derby County !Derby County	Derby	Pride Park	33,597
Gillingham !Gillingham	Gillingham	Priestfield Stadium	11,582
Grimsby Town !Grimsby Town	Cleethorpes	Blundell Park	10,033
Ipswich Town !Ipswich Town	Ipswich	Portman Road	30,311
Leicester City !Leicester City	Leicester	Walkers Stadium	32,500
Millwall !Millwall	London	The New Den	20,146
Nottingham Forest !Nottingham Forest	Nottingham	City Ground	30,576
Norwich City !Norwich City	Norwich	Carrow Road	26,018
Portsmouth !Portsmouth	Portsmouth	Fratton Park	20,224
Preston North End !Preston North End	Preston	Deepdale	23,408
Reading !Reading	Reading	Madjeski Stadium	24,161
Rotherham United !Rotherham United	Rotherham	Millmoor	8,300
Sheffield United !Sheffield United	Sheffield	Bramall Lane	32,702
Sheffield Wednesday !Sheffield Wednesday	Sheffield	Hillsborough	39,812
Stoke City !Stoke City	Stoke	Britannia Stadium	27,740
Walsall !Walsall	Walsall	Bescot Stadium	11,300
Watford !Watford	Watford	Vicarage Road	17,504
Wimbledon !Wimbledon	London	Selhurst Park¹	26,309
Wolverhampton Wanderers !Wolverhampton Wanderers	Wolverhampton	Molineux	27,828

Note 1: Wimbledon rented the use of Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park home.

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Manager	Kit maker	Sponsor
Bradford City	Nicky Law	BCAFC	JCT600
Burnley	Stan Ternent	TFG Sports	Lanway
Brighton & Hove Albion	Martin Hinshelwood	Erreà	Skint Records
Coventry City	Gary McAllister	CCFC	Subaru
Crystal Palace	Trevor Francis	Le Coq Sportif	Churchill
Derby County	John Gregory	Erreà	Pedigree
Gillingham	Andy Hessenthaler	Gills Leisure	SeaFrance
Grimsby Town	Paul Groves	Avec	Dixon
Ipswich Town	George Burley	Punch	TXU Energi
Leicester City	Micky Adams	Le Coq Sportif	LG
Millwall	Mark McGhee	Strikeforce	24seven
Nottingham Forest	Paul Hart	Umbro	Pinnacle Insurance
Norwich City	Nigel Worthington	Xara	Digital Phone Company
Portsmouth	Harry Redknapp	Pompey Sport	Ty
Preston North End	Craig Brown	Voi	NewReg.com
Reading	Alan Pardew	Kit@	Westcoast
Rotherham United	Ronnie Moore	Bodyline	T-Mobile
Sheffield United	Neil Warnock	Le Coq Sportif	Desun
Sheffield Wednesday	Terry Yorath	Diadora	Chupa Chups
Stoke City	Steve Cotterill	Le Coq Sportif	Britannia
Walsall	Colin Lee	Xara	Banks's
Watford	Ray Lewington	Kit@	Toshiba
Wimbledon	Stuart Murdoch	Patrick	Go MK
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Dave Jones	Admiral	Doritos

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Brighton & Hove Albion	Peter Taylor	Resigned	29 April 2002^[8]	Off season	Martin Hinshelwood	15 July 2002^[9]
Brighton & Hove Albion	Martin Hinshelwood	Moved to director of football position	7 October 2002^[10]	24th	Steve Coppell	7 October 2002^[10]
Stoke City	Steve Cotterill	Resigned to become assistant manager at Sunderland	10 October 2002^[11]	15th	Tony Pulis	1 November 2002^[12]
Ipswich Town	George Burley	Sacked	11 October 2002^[13]	19th	Joe Royle	28 October 2002^[14]
Sheffield Wednesday	Terry Yorath	Resigned	31 October 2002^[15]	22nd	Chris Turner	7 November 2002^[16]
Crystal Palace	Trevor Francis	Mutual consent	18 April 2003^[17]	11th	Steve Kember	23 May 2003^[18]
Derby County	John Gregory	Sacked	9 May 2003²^[19]^[20]	18th (end of season)	George Burley	5 June 2003³^[21]^[22]

Note 2: Although Gregory was dismissed on this date, he had already been suspended from his post on 21 March after "serious allegations" were made against him.
Note 3: Burley was initially appointed on 31 March as interim manager following John Gregory's suspension.

League table


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Portsmouth !Portsmouth (C) (P)	46	29	11	6	97	45	+52	98	Promotion to 2003–04 FA Premier League
2	Leicester City !Leicester City (P)	46	26	14	6	73	40	+33	92	Promotion to 2003–04 FA Premier League
3	Sheffield United !Sheffield United	46	23	11	12	72	52	+20	80	Qualification to First Division Playoffs
4	Reading !Reading	46	25	4	17	61	46	+15	79
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers !Wolverhampton Wanderers (O) (P)	46	20	16	10	81	44	+37	76
6	Nottingham Forest !Nottingham Forest	46	20	14	12	82	50	+32	74
7	Ipswich Town !Ipswich Town	46	19	13	14	80	64	+16	70
8	Norwich City !Norwich City	46	19	12	15	60	45	+15	69
9	Millwall !Millwall	46	19	9	18	59	69	−10	66
10	Wimbledon !Wimbledon	46	18	11	17	76	73	+3	65
11	Gillingham !Gillingham	46	16	14	16	56	65	−9	62
12	Preston North End !Preston North End	46	16	13	17	68	70	−2	61
13	Watford !Watford	46	17	9	20	54	70	−16	60
14	Crystal Palace !Crystal Palace	46	14	17	15	59	52	+7	59
15	Rotherham United !Rotherham United	46	15	14	17	62	62	0	59
16	Burnley !Burnley	46	15	10	21	65	89	−24	55
17	Walsall !Walsall	46	15	9	22	57	69	−12	54
18	Derby County !Derby County	46	15	7	24	55	74	−19	52
19	Bradford City !Bradford City	46	14	10	22	51	73	−22	52
20	Coventry City !Coventry City	46	12	14	20	46	62	−16	50
21	Stoke City !Stoke City	46	12	14	20	45	69	−24	50
22	Sheffield Wednesday !Sheffield Wednesday (R)	46	10	16	20	56	73	−17	46	Relegation to 2003–04 Second Division
23	Brighton & Hove Albion !Brighton & Hove Albion (R)	46	11	12	23	49	67	−18	45
24	Grimsby Town !Grimsby Town (R)	46	9	12	25	48	85	−37	39

Updated to games played on 11 May 2003.
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.

Playoffs

Main article: 2003 Football League play-offs

Semi-finals					Final

3	Sheffield United	1	4	5
6	Nottingham Forest	1	3	4
					3	Sheffield United	0
					5	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3
4	Reading	1	0	1
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2	1	3

Awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Notes
Month	Manager	Club	Notes
August	Harry Redknapp	Portsmouth	^[23]
September	Micky Adams	Leicester City	^[24]
October	Ray Lewington	Watford	^[25]
November	Alan Pardew	Reading	^[26]
December	Gary McAllister	Coventry City	^[27]
January	Neil Warnock	Sheffield United	^[28]
February	Alan Pardew	Reading	^[29]
March	Joe Royle	Ipswich Town	^[30]
April	Mark McGhee	Millwall	^[31]

PFA Team of the Year^[32]

Pos.	Player	Club
GK	Shaka Hislop	Portsmouth
DF	Denis Irwin	Wolverhampton Wanderers
DF	Joleon Lescott	Wolverhampton Wanderers
DF	Michael Dawson	Nottingham Forest
DF	Matthew Taylor	Portsmouth
MF	Muzzy Izzet	Leicester City
MF	Michael Brown	Sheffield United
MF	Paul Merson	Portsmouth
MF	Michael Tonge	Sheffield United
FW	David Johnson	Nottingham Forest
FW	Paul Dickov	Leicester City

References

1 2 3 4 "English League Championship Stats – 2011–12". Statto.com.
↑ "English League Championship Stats: Team Attendance". ESPN.
↑ "Portsmouth 3-2 Rotherham". BBC Sport. 27 April 2003.
↑ "Portsmouth promoted". BBC Sport. 15 April 2003.
↑ "Leicester City put into administration". BBC News. 22 October 2002.
↑ "League to punish stricken clubs". BBC News. 25 September 2003.
↑ "Wolves back in big time". BBC Sport. 26 May 2003.
↑ "Taylor quits Brighton". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 29 April 2002.
↑ "Hinshelwood given Brighton job". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 15 July 2002.
1 2 "Seagulls go for Coppell". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 7 October 2002.
↑ "Cotterill quits Stoke". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 10 October 2002.
↑ "Pulis gets Stoke job". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 1 November 2002.
↑ "Ipswich sack Burley". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 11 October 2002.
↑ "Royle eyes promotion". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 28 October 2002.
↑ "Yorath quits Wednesday". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 31 October 2002.
↑ "Turner handed Owls post". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 7 November 2002.
↑ "Francis leaves Palace". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 18 April 2003.
↑ "Palace appoint Kember". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 23 May 2003.
↑ "Gregory suspended by Derby". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 21 March 2003.
↑ "Derby sack Gregory". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 9 May 2003.
↑ "Burley takes over at Derby". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 31 March 2003.
↑ "Burley relishes Derby challenge". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 5 June 2003.
↑ "Manager of the Month: August 2002". League Managers Association.
↑ "Manager of the Month: September 2002". League Managers Association.
↑ "Manager of the Month: October 2002". League Managers Association.
↑ "Manager of the Month: November 2002". League Managers Association.
↑ "Manager of the Month: December 2002". League Managers Association.
↑ "Manager of the Month: January 2003". League Managers Association.
↑ "Manager of the Month: February 2003". League Managers Association.
↑ "Manager of the Month: March 2003". League Managers Association.
↑ "Manager of the Month: April 2003". League Managers Association.
↑ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2003). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004. Queen Anne Press. p. 496. ISBN 1-85291-651-6.

2002–03 in English football

« 2001–02

2003–04 »

FA competitions

Premier League and
Football League

Premier League
Football League (First Division, Second Division, Third Division)
League Cup (Final)
Football League Trophy (Final)
Play-offs (First Division Final, Second Division Final, Third Division Final)

Football Conference

Football Conference

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

Club seasons

Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Charlton Athletic Chelsea Everton Fulham Leeds United Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Southampton Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United

First Division	Bradford City Brighton & Hove Albion Burnley Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Grimsby Town Gillingham Ipswich Town Leicester City Millwall Norwich City Nottingham Forest Portsmouth Preston North End Reading Rotherham United Sheffield United Sheffield Wednesday Stoke City Walsall Watford Wimbledon Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Barnsley Blackpool Brentford Bristol City Cardiff City Cheltenham Town Chesterfield Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Huddersfield Town Luton Town Mansfield Town Northampton Town Notts County Oldham Athletic Peterborough United Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Stockport County Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers Wigan Athletic Wycombe Wanderers

Third Division	Boston United Bournemouth Bristol Rovers Bury Cambridge United Carlisle United Darlington Exeter City Hartlepool United Hull City Kidderminster Harriers Leyton Orient Lincoln City Macclesfield Town Oxford United Rochdale Rushden & Diamonds Scunthorpe United Shrewsbury Town Southend United Swansea City Torquay United Wrexham York City

Football Conference	Barnet Burton Albion Chester City Dagenham & Redbridge Doncaster Rovers Farnborough Town Forest Green Rovers Halifax Town Hereford United Kettering Town Leigh RMI Margate Morecambe Northwich Victoria Nuneaton Borough Scarborough Southport Stevenage Borough Telford United Woking Yeovil Town

Others	AFC Wimbledon Gateshead Newport County

Second level English football league seasons

Football League Second Division	1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92

Football League First Division	1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04

Football League Championship	2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

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