2002–03 Southampton F.C. season

The 2002–03 season was Southampton F.C.'s 11th season in the Premier League, and their 25th consecutive season in the top division of English football.

Southampton F.C.
2002–03 season
ChairmanRupert Lowe
ManagerGordon Strachan
StadiumSt Mary's Stadium
Premier League8th
FA CupRunners-up
League CupThird round
Top goalscorerLeague:
James Beattie (23)
All:
James Beattie (24)
Highest home attendance32,104 (vs. Liverpool, 18 January 2003)
Lowest home attendance25,714 (vs. Charlton Athletic, 21 September 2002)
Average home league attendance30,680

Season summary

After several seasons of underachievement, Southampton recorded a final placing of 8th, their highest placing in the Premier League. The club also reached the FA Cup final to face an Arsenal side which had narrowly missed out on the Premiership trophy; although Southampton lost by a single goal, as Arsenal had already qualified for the Champions League Southampton qualified for the UEFA Cup the following season.

A slow start to the season saw Southampton languishing in the relegation zone after eight matches played,[1] but a run of eight wins and only two losses from the next fifteen matches saw Southampton rocket up the league table, peaking in fifth place. Unfortunately, the charge for European qualification through the league soon fizzled out as Southampton only won four of their last fifteen matches, dragging them down to eighth place - nonetheless, this was Southampton's highest-ever finish in the Premier League. The low point of this run was a 6–1 loss against a below-strength Arsenal side preparing for the FA Cup final. This did not bode well for the Saints, as they had also managed to reach the final, but as it transpired in the final Arsenal barely edged past Southampton, winning 1–0. Despite the disappointment of not winning the FA Cup, Southampton were rewarded with their cup run with a place in the UEFA Cup, as Arsenal had already qualified for the Champions League.

Key to Southampton's high finish was good home form - Southampton only lost two home games all season, against Manchester United and Liverpool. The good season gave Southampton hope of a more sustained charge at European qualification the next season.

Premier League
Main article: 2002–03 FA Premier League
Date Opponents H/A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance League
position
17 August 2002 Middlesbrough H 0–0 28,341 9th
24 August 2002 Liverpool A 0–3 43,058 15th
28 August 2002 Chelsea H 1–1 Fernandes 51' 31,208 16th
31 August 2002 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–2 Taricco 30' (o.g.) 35,573 18th
11 September 2002 Everton H 1–0 Pahars 73' (pen.) 29,190 17th
14 September 2002 West Bromwich Albion A 0–1 26,383 17th
21 September 2002 Charlton Athletic H 0–0 25,714 18th
28 September 2002 Bolton Wanderers A 1–1 Bridge 82' 22,692 18th
5 October 2002 Manchester City H 2–0 Ormerod 2', 43' 31,009 13th
21 October 2002 Aston Villa A 1–0 Beattie 48' (pen.) 25,817 12th
27 October 2002 Fulham H 4–2 Beattie 27' (pen.), 42', 53', Ormerod 72' 26,188 10th
2 November 2002 Manchester United A 1–2 Fernandes 18' 67,691 10th
9 November 2002 Blackburn Rovers H 1–1 Beattie 38' (pen.) 30,059 10th
16 November 2002 Newcastle United A 1–2 Beattie 2' 51,812 11th
23 November 2002 Arsenal H 3–2 Beattie 45', 59' (pen.), Delgado 67' 31,797 9th
2 December 2002 West Ham United A 1 – 0 Beattie 90' 28,844 10th
7 December 2002 Birmingham City H 2–0 Beattie 60' (pen.), 83' 31,132 7th
14 December 2002 Newcastle United H 1–1 Marsden 52' 32,061 7th
21 December 2002 Leeds United A 1–1 Fernandes 89' 36,687 7th
26 December 2002 Chelsea A 0–0 39,428 9th
28 December 2002 Sunderland H 2–1 Beattie 73', Tessem 90' 31,423 7th
1 January 2003 Tottenham Hotspur H 1 – 0 Beattie 82' 31,890 6th
11 January 2003 Middlesbrough A 2 – 2 Beattie 40', 60' 27,443 5th
18 January 2003 Liverpool H 0 – 1 32,104 8th
28 January 2003 Sunderland A 1 – 0 Beattie 50' 34,102 6th
1 February 2003 Manchester United H 0 – 2 32,085 7th
8 February 2003 Blackburn Rovers A 0–1 24,896 9th
22 February 2003 Everton A 1 – 2 Beattie 33' 36,569 10th
1 March 2003 West Bromwich Albion H 1–0 Beattie 8' 31,915 10th
15 March 2003 Fulham A 2 – 2 Beattie 81', M. Svensson 90' 18,031 9th
22 March 2003 Aston Villa H 2 – 2 Beattie 40', Kevin Davies 90' 31,888 9th
5 April 2003 West Ham United H 1 – 1 Beattie 44' 31,941 11th
19 April 2003 Leeds United H 3 – 2 Ormerod 32', Beattie 45', A. Svensson 53' 32,032 8th
21 April 2003 Birmingham City A 2 – 3 A. Svensson 26', Ormerod 77' 29,115 9th
26 April 2003 Charlton Athletic A 1–2 Beattie 90' 25,894 10th
3 May 2003 Bolton Wanderers H 0–0 30,951 11th
7 May 2003 Arsenal A 1–6 Tessem 35' 38,052 11th
11 May 2003 Manchester City A 1–0 M. Svensson 34' 34,957 8th
Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAAHAHHHAAHAA
ResultDLDLWLDDWWWLDLWWWDDDWWDLWLLLWDDDWLLDLW
Position9151618171718181312101010119107779765867910109911891011118
Source: League matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
6 Blackburn Rovers 38 16 12 10 52 43 +9 60 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[lower-alpha 1]
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[lower-alpha 2]
9 Manchester City 38 15 6 17 47 54 −7 51 Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round[lower-alpha 3]
10 Tottenham Hotspur 38 14 8 16 51 62 −11 50
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.

FA Cup
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F – A		 Scorers Attendance
4 January 2003 Round 3 Tottenham Hotspur H 4 – 0 M. Svensson 13', Tessem 50', A. Svensson 56', Beattie 80' 25,589
25 January 2003 Round 4 Millwall H 1 – 1 Davies 90' 23,809
5 February 2003 Round 4
Replay		 Millwall A 2 – 1
(a.e.t.)		 Oakley 21', 102' 10,197
15 February 2003 Round 5 Norwich City H 2 – 0 A. Svensson 71', Tessem 74' 31,103
9 March 2003 Round 6 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 2 – 0 Marsden 56', Butler 81' (o.g.) 31,715
13 April 2003 Semi-final Watford N 2 – 1 Ormerod 43', Robinson 80' (o.g.) 42,602
17 May 2003 Final Arsenal N 0 – 1 73,726

League Cup
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F – A		 Scorers Attendance
2 October 2002 Round 2 Tranmere Rovers H 6 – 1 Marsden 1', Ormerod 25', 43', 68', Fernandes 52', M. Svensson 66' 16,603
6 November 2002 Round 3 Liverpool A 1 – 3 Delgado 55' 35,870

Squad statistics
No. Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total Discipline
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Wales Paul Jones 13+10 1+10 00 14+20 00
2 DF England Jason Dodd 13+20 1+10 20 16+30 10
3 DF England Wayne Bridge 341 40 20 401 60
4 MF England Chris Marsden 301 6+11 21 38+13 110
5 DF Norway Claus Lundekvam 330 60 20 410 00
6 DF England Paul Williams 10+20 10 00 11+20 31
7 MF Russia Andrei Kanchelskis 0+10 00 0+10 0+20 00
8 MF England Matthew Oakley 28+30 72 20 402 20
9 FW England James Beattie 35+323 71 20 44+324 60
10 FW England Kevin Davies 1+81 0+41 00 1+122 00
11 DF Sweden Michael Svensson 33+12 71 21 42+14 51
12 MF Sweden Anders Svensson 26+72 6+12 10 33+84 30
13 GK England Neil Moss 00 00 00 00 00
14 GK Finland Antti Niemi 250 60 20 330 00
15 DF England Francis Benali 20 20 00 40 10
16 MF England Mark Draper 00 00 00 00 00
17 FW Latvia Marian Pahars 5+41 00 0+10 5+51 21
18 MF Republic of Ireland Rory Delap 22+20 3+10 1+10 26+40 20
19 DF England Danny Higginbotham 3+60 10 00 100 00
DF England Marcus Hall 00 00 00 00 00
20 MF England David Prutton 9+30 00 00 9+30 20
MF Morocco Tahar El Khalej 0+10 00 00 10 00
21 FW Norway Jo Tessem 9+182 2+52 0+10 11+244 00
22 MF Argentina Federico Arias 00 00 00 00 00
23 MF Wales Arron Davies 00 00 00 00 00
25 DF England Garry Monk 10 00 00 10 00
26 MF Latvia Imants Bleidelis 00 00 00 00 00
27 GK England Scott Bevan 00 00 00 00 00
28 GK Northern Ireland Alan Blayney 00 00 00 00 00
29 MF France Fabrice Fernandes 35+23 5+20 11 41+44 40
30 FW Australia Scott McDonald 00 00 00 00 00
32 DF Northern Ireland Chris Baird 1+20 10 00 40 10
33 DF Scotland Paul Telfer 26+60 60 10 33+60 40
34 FW Ecuador Agustín Delgado 2+41 00 11 3+42 00
35 MF Ecuador Cléber Chalá 00 00 00 00 00
36 FW England Brett Ormerod 22+95 5+21 13 28+119 40

Transfers

In
Date Pos. Name From Fee
27 August 2002 GK Finland Antti Niemi Scotland Heart of Midlothian £2m[2]
31 August 2002 DF England Marcus Hall England Nottingham Forest Free[3]
31 August 2002 MF Russia Andrei Kanchelskis Scotland Rangers Free[3]
31 January 2003 DF England Danny Higginbotham England Derby County £1.5m[4]
31 January 2003 MF England David Prutton England Nottingham Forest £2.5m[5]
12 May 2003 DF England Darren Kenton England Norwich City Free[6]
12 May 2003 FW England Dexter Blackstock England Oxford United Undisclosed[7]

Out
Date Pos. Name To Fee
2 July 2002 FW Portugal Dani Rodrigues England Walsall Free[8]
2 July 2002 DF Romania Dan Petrescu Unattached Released[9]
10 December 2002 DF England Marcus Hall England Stoke City Free[10]
10 January 2003 MF Ecuador Cléber Chalá Unattached Released[11]
25 January 2003 MF Morocco Tahar El Khalej England Charlton Athletic Released[12]
31 January 2003 MF Latvia Imants Bleidelis Denmark Viborg Free[11]
5 February 2003 GK England Neil Moss England Bournemouth Free[11]
7 February 2003 MF Russia Andrei Kanchelskis Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal Free[11]
22 May 2003 MF Wales Matt Crowell Wales Wrexham Free
31 May 2003 FW Australia Scott McDonald Unattached Released[13]

Loan in
Date from Date to Pos. Name Moving from
8 January 2003 23 May 2003 MF Argentina Federico Arias Argentina Vélez Sársfield[14]

Loan out
Date from Date to Pos. Name Moving to
3 July 2002 29 October 2002 FW Australia Scott McDonald England Huddersfield Town[15]
10 July 2002 1 June 2003 FW Equatorial Guinea Jacinto Ela Spain Hércules
10 July 2002 4 April 2003 GK England Scott Bevan England Huddersfield Town
13 September 2002 24 December 2002 GK England Neil Moss England Bournemouth
13 September 2002 11 November 2002 FW England Kevin Davies England Millwall
28 October 2002 28 January 2003 GK Northern Ireland Alan Blayney England Stockport County
13 December 2002 19 March 2003 DF England Garry Monk England Sheffield Wednesday
25 December 2002 25 January 2003 GK Northern Ireland Alan Blayney England Bournemouth
27 March 2003 19 August 2003 FW Australia Scott McDonald England Bournemouth

References
General
  • "Fixtures & Results - 2002". Southampton F.C. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  • "Club Statistics - Appearances - 2002/03". Southampton F.C. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  • "Club Statistics - Discipline - 2002/03". Southampton F.C. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  • "Club Statistics - Attendance - 2002/03". Southampton F.C. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  • "Results & Fixtures for Southampton". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 April 2010. Note: User must manually select option 2002/2003 from dropdown menu and select 'Go'.
  • "Southampton 2002/03 player appearances". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2010. Note: User must manually select option 2002/2003 from dropdown menu and select 'Go'.
  • "Southampton's transfers in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2010. Note: User must manually select option 2002/2003 from dropdown menu and select 'Go'.
Specific
  1. Ltd, Statto Organisation. "Southampton Home Page for the 2002-2003 season - Statto.com".
  2. "Southampton seal Niemi deal". UEFA. 27 August 2002. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  3. "New duo for Southampton". UEFA. 31 August 2002. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  4. "Saints seal Higginbotham deal". BBC. 13 February 2003. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  5. "Saints swoop for Prutton". BBC. 31 January 2003. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  6. "Kenton joins Southampton on free transfer". The Sports Network. 12 May 2003. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  7. "Dexter Blackstock". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  8. "Transfers - July, 2002". BBC. 5 September 2002. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  9. "Saints release Petrescu". BBC. 2 July 2002. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  10. "Saints let Hall join Stoke". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  11. "Saints offload Kanchelskis". BBC. 6 February 2003. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  12. "El-Khalej released". FootyMAD. 25 January 2003. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  13. "Scott McDonald". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  14. "Federico Arias - Velez - details and stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  15. "Price war in Facey move". The Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 5 July 2002. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
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