2002–03 Leicester City F.C. season

Leicester City
2002–03 season
Chairman	Martin George
Manager	Micky Adams
Stadium	Walkers Stadium
First Division	2nd (promoted)
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: ; Paul Dickov (17); All: ; Paul Dickov (20)
Highest home attendance	32,082 (vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers, 28 September 2002)
Lowest home attendance	22,978 (vs. Reading, 24 August 2002)
Average home league attendance	29,230
Home colours	Away colours
	← 2001–02 2003–04 →

During the 2002–03 English football season, Leicester City F.C. competed in the Football League First Division after being relegated from the FA Premier League the previous season. Despite being placed into administration, Leicester managed to regain promotion to the Premier League.

Season summary

In October 2002, Leicester went into administration with debts of £30 million. Some of the reasons were the loss of TV money (ITV Digital, itself in administration, had promised money to First Division clubs for TV rights), the large wage bill, lower fees for players transferred to other clubs than expected and the £37 million cost of the new stadium. Manager Micky Adams was banned from the transfer market for most of the season, until the club was rescued by a takeover by a consortium led by former Leicester striker Gary Lineker. Adams guided Leicester to runners-up spot in Division One and automatic promotion back to the Premiership with 92 points. After several First Division clubs complained to the Football League, the Football League introduced a ruling that any club placed in administration would be deducted ten points.

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Portsmouth (C, P)	46	29	11	6	97	45	+52	98	Promotion to 2003–04 FA Premier League
2	Leicester City (P)	46	26	14	6	73	40	+33	92	Promotion to 2003–04 FA Premier League
3	Sheffield United	46	23	11	12	72	52	+20	80	Qualification for First Division Playoffs
4	Reading	46	25	4	17	61	46	+15	79
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers (O, P)	46	20	16	10	81	44	+37	76

Updated to match(es) played on 11 May 2003. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
46	26	14	6	73	40	+33	92	16	5	2	40	12	+28	10	9	4	33	28	+5

Source: 2002-03 Football League First Division table

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	W	W	L	W	D	W	W	W	W	D	W	D	L	D	W	W	W	D	W	L	W	D	W	W	L	W	D	L	W	W	W	D	W	D	D	D	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	L	D	D
Position	5	1	8	6	7	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	2

Source: 11v11.com: 2002-03 Leicester City results
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Leicester City's score comes first^[2]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10 August 2002	Watford	H	2–0	31,022	Deane (2)
14 August 2002	Stoke City	A	1–0	14,028	Scowcroft
18 August 2002	Ipswich Town	A	1–6	27,374	Stevenson
24 August 2002	Reading	H	2–1	22,978	Deane, Dickov (pen)
27 August 2002	Crystal Palace	A	0–0	15,440
31 August 2002	Gillingham	H	2–0	30,067	Lewis, Dickov
7 September 2002	Wimbledon	A	3–2	2,165	Benjamin, Izzet (pen), Stewart
14 September 2002	Derby County	H	3–1	31,049	Izzet, Deane, Dickov
17 September 2002	Bradford City	H	4–0	24,651	Deane, Elliott, Dickov (pen), Scowcroft
21 September 2002	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0–0	22,219
28 September 2002	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–0	32,082	Dickov (pen)
5 October 2002	Norwich City	A	0–0	20,952
19 October 2002	Burnley	H	0–1	26,254
26 October 2002	Nottingham Forest	A	2–2	29,497	Deane, Dickov
29 October 2002	Coventry City	H	2–1	27,139	Taggart, Deane
2 November 2002	Portsmouth	A	2–0	19,107	Scowcroft, Elliott
9 November 2002	Walsall	H	2–0	25,243	Heath, Scowcroft
16 November 2002	Millwall	A	2–2	10,772	Heath, Stewart
23 November 2002	Rotherham United	H	2–1	31,714	Dickov, Stewart
26 November 2002	Preston North End	A	0–2	13,048
30 November 2002	Grimsby Town	A	2–1	7,310	Scowcroft, Izzet
7 December 2002	Sheffield United	H	0–0	26,718
14 December 2002	Millwall	H	4–1	31,904	Scowcroft (2), Elliott, Dickov
20 December 2002	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	1–0	6,592	Deane
26 December 2002	Ipswich Town	H	1–2	31,426	Dickov (pen)
28 December 2002	Watford	A	2–1	16,017	Elliott, Deane
11 January 2003	Stoke City	H	0–0	25,038
18 January 2003	Gillingham	A	2–3	8,609	Sinclair, Wright
28 January 2003	Reading	A	3–1	17,156	Dickov (2, 1 pen), Heath
1 February 2003	Crystal Palace	H	1–0	27,005	Dickov
8 February 2003	Walsall	A	4–1	8,741	Dickov, Scowcroft (2), Elliott
17 February 2003	Portsmouth	H	1–1	31,775	Benjamin
22 February 2003	Wimbledon	H	4–0	31,438	Dickov (3, 2 pens), Benjamin
1 March 2003	Derby County	A	1–1	24,307	Deane
4 March 2003	Bradford City	A	0–0	11,531
8 March 2003	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–1	27,463	McLaren (own goal)
15 March 2003	Preston North End	H	2–1	30,713	Deane (2)
18 March 2003	Burnley	A	2–1	14,554	Dickov, Benjamin
22 March 2003	Coventry City	A	2–1	16,610	McKinlay
5 April 2003	Grimsby Town	H	2–0	31,014	Benjamin, Davidson
8 April 2003	Nottingham Forest	H	1–0	32,065	Wright
12 April 2003	Rotherham United	A	1–1	9,888	Benjamin
19 April 2003	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	2–0	31,909	Izzet, Stewart
21 April 2003	Sheffield United	A	1–2	21,277	Deane
27 April 2003	Norwich City	H	1–1	31,639	Benjamin
4 May 2003	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–1	28,190	Benjamin (pen)

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 2003	Bristol City	H	2–0	25,868	Elliott, Dickov
R4	25 January 2003	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–4	28,164	Dickov (pen)

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	10 September 2002	Hull City	A	4–2 (a.e.t.)	7,061	Rogers (2), Dickov, Scowcroft
R2	2 October 2002	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2–1 (a.e.t.)	10,472	Izzet, Benjamin
R3	5 November 2002	Manchester United	A	0–2	47,848

Squad

^[3] 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	ENG	Tim Flowers
2	DF	ENG	Andy Impey
3	DF	JAM	Frank Sinclair
4	DF	NIR	Gerry Taggart
6	MF	TUR	Muzzy Izzet
7	MF	WAL	Matt Jones
10	FW	ENG	James Scowcroft
12	GK	ENG	Simon Royce
13	GK	ENG	Michael Price
14	DF	SCO	Callum Davidson
15	DF	ENG	Alan Rogers
16	GK	ENG	Ian Walker
17	MF	ENG	Stefan Oakes
18	DF	SCO	Matt Elliott (captain)
19	GK	IRL	Paul Murphy


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
20	FW	JAM	Trevor Benjamin
21	MF	ENG	Martin Reeves
22	FW	SCO	Paul Dickov
23	DF	ENG	Jordan Stewart
24	DF	ENG	Matt Heath
25	MF	ENG	Jon Stevenson
26	DF	ENG	Junior Lewis
27	FW	ENG	Brian Deane
28	DF	ENG	Jon Ashton
29	FW	ENG	Chris O'Grady
30	FW	FIN	Tomi Petrescu
32	MF	SCO	Billy McKinlay
33	MF	ENG	Nicky Summerbee
34	MF	ENG	Tom Williamson
35	FW	ENG	Tommy Wright

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.	Pos.	Nation	Player
8	MF	ENG	Lee Marshall (to West Bromwich Albion)
9	FW	ENG	Darren Eadie (retired)
11	MF	ENG	Dennis Wise (to Millwall)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
29	FW	ENG	Matt Piper (to Sunderland)
31	MF	IRL	Damien Delaney (to Hull City)
—	DF	DEN	Jacob Laursen (released)

Transfers

In

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee
8 August 2002	MF	Nicky Summerbee	Nottingham Forest	Free transfer
8 August 2002	MF	Billy McKinlay	Clydebank	Free transfer

Out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee
30 July 2002	FW	Arnar Gunnlaugsson	Dundee United	Free transfer^[4]
14 August 2002	MF	Lee Marshall	West Bromwich Albion	£700,000^[5]
21 August 2002	FW	Matt Piper	Sunderland	£3,500,000^[6]
24 September 2002	MF	Dennis Wise	Millwall	Free transfer^[7]
16 October 2002	FW	Damien Delaney	Hull City	£50,000^[8]

Transfers in:

£0

Transfers out:

£4,250,000

Total spending:

£4,250,000

References

^ [1]^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Leicester City results for the 2002-2003 season - Statto.com". www.statto.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
^ "FootballSquads - Leicester City - 2002/03".
^ "Gunnlaugsson joins Dundee United". BBC Sport. 30 July 2002. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
^ "Baggies land Marshall". BBC Sport. 14 August 2002. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
^ "Sunderland bag Piper". BBC Sport. 21 August 2002. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
^ "Wise joins Millwall". BBC Sport. 24 September 2002. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
^ "Hull seal Delaney deal". BBC Sport. 16 October 2002. Retrieved 1 August 2019.

[1] [1]^{[permanent dead link]}

[2] "Leicester City results for the 2002-2003 season - Statto.com". www.statto.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2022.

[3] "FootballSquads - Leicester City - 2002/03".

[4] "Gunnlaugsson joins Dundee United". BBC Sport. 30 July 2002. Retrieved 1 August 2019.

[5] "Baggies land Marshall". BBC Sport. 14 August 2002. Retrieved 1 August 2019.

[6] "Sunderland bag Piper". BBC Sport. 21 August 2002. Retrieved 1 August 2019.

[7] "Wise joins Millwall". BBC Sport. 24 September 2002. Retrieved 1 August 2019.

[8] "Hull seal Delaney deal". BBC Sport. 16 October 2002. Retrieved 1 August 2019.

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