2002–03 FA Premier League

FA Premier League

Season	2002–03
Champions	Manchester United 8th Premier League title 15th English title
Relegated	Sunderland West Ham United West Bromwich Albion
Champions League	Manchester United Arsenal Newcastle United Chelsea
UEFA Cup	Southampton Blackburn Rovers Liverpool Manchester City
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1000 (2.63 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ruud van Nistelrooy (25)
Biggest home win	Chelsea 5–0 Manchester City (22 March 2003) Arsenal 6–1 Southampton (7 May 2003)
Biggest away win	West Bromwich Albion 0–6 Liverpool (26 April 2003)
Highest scoring	Manchester United 5–3 Newcastle United (23 November 2002) Newcastle United 2–6 Manchester United (12 April 2003)
Longest winning run	7 games Liverpool
Longest unbeaten run	18 games Manchester United
Longest winless run	20 games Sunderland
Longest losing run	15 games Sunderland
Highest attendance	67,721 Manchester United 4–1 Charlton Athletic
Lowest attendance	14,017 Fulham 0–4 Blackburn Rovers
Average attendance	35,470
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

The 2002–03 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the Premier League, the top division in English football. The first matches were played on 17 August 2002 and the last were played on 11 May 2003.

Manchester United ended the campaign as champions for the eighth time in eleven years – an achievement made all the more remarkable by virtue of defending champions Arsenal having led by eight points on 2 March. Although this was a season of breaking new English domestic records for the Gunners, and leading at all fronts come the halfway stage, they threw away a priceless lead against Bolton Wanderers and finally surrendered the title with a 3–2 home defeat to Leeds United, in their antepenultimate game of the season. This result all but saved Leeds from relegation. Newcastle United and Chelsea were the remaining two teams, who qualified for the UEFA Champions League at the expense of Liverpool who had to settle for the UEFA Cup; they would be joined in Europe by Blackburn Rovers for their second successive season.

Michael Ricketts had the honour of scoring the first goal of the new season for Bolton against Fulham, inside five minutes. The first hat-trick of the season was scored by Michael Owen in the match between Liverpool and Manchester City, at Maine Road in late September. Wayne Rooney, at the young age of 16, made his breakthrough at Everton, scoring an impressive goal against Arsenal, helping the Toffees to a 2–1 win. However, Rooney also got his first Premiership straight red card two months later on Boxing Day, for a reckless foul on Birmingham City's Steve Vickers at St. Andrew's.

Teams

Stadium and locations

Arsenal

Aston Villa

Birmingham

Blackburn

Bolton

Charlton

Chelsea

Everton

Fulham

Leeds

Liverpool

Man City

Man United

Middlesbrough

Newcastle

Southampton

Sunderland

Tottenham

West Brom

West Ham

Locations of the Premier League 2002–03 teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Arsenal	Holloway	Highbury	38,419
Aston Villa	Witton	Villa Park	42,573
Birmingham City	Birmingham	St Andrew's	30,009
Blackburn Rovers	Blackburn	Ewood Park	31,367
Bolton Wanderers	Horwich	Reebok Stadium	28,723
Charlton Athletic	Charlton	The Valley	27,111
Chelsea	Fulham	Stamford Bridge	42,055
Everton	Walton	Goodison Park	40,569
Fulham	Fulham	Loftus Road	19,148
Leeds United	Beeston	Elland Road	40,242
Liverpool	Anfield	Anfield	45,522
Manchester City	Manchester	Maine Road	35,150
Manchester United	Old Trafford	Old Trafford	68,174
Middlesbrough	Middlesbrough	Riverside Stadium	35,049
Newcastle United	Newcastle upon Tyne	St James' Park	52,387
Southampton	Southampton	St Mary's Stadium	32,689
Sunderland	Sunderland	Stadium of Light	49,000
Tottenham Hotspur	Tottenham	White Hart Lane	36,240
West Bromwich Albion	West Bromwich	The Hawthorns	28,003
West Ham United	Upton Park	Upton Park	35,647

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Arsenal	Arsène Wenger	Patrick Vieira	Nike	O2
Aston Villa	Graham Taylor	Steve Staunton	Diadora	Rover Company
Birmingham City	Steve Bruce	Jeff Kenna	Le Coq Sportif	Phones4U
Blackburn Rovers	Graeme Souness	Garry Flitcroft	Kappa	AMD Processors
Bolton Wanderers	Sam Allardyce	Guðni Bergsson	Reebok	Reebok
Charlton Athletic	Alan Curbishley	Graham Stuart	Le Coq Sportif	All Sport
Chelsea	Claudio Ranieri	Marcel Desailly	Umbro	Fly Emirates
Everton	David Moyes	David Weir	Puma	Kejian
Fulham	Chris Coleman	Andy Melville	Adidas	Betfair
Leeds United	Peter Reid	Dominic Matteo	Nike	Strongbow
Liverpool	Gérard Houllier	Sami Hyypiä	Reebok	Carlsberg
Manchester City	Kevin Keegan	Ali Benarbia	Le Coq Sportif	First Advice
Manchester United	Sir Alex Ferguson	Roy Keane	Nike	Vodafone
Middlesbrough	Steve McClaren	Gareth Southgate	Erreà	Dial-a-Phone
Newcastle United	Sir Bobby Robson	Alan Shearer	Adidas	NTL
Southampton	Gordon Strachan	Jason Dodd	Saints	Friends Provident
Sunderland	Mick McCarthy	Michael Gray	Nike	Reg Vardy
Tottenham Hotspur	Glenn Hoddle	Teddy Sheringham	Kappa	Thomson
West Bromwich Albion	Gary Megson	Sean Gregan	The Baggies (by club)	West Bromwich Building Society
West Ham United	Trevor Brooking (caretaker)	Joe Cole	Fila	Dr. Martens

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Sunderland	Peter Reid	Sacked	7 October 2002	17th	Howard Wilkinson	10 October 2002
Sunderland	Howard Wilkinson	Sacked	10 March 2003	20th	Mick McCarthy	12 March 2003
Leeds United	Terry Venables	Sacked	21 March 2003	15th	Peter Reid	21 March 2003
Fulham	Jean Tigana	Sacked	17 April 2003	15th	Chris Coleman	15 May 2003
West Ham United	Glenn Roeder	Temporary	17 April 2003	18th	Trevor Brooking	11 May 2003

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester United (C)	38	25	8	5	74	34	+40	83	2003–04 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2	Arsenal	38	23	9	6	85	42	+43	78
3	Newcastle United	38	21	6	11	63	48	+15	69	2003–04 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
4	Chelsea	38	19	10	9	68	38	+30	67
5	Liverpool	38	18	10	10	61	41	+20	64	2003–04 UEFA Cup First round 1
6	Blackburn Rovers	38	16	12	10	52	43	+9	60
7	Everton	38	17	8	13	48	49	−1	59
8	Southampton	38	13	13	12	43	46	−3	52	2003–04 UEFA Cup First round 2
9	Manchester City	38	15	6	17	47	54	−7	51	2003–04 UEFA Cup Qualifying round 3
10	Tottenham Hotspur	38	14	8	16	51	62	−11	50
11	Middlesbrough	38	13	10	15	48	44	+4	49
12	Charlton Athletic	38	14	7	17	45	56	−11	49
13	Birmingham City	38	13	9	16	41	49	−8	48
14	Fulham	38	13	9	16	41	50	−9	48
15	Leeds United	38	14	5	19	58	57	+1	47
16	Aston Villa	38	12	9	17	42	47	−5	45
17	Bolton Wanderers	38	10	14	14	41	51	−10	44
18	West Ham United (R)	38	10	12	16	42	59	−17	42	Relegation to 2003–04 Football League First Division
19	West Bromwich Albion (R)	38	6	8	24	29	65	−36	26
20	Sunderland (R)	38	4	7	27	21	65	−44	19

Updated to games played on 11 May 2003.
Source: FA Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹Since Liverpool qualified for the UEFA Cup via the league, their place in the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners reverted to the league and was awarded to Blackburn Rovers.
²Since Arsenal qualified for the Champions League, their place in the UEFA Cup as FA Cup winners went to Southampton, who were the FA Cup runners-up.
³Manchester City qualified for the UEFA Cup as Fair Play winners.
(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.

Results

Home ╲ Away

ARS

AST

BIR

BLB

BOL

CHA

CHE

EVE

FUL

LEE

LIV

MCI

MUN

MID

NEW

SOU

SUN

TOT

WBA

WHU

Arsenal

3–0

2–0

1–2

2–1

2–0

3–2

2–1

2–1

2–3

1–1

2–1

2–2

2–0

1–0

6–1

3–1

3–0

5–2

3–1

Aston Villa

1–1

0–2

3–0

2–0

2–0

2–1

3–2

3–1

0–0

0–1

1–0

0–1

3–0

0–1

0–1

1–0

0–1

2–1

4–1

Birmingham City

0–4

3–0

0–1

3–1

1–1

1–3

1–1

0–0

1–0

2–1

0–2

0–1

3–0

0–2

3–2

2–0

1–1

1–0

2–2

Blackburn Rovers

2–0

0–0

1–1

0–0

1–0

2–3

0–1

2–1

1–0

2–2

1–0

1–0

1–0

5–2

1–0

0–0

1–2

1–1

2–2

Bolton Wanderers

2–2

1–0

4–2

1–1

1–2

1–1

1–2

0–0

0–3

2–3

2–0

1–1

2–1

4–3

1–1

1–1

1–0

1–1

1–0

Charlton Athletic

0–3

3–0

0–2

3–1

1–1

2–3

2–1

0–1

1–6

2–0

2–2

1–3

1–0

0–2

2–1

1–1

0–1

1–0

4–2

Chelsea

1–1

2–0

3–0

1–2

1–0

4–1

4–1

1–1

3–2

2–1

5–0

2–2

1–0

3–0

0–0

3–0

1–1

2–0

2–3

Everton

2–1

2–1

1–1

2–1

0–0

1–0

1–3

2–0

2–0

1–2

2–2

1–2

2–1

2–1

2–1

2–1

2–2

1–0

0–0

Fulham

0–1

2–1

0–1

0–4

4–1

1–0

0–0

2–0

1–0

3–2

0–1

1–1

1–0

2–1

2–2

1–0

3–2

3–0

0–1

Leeds United

1–4

3–1

2–0

2–3

2–4

1–2

2–0

0–1

2–0

0–1

3–0

1–0

2–3

0–3

1–1

0–1

2–2

0–0

1–0

Liverpool

2–2

1–1

2–2

1–1

2–0

2–1

1–0

0–0

2–0

3–1

1–2

1–2

1–1

2–2

3–0

0–0

2–1

2–0

2–0

Manchester City

1–5

3–1

1–0

2–2

2–0

0–1

0–3

3–1

4–1

2–1

0–3

3–1

0–0

1–0

0–1

3–0

2–3

1–2

0–1

Manchester United

2–0

1–1

2–0

3–1

0–1

4–1

2–1

3–0

3–0

2–1

4–0

1–1

1–0

5–3

2–1

2–1

1–0

1–0

3–0

Middlesbrough

0–2

2–5

1–0

1–0

2–0

1–1

1–1

1–1

2–2

2–2

1–0

3–1

3–1

1–0

2–2

3–0

5–1

3–0

2–2

Newcastle United

1–1

1–1

1–0

5–1

1–0

2–1

2–1

2–1

2–0

0–2

1–0

2–0

2–6

2–0

2–1

2–0

2–1

2–1

4–0

Southampton

3–2

2–2

2–0

1–1

0–0

0–0

1–1

1–0

4–2

3–2

0–1

2–0

0–2

0–0

1–1

2–1

1–0

1–0

1–1

Sunderland

0–4

1–0

0–1

0–0

0–2

1–3

1–2

0–1

0–3

1–2

2–1

0–3

1–1

1–3

0–1

0–1

2–0

1–2

0–1

Tottenham Hotspur

1–1

1–0

2–1

0–4

3–1

2–2

0–0

4–3

1–1

2–0

2–3

0–2

0–2

0–3

0–1

2–1

4–1

3–1

3–2

West Bromwich Albion

1–2

0–0

1–1

0–2

1–1

0–1

0–2

1–2

1–0

1–3

0–6

1–2

1–3

1–0

2–2

1–0

2–2

2–3

1–2

West Ham United

2–2

2–2

1–2

2–1

1–1

0–2

1–0

0–1

1–1

3–4

0–3

0–0

1–1

1–0

2–2

0–1

2–0

2–0

0–1

Source: FA Premier League
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.

Overall

• Most wins – Manchester United (25)
• Fewest wins – Sunderland (4)
• Most draws – Bolton Wanderers (14)
• Fewest draws – Leeds United (5)
• Most losses – Sunderland (27)
• Fewest losses – Manchester United (5)
• Most goals scored – Arsenal (85)
• Fewest goals scored – Sunderland (21)
• Most goals conceded – West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland (65)
• Fewest goals conceded – Manchester United (34)

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Ruud van Nistelrooy	Manchester United	25
2	Thierry Henry	Arsenal	24
3	James Beattie	Southampton	23
4	Mark Viduka	Leeds United	20
5	Michael Owen	Liverpool	19
6	Alan Shearer	Newcastle United	17
7	Nicolas Anelka	Manchester City	15
8	Gianfranco Zola	Chelsea	14
	Robert Pirès	Arsenal	14
	Harry Kewell	Leeds United	14
	Paul Scholes	Manchester United	14

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Premier League hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Michael Owen	Liverpool	Manchester City	3–0	28 September 2002
James Beattie	Southampton	Fulham	4–2	27 October 2002
Ruud van Nistelrooy	Manchester United	Newcastle United	5–3	23 November 2002
Robbie Keane	Tottenham Hotspur	Everton	4–3	12 January 2003
Thierry Henry	Arsenal	West Ham United	3–1	27 January 2003
Ruud van Nistelrooy	Manchester United	Fulham	3–0	22 March 2003
Mark Viduka	Leeds United	Charlton Athletic	6–1	5 April 2003
Paul Scholes	Manchester United	Newcastle United	6–2	12 April 2003
Michael Owen4	Liverpool	West Bromwich Albion	6–0	26 April 2003
Ruud van Nistelrooy	Manchester United	Charlton Athletic	4–1	3 May 2003
Jermaine Pennant	Arsenal	Southampton	6–1	7 May 2003
Robert Pirès
Fredrik Ljungberg	Arsenal	Sunderland	4–0	11 May 2003

• ⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Michael Ricketts for Bolton Wanderers against Fulham (17 August 2002)
• Fastest goal of the season:
• Largest winning margin: 6 goals
  • West Bromwich Albion 0–6 Liverpool (26 April 2003)
• Highest scoring game: 8 goals
  • Manchester United 5–3 Newcastle United (23 November 2002)
  • Newcastle United 2–6 Manchester United (12 April 2003)
• Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 3 goals
  • West Ham United 3–4 Leeds United (10 November 2002)
  • Manchester United 5–3 Newcastle United (23 November 2002)
  • Bolton Wanderers 4–3 Newcastle United (26 December 2002)
  • Tottenham Hotspur 4–3 Everton (12 January 2003)

Clean sheets

• Most clean sheets: 15
  • Blackburn Rovers
• Fewest clean sheets: 5
  • Tottenham Hotspur

Discipline

• Worst overall disciplinary record (1 pt per yellow card, 3 pts per red card):
• Best overall disciplinary record:
• Most yellow cards (club):
• Most yellow cards (player): 13 – Iván Campo (Bolton Wanderers)
• Most red cards (club):
• Most red card (player): 3
  • Franck Queudrue (Middlesbrough)
• Most fouls (player):

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Glenn Hoddle	Tottenham Hotspur	Sylvain Wiltord	Arsenal
September	Arsène Wenger	Arsenal	Thierry Henry	Arsenal
October	Gérard Houllier	Liverpool	Gianfranco Zola	Chelsea
November	David Moyes	Everton	James Beattie	Southampton
December	Gordon Strachan	Southampton	Alan Shearer	Newcastle United
January	Sir Bobby Robson	Newcastle United	Paul Scholes	Manchester United
February	Alan Curbishley	Charlton Athletic	Robert Pirès	Arsenal
March	Glenn Roeder	West Ham United	Steven Gerrard	Liverpool
April	Sir Alex Ferguson	Manchester United	Ruud van Nistelrooy	Manchester United

Annual awards

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 2003 was won by Thierry Henry of Arsenal. This was the Frenchman's first award of the season and he beat off competition from the previous winner Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, in alphabetical order, was as follows:

Player	Team
James Beattie	Southampton
Thierry Henry	Arsenal
Ruud van Nistelrooy	Manchester United
Paul Scholes	Manchester United
Alan Shearer	Newcastle United
Gianfranco Zola	Chelsea

PFA Young Player of the Year

The PFA Young Player of the Year award was won by Jermaine Jenas of Newcastle United. Wayne Rooney was voted runner-up, and John O'Shea finished third in one of his first full seasons as a United player.

The shortlist for the award was as follows:

Player	Team
Craig Bellamy	Newcastle United
Jermain Defoe	West Ham United
Jermaine Jenas	Newcastle United
John O'Shea	Manchester United
Scott Parker	Charlton Athletic
Wayne Rooney	Everton

PFA Team of the Year

175px PFA Team of the Year Friedel Carr Campbell Gallas Cole Vieira Scholes Dyer Pirès Henry Shearer

Goalkeeper:	Brad Friedel (Blackburn Rovers)
Defence:	Stephen Carr (Tottenham Hotspur), Sol Campbell (Arsenal), William Gallas (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Arsenal)
Midfield:	Patrick Vieira (Arsenal), Paul Scholes (Manchester United), Kieron Dyer (Newcastle United), Robert Pirès (Arsenal)
Attack:	Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Alan Shearer (Newcastle United)

Barclaycard Manager of the Year

The award was won by Sir Alex Ferguson for winning his eighth title and regaining the league after a superb second half to the season, involving an 18-match unbeaten run.

Barclaycard Player of the Year

The award was given to Ruud van Nistelrooy, whose form, creativity and goals all helped Manchester United regain the league from Arsenal.

Barclaycard Golden Boot

This award was also won by Ruud van Nistelrooy who scored 25 goals in 38 league matches and 44 in all competitions. He also equalled his record of eight goals in eight successive matches at the beginning of the season, a milestone he had reached the previous season. Van Nistelrooy finished one goal ahead of Arsenal's Thierry Henry while James Beattie managed 23 league goals for Southampton. Since the reduction of the number of games from 42 to 38 in 1996, only Kevin Phillips had scored more Premiership goals in one season – 30 for Sunderland in the 1999–2000 season.

Barclaycard Golden Gloves

The award was given to Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, who proved vital in their quest for UEFA Champions League football. He kept twelve clean sheets – the most in the season – and only conceded 35 goals. Viewers of ITV's On the Ball voted Cudicini, ahead of Southampton keeper Antti Niemi, and Blackburn Rovers' Brad Friedel.

Goal of the season

The annual award was won by a wonder goal from Thierry Henry against Tottenham Hotspur, on 16 November 2002, voted by viewers of ITV's The Premiership.

Henry – chance for a break out, Wiltord to his right, Bergkamp to his left...they'll do well to catch up with Thierry Henry though...he's drifted away from Carr – HENRY! What a fabulous solo goal by Thierry Henry. A long distance goal followed by a long distance celebration...and Arsenal are back in the goalscoring business, after their midweek blank. Henry's been short of a goal or two just recently...but look at the confidence as he breaks from inside his own half, shrugging off Etherington, stepping away from Carr and from King...and picking his spot – he had options...but he had eyes for only one thing – the back of Kasey Keller's net. Thierry Henry moves into double figures for the season.

— Clive Tyldesley on Thierry Henry's solo goal when commentating the North London derby for The Premiership on ITV1.

The French striker picked up the ball from his side of the pitch and ran almost 30 yards (27 m), twisting and turning the Spurs defence to unleash a thunderous shot. In celebration, he ran the distance of the whole pitch and skidded in front of the Spurs faithful. The goal proved important as it helped them regain their position at the top of the Premiership from Liverpool.

Barclaycard Premiership Fair Play Award

The Fair Play Award was won by Manchester United.

Pos	Club	Games played	Red/Yellow cards	Positive play	Respect toward opponents	Respect toward referee	Behaviour of team officials	Points	Score	Average
1	Manchester United	38	332	325	223	226	206	1312	328.00	8.63
2	Newcastle United	38	325	318	217	218	200	1278	319.50	8.41
3	Chelsea	38	314	306	213	221	200	1254	313.50	8.25
4	Liverpool	38	324	301	224	225	180	1254	313.50	8.25
5	Manchester City	38	310	288	224	231	194	1247	311.75	8.20
6	Arsenal	38	315	319	214	212	180	1240	310.00	8.16
7	Middlesbrough	38	318	290	224	229	173	1234	308.50	8.12
8	Blackburn Rovers	38	307	292	219	222	178	1218	304.50	8.01
9	Aston Villa	38	304	283	212	218	201	1218	304.50	8.01
10	Everton	38	304	293	217	214	185	1213	303.25	7.98
11	Sunderland	38	314	255	220	226	196	1211	302.75	7.97
12	Fulham	38	304	284	203	211	203	1205	301.25	7.93
13	Leeds United	38	304	290	206	210	194	1204	301.00	7.92
14	West Bromwich Albion	38	316	273	219	214	181	1203	300.75	7.91
15	Southampton	38	323	282	221	220	154	1200	300.00	7.89
16	Tottenham Hotspur	38	309	291	215	207	174	1196	299.00	7.87
17	West Ham United	38	298	281	211	212	191	1193	298.25	7.85
18	Charlton Athletic	38	316	270	210	214	177	1187	296.75	7.81
19	Bolton Wanderers	38	299	279	218	217	161	1174	293.50	7.72
20	Birmingham City	38	295	271	201	213	179	1159	289.75	7.63

See also

• 2002–03 in English football
• 2003–04 FA Premier League

External links

• 2002–03 Premier League Season at RSSSF
• 2002–03 FA Premier League Review
• Soccerbot's 2002–03 Premier League Review
• Barclaycard Premiership club-by-club Season Review