2002–03 AFC Wimbledon season

AFC Wimbledon
2002–03 season
Chairman Erik Samuelson
Manager Terry Eames
Stadium Kingsmeadow
Combined Counties League Premier Division 3rd
Top goalscorer League: Kevin Cooper (37)
All: Kevin Cooper (38)
Highest home attendance 4,560 v Raynes Park Vale (5 May 2003)
Lowest home attendance 2,338 v Merstham (26 March 2003)
Average home league attendance 3,003

The 2002–03 season was the inaugural season for AFC Wimbledon following the FA's decision to allow the relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes. Former Wimbledon F.C. player Terry Eames was appointed as AFC Wimbledon's first manager on 13 June 2002. The club competed in the Combined Counties League Premier Division.[1] The new team attracted a crowd of 4,657 supporters for their first ever game, a pre-season friendly against Sutton United on 10 July 2002 in which they were beaten 4–0.[2] Glenn Mulcaire, known as "Trigger" by fans, scored AFC Wimbledon's first ever goal in a pre-season friendly against Bromley on 17 July 2002, which ultimately ended as a 2–1 defeat.[3] Kevin Cooper scored the team's first ever league goal in the first game of the season in a 2–1 away victory at Sandhurst Town, with an attendance of 2,449 on 17 August 2002.[4] The first home game of the season against Chipstead, ending in a 2–1 defeat on 21 August 2002, had an attendance of 4,142.[1] The team started slowly but won their last eleven league games of the season, finishing third in the league, and only narrowly missing out on promotion to the Isthmian League First Division.[5] Their average home attendance at league fixtures exceeded 3,000 – higher than the average attendance in the same season of Wimbledon F.C., who were still playing in the First Division (now the Football League Championship).[6]

League table

Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Withdean 2000 (C) (P) 46 40 4 2 143 32+111 124 Promotion to Isthmian League Division One
2 AFC Wallingford 46 37 4 5 129 33+96 115
3 AFC Wimbledon 46 36 3 7 125 46+79 111
4 Feltham 46 25 10 11 101 48+53 85
5 Bedfont 46 25 5 16 106 73+33 80
6 Sandhurst Town 46 23 9 14 86 57+29 78
7 Godalming & Guildford 46 25 3 18 95 75+20 78
8 Raynes Park Vale 46 24 5 17 101 79+22 77
9 Ash United 46 23 5 18 110 83+27 74
10 North Greenford United 46 22 7 17 104 87+17 73
11 Hartley Wintney 46 23 4 19 88 84+4 73
12 Southall 46 19 11 16 91 77+14 68
13 Westfield 46 19 9 18 75 8611 66
14 Chessington & Hook United 46 18 9 19 96 80+16 63
15 Reading Town 46 18 6 22 67 7912 60
16 Chipstead 46 16 10 20 92 87+5 58
17 Merstham 46 16 10 20 61 8019 58
18 Walton Casuals 46 12 10 24 60 9535 46
19 Chessington United 46 13 6 27 54 8430 45
20 Frimley Green 46 13 5 28 65 9833 44
21 Cobham 46 11 10 25 61 10847 43
22 Farnham Town 46 5 9 32 45 13085 24
23 Cove 46 5 6 35 46 160114 21
24 Viking Greenford (R) 46 3 2 41 35 175140 11 Relegation to 11th Level

Updated to games played on 5 May 2003.
Source: .
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results summary

OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
46 36 3 7 125 46  +79 111 18 2 3 62 26  +36 18 1 4 63 20  +43

Last updated: 5 May 2003.
Source: AFC Wimbledon

Match results

Pre-season friendlies

Combined Counties League Premier Division 2002-03

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

Combined Counties Premier Challenge Cup 2002-03

References

  1. 1 2 "Timeline:the rise of AFC Wimbledon". Surrey Comet. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
  2. "AFC Wimbledon match report vs. Sutton United". AFC Wimbledon. 10 July 2002. Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  3. Crane, Rob (10 July 2002). "Match report Wednesday 10 July 2002 Pre-season friendly Bromley 2 – 1 AFC Wimbledon". AFC Wimbledon Official Website. Archived from the original on 5 June 2003. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  4. "Sandhurst Town 1–2 AFC Wimbledon". AFC Wimbledon Official Website. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 2002-08-17.
  5. "Combined Counties Football League Premier Division league table 2002-03". AFC Wimbledon. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  6. "Dip in attendances lower than breakaway club AFC Wimbledon's". BBC. 6 June 2006 [2003]. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
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