The Football League 2002-03

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Statistics of The Football League in season 2002/2003.

Contents

[edit] Overview

[edit] Football League First Division

Portsmouth won the First Division by some distance, passing manager Harry 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 by Wolves, returning to the top flight after nearly 20 years and finally allowing owner Sir Jack Hayward to see the return he wanted on his years of investment.

Grimsby were relegated, after struggling in the division for five years on extremely limited resources. Both Brighton and Sheffield 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.

[edit] Football League Second Division

Wigan won their first-ever promotion beyond the Second Division, helped by considerable investment in the team. Crewe managed a promotion on considerably less resources, while play-off winners Cardiff were another big-spending team that were able to earn promotion.

An ill-advised managerial change mid-season helped send Northampton 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 Division Three.

[edit] Football League Third Division

Rushden & Diamonds continued their meteoric rise, winning the divisional title. They were helped in no small part by runners-up Hartlepool suffering a shocking late-season collapse, which cost them the title and manager Mike Newell his job. Wrexham took the last automatic promotion spot and bounced back from the previous season's relegation, as did play-off winners Bournemouth.

A shock FA Cup victory over Everton did little to help Shrewsbury, and they finished bottom of the League. Exeter City were bought out pre-season in a high-profile takeover spearheaded by Uri Geller; unfortunately, Geller's associates proceeded to asset-strip the club, and despite a late-season run of form, Exeter fell victim to the first-ever dual relegation from the League.

[edit] League Standings

[edit] Football League First Division

Pos Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts
1. Portsmouth 46 29 11 6 97 45  +52 98
2. Leicester City 46 26 14 6 73 40  +33 92
3. Sheffield United 46 23 11 12 72 52  +20 80
4. Reading 46 25 4 17 61 46  +15 79
5. Wolverhampton Wanderers 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 46 10 16 20 56 73  -17 46
23. Brighton & Hove Albion 46 11 12 23 49 67  -18 45
24. Grimsby Town 46 9 12 25 48 85  -37 39

Leading goalscorer: Svetoslav Todorov (Portsmouth), 26

See also: Play-off results

Key
Promoted to the Premier League
Qualified for the promotion playoff
Relegated to Division Two

[edit] Football League Second Division

Pos Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts
1. Wigan Athletic 46 29 13 4 68 25  +43 100
2. Crewe Alexandra 46 25 11 10 76 40  +36 86
3. Bristol City 46 24 11 11 79 48  +31 83
4. Queens Park Rangers 46 24 11 11 69 35  +24 83
5. Oldham Athletic 46 22 16 8 68 38  +30 82
6. Cardiff City 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 46 10 18 18 53 68  -15 48
22. Huddersfield Town 46 11 12 23 39 61  -22 45
23. Mansfield Town 46 12 8 26 66 97  -31 44
24. Northampton Town 46 10 9 27 40 79  -39 39
Key
Promoted to Division One
Qualified for the promotion playoff
Relegated to Division Three

[edit] Football League Third Division

Pos Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts
1. Rushden & Diamonds 46 24 15 7 73 47  +26 87
2. Hartlepool United 46 24 13 9 71 51  +20 85
3. Wrexham 46 23 15 8 84 50  +34 84
4. Bournemouth 46 20 14 12 60 48  +12 74
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
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 46 11 15 20 50 64  -14 48
24. Shrewsbury Town 46 9 14 23 62 92  -30 41
Key
Promoted to Division Two
Qualified for the promotion playoff
Relegated to Conference

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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