2002–03 Football League

The Football League
Season 2002–03
Champions Portsmouth
Promoted Portsmouth
Leicester City
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Relegated Shrewsbury Town
Exeter City

The 2002–03 Football League (known as the Nationwide Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 104th completed season of The Football League.

Portsmouth won the First Division by some distance, passing manager Harry Redknapp’s old club, West Ham on the way down. Leicester City earned a somewhat controversial promotion, as administration and a Creditor’s Voluntary Agreement wrote off much of their debt. Partly as a result of this, the League would introduce a ten point deduction for any teams going into administration from the next season onwards. The play-offs were won by Wolves, returning to the top flight after nearly 20 years and finally allowing owner Sir Jack Hayward to see the return he wanted on his years of investment.

Grimsby Town were relegated, after struggling in the division for five years on extremely limited resources. Both Brighton and Sheffield Wednesday suffered awful starts to the season (Brighton managing only a single win from their first sixteen matches), and despite good runs of form late in the season, neither were able to survive.

Wigan won their first-ever promotion beyond the Second Division, helped by considerable investment in the team. Crewe Alexandra managed a promotion on considerably less resources, while play-off winners Cardiff City were another big-spending team that were able to earn promotion.

An ill-advised managerial change mid-season helped send Northampton down. Mansfield Town’s first season out of the bottom division in over a decade ended as their previous spell had; with immediate relegation. Huddersfield started badly, and a financial crisis later in the season helped condemn them to relegation, only three years after they looked Premiership-bound. Cheltenham came close to survival, but a defeat on the final day of the season saw them return to the Third Division.

Rushden & Diamonds continued their meteoric rise, winning the Third Division title. They were helped in no small part by runners-up Hartlepool suffering a shocking late-season collapse, which cost them the title and manager Mike Newell his job. Wrexham took the last automatic promotion spot and bounced back from the previous season’s relegation, as did play-off winners Bournemouth.

A shock FA Cup victory over Everton did little to help Shrewsbury, and they finished bottom of the League. Exeter City were bought out pre-season in a high-profile takeover spearheaded by Uri Geller; unfortunately, Geller’s associates proceeded to asset-strip the club, and despite a late-season run of form, Exeter fell victim to the first-ever dual relegation from the League.

Final league tables and results

The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website,[1] with home and away statistics separated. Play-off results are from the same website.

First Division

Football League, First Division
Season 2002–03
Champions Portsmouth (1st second tier title)
Direct promotion to FA Premier League Portsmouth,
Leicester City
Promoted to FA Premier League through play-offs Wolverhampton Wanderers
Relegated Brighton & Hove Albion,
Grimsby Town,
Sheffield Wednesday
Matches played 552
Goals scored 1512 (2.74 per match)
Top goalscorer Svetoslav Todorov (Portsmouth), 26 [2]
Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A F A GD Pts Notes
1 Portsmouth 4617335222128345239745+5298
2 Leicester City 4616524012109433287340+3392
3 Sheffield United 4613733823104934297252+2080
4 Reading 46133733211211028256146+1579
5 Wolverhampton Wanderers 4691044019116641258144+3776
6 Nottingham Forest 4614725723671025278250+3274
7 Ipswich Town 461058493998631258064+1670
8 Norwich City 4614453617581024326049+1169
9 Millwall 4611663432831225375969–1066
10 Wimbledon 4612563928661137457673+365
11 Gillingham 461067333168923345665–962
12 Preston North End 4611754429561224416870–261
13 Watford 4611573326641321445470–1660
14 Crystal Palace 4681052917671030355952+759
15 Rotherham United 468962725751135376262±059
16 Burnley 4610493544561230456589 –2455
17 Walsall 46103103434561223355769–1254
18 Derby County 469593332621522425574–1952
19 Bradford City 467882735721424385173–2252
20 Coventry City 466611233168923314662–1650
21 Stoke City 469682525381220444569–2450
22 Sheffield Wednesday 467792932391127415673–1746
23 Brighton & Hove Albion 4676102931461320364967–1845
24 Grimsby Town 4656122639461322464885–3739
Key
Football League Champions, promoted to FA Premier League
Promoted to FA Premier League
Participated in play-offs
Promoted to Premier League through play-offs
Relegated

First Division play-offs

  Semifinals
1st leg – 10 May; 2nd leg – 14/15 May 2003
Final at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
26 May 2003
                     
3rd  Sheffield United 1 4 5  
6th  Nottingham Forest 1 3 4  
    3rd  Sheffield United 0
  5th  Wolverhampton Wanderers 3
4th  Reading 1 0 1
5th  Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 1 3  

[1]

First Division maps

Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 2002–2003

Second Division

Football League, Second Division
Season 2002–03
Champions Wigan Athletic (2nd third tier title)
Direct promotion Wigan Athletic,
Crewe Alexandra
Promoted through play-offs Cardiff City
Relegated Cheltenham Town,
Huddersfield Town,
Mansfield Town,
Northampton Town
Matches played 552
Goals scored 1421 (2.57 per match)
Top goalscorer Robert Earnshaw (Cardiff City), 31 [2]
Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A F A GD Pts Notes
1 Wigan Athletic 461472371615623196825+43100
2 Crewe Alexandra 4611572919146347217640+3686
3 Bristol City 461553431596836337948+3183
4 Queens Park Rangers 4614453819107631266945+2483
5 Oldham Athletic 46116639181110229206838+3082
6 Cardiff City 4612653320116635236843+2581
7 Tranmere Rovers 461454382396828346657 +980
8 Plymouth Argyle 461166392468924286352+1165
9 Luton Town 46887322896835346762+565
10 Swindon Town 4610583427671025365963 –460
11 Peterborough United 46878252069826345154–358
12 Colchester United 46878242469828325256–458
13 Blackpool 4610853525551321395664–858
14 Stockport County 468873938721426326570–555
15 Notts County 4610763732391125386270–855
16 Brentford 468872821641319354756–954
17 Port Vale 469593431561220395470–1653
18 Wycombe Wanderers 468783938561220285966–752
19 Barnsley 467882731651224335164–1352
20 Chesterfield 4611482928341614454373–3050
21 Cheltenham Town 466982631491027375368–1548
22 Huddersfield Town 467972724431612373961–2245
23 Mansfield Town 4692123845361428526697–3144
24 Northampton Town 4674122331351517484079–3939
Key
Division Champions, promoted
Promoted
Participated in play-offs
Promoted through play-offs
Relegated

Second Division play-offs

  Semifinals
1st leg – 10 May; 2nd leg – 13/14 May 2003
Final at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
28 May 2003
                     
3rd  Bristol City 0 0 0  
6th  Cardiff City 1 0 1  
    4th  Queens Park Rangers 0
  6th  Cardiff City (a.e.t.) 1
4th   Queens Park Rangers 1 1 2
5th  Oldham Athletic 1 0 1  

[1]

Second Division maps

Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 2002–2003

Third Division

Football League, Third Division
Season 2002–03
Champions Rushden & Diamonds (1st fourth tier title)
Direct promotion Rushden & Diamonds,
Hartlepool United,
Wrexham
Promoted through play-offs Bournemouth
Relegated to Conference Exeter City
Shrewsbury Town
New club in the league Boston United
Matches played 552
Goals scored 1419 (2.57 per match)
Top goalscorer Andy Morrell (Wrexham), 34 [2]
Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A F A GD Pts Notes
1 Rushden & Diamonds 4616524819810525287347+2687
2 Hartlepool United 461652492188722307151+2085
3 Wrexham 4612744826118436248450+3484
4 Bournemouth 4614723818671022306048+1274
5 Scunthorpe United 461184402087828296849+1972
6 Lincoln City 461094291887817194637+970
7 Bury 468872526108532305756+170
8 Oxford United 469772620105831275747+1069
9 Torquay United 469113413177930407171±066
10 York City 4611933424661118295253–166
11 Kidderminster Harriers 46887303387832306263–163
12 Cambridge United 4610763825661129456770–361
13 Hull City 4691043419571124345853+559
14 Darlington 4681053627481122325859–154
15 Boston United [notes 1] 4611663422471221345556–154
16 Macclesfield Town 468692928661128355763–654
17 Southend United 46121102923521618364759–1254
18 Leyton Orient 469682824551323375161–1053
19 Rochdale 4676103030510833406370–752
20 Bristol Rovers 467792527581025305057–751
21 Swansea City 469682825371320404865–1749
22 Carlisle United 4655132640851026385278–2649
23 Exeter City 467792431481126335064–1448
24 Shrewsbury Town 4656123439481128536292–3041
  1. Boston United had 4 points deducted for on-field brawl.
Key
Division Champions, promoted
Promoted
Participated in play-offs
Promoted through play-offs
New club in the league
Relegated to Conference

Third Division play-offs

  Semifinals
1st leg –10 May; 2nd leg –13/14 May 2003
Final at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
24 May 2003
                     
4th  Bournemouth 0 3 3  
7th  Bury 0 1 1  
    4th  Bournemouth 5
  6th  Lincoln City 2
5th  Scunthorpe United 3 0 3
6th  Lincoln City 5 1 6  

[1]

Third Division maps

Locations of the Football League Third Division London teams 2002–2003

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "England 2002–03". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
  2. 1 2 3 "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
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