The 2002–03 season was Aston Villa's 11th season in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, and their 15th consecutive season in the top division of English football. Fans had hoped that the return of successful former manager Graham Taylor would spark a serious challenge for honours once more, but the actual result was Villa's worst Premier League campaign in eight years, with the club in serious danger of relegation throughout the season. Survival was only achieved in the penultimate game of the season with a victory over already-doomed

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

; Taylor was soon on his way out of the club for good.

Players

First-team squad

:''Squad at end of season''

Left club during season

Reserve squad

:''The following players made most of their appearances for the reserves this season, but may have also appeared for the reserves or the U-17s, or may have appeared for the first team in a friendly.''

U-19 squad

:''The following players made most of their appearances for the U-19s this season, but may have also appeared for the reserves or the U-17s.''

U-17 squad

:''The following players made most of their appearances for the U-17s this season, but may have also appeared for the reserves or the U-19s.''

Other players

:''The following players did not play for any Aston Villa team this season.''

Statistics

Appearances and goals

:''As of end of season'' , - ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center, Goalkeepers , - ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center, Defenders , - ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center, Midfielders , - ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center, Forwards , - ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center, Players transferred out during the season

Starting 11

Results

Pre-season

FA Premier League

Final standings

FA Cup

League Cup

Transfers

In

Out

References

Notes

External links

Aston Villa official website
*avfchistory.co.u
2002–03 season
{{DEFAULTSORT:2002-03 Aston Villa F.C. Season 2002-03

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...