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2002–03 Football League

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104th season of the Football League

Football league season

The Football League
Season	2002–03
Champions	Portsmouth
Promoted	Portsmouth Leicester City Wolverhampton Wanderers
Relegated	Shrewsbury Town Exeter City
New Club in League	Boston United
←2001–02 2003–04 →

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

Portsmouth won the First Division by some distance, passing managerHarry 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 byWolves, returning to the top flight after nearly 20 years and finally allowing ownerSir 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. BothBrighton andSheffield 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 promotion beyond the Second Division, helped by considerable investment in the team.Crewe Alexandra managed a promotion on considerably less resources, while play-off winnersCardiff City were another big-spending team that were able to earn promotion.

An ill-advised managerial change mid-season helped sendNorthampton 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-upHartlepool suffering a shocking late-season collapse, which cost them the title and managerMike Newell his job.Wrexham took the last automatic promotion spot and bounced back from the previous season's relegation, as did play-off winnersAFC Bournemouth.

A shockFA Cup victory overEverton did little to helpShrewsbury, and they finished bottom of the League.Exeter City were bought out pre-season in a high-profile takeover spearheaded byUri Geller; Geller's associates proceeded to asset-strip the club, and despite a late-season run of form, Exeter fell victim to the first dual relegation from the League.

Final league tables and results

[edit]

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

First Division

[edit]

Main article:2002–03 Football League First Division

Football league season

Football League,First Division
Season	2002–03
Champions	Portsmouth (1st second tier title)
Direct promotion toFA Premier League	Portsmouth, Leicester City
Promoted toFA Premier League through play-offs	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Relegated	Brighton & Hove Albion, Grimsby Town, Sheffield Wednesday
Matches	552
Goals	1,512 (2.74 per match)
Top goalscorer	Svetoslav Todorov(Portsmouth), 26^[2]
←2001–02 2003–04 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Portsmouth(C, P)	46	29	11	6	97	45	+52	98	Promotion to2003–04 FA Premier League
2	Leicester City(P)	46	26	14	6	73	40	+33	92	Promotion to2003–04 FA Premier League
3	Sheffield United	46	23	11	12	72	52	+20	80	Qualification forFirst Division Playoffs
4	Reading	46	25	4	17	61	46	+15	79
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers(O, P)	46	20	16	10	81	44	+37	76
6	Nottingham Forest	46	20	14	12	82	50	+32	74
7	Ipswich Town	46	19	13	14	80	64	+16	70
8	Norwich City	46	19	12	15	60	49	+11	69
9	Millwall	46	19	9	18	59	69	−10	66
10	Wimbledon	46	18	11	17	76	73	+3	65
11	Gillingham	46	16	14	16	56	65	−9	62
12	Preston North End	46	16	13	17	68	70	−2	61
13	Watford	46	17	9	20	54	70	−16	60
14	Crystal Palace	46	14	17	15	59	52	+7	59
15	Rotherham United	46	15	14	17	62	62	0	59
16	Burnley	46	15	10	21	65	89	−24	55
17	Walsall	46	15	9	22	57	69	−12	54
18	Derby County	46	15	7	24	55	74	−19	52
19	Bradford City	46	14	10	22	51	73	−22	52
20	Coventry City	46	12	14	20	46	62	−16	50
21	Stoke City	46	12	14	20	45	69	−24	50
22	Sheffield Wednesday(R)	46	10	16	20	56	73	−17	46	Relegation to2003–04 Second Division
23	Brighton & Hove Albion(R)	46	11	12	23	49	67	−18	45
24	Grimsby Town(R)	46	9	12	25	48	85	−37	39

Updated to match(es) played on 11 May 2003. Source:Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions;(O) Play-off winners;(P) Promoted;(R) Relegated

Play-offs

[edit]

Main article:Football League Championship play-offs § 2003

Semifinals 1st leg – 10 May; 2nd leg – 14/15 May 2003					Final atMillennium 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

[edit]

2002–03 Football League is located in England

Wolverhampton Wanderers

class=notpageimage|

Locations of theFootball League First Division 2002–2003 teams

2002–03 Football League is located in Greater London

Locations of theFootball League First Division London teams 2002–2003

Second Division

[edit]

Football league season

Football League,Second Division
Season	2002–03
Champions	Wigan Athletic (1st 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	552
Goals	1,421 (2.57 per match)
Top goalscorer	Robert Earnshaw(Cardiff City), 31^[2]
←2001–02 2003–04 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Wigan Athletic(C, P)	46	29	13	4	68	25	+43	100	Promotion toFootball League First Division
2	Crewe Alexandra(P)	46	25	11	10	76	40	+36	86	Promotion toFootball League First Division
3	Bristol City	46	24	11	11	79	48	+31	83	Qualification for theSecond Division play-offs
4	Queens Park Rangers	46	24	11	11	69	45	+24	83
5	Oldham Athletic	46	22	16	8	68	38	+30	82
6	Cardiff City(O, P)	46	23	12	11	68	43	+25	81
7	Tranmere Rovers	46	23	11	12	66	57	+9	80
8	Plymouth Argyle	46	17	14	15	63	52	+11	65
9	Luton Town	46	17	14	15	67	62	+5	65
10	Swindon Town	46	16	12	18	59	63	−4	60
11	Peterborough United	46	14	16	16	51	54	−3	58
12	Colchester United	46	14	16	16	52	56	−4	58
13	Blackpool	46	15	13	18	56	64	−8	58
14	Stockport County	46	15	10	21	65	70	−5	55
15	Notts County	46	13	16	17	62	70	−8	55
16	Brentford	46	14	12	20	47	56	−9	54
17	Port Vale	46	14	11	21	54	70	−16	53
18	Wycombe Wanderers	46	13	13	20	59	66	−7	52
19	Barnsley	46	13	13	20	51	64	−13	52
20	Chesterfield	46	14	8	24	43	73	−30	50
21	Cheltenham Town(R)	46	10	18	18	53	68	−15	48	Relegation toFootball League Third Division
22	Huddersfield Town(R)	46	11	12	23	39	61	−22	45
23	Mansfield Town(R)	46	12	8	26	66	97	−31	44
24	Northampton Town(R)	46	10	9	27	40	79	−39	39

Source:^[3]
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).
(C) Champions;(O) Play-off winners;(P) Promoted;(R) Relegated

Play-offs

[edit]

Main article:Football League One play-offs § 2003

Semifinals 1st leg – 10 May; 2nd leg – 13/14 May 2003					Final atMillennium Stadium,Cardiff 28 May 2003

3rd	Bristol City	0	0	0

6th	Cardiff City	1	0	1
					6th	Cardiff City	1

					4th	Queens Park Rangers (a.e.t.)	0
4th	Queens Park Rangers	1	1	2

5th	Oldham Athletic	1	0	1

^[1]

Second Division maps

[edit]

Locations of theFootball League Second Division 2002–2003 teams

Brentford

Queens Park Rangers

class=notpageimage|

Locations of theFootball League Second Division London teams 2002–2003

Third Division

[edit]

Football league season

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 toConference	Exeter City Shrewsbury Town
New club in the league	Boston United
Matches	552
Goals	1,419 (2.57 per match)
Top goalscorer	Andy Morrell(Wrexham), 34^[2]
←2001–02 2003–04 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Rushden & Diamonds(C, P)	46	24	15	7	73	47	+26	87	Promotion toFootball League Second Division
2	Hartlepool United(P)	46	24	13	9	71	51	+20	85
3	Wrexham(P)	46	23	15	8	84	50	+34	84
4	Bournemouth(O, P)	46	20	14	12	60	48	+12	74	Qualification for theThird Division play-offs
5	Scunthorpe United	46	19	15	12	68	49	+19	72
6	Lincoln City	46	18	16	12	46	37	+9	70
7	Bury	46	18	16	12	57	56	+1	70
8	Oxford United	46	19	12	15	57	47	+10	69
9	Torquay United	46	16	18	12	71	71	0	66
10	York City	46	17	15	14	52	53	−1	66
11	Kidderminster Harriers	46	16	15	15	62	63	−1	63
12	Cambridge United	46	16	13	17	67	70	−3	61
13	Hull City	46	14	17	15	58	53	+5	59
14	Darlington	46	12	18	16	58	59	−1	54
15	Boston United	46	15	13	18	55	56	−1	54^[a]
16	Macclesfield Town	46	14	12	20	57	63	−6	54
17	Southend United	46	17	3	26	47	59	−12	54
18	Leyton Orient	46	14	11	21	51	61	−10	53
19	Rochdale	46	12	16	18	63	70	−7	52
20	Bristol Rovers	46	12	15	19	50	57	−7	51
21	Swansea City	46	12	13	21	48	65	−17	49
22	Carlisle United	46	13	10	23	52	78	−26	49
23	Exeter City(R)	46	11	15	20	50	64	−14	48	Relegation toFootball Conference
24	Shrewsbury Town(R)	46	9	14	23	62	92	−30	41	Relegation toFootball Conference

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).
(C) Champions;(O) Play-off winners;(P) Promoted;(R) Relegated
Notes:

^Boston United had 4 points deducted for financial irregularities.^[4]

Play-offs

[edit]

Main article:Football League Two play-offs § 2003

Semifinals 1st leg −10 May; 2nd leg −13/14 May 2003					Final atMillennium 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

[edit]

Kidderminster Harriers

Locations of theFootball League Third Division teams 2002–2003

Leyton Orient

class=notpageimage|

Locations of theFootball League Third Division London teams 2002–2003

References

[edit]

^^a ^b ^c ^d"England 2002–03". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved24 February 2010.
^^a ^b ^c"English League Leading Goalscorers". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved31 October 2010.
^"League Division 2 end of season table for 2002-03 season".11v11.com. Retrieved22 June 2025.
^"League newcomers docked points".BBC Sport. 19 July 2002. Retrieved28 February 2017.

v t e English Football League seasons
First tier	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 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
Second tier	1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

English Football League seasons

First tier

1888–89
1889–90
1890–91
1891–92
1892–93
1893–94
1894–95
1895–96
1896–97
1897–98
1898–99
1899–1900
1900–01
1901–02
1902–03
1903–04
1904–05
1905–06
1906–07
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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

Second tier

1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24
2024–25
2025–26

2002–03 in English men's football

« 2001–02

2003–04 »

National teams

League competitions

Level 1	Premier League
Levels 2–4	Football League(First Division,Second Division,Third Division,play-offs)
Level 5	Football Conference
Levels 6–7	Isthmian League(Premier,One North,One South) Northern Premier League(Premier,One) Southern League(Premier,Eastern,Western)
Levels 8–9	Isthmian League(Two) Combined Counties League (level 8 only) Eastern Counties League(Premier,One) Essex Senior League (level 9 only) Hellenic League(Premier,One East,One West) Kent League (level 8 only) Midland Alliance (level 8 only) Midland Football Combination (level 9 only) North West Counties League(One,Two) Northern Counties East League(Premier,One) Northern League(One,Two) Spartan South Midlands League(Premier,One) Sussex County League(One,Two) United Counties League(Premier,One) Wessex League (level 8 only) West Midlands (Regional) League (level 9 only) Western League(Premier,One)

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup(Qualifying rounds,Final) Community Shield FA Trophy(Final)
Football League cups	League Cup(Final) Football League Trophy(Final)

European competitions

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
Non-League	Yeovil Town

v t e 2002–03 in European men's football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues	Albania Andorra Armenia'02 '03 Austria Azerbaijan Belarus'02 '03 Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia'02 '03 Faroe Islands'02 '03 Finland'02 '03 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland'02 '03 Israel Italy Kazakhstan'02 '03 Latvia'02 '03 Lithuania'02 '03 Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway'02 '03 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia'02 '03 San Marino Scotland Serbia and Montenegro Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden'02 '03 Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales
Domestic cups	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands'02 '03 Finland'02 '03 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland'02 '03 Israel Italy Kazakhstan'02 '03 Latvia'02 '03 Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway'02 '03 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Serbia and Montenegro Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden'02 '03 Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales
League cups	England Finland'02 '03 France Germany Iceland'02 '03 Israel Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
UEFA competitions	Champions League (Qualifying phase,Group stage,2nd Group stage,knockout stage,Final) UEFA Cup (Qualifying round,First round,Second round,Final phase,Final) Intertoto Cup Super Cup