2002–03 Watford F.C. season

The 2002–03 season marked Watford Football Club's third consecutive season in the Football League First Division, following relegation from the Premier League in the 1999–2000 season. The club was managed by its former reserve team manager Ray Lewington, following the dismissal of Gianluca Vialli at the end of 2001–02. The club finished 13th in the First Division, reached the semi-final of the FA Cup, and were eliminated in the first round of the League Cup. Watford were operating under severe financial constraints following the collapse of ITV Digital, and at the end of the season were forced to offload several first team players, including Tommy Smith, Gifton Noel-Williams, Stephen Glass and the club's record signing at the time Allan Nielsen.

Season review

Over the summer many of the Vialli's signings left the club. Lewington had few funds to strengthen the side. The extent of Watford's financial difficulties was exposed in the autumn, along with many League clubs, following the collapse of ITV Digital.^[1] The club was facing administration when the players and staff agreed a 12% wage deferral.^[2] Exacerbating the club's difficulties were the large payoffs they had had to make to Vialli and several players on terminating their contracts, and Vialli's decision to sue the club early in 2003.^[3] The club started the season well, however, despite the players having to agree to a pay-cut during October, and finished in mid-table. An unexpected run to the FA Cup semi-final, where Watford lost to Premiership Southampton,^[4] also generated vital cash.^[5]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Portsmouth	46	17	3	3	52	22	12	8	3	45	23	97	45	+52	98
2	Leicester City	46	16	5	2	40	12	10	9	4	33	28	73	40	+33	92
3	Sheffield United	46	13	7	3	38	23	10	4	9	34	29	72	52	+20	80
4	Reading	46	13	3	7	33	21	12	1	10	28	25	61	46	+15	79
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	9	10	4	40	19	11	6	6	41	25	81	44	+37	76
6	Nottingham Forest	46	14	7	2	57	23	6	7	10	25	27	82	50	+32	74
7	Ipswich Town	46	10	5	8	49	39	9	8	6	31	25	80	64	+16	70
8	Norwich City	46	14	4	5	36	17	5	8	10	24	32	60	49	+11	69
9	Millwall	46	11	6	6	34	32	8	3	12	25	37	59	69	–10	66
10	Wimbledon	46	12	5	6	39	28	6	6	11	37	45	76	73	+3	65
11	Gillingham	46	10	6	7	33	31	6	8	9	23	34	56	65	–9	62
12	Preston North End	46	11	7	5	44	29	5	6	12	24	41	68	70	–2	61
13	Watford	46	11	5	7	33	26	6	4	13	21	44	54	70	–16	60
14	Crystal Palace	46	8	10	5	29	17	6	7	10	30	35	59	52	+7	59
15	Rotherham United	46	8	9	6	27	25	7	5	11	35	37	62	62	±0	59
16	Burnley	46	10	4	9	35	44	5	6	12	30	45	65	89	–24	55
17	Walsall	46	10	3	10	34	34	5	6	12	23	35	57	69	–12	54
18	Derby County	46	9	5	9	33	32	6	2	15	22	42	55	74	–19	52
19	Bradford City	46	7	8	8	27	35	7	2	14	24	38	51	73	–22	52
20	Coventry City	46	6	6	11	23	31	6	8	9	23	31	46	62	–16	50
21	Stoke City	46	9	6	8	25	25	3	8	12	20	44	45	69	–24	50
22	Sheffield Wednesday	46	7	7	9	29	32	3	9	11	27	41	56	73	–17	46
23	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	7	6	10	29	31	4	6	13	20	36	49	67	–18	45
24	Grimsby Town	46	5	6	12	26	39	4	6	13	22	46	48	85	–37	39

Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Football League Champions, promoted to FA Premier League
	Promoted to FA Premier League
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted to Premier League through play-offs
	Relegated

Results

Watford's score comes first^[6]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10 August 2002	Leicester City	A	0-2	31,022
13 August 2002	Millwall	H	0-0	11,187
17 August 2002	Wimbledon	H	3-2	10,292	Webber, Robinson, Neilsen
24 August 2002	Portsmouth	A	0-3	17,901
26 August 2002	Coventry City	H	5-2	11,136	Glass, T Smith, Webber, Nielsen, Robinson
31 August 2002	Norwich City	A	0-4	20,563
7 September 2002	Walsall	H	2-0	10,528	T Smith, Foley
14 September 2002	Nottingham Forest	A	1-0	17,865	Cox
17 September 2002	Preston North End	A	1-1	12,408	Robinson
21 September 2002	Crystal Palace	H	3-3	12,153	Ardley, Hyde, Helguson
28 September 2002	Sheffield United	A	2-1	16,301	Cox (pen), Helguson
5 October 2002	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	1-0	15,305	Helguson
12 October 2002	Grimsby Town	H	2-0	13,821	Foley, T Smith
19 October 2002	Gillingham	A	0-3	8,728
26 October 2002	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1-0	15,058	Helguson
30 October 2002	Stoke City	A	2-1	11,215	Helguson, Cox
2 November 2002	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1-1	16,524	Cox
9 November 2002	Rotherham United	A	1-2	6,790	Foley
17 November 2002	Ipswich Town	H	0-2	16,184
23 November 2002	Reading	A	0-1	17,465
30 November 2002	Burnley	H	2-1	13,977	Helguson, T Smith (pen)
7 December 2002	Derby County	A	0-3	21,653
14 December 2002	Ipswich Town	A	2-4	22,985	T Smith, Cox
21 December 2002	Bradford City	H	1-0	12,579	Cox (pen)
26 December 2002	Wimbledon	A	0-0	2,643
28 December 2002	Leicester City	H	1-2	16,017	Helguson
1 January 2003	Portsmouth	H	2-2	15,048	Hyde, Cox
11 January 2003	Millwall	A	0-4	9,030
19 January 2003	Norwich City	H	2-1	13,338	Neilsen, Helguson
1 February 2003	Coventry City	A	1-0	17,393	Hyde
8 February 2003	Rotherham United	H	1-2	15,025	T Smith
22 February 2003	Walsall	A	0-2	7,705
25 February 2003	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0-0	24,591
1 March 2003	Nottingham Forest	H	1-1	17,934	Helguson
4 March 2003	Preston North End	H	0-1	11,101
15 March 2003	Grimsby Town	A	0-1	4,847
18 March 2003	Gillingham	H	0-1	10,492
22 March 2003	Stoke City	H	1-2	12,570	Helguson
29 March 2003	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2-2	17,086	T Smith, Norville
5 April 2003	Burnley	A	7-4	10,208	Brown, Hyde, Cox, Chopra (4)
8 April 2003	Crystal Palace	A	1-0	14,051	Hunt (own goal)
19 April 2003	Bradford City	A	1-2	11,145	Helguson
21 April 2003	Derby County	H	2-0	11,909	Chopra, Ardley
26 April 2003	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0-4	6,841
30 April 2003	Reading	H	0-3	11,814
4 May 2003	Sheffield United	H	2-0	14,320	Cox, Fitzgerald

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 2003	Macclesfield Town	A	2-0	4,244	Helguson, Pennant
R4	25 January 2003	West Bromwich Albion	H	1-0	16,975	Helguson
R5	15 February 2003	Sunderland	A	1-0	26,916	T Smith
QF	9 March 2003	Burnley	H	2-0	20,336	T Smith, Glass
SF	13 April 2003	Southampton	N	1-2	42,602	Gayle

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	10 September 2002	Luton Town	H	1-2	14,171	Foley

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[7]

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	Alec Chamberlain
2	DF	Neal Ardley
3	DF	Paul Robinson
4	MF	Paolo Vernazza
5	DF	Neil Cox
6	DF	Sean Dyche
7	MF	Allan Nielsen
8	MF	Micah Hyde
9	FW	Tommy Smith
10	DF	Wayne Brown
11	MF	Stephen Glass
12	MF	Gavin Mahon
14	MF	Richard Johnson
15	FW	Gifton Noel-Williams
16	MF	Anthony McNamee

No.	Position	Player
18	FW	Heiðar Helguson
19	DF	Jerel Ifil
20	DF	Lloyd Doyley
21	FW	Dominic Foley
22	FW	Lee Cook
23	MF	Jamie Hand
24	FW	Jason Norville
25	MF	Gary Fisken
27	DF	Marcus Gayle
28	MF	Sam Swonnell
29	MF	Jermaine Pennant (on loan from Arsenal)
30	GK	Richard Lee
31	DF	Jack Smith
32	MF	Elliott Godfrey
33	FW	Scott Fitzgerald

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
10	MF	Stephen Hughes (released)
13	GK	Espen Baardsen (to Everton)
17	FW	Nick Wright (retired)

No.		Position	Player
17		FW	Michael Chopra (on loan from Newcastle United)
29		FW	Danny Webber (on loan from Manchester United)

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
26		MF	Fabien Forde

References

Watford Football Club
The club	History Seasons Players (fewer than 50 appearances) Players of the season Managers Records Watford Ladies Europe Current season
Stadiums	Cassio Road Vicarage Road
Matches	1984 FA Cup Final 1999 play-off final 2006 play-off final 2013 play-off final
Supporters	Luton Town rivalry Harry the Hornet Theme from Z-Cars
Sister clubs	Udinese Calcio Granada CF

Watford F.C. seasons

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2002–03 in English football

« 2001–02

2003–04 »

FA competitions

Premier League and
Football League

Football Conference

Football Conference

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

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
Non-League	AFC Wimbledon Gateshead Newport County Yeovil Town

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2002–03 Watford F.C. season

Season review

Final league table

Results

Legend

Football League First Division

FA Cup

League Cup

First-team squad

Left club during season

Reserve squad

See also

References