2002–03 Leeds United A.F.C. season

Leeds United
2002–03 season
Chairman England Peter Ridsdale
(until 31 March)[1]
England Professor John McKenzie
Manager Republic of Ireland David O'Leary
(until 27 June)[2]
England Terry Venables
(until 21 March)[3]
England Peter Reid
Stadium Elland Road
Premier League 15th
FA Cup Sixth round
League Cup Third round
UEFA Cup Third round
Top goalscorer League: Australia Mark Viduka (20)
All: Australia Mark Viduka (22)
Highest home attendance 40,205 vs Aston Villa
(11 May 2003, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance 29,359 vs Gillingham
(4 Feb 2003, FA Cup)
Average home league attendance 37,768

The 2002–03 season saw Leeds United compete in the Premier League (known as the Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

Season summary

As Leeds United's debts began racking up, the club began selling many first-team players to raise money, most notably defender and captain Rio Ferdinand, sold to arch-rivals Manchester United for around 25 million pounds - a world record for a defender at the time. Despite this mass exodus of players (which forced many youth players like James Milner and Matthew Kilgallon into the first team) Leeds managed to remain in the Premiership after finishing a safe 15th place, with no small thanks to striker Mark Viduka. Viduka struck 20 goals in the Premiership alone, making him the fourth highest scorer in the league that season. Harry Kewell was also influential, scoring 14 on his own and setting up several of Viduka's strikes, before departing to Liverpool in the summer.

Kit

Nike remained as Leeds United's kit sponsors, and introduced a new home kit for the season.

First-team squad

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

No. Position Player
1 England GK Nigel Martyn
2 Republic of Ireland DF Gary Kelly
3 Republic of Ireland DF Ian Harte
4 France MF Olivier Dacourt
5 South Africa DF Lucas Radebe
8 England FW Michael Bridges
9 Australia FW Mark Viduka
10 Australia FW Harry Kewell
11 Spain MF Raúl Bravo (on loan from Real Madrid)
12 England MF Nick Barmby
13 England GK Paul Robinson
14 Republic of Ireland MF Stephen McPhail
15 Sweden DF Teddy Lučić (on loan from AIK)
16 England MF Jason Wilcox
17 England FW Alan Smith
No. Position Player
18 England DF Danny Mills
19 Norway MF Eirik Bakke
20 England MF Seth Johnson
21 Scotland DF Dominic Matteo (captain)
22 England DF Michael Duberry
23 England MF David Batty
24 Australia MF Paul Okon
25 Australia MF Jacob Burns
26 Australia GK Danny Milosevic
28 England MF Jamie McMaster
34 England DF Frazer Richardson
36 England DF Matthew Kilgallon
38 England MF James Milner
39 England FW Simon Johnson

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
6 England DF Jonathan Woodgate (to Newcastle United)
7 Republic of Ireland FW Robbie Keane (to Tottenham Hotspur)
11 England MF Lee Bowyer (to West Ham United)
No. Position Player
27 England FW Robbie Fowler (to Manchester City)
England GK Shaun Allaway (on loan to Grimsby Town)

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
32 England MF Harpal Singh
35 Australia DF Shane Cansdell-Sherriff
No. Position Player
37 Republic of Ireland MF Paul Keegan

Statistics

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions[5]

Results

Premier League

Top scorers

Transfers

In

Out

±Current club record transfer fee received.

Transfers in: Decrease £2,750,000
Transfers out: Increase £52,300,000
Total spending: Increase £49,550,000

Loaned in

Loaned out

References

  1. "Ridsdale resigns from struggling Leeds". Citywire. 31 March 2003.
  2. "O'Leary sacked by Leeds". BBC News. 27 June 2002.
  3. "Venables leaves Leeds". BBC News. 21 March 2003.
  4. "Leeds United - 2002/03". FootballSquads. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  5. http://www.11v11.com/teams/leeds-united/tab/players/season/2003
  6. "Nick checks in at Leeds". The Guardian. 8 August 2002.
  7. "Sunderland target Piper in £13m spending spree". The Telegraph. 13 August 2002.
  8. "Man Utd seal Rio deal". BBC News. 22 July 2002.
  9. "Robbie Keane joins Spurs". BBC News. 31 August 2002.
  10. "Bowyer signs for Hammers". BBC News. 11 January 2003.
  11. "Woodgate 'thrilled' to be at Toon". The Guardian. 31 January 2003.
  12. "Fowler joins Man City". BBC News. 13 February 2003.
  13. "Chesterfield sign Folan". BBC News. 14 February 2003.
  14. "Leeds land Lucic". BBC News. 31 August 2002.
  15. "Leeds sign Real defender". BBC News. 31 January 2003.
  16. 1 2 "Transfers - August 2002". BBC News. 5 September 2002.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 "Transfers - November 2002". BBC News. 2 December 2002.
  18. "Swansea escape with reprimand". BBC News. 31 March 2003.
  19. "Dacourt joins Leeds exodus". The Guardian. 9 January 2003.
  20. "Richardson loan extended". BBC News. 6 February 2003.
  21. "Milosevic goes to Crewe". BBC News. 20 January 2003.
  22. "Transfers - March 2003". BBC News. 14 April 2003.


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