2002–03 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa

2002–03 season
Chairman	Doug Ellis
Manager	Graham Taylor
Premier League	16th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Quarter-finals
UEFA Intertoto Cup	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Dion Dublin (10) All: Dion Dublin (14)
Home colours Away colours
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

The 2002–03 season was Aston Villa's 11th season in the Premier League, and their 15th consecutive season in the top division of English football.^[1]

Season review

Fans had hoped that the return of successful former manager Graham Taylor would spark a serious challenge for honours once more, but unfortunately the actual result was Villa's worst Premier League campaign to date, 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; Taylor was soon on his way out of the club for good.

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Peter Enckelman 2 DF Mark Delaney 3 DF Alan Wright 4 DF Olof Mellberg 5 DF Alpay Özalan 6 DF Gareth Barry 7 MF Ian Taylor 8 FW Juan Pablo Angel 9 FW Dion Dublin 10 FW Darius Vassell 11 DF Steve Staunton 12 MF Thomas Hitzlsperger 13 GK Stefan Postma 14 FW Marcus Allbäck 15 DF Ulises de la Cruz

No. Position Player 16 FW Peter Crouch 17 MF Lee Hendrie 19 FW Boško Balaban 20 MF Mustapha Hadji 21 DF Jlloyd Samuel[3] 22 MF Hassan Kachloul 24 DF Liam Ridgewell 25 FW Stefan Moore 26 MF Mark Kinsella 27 DF Ronny Johnsen 28 MF Øyvind Leonhardsen 29 MF Peter Whittingham 30 DF Rob Edwards 31 DF Stephen Cooke 33 DF Joey Guðjónsson (on loan from Real Betis)

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 6 MF George Boateng (to Middlesbrough) 10 FW Paul Merson (to Portsmouth)

No. Position Player 18 MF Steve Stone (to Portsmouth) 23 MF Michael Boulding (to Grimsby Town)

Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 32 FW Luke Moore 37 GK Boaz Myhill[4] 38 MF John McGrath

No. Position Player 39 GK Wayne Henderson 40 MF Keith Fahey

Statistics

Starting 11

No. Pos Nat Name MS Notes 1 GK Peter Enckelman 39 2 RB Mark Delaney 17 27 CB Ronny Johnsen 29 4 CB Olof Mellberg 44 21 LB Jlloyd Samuel 40 26 RM Mark Kinsella 18 Steve Staunton has 28 starts 17 CM Lee Hendrie 27 6 CM Gareth Barry 44 12 LM Thomas Hitzlsperger 30 9 CF Dion Dublin 30 10 CF Darius Vassell 32 Results Pre-season Date Opponents Home/ Away Result F – A Scorers Competition 20 July 2002 FC Zurich A 0 – 2 Intertoto Cup 27 July 2002 FC Zurich H 3 – 0 Boulding (33), Allback (52), Staunton (77) Intertoto Cup August 2002 Lille A 1 – 1 Taylor (83) Intertoto Cup August 2002 Lille H 0 – 2 Intertoto Cup Premier League 16 30 November 2002 Arsenal 3–1 Aston Villa London   15:00 GMT Pirès  17' Henry  49', 82' (pen.) [ Report] Hitzlsperger  64' Stadium: Highbury Attendance: 38,090 Referee: Graham Barber 16 September 2002 Birmingham City 3–0 Aston Villa St Andrew's, Birmingham   20:00 BST (UTC+01) Morrison  31' Enckelman  77' (o.g.) Horsfield  83' [ Report] Attendance: 29,505 Referee: David Elleray 13 9 November 2002 (2002-11-09) Aston Villa 3–1 Fulham Birmingham, West Midlands   Angel  20' Allback  66' Leonhardsen  83' [ Report] Boa Morte  51' Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: 29,563 Referee: Andy D'Urso 3 March 2003 Aston Villa 0–2 Birmingham City Villa Park, Birmingham   20:00 GMT (UTC) Dublin  51' Guðjónsson  81' [ Report] Lazaridis  74' Horsfield  77' Attendance: 42,602 Referee: Mark Halsey 32 5 April 2003 Aston Villa 1–1 Arsenal Birmingham   15:00 BST Touré  71' (o.g.) Report Ljungberg  56' Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: 42,602 Referee: Uriah Rennie Final standings Pos Club Pld W D L F A GD Pts 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 Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points FA Cup Date Round Opponents H / A Result F – A Scorers Attendance 4 January 2003 Round 3 Blackburn Rovers H 1 – 4 Angel 41' 23,884 League Cup Date Round Opponents H / A Result F – A Scorers Attendance 2 October 2002 Round 2 Luton Town H 3 – 0 De La Cruz 9', Dublin (2) 35', 48' 20,833 6 November 2002 Round 3 Oxford United A 3 – 0 Taylor 74', Barry 77', Dublin 86' 12,177 4 December 2002 Round 4 Preston North End H 5 – 0 Vassell 44', 55', Dublin 80', Ángel 84', Hitzlsperger 87' 23,042 18 December 2003 Round 5 Liverpool H 3 – 4 Vassell 23' (pen), Hitzlsperger 72', Henchoz 88 (o.g.) 38,530 Transfers In # Pos Player From Fee Date 33 MF Joey Guðjónsson Real Betis Loan January 2003 14 FW Marcus Allbäck SC Heerenveen £2,000,000 July 2002 27 DF Ronny Johnsen Manchester United F.C. Free July 2002 15 DF Ulises de la Cruz Hibernian F.C. £1,000,000 July 2002 26 MF Mark Kinsella Charlton Athletic F.C. £1,000,000 July 2002 28 MF Øyvind Leonhardsen Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Free July 2002 13 GK Stefan Postma De Graafschap £1,500,000 July 2002 N/A FW Michael Boulding Grimsby Town F.C. Free July 2002 Out # Pos Player To Fee Date 10 MF Paul Merson Portsmouth F.C. Free June 2002 6 MF George Boateng Middlesbrough F.C. £5,000,000 June 2002 1 GK Peter Schmeichel Manchester City F.C. Free June 2002 19 FW Boško Balaban GNK Dinamo Zagreb Loan June 2002 43 DF Liam Ridgewell A.F.C. Bournemouth Loan August 2002 24 MF John McGrath Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. Loan November 2002 N/A MF Jay Smith Southend United F.C. Free November 2002 18 MF Steve Stone Portsmouth F.C. Free December 2002 N/A FW Michael Boulding Grimsby Town F.C. Free January 2003 7 MF Ian Taylor Derby County F.C. Released August 2003 See also Aston Villa F.C. seasons References ↑ "Aston Villa". soccerbase. Retrieved 22 December 2009.  ↑ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/2002-2003/faprem/avilla.htm ↑ Samuel later went on to represent Trinidad and Tobago, but was registered as an English player at this time. ↑ Myhill was born in Modesto, California, United States, and later represented Wales internationally. Aston Villa F.C. seasons 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2002–03 in English football « 2001–02 2003–04 » FA competitions FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds, Final) Community Shield FA Trophy (Final) Premier League and Football League Premier League Football League (First Division, Second Division, Third Division) League Cup (Final) Football League Trophy (Final) Play-offs (First Division Final, Second Division Final, Third Division Final) Football Conference Football Conference Lower leagues Isthmian League Northern Premier League Southern League Wessex League Western League European competitions Champions League (Final) UEFA Cup Intertoto Cup Related to national team UEFA Euro 2004 qualification (Group 7) Sven-Göran Eriksson Club seasons Premier League Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Charlton Athletic Chelsea Everton Fulham Leeds United Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Southampton Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United First Division Bradford City Brighton & Hove Albion Burnley Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Grimsby Town Gillingham Ipswich Town Leicester City Millwall Norwich City Nottingham Forest Portsmouth Preston North End Reading Rotherham United Sheffield United Sheffield Wednesday Stoke City Walsall Watford Wimbledon Wolverhampton Wanderers Second Division Barnsley Blackpool Brentford Bristol City Cardiff City Cheltenham Town Chesterfield Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Huddersfield Town Luton Town Mansfield Town Northampton Town Notts County Oldham Athletic Peterborough United Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Stockport County Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers Wigan Athletic Wycombe Wanderers Third Division Boston United Bournemouth Bristol Rovers Bury Cambridge United Carlisle United Darlington Exeter City Hartlepool United Hull City Kidderminster Harriers Leyton Orient Lincoln City Macclesfield Town Oxford United Rochdale Rushden & Diamonds Scunthorpe United Shrewsbury Town Southend United Swansea City Torquay United Wrexham York City Football Conference Barnet Burton Albion Chester City Dagenham & Redbridge Doncaster Rovers Farnborough Town Forest Green Rovers Halifax Town Hereford United Kettering Town Leigh RMI Margate Morecambe Northwich Victoria Nuneaton Borough Scarborough Southport Stevenage Borough Telford United Woking Yeovil Town Others AFC Wimbledon Gateshead Newport County Summer 2002 transfers Winter 2002–03 transfers Summer 2003 transfers