2002–03 Derby County F.C. season

During the 2002–03 English football season, Derby County competed in the Football League First Division, following relegation from the FA Premier League the previous season.

Derby County
2002–03 season
ChairmanLionel Pickering
ManagerJohn Gregory (until 21 March)
George Burley (from 31 March)
StadiumPride Park Stadium
First Division18th
FA CupThird round
League CupSecond round
Top goalscorerLeague: Christie (8)
All: Christie (9)
Highest home attendance33,016 (vs. Reading, 10 August 2002)
Lowest home attendance21,014 (vs. Millwall, 16 April 2003)
Average home league attendance25,469

Season summary

edit

Derby were expected to make a bid for an immediate return to the Premiership, but struggled all season which resulted in manager John Gregory being sacked in March and replaced by former Ipswich Town manager George Burley, who led the team to a secure but disappointing 18th-place finish.

Derby retained the previous season's home kit, manufactured by Italian company Erreà and sponsored by Pedigree.

Final league table

edit
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
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
Updated to match(es) played on 11 May 2003. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

edit

Derby County's score comes first[1]

Legend

edit
Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

edit
Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
10 August 2002 Reading H 3–0 33,016 Lee, Ravanelli, Christie
13 August 2002 Gillingham A 0–1 8,775
17 August 2002 Grimsby Town A 2–1 5,810 Bolder (2)
24 August 2002 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 1–4 29,954 Christie
26 August 2002 Rotherham United A 1–2 8,408 Strupar
31 August 2002 Stoke City H 2–0 21,723 Christie (2)
7 September 2002 Burnley H 1–2 22,343 Bolder
14 September 2002 Leicester City A 1–3 31,049 Riggott
17 September 2002 Crystal Palace A 1–0 14,948 Kinkladze
21 September 2002 Preston North End H 0–2 29,257
28 September 2002 Ipswich Town A 1–0 24,439 Carbonari
5 October 2002 Walsall H 2–2 25,247 Christie (2)
12 October 2002 Bradford City A 0–0 13,385
20 October 2002 Nottingham Forest H 0–0 30,547
26 October 2002 Millwall A 0–3 8,116
30 October 2002 Sheffield United H 2–1 23,525 McLeod, Burton
2 November 2002 Sheffield Wednesday A 3–1 19,747 Morris (2), McLeod
9 November 2002 Portsmouth H 1–2 26,587 Higginbotham (pen)
16 November 2002 Brighton & Hove Albion A 0–1 6,845
25 November 2002 Wimbledon H 3–2 25,597 Elliott, Burton, Morris
30 November 2002 Norwich City A 0–1 20,522
7 December 2002 Watford H 3–0 21,653 Morris, Riggott, Burton
14 December 2002 Brighton & Hove Albion H 1–0 25,786 Higginbotham (pen)
21 December 2002 Coventry City A 0–3 13,185
26 December 2002 Grimsby Town H 1–3 27,141 Morris
28 December 2002 Reading A 1–2 16,299 Burley (pen)
1 January 2003 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–1 26,442 Christie
11 January 2003 Gillingham H 1–1 22,769 Zavagno (pen)
18 January 2003 Stoke City A 3–1 17,308 Christie, Zavagno, Morris
1 February 2003 Rotherham United H 3–0 26,257 Kinkladze, Bolder, McLeod
8 February 2003 Portsmouth A 2–6 19,503 Morris, Kinkladze (pen)
15 February 2003 Sheffield Wednesday H 2–2 26,311 Bolder (2)
22 February 2003 Burnley A 0–2 15,063
1 March 2003 Leicester City H 1–1 24,307 Burley
5 March 2003 Crystal Palace H 0–1 22,682
8 March 2003 Preston North End A 2–4 14,003 Ravanelli (2)
15 March 2003 Bradford City H 1–2 23,735 Morris
19 March 2003 Nottingham Forest A 0–3 29,725
22 March 2003 Sheffield United A 0–2 18,401
5 April 2003 Norwich City H 2–1 23,643 Burley, Kenton (own goal)
12 April 2003 Wimbledon A 2–0 1,934 Valakari, Boertien
16 April 2003 Millwall H 1–2 21,014 Kinkladze
19 April 2003 Coventry City H 1–0 23,921 Ravanelli
21 April 2003 Watford A 0–2 11,909
26 April 2003 Walsall A 2–3 8,416 Valakari, Ravanelli
4 May 2003 Ipswich Town H 1–4 28,785 Lee

FA Cup

edit
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 4 January 2003 Brentford A 0–1 8,709

League Cup

edit
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 10 September 2002 Mansfield Town A 3–1 5,788 Morris, Christie, Evatt
R2 2 October 2002 Oldham Athletic H 1–2 (a.e.t.) 9,029 Higginbotham (pen)

Players

edit

First-team squad

edit
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. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF   ENG Warren Barton
3 DF   ARG Luciano Zavagno
5 DF   ENG Steve Elliott
6 DF   SCO Paul Ritchie (on loan from Manchester City)
7 MF   ENG Rob Lee
9 FW   BEL Branko Strupar[notes 1]
10 FW   ENG Tommy Mooney (on loan from Birmingham City)
11 FW   ENG Lee Morris
13 GK   ENG Lee Grant
14 DF   ENG Richard Jackson
16 MF   SCO Craig Burley
17 DF   ENG Paul Boertien
18 MF   GEO Georgi Kinkladze
21 FW   ITA Fabrizio Ravanelli
22 MF   ENG Adam Murray
23 FW   ENG Marvin Robinson
24 GK   ENG Andy Oakes
No. Pos. Nation Player
25 DF   ENG Ian Evatt
26 MF   ENG Adam Bolder
28 DF   FRA Youl Mawéné
31 DF   ENG Chris Palmer
32 MF   ENG Matt O'Halloran
33 MF   FIN Simo Valakari
34 FW   ENG Marcus Tudgay
35 MF   ENG Lewis Hunt
36 MF   SCO Lewis Green
37 DF   ENG Pablo Mills
38 MF   FIN Kris Weckstrom
39 MF   IRL Barry Molloy
40 FW   ENG Izale McLeod
41 DF   ENG Tom Huddlestone
44 MF   ENG Lee Holmes
45 GK   ENG Lee Camp[notes 2]

Left club during season

edit

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   EST Mart Poom (to Sunderland)
4 DF   ENG Danny Higginbotham[notes 3] (to Southampton)
6 DF   ENG Chris Riggott (to Middlesbrough)
8 FW   ENG Nick Chadwick (on loan from Everton)
10 FW   ENG Malcolm Christie (to Middlesbrough)
15 MF   SCO Brian O'Neil (to Preston North End)
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 FW   JAM Deon Burton[notes 4] (to Portsmouth)
27 DF   FRA François Grenet (to Rennes)
29 DF   NOR Bjørn Otto Bragstad (to SW Bregenz)
30 DF   ARG Horacio Carbonari (to Rosario Central)
31 MF   IRL Fiachra McArdle (released)

Transfers

edit

Loan out

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Derby County results for the 2002-2003 season - Statto.com". Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  2. ^ "FootballSquads - Derby County - 2002/03".
  3. ^ "Blues complete Powell signing". 12 September 2002.
  4. ^ "Rams release two more". 27 November 2002.
  5. ^ "Sunderland seal Poom deal". 10 January 2003.
  6. ^ "Boro grab Derby pair". 13 February 2003. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Saints seal Higginbotham deal". 13 February 2003.

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Strupar was born in Zagreb, SFR Yugoslavia (now Croatia) but became a naturalised Belgian citizen and made his international debut for Belgium in 1999.
  2. ^ Camp was born in Derby, England, and represented them at U-21 level, but also qualifies to represent Northern Ireland internationally and would make his full international debut for Northern Ireland in March 2011.
  3. ^ Higginbotham was born in Manchester, England, but also qualified to represent Gibraltar internationally through his maternal grandmother and would make his international debut for Gibraltar in November 2013.
  4. ^ Burton was born in Reading, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in September 1997.