The 2002–03 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th season of 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 Fo ...

, the top division in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

. The first matches were played on 17 August 2002 and the last were played on 11 May 2003.

Manchester United 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 ...

ended the campaign as champions for the eighth time in eleven years – an achievement made all the more remarkable by the fact that defending champions

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

had been in the lead by eight points on 2 March. After defeating Birmingham at the start of the season, Arsenal equalled a top-flight record of fourteen straight wins but failed to extend it in their next game at West Ham United, being held to a 2–2 draw. They remained unbeaten for 30 Premier League games, 23 of which were played away, until late October, and scored in a record 55 consecutive league games, beating the previous record of 47 set by Chesterfield during the 1930-31 Third Division North season. This run ended at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembl ...

on 7 December 2002, when Manchester United won 2–0. Arsenal then threw away a priceless lead against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

and finally surrendered the title with a 3–2 home defeat to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

in their antepenultimate game of the season, a result that also saved Leeds from relegation.

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

and Chelsea were the remaining Champions League qualifiers, at the expense of

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

who had to settle for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

; they would be joined in Europe by Blackburn Rovers for a second successive season, along with

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

who were back in Europe for the first time since 1984. At the bottom end of the table, West Ham United,

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

and

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 ...

were relegated to 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 ...

; West Ham's 42 points from a 38-game season was a record for a relegated team. Promoted to replace them were

2002–03 Football League First Division The 2002–03 Football League First Division (referred to as the Nationwide First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the league under its current format as the second tier of English football. Portsmouth won the divisio ...

champions

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

, runners-up Leicester City, and play-off winner

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

Teams

Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were

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 t ...

(immediately returning after a season's absence),

, and

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

(both teams returning to the top flight after a sixteen-year absence). This was also both West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City's first season in the Premier League. They replaced

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 professio ...

(relegated after two seasons in the top flight), Derby County, and Leicester City (both teams relegated after a six-year presence).

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Overall

*Most wins –

(25) *Fewest wins –

(4) *Most draws –

(14) *Fewest draws –

(5) *Most losses –

(27) *Fewest losses –

(5) *Most goals scored –

(85) *Fewest goals scored –

(21) *Most goals conceded –

and

(65) *Fewest goals conceded –

(34)

Season statistics

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

* ⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Scoring

*First goal of the season:

Michael Ricketts Michael Barrington Ricketts (born 4 December 1978) is an English former footballer. He played as a striker and was capped once by England, in a friendly against the Netherlands in 2002. Ricketts had a 14-year career which saw him play for ...

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 Franck Roger Queudrue (born 27 August 1978) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left back. He began his career with Lens, for whom he played in Ligue 1, and went on to play in the Premier League for Middlesbrough, Fulha ...

(Middlesbrough) *Most fouls (player):

Awards

Monthly awards

Annual awards

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The

PFA Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Men's Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is ...

award for 2003 was won by

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best player ...

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:

PFA Young Player of the Year

The

PFA Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the s ...

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:

PFA Team of the Year

Premier League Manager of the Year

The Premier League Manager of the Year 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.

Premier League Player of the Year

The Premier League Player of the Year award was given to

Ruud van Nistelrooy Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij (anglicised to Van Nistelrooy; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He is currently the coach of PSV Eindhoven. A former footballer, Van Nistelrooy is often consi ...

, whose form, creativity and goals all helped Manchester United regain the league from Arsenal.

Premier League Golden Boot

The Premier League Golden Boot award was also won by

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

while James Beattie managed 23 league goals for Southampton.

Premier League Golden Gloves

The Premier League Golden Gloves 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 Bradley Howard Friedel (born May 18, 1971) is an American professional soccer coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. Friedel played 84 games for the United States national team between 1992 and 2005, and represented his country ...

Goal of the Season

The annual award was won by a wonder goal from

against Tottenham Hotspur, on 16 November 2002, voted by viewers of ITV's The Premiership. The French striker picked up the ball from his side of the pitch and ran almost , 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.

Premier League Fair Play Award

The Premier League Fair Play Award was won by

References

External links

2002–03 Premier League Season at RSSSF

2002–03 FA Premier League Review

Barclaycard Premiership club-by-club Season Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:2002-03 FA Premier League Premier League seasons Eng 1