During the 2002–03 English football season, Derby County competed in the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

, following relegation from the

FA 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 ...

the previous season.

Season summary

Derby were expected to make a bid for an immediate return to the Premiership, but struggled all season which resulted in manager John Gregory being sacked in March and replaced by former

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

manager George Burley, who led the team to a secure but disappointing 18th-place finish.

Kit

Derby retained the previous season's home kit, manufactured by Italian company

Erreà Erreà () is an Italian sports equipment company supplier. Erreà was the first Italian sportswear company to be accredited with the Oeko-tex standard certification, which assures that garments textiles are free from harmful chemicals. Backgrou ...

and sponsored by

Pedigree Pedigree may refer to: Breeding * Pedigree chart, a document to record ancestry, used by genealogists in study of human family lines, and in selective breeding of other animals ** Pedigree, a human genealogy (ancestry chart) ** Pedigree (animal ...

Final league table

Results

''Derby County's score comes first''

Legend

Football League First Division

FA Cup

League Cup

Players

First-team squad

:''Squad at end of season''

Left club during season

Transfers

In

* Paul Ritchie –

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, loan *

Tommy Mooney Thomas John Mooney (born 11 August 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played mainly as a striker. He made more than 600 appearances in the Football League and Premier Leaguewith 250 for Watford and more than 100 for Scarbo ...

– Birmingham City, loan *

Nick Chadwick Nicholas Gerald Chadwick (born 26 October 1982) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a forward in the Premier League for Everton, before going on to play in the Football League for Derby County, Millwall, Hereford United, S ...

– Everton, loan

Out

Darryl Powell Darryl Anthony Powell (born 15 November 1971) is a sports agent and former professional association football, footballer who made more than 350 appearances in the Football League and Premier League and played international football for the Jamai ...

– released (later joined Birmingham City on 12 September) * Brian O'Neil – released, 27 November (later joined

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

) * Fiachra McArdle – released, 27 November * Deon Burton – Portsmouth, 11 December, £250,000 *

Mart Poom Mart Poom (born 3 February 1972) is an Estonian football coach and former professional player regarded as one of the greatest Estonian footballers of all time. He is currently the goalkeeping coach of the Estonia national team. Poom played as a ...

–

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 ...

, 10 January, £2,500,000 * Chris Riggott and

Malcolm Christie Malcolm Neil Christie (born 11 April 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Initially playing at non-league level for Deeping Rangers and Nuneaton Borough, he went on to play in the Premier League for bo ...

– Middlesbrough, 31 January, £3,000,000 combined * Danny Higginbotham – Southampton, 31 January, £1,500,000 *

Bjørn Otto Bragstad Bjørn Otto Bragstad (born 5 January 1971) is a former football defender from Norway. Club career Bragstad came through the youth ranks at Rosenborg before making his senior debut in the 1989 season. He scored 26 goals in 194 matches for them. ...

– released (later joined SW Bregenz) *

Horacio Carbonari Horacio Angel Carbonari (born 2 May 1974) is a Argentine former professional footballer who played as a defender. He was nicknamed "Bazooka" due to his powerful free-kicks. Career Rosario Central Born in Santa Teresa, a town in the southern en ...

– released (later joined Rosario Central)

Loan out

* Deon Burton – Portsmouth, 9 August *

François Grenet François Jean Henri Grenet (born 8 March 1975) is a French former professional footballer who played mostly as a right-back and also as a midfielder. Club career Bordeaux Grenet was born in Bordeaux. His father Jean Grenet and paternal grandfa ...

–

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

, 29 August *

–

, 15 November * Marvin Robinson – Tranmere Rovers, 29 November

References

Notes

Derby County F.C. seasons Derby County {{DEFAULTSORT:2002-03 Derby County F.C. season