2002–03 Everton F.C. season

The 2002-03 Everton F.C. season was Everton's 11th season in the Premier League (known as the Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons), and their 49th consecutive season in the top division of English football. This meant that they became the first club to play 100 seasons in the top flight. ^[1]

Everton

2002–03 season
Chairman	Philip Carter
Manager	David Moyes
Stadium	Goodison Park
Premier League	7th
FA Cup	Third Round
League Cup	Fourth Round
Top goalscorer	League: Tomasz Radzinski (11) All: Kevin Campbell (12)
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

Season summary

After spending the last few seasons struggling against relegation, Everton, revitalised under David Moyes, spent the season challenging for European qualification, at one stage going ahead of arch-rivals Liverpool, who had finished runners-up the previous season. Everton memorably ended Arsenal's unbeaten run in a match at Goodison Park which saw teenage striker Wayne Rooney score the winner, his debut Premiership goal. Rooney was later nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award, but lost to Newcastle United's Jermaine Jenas.

The club had less luck in the FA Cup. They were surprisingly knocked out by Third Division (now League Two) side Shrewsbury Town in the third round.

Final league table

Main article: 2002–03 FA Premier League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
5	Liverpool	38	18	10	10	61	41	+20	64	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[a]
6	Blackburn Rovers	38	16	12	10	52	43	+9	60
7	Everton	38	17	8	13	48	49	−1	59
8	Southampton	38	13	13	12	43	46	−3	52	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[b]
9	Manchester City	38	15	6	17	47	54	−7	51	Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round[c]

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. Since Liverpool qualified for the UEFA Cup via the league, their place in the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners reverted to the league and was awarded to Blackburn Rovers as the highest-placed team not already qualified for European competitions.
2. Since Arsenal qualified for the Champions League, their place in the UEFA Cup as FA Cup winners went to Southampton, who were the FA Cup runners-up.
3. Manchester City qualified as the highest-ranked team not already qualified for European competitions of Premiership Fair Play League by The Football Association, the top association among UEFA Fair Play ranking winners.

Results

Win

Draw

Loss

Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Referee	Ref.
17 August 2002	Tottenham Hotspur	Home	2–2	Pembridge 37', Radzinski 81'	40,120	Barry	[2]
24 August 2002	Sunderland	Away	1–0	Campbell 28'	37,698	Styles	[3]
28 August 2002	Birmingham City	Home	1–1	Cunningham 90' (o.g.)	37,197	Wolstenholme	[4]
31 August 2002	Manchester City	Away	1–3	Unsworth 31' (pen.)	34,835	Knight	[5]
11 September 2002	Southampton	Away	0–1		29,190	Bennett	[6]
14 September 2002	Middlesbrough	Home	2–1	Campbell 33', 77'	32,240	Messias	[7]
22 September 2002	Aston Villa	Away	2–3	Radzinski 50', Campbell 65'	30,023	Winter	[8]
28 September 2002	Fulham	Home	2–0	Gravesen 45', Campbell 45'	34,371	Dunn	[9]
7 October 2002	Manchester United	Away	0–3		67,629	Riley	[10]
19 October 2002	Arsenal	Home	2–1	Radzinski 22', Rooney 90'	39,038	Rennie	[11]
27 October 2002	West Ham United	Away	1–0	Carsley 70'	34,117	Wiley	[12]
3 November 2002	Leeds United	Away	1–0	Rooney 80'	40,161	Barry	[13]
9 November 2002	Charlton Athletic	Home	1–0	Radzinski 31'	37,621	Styles	[14]
17 November 2002	Blackburn Rovers	Away	1–0	Campbell 19'	26,496	Poll	[15]
23 November 2002	West Bromwich Albion	Home	1–0	Radzinski 35'	40,113	Winter	[16]
1 December 2002	Newcastle United	Away	1–2	Campbell 17'	51,607	Halsey	[17]
7 December 2002	Chelsea	Home	1–3	Naysmith 44'	39,396	Wolstenholme	[18]
14 December 2002	Blackburn Rovers	Home	2–1	Carsley 12', Rooney 25'	36,578	Barber	[19]
22 December 2002	Liverpool	Away	0–0		44,025	Poll	[20]
26 December 2002	Birmingham City	Away	1–1	Radzinski 45'	29,505	Elleray	[21]
28 December 2002	Bolton Wanderers	Home	0–0		39,480	Gallagher	[22]
1 January 2003	Manchester City	Home	2–2	Watson 6', Radzinski 90'	40,163	D'Urso	[23]
12 January 2003	Tottenham Hotspur	Away	3–4	McBride 10', Watson 58', Radzinski 74'	36,070	Dunn	[24]
18 January 2003	Sunderland	Home	2–1	McBride 51', 57'	37,409	Dowd	[25]
28 January 2003	Bolton Wanderers	Away	2–1	Watson 33', 38'	25,119	Styles	[26]
1 February 2003	Leeds United	Home	2–0	Unsworth 56' (pen.), Radzinski 68'	40,153	Halsey	[27][28]
8 February 2003	Charlton Athletic	Away	1–2	McBride 69'	26,623	Winter	[29]
22 February 2003	Southampton	Home	2–1	Radzinski 85', 90+2'	36,569	Elleray	[30]
1 March 2003	Middlesbrough	Away	1–1	Watson 23'	32,473	Rennie	[31]
15 March 2003	West Ham United	Home	0–0		40,158	Halsey	[32]
23 March 2003	Arsenal	Away	1–2	Rooney 56'	38,042	Wiley	[33]
6 April 2003	Newcastle United	Home	2–1	Rooney 18', Unsworth 65' (pen.)	40,031	Barry	[34]
12 April 2003	West Bromwich Albion	Away	2–1	Weir 22', Campbell 45'	27,039	Bennett	[35]
19 April 2003	Liverpool	Home	1–2	Unsworth 58' (pen.)	40,162	Durkin	[36]
21 April 2003	Chelsea	Away	1–4	Carsley 77'	40,875	Riley	[37]
26 April 2003	Aston Villa	Home	2–1	Campbell 59', Rooney 90'	40,167	Poll	[38]
3 May 2003	Fulham	Away	0–2		18,385	Barber	[39]
11 May 2003	Manchester United	Home	1–2	Campbell 8'	40,168	Riley	[40]

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Referee	Ref.
Third round	4 January 2003	Shrewsbury Town	Away	1–2	Alexandersson 60'	7,800	Dunn	[41]

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Referee	Ref.
Second round	1 October 2002	Wrexham	Away	3–0	Campbell 25', Rooney 83', 89'	13,428	Kaye	[42][43]
Third round	6 November 2002	Newcastle United	Home	3–3 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p)	Campbell 11', Watson 85', Unsworth 112' (pen.)	34,584	Riley	[44][45]
Fourth round	4 December 2002	Chelsea	Away	1–4	Naysmith 80'	32,322	Durkin	[46][47]

First-team squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Richard Wright 2 DF  ENG Steve Watson 3 DF  ITA Alessandro Pistone 4 DF  ENG Alan Stubbs 5 DF  SCO David Weir 6 DF  ENG David Unsworth 7 MF  SWE Niclas Alexandersson 8 FW  CAN Tomasz Radzinski 9 FW  ENG Kevin Campbell 10 FW  SCO Duncan Ferguson 11 MF  WAL Mark Pembridge 12 MF  CHN Li Tie 13 GK  ENG Steve Simonsen 15 DF  SCO Gary Naysmith

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  DEN Thomas Gravesen 17 MF  SCO Scot Gemmill 18 FW  ENG Wayne Rooney 20 DF  NGA Joseph Yobo 22 MF  SWE Tobias Linderoth 23 MF  BRA Juliano Rodrigo (on loan from Botafogo) 26 MF  IRL Lee Carsley 27 DF  ENG Peter Clarke 28 DF  ENG Tony Hibbert 29 MF  ENG Kevin McLeod 30 FW  ENG Nick Chadwick 31 MF  ENG Leon Osman 35 GK  ENG Paul Gerrard

Left club during season

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 MF  ISR Idan Tal (to Rayo Vallecano) 19 FW  USA Joe-Max Moore (released) 19 FW  USA Brian McBride (on loan from Columbus Crew) 21 DF  CHN Li Weifeng (released)

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 DF  EGY Ibrahim Said (on loan from Al-Ahly) 25 GK  NOR Espen Baardsen (released) 32 MF  ENG Keith Southern (to Blackpool) — MF  GHA Alex Nyarko (on loan to Paris Saint-Germain)

Reserve squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 33 DF  ENG George Pilkington 34 MF  ENG Sean O'Hanlon

No. Pos. Nation Player 37 GK  SCO Iain Turner

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	ENG	Richard Wright	37	0	33	0	1	0	3	0
13	GK	ENG	Steve Simonsen	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
35	GK	ENG	Paul Gerrard	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
3	DF	ITA	Alessandro Pistone	17	0	10+5	0	0	0	2	0
4	DF	ENG	Alan Stubbs	38	0	34+1	0	1	0	1+1	0
5	DF	SCO	David Weir	34	1	27+4	1	1	0	2	0
6	DF	ENG	David Unsworth	37	6	32+1	5	1	0	3	1
20	DF	NGA	Joseph Yobo	26	0	22+2	0	0	0	2	0
27	DF	ENG	Peter Clarke	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
28	DF	ENG	Tony Hibbert	25	0	23+1	0	0	0	1	0
Midfielders
2	MF	ENG	Steve Watson	19	6	14+4	5	0	0	0+1	1
7	MF	SWE	Niclas Alexandersson	8	1	4+3	0	0+1	1	0	0
11	MF	WAL	Mark Pembridge	22	1	19+2	1	0	0	1	0
12	MF	CHN	Li Tie	33	0	28+1	0	0+1	0	3	0
15	MF	SCO	Gary Naysmith	32	2	24+4	1	1	0	2+1	1
16	MF	DEN	Thomas Gravesen	35	1	30+3	1	1	0	1	0
17	MF	SCO	Scot Gemmill	19	0	10+6	0	1	0	1+1	0
22	MF	SWE	Tobias Linderoth	6	0	2+3	0	0	0	1	0
23	MF	BRA	Rodrigo Beckham	4	0	0+4	0	0	0	0	0
26	MF	IRL	Lee Carsley	27	3	21+3	3	1	0	2	0
29	MF	ENG	Kevin McLeod	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
30	MF	ENG	Nick Chadwick	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
31	MF	ENG	Leon Osman	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
8	FW	CAN	Tomasz Radzinski	33	11	27+2	11	1	0	2+1	0
9	FW	ENG	Kevin Campbell	39	12	31+5	10	0	0	3	2
10	FW	SCO	Duncan Ferguson	8	0	0+7	0	0	0	0+1	0
18	FW	ENG	Wayne Rooney	37	8	14+19	6	1	0	2+1	2
Players transferred out during the season
19	FW	USA	Brian McBride	8	4	7+1	4	0	0	0	0
21	DF	CHN	Li Weifeng	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
25	GK	NOR	Espen Baardsen	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

Last updated: 30 May 2003
Source: ^[48]

References

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