2002–03_Aston_Villa_season

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Aston Villa
2002–03 season
Chairman	Doug Ellis
Manager	Graham Taylor
Premier League	16th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Quarter-finals
UEFA Intertoto Cup	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Dion Dublin (10); All: Dion Dublin (14)
Home colours	Away colours
	← 2001–02 2003–04 →

2002–03 Aston Villa F.C. season

2002–03 season of Aston Villa

The 2002–03 season was Aston Villa's 11th season in the Premier League, and their 15th consecutive season in the top division of English football.^[1]

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Quick Facts

Fans had hoped that the return of successful former manager Graham Taylor would spark a serious challenge for honours once more, but the actual result was Villa's worst Premier League campaign in eight years, with the club in serious danger of relegation throughout the season. Survival was only achieved in the penultimate game of the season with a victory over already-doomed Sunderland; Taylor was soon on his way out of the club for good.

There were debuts for Ulises de la Cruz (89), Ronny Johnsen (49), Marcus Allbäck (35), Mark Kinsella (21), Øyvind Leonhardsen (19), Stefan Postma (13), Joey Guðjónsson (11), and Rob Edwards (8).

A season low was the 3–0 defeat by local rivals Birmingham City at St Andrews. A first-half goal from Clinton Morrison saw Birmingham in control at half time, before a comedy of errors saw a throw-in by Olof Mellberg roll under the foot of Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckelman and into the net to gift Blues a 2–0 lead. Geoff Horsfield added a third later in the game thanks to bad defending from Alpay Özalan. This game was followed by the visit to Villa Park. The game kicked into life when Villa striker Dion Dublin was sent off in the 51st minute for headbutting Robbie Savage. In the 74th minute, Australian Stan Lazaridis scored his first goal of the season, and three minutes later, a poor header back by Jlloyd Samuel allowed Horsfield to run onto the ball, beat Enckelman and score from close range. The game ended with another sending off, as Villa's Joey Guðjónsson lunged at Upson with a two-footed tackle.

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[1] [1]
"Aston Villa". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 22 December 2009.

[2] [2]
"FootballSquads – Aston Villa – 2002/03".

[3] [3]
"Aston Villa Player Database".

[11] [4]
"All Aston Villa players: 2003".

[4] [N 1]
Samuel was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, but also qualified to represent England internationally and would represent them at U-21 level and be called up to the senior team before switching his international allegiance to Trinidad and Tobago and making his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago in September 2009.

[5] [N 2]
Edwards was born in Madeley, England, and represented them at U-16 level, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally through his parents and made his international debut for Wales in March 2003.

[6] [N 3]
Boateng was born in Nkawkaw, Ghana, but also qualified to represent the Netherlands internationally and represented them at U-21 level before making his international debut for the Netherlands in November 2001.

[7] [N 4]
Myhill was born in Modesto, California, United States, but was raised in England from the age of 1, qualifying to represent any of the home nations. He represented England at U-17, U-18, and U-20 level before making his international debut for Wales in March 2008.

[8] [N 5]
Ward was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualifies to represent Northern Ireland internationally through his grandfather and represented them at U-19 and U-21 level before making his international debut for Northern Ireland in August 2011.

[9] [N 6]
Nix was born in Sydney, Australia, but was raised in England and represented England at U-16, U-18, U-20, and C level.

[10] [N 7]
Kabeya was born in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), but also qualifies to represent Belgium internationally and has represented them at U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-19 level.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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[notes 2]

[notes 3]

[notes 4]

[notes 5]

[notes 6]

[notes 7]

[4]

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee

14 May 2002	GK	Stefan Postma	De Graafschap	£1,500,000
18 May 2002	CF	Marcus Allbäck	Heerenveen	£2,000,000
8 July 2002	CF	Michael Boulding	Grimsby Town	Free transfer
26 July 2002	RB	Ulises de la Cruz	Hibernian	£1,000,000
23 August 2002	CM	Mark Kinsella	Charlton Athletic	£1,000,000
29 August 2002	CB	Ronny Johnsen	Manchester United	Free transfer
30 August 2002	AM	Øyvind Leonhardsen	Tottenham Hotspur	Free transfer
				£5,500,000

Date	Pos	Player	From	Loan End

20 January 2003	CM	Joey Guðjónsson	Real Betis	31 May 2003

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee

1 July 2002	GK	Peter Schmeichel	Manchester City	Free transfer
5 August 2002	DM	George Boateng	Middlesbrough	£5,000,000
6 August 2002	AM	Paul Merson	Portsmouth	Free transfer
20 December 2002	RM	Steve Stone	Portsmouth	Free transfer
10 January 2003	CF	Michael Boulding	Grimsby Town	Free transfer
				£5,000,000

Date	Pos	Player	To	Loan End

26 July 2002	CM	Gavin Melaugh	Rochdale	31 May 2003
9 August 2002	GK	Boaz Myhill	Bristol City	5 November 2002
27 September 2002	CF	Michael Boulding	Sheffield United	1 November 2002
21 November 2002	GK	Boaz Myhill	Bradford City	1 January 2003
29 November 2002	CM	John McGrath	Dagenham & Redbridge	31 May 2003
10 January 2003	CF	Michael Boulding	Grimsby Town	12 February 2003

#	Name	Position	Place of birth	Date of birth (Age)	Signed from	Date signed	Fee	Apps	Gls
Goalkeepers
1	Peter Enckelman	GK	Turku	(1977-03-10)10 March 1977 (aged 25)	TPS	1 February 1999	£200,000	28	0
13	Stefan Postma	GK	Utrecht	(1976-10-06)6 October 1976 (aged 25)	De Graafschap	14 May 2002	£1,500,000	-	-
37	Boaz Myhill	GK	Modesto, CA	(1982-11-09)9 November 1982 (aged 19)	Academy	1 July 2001	—	0	0
39	Wayne Henderson	GK	Dublin	(1983-09-16)16 September 1983 (aged 18)	Academy	1 July 2001	—	0	0
Defenders
2	Mark Delaney	RB	Haverfordwest	(1976-05-13)13 May 1976 (aged 26)	Cardiff City	9 March 1999	£250,000	98	1
3	Alan Wright	LB	Ashton-under-Lyne	(1971-09-28)28 September 1971 (aged 30)	Blackburn Rovers	10 March 1995	£1,000,000	318	5
4	Olof Mellberg	CB	Gullspång	(1977-09-03)3 September 1977 (aged 24)	Racing Santander	19 July 2001	£5,000,000	36	0
5	Alpay Özalan	CB	İzmir	(1973-05-30)30 May 1973 (aged 28)	Fenerbahçe	28 July 2000	£5,600,000	60	0
11	Steve Staunton	LB	Dundalk	(1969-01-19)19 January 1969 (aged 33)	Liverpool	6 December 2000	Free transfer	319	17
15	Ulises de la Cruz	RB	Piquiucho	(1974-02-08)8 February 1974 (aged 28)	Hibernian	26 July 2002	£1,000,000	-	-
21	Jlloyd Samuel	LB	San Fernando	(1981-03-29)29 March 1981 (aged 21)	Academy	1 January 1999	—	43	0
24	Liam Ridgewell	CB	Bexleyheath	(1984-07-21)21 July 1984 (aged 17)	Academy	1 July 2002	—	-	-
27	Ronny Johnsen	CB	Sandefjord	(1969-06-10)10 June 1969 (aged 33)	Manchester United	29 August 2002	Free transfer	-	-
30	Rob Edwards	LB	Telford	(1982-12-25)25 December 1982 (aged 19)	Academy	1 July 2002	—	-	-
Midfielders
6	George Boateng	CM	Nkawkaw	(1975-09-05)5 September 1975 (aged 26)	Coventry City	20 July 1999	£4,500,000	134	5
6*	Gareth Barry	LM	Hastings	(1981-02-23)23 February 1981 (aged 21)	Academy	1 January 1998	—	149	4
7	Ian Taylor	CM	Birmingham	(1968-06-04)4 June 1968 (aged 34)	Sheffield Wednesday	21 December 1994	£1,000,000	273	40
10	Paul Merson (c)	AM	Harlesden	(1968-03-20)20 March 1968 (aged 34)	Middlesbrough	8 September 1998	£6,750,000	144	19
12	Thomas Hitzlsperger	LM	Munich	(1982-04-05)5 April 1982 (aged 20)	Bayern Munich	5 August 2000	Free transfer	13	1
17	Lee Hendrie	RM	Solihull	(1977-05-18)18 May 1977 (aged 25)	Academy	1 July 1995	—	185	20
18	Steve Stone	RM	Gateshead	(1971-08-20)20 August 1971 (aged 30)	Nottingham Forest	11 March 1999	£5,500,000	120	7
20	Mustapha Hadji	LM	Ifrane Atlas-Saghir	(1971-11-16)16 November 1971 (aged 30)	Coventry City	7 July 2001	£4,500,000	32	3
22	Hassan Kachloul	AM	Agadir	(1973-02-19)19 February 1973 (aged 29)	Southampton	1 July 2001	—	31	2
26	Mark Kinsella	CM	Dublin	(1972-08-12)12 August 1972 (aged 29)	Charlton Athletic	23 August 2002	£1,000,000	-	-
28	Øyvind Leonhardsen	AM	Kristiansund	(1970-08-17)17 August 1970 (aged 31)	Tottenham Hotspur	30 August 2002	Free transfer	-	-
29	Peter Whittingham	RM	Nuneaton	(1983-02-15)15 February 1983 (aged 19)	Academy	1 July 2002	—	-	-
31	Stephen Cooke	CM	Walsall	(1983-02-15)15 February 1983 (aged 19)	Academy	1 July 2000	—	1	0
33	Joey Guðjónsson	CM	Akranes	(1980-05-25)25 May 1980 (aged 22)	Real Betis	20 January 2003	Loan	-	-
38	John McGrath	CM	Limerick	(1980-03-27)27 March 1980 (aged 22)	Academy	1 July 1999	—	3	0
40	Keith Fahey	LM	Dublin	(1983-01-15)15 January 1983 (aged 19)	Academy	1 July 2002	—	-	-
Forwards
8	Juan Pablo Ángel	CF	Medellín	(1975-10-24)24 October 1975 (aged 26)	River Plate	13 January 2001	£9,500,000	45	17
9	Dion Dublin	CF	Leicester	(1969-04-22)22 April 1969 (aged 33)	Coventry City	5 November 1998	£5,750,000	127	41
10*	Darius Vassell	CF	Birmingham	(1980-06-13)13 June 1980 (aged 22)	Academy	1 January 1998	—	102	21
14	Marcus Allbäck	CF	Gothenburg	(1973-07-05)5 July 1973 (aged 28)	Heerenveen	18 May 2002	£2,000,000	-	-
16	Peter Crouch	CF	Macclesfield	(1981-01-30)30 January 1981 (aged 20)	Portsmouth	27 March 2002	£5,000,000	7	2
19	Boško Balaban	CF	Rijeka	(1978-10-15)15 October 1978 (aged 23)	Dinamo Zagreb	24 October 2001	£5,800,000	11	0
23	Michael Boulding	CF	Sheffield	(1976-02-08)8 February 1976 (aged 26)	Grimsby Town	8 July 2002	Free transfer	-	-
25	Stefan Moore	CF	Birmingham	(1983-09-28)28 September 1983 (aged 18)	Academy	1 July 2001	—	0	0
32	Luke Moore	CF	Birmingham	(1986-02-13)13 February 1986 (aged 16)	Academy	1 January 2003	—	-	-
42	Peter Hynes	CF	Dublin	(1983-11-28)28 November 1983 (aged 18)	Academy	1 July 2001	—	0	0

2002–03_Aston_Villa_season

2002–03 Aston Villa F.C. season

Kit

Transfers

Transferred in

Loaned in

Transferred out

Loaned out

Overall transfer activity

Expenditure

Income

Balance

Squad

First Team

Players

First-team squad

Left club during season

Reserve squad

U-19 squad

U-17 squad

Other players

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Starting 11

Results

Pre-season

FA Premier League

Final standings

FA Cup

League Cup

Transfers

In

Out

See also

References

Notes

External links

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No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup		Intertoto Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	FIN	Peter Enckelman	39	0	33	0	0	0	3	0	3	0
13	GK	NED	Stefan Postma	9	0	5+1	0	1	0	1	0	1	0
Defenders
2	DF	WAL	Mark Delaney	17	0	12	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
3	DF	ENG	Alan Wright	12	0	9+1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
4	DF	SWE	Olof Mellberg	44	1	38	1	1	0	2	0	3	0
5	DF	TUR	Alpay Özalan	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	DF	IRL	Steve Staunton	32	1	22+4	0	0	0	3	0	3	1
15	DF	ECU	Ulises de la Cruz	24	2	12+8	1	1	0	2+1	1	0	0
21	DF	ENG	Jlloyd Samuel	45	0	33+5	0	1	0	4	0	2	0
24	DF	ENG	Liam Ridgewell	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
27	DF	NOR	Ronny Johnsen	30	0	25+1	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
30	DF	WAL	Rob Edwards	9	0	7+1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
6	MF	ENG	Gareth Barry	44	4	35	3	1	0	4	1	4	0
7	MF	ENG	Ian Taylor	19	2	9+4	0	0+1	0	2	1	3	1
12	MF	GER	Thomas Hitzlsperger	33	4	24+2	2	0	0	2+1	2	4	0
17	MF	ENG	Lee Hendrie	34	4	22+5	4	1	0	3	0	1+2	0
20	MF	MAR	Mustapha Hadji	14	0	7+4	0	0	0	0	0	1+2	0
22	MF	MAR	Hassan Kachloul	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
26	MF	IRL	Mark Kinsella	24	0	15+4	0	1	0	2+2	0	0	0
28	MF	NOR	Øyvind Leonhardsen	23	3	13+6	3	0	0	3+1	0	0	0
29	MF	ENG	Peter Whittingham	4	0	1+3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	MF	ENG	Stephen Cooke	3	0	0+3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	MF	ISL	Joey Guðjónsson	11	2	9+2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
8	FW	COL	Juan Pablo Ángel	19	3	8+7	1	1	1	0+3	1	0	0
9	FW	ENG	Dion Dublin	35	14	23+5	10	1	0	4	4	2	0
10	FW	ENG	Darius Vassell	39	11	28+5	8	0+1	0	3	3	1+1	0
14	FW	SWE	Marcus Allbäck	25	6	9+11	5	0	0	0+2	0	3	1
16	FW	ENG	Peter Crouch	18	0	7+7	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
25	FW	ENG	Stefan Moore	17	1	7+6	1	0	0	1+1	0	0+2	0
Players transferred out during the season
6	MF	NED	George Boateng	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
10	MF	ENG	Paul Merson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
18	MF	ENG	Steve Stone	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1+1	0
23	FW	ENG	Michael Boulding	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1

Date	Opponents	Home/ Away	Result F – A	Scorers	Competition
20 July 2002	FC Zurich	A	0 – 2		Intertoto Cup
27 July 2002	FC Zurich	H	3 – 0	Boulding (33), Allbäck (52), Staunton (77)	Intertoto Cup
August 2002	Lille	A	1 – 1	Taylor (83)	Intertoto Cup
August 2002	Lille	H	0 – 2		Intertoto Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
18 August 2002	Liverpool	H	0–1	41,183
24 August 2002	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–1	35,384
28 August 2002	Manchester City	H	1–0	33,494	Vassell 64'
1 September 2002	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–1	22,113
11 September 2002	Charlton Athletic	H	2–0	26,483	de la Cruz 70', S Moore 83'
16 September 2002	Birmingham City	A	0–3	29,505
22 September 2002	Everton	H	3–2	30,023	Hendrie 7', 48', Dublin 85'
28 September 2002	Sunderland	A	0–1	40,492
6 October 2002	Leeds United	H	0–0	33,505
21 October 2002	Southampton	H	0–1	25,817
26 October 2002	Manchester United	A	1–1	67,619	Mellberg 35'
3 November 2002	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–0	23,004
9 November 2002	Fulham	H	3–1	29,563	Ángel 20', Allbäck 66', Leonhardsen 83'
16 November 2002	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–0	27,091
23 November 2002	West Ham United	H	4–1	33,279	Hendrie 29', Leonhardsen 59', Dublin 72', Vassell 80'
30 November 2002	Arsenal	A	1–3	38,090	Hitzlsperger 64'
7 December 2002	Newcastle United	H	0–1	33,446
14 December 2002	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–1	40,391	Vassell 16', Hitzlsperger 90'
21 December 2002	Chelsea	A	0–2	38,284
26 December 2002	Manchester City	A	1–3	33,991	Dublin 41'
28 December 2002	Middlesbrough	H	1–0	33,637	Dublin 11'
1 January 2003	Bolton Wanderers	H	2–0	31,838	Dublin 8', Vassell 80'
11 January 2003	Liverpool	A	1–1	43,210	Dublin (pen) 49'
18 January 2003	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–1	38,576
28 January 2003	Middlesbrough	A	5–2	27,546	Vassell 24', 81', Guðjónsson 31', Barry 47', Dublin 90'
2 February 2003	Blackburn Rovers	H	3–0	29,171	Dublin 2', 40', Barry 81'
8 February 2003	Fulham	A	1–2	17,092	Barry 3'
22 February 2003	Charlton Athletic	A	0–3	26,257
3 March 2003	Birmingham City	H	0–2	42,602
15 March 2003	Manchester United	H	0–1	42,602
22 March 2003	Southampton	A	2–2	31,888	Hendrie 30', Vassell 36'
5 April 2003	Arsenal	H	1–1	42,602	K Touré (own goal) 71'
12 April 2003	West Ham United	A	2–2	35,029	Vassell (pen) 36', Leonhardsen 52'
19 April 2003	Chelsea	H	2–1	39,358	Allbäck 11', 78'
21 April 2003	Newcastle United	A	1–1	52,015	Dublin 69'
26 April 2003	Everton	A	1–2	40,167	Allbäck 49'
3 May 2003	Sunderland	H	1–0	36,963	Allbäck 80'
11 May 2003	Leeds United	A	1–3	40,205	Guðjónsson 40

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
14	Fulham	38	13	9	16	41	50	−9	48
15	Leeds United	38	14	5	19	58	57	+1	47
16	Aston Villa	38	12	9	17	42	47	−5	45
17	Bolton Wanderers	38	10	14	14	41	51	−10	44
18	West Ham United (R)	38	10	12	16	42	59	−17	42	Relegation to Football League First Division

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
2 October 2002	Round 2	Luton Town	H	3 – 0	De La Cruz 9', Dublin (2) 35', 48'	20,833
6 November 2002	Round 3	Oxford United	A	3 – 0	Taylor 74', Barry 77', Dublin 86'	12,177
4 December 2002	Round 4	Preston North End	H	5 – 0	Vassell 44', 55', Dublin 80', Ángel 84', Hitzlsperger 87'	23,042
18 December 2002	Round 5	Liverpool	H	3 – 4	Vassell 23' (pen), Hitzlsperger 72', Henchoz 88 (o.g.)	38,530

#	Pos	Player	To	Fee	Date
10	MF	Paul Merson	Portsmouth	Free	June 2002
6	MF	George Boateng	Middlesbrough	£5,000,000	June 2002
1	GK	Peter Schmeichel	Manchester City	Free	June 2002
19	FW	Boško Balaban	Dinamo Zagreb	Loan	June 2002
43	DF	Liam Ridgewell	Bournemouth	Loan	August 2002
24	MF	John McGrath	Dagenham & Redbridge	Loan	November 2002
N/A	MF	Jay Smith	Southend United	Free	November 2002
18	MF	Steve Stone	Portsmouth	Free	December 2002
23	FW	Michael Boulding	Grimsby Town	Free	January 2003
7	MF	Ian Taylor	Derby County	Released	August 2003