2002–03 Walsall F.C. season

During the 2002–03 English football season, Walsall competed in the Football League First Division. It was the club's second consecutive season at that level.

Season summary

Walsall managed to avoid relegation to extend their stay in English football's second tier to a third season. Much of their success was down to the signing of key players, such as ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Vinny Samways, returning to English football after a six-year spell in Spain.

Kit

Xara became Walsall's new kit manufacturers. Banks's remained the kit sponsors.

Final league table

Main article: 2002–03 Football League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Portsmouth	46	17	3	3	52	22	12	8	3	45	23	97	45	+52	98
2	Leicester City	46	16	5	2	40	12	10	9	4	33	28	73	40	+33	92
3	Sheffield United	46	13	7	3	38	23	10	4	9	34	29	72	52	+20	80
4	Reading	46	13	3	7	33	21	12	1	10	28	25	61	46	+15	79
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	9	10	4	40	19	11	6	6	41	25	81	44	+37	76
6	Nottingham Forest	46	14	7	2	57	23	6	7	10	25	27	82	50	+32	74
7	Ipswich Town	46	10	5	8	49	39	9	8	6	31	25	80	64	+16	70
8	Norwich City	46	14	4	5	36	17	5	8	10	24	32	60	49	+11	69
9	Millwall	46	11	6	6	34	32	8	3	12	25	37	59	69	–10	66
10	Wimbledon	46	12	5	6	39	28	6	6	11	37	45	76	73	+3	65
11	Gillingham	46	10	6	7	33	31	6	8	9	23	34	56	65	–9	62
12	Preston North End	46	11	7	5	44	29	5	6	12	24	41	68	70	–2	61
13	Watford	46	11	5	7	33	26	6	4	13	21	44	54	70	–16	60
14	Crystal Palace	46	8	10	5	29	17	6	7	10	30	35	59	52	+7	59
15	Rotherham United	46	8	9	6	27	25	7	5	11	35	37	62	62	±0	59
16	Burnley	46	10	4	9	35	44	5	6	12	30	45	65	89	–24	55
17	Walsall	46	10	3	10	34	34	5	6	12	23	35	57	69	–12	54
18	Derby County	46	9	5	9	33	32	6	2	15	22	42	55	74	–19	52
19	Bradford City	46	7	8	8	27	35	7	2	14	24	38	51	73	–22	52
20	Coventry City	46	6	6	11	23	31	6	8	9	23	31	46	62	–16	50
21	Stoke City	46	9	6	8	25	25	3	8	12	20	44	45	69	–24	50
22	Sheffield Wednesday	46	7	7	9	29	32	3	9	11	27	41	56	73	–17	46
23	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	7	6	10	29	31	4	6	13	20	36	49	67	–18	45
24	Grimsby Town	46	5	6	12	26	39	4	6	13	22	46	48	85	–37	39

Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Football League Champions, promoted to FA Premier League
	Promoted to FA Premier League
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted to Premier League through play-offs
	Relegated

Results

Walsall's score comes first^[1]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10 August 2002	Ipswich Town	H	0-2	5,253
14 August 2002	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1-3	27,904	Herivelto
17 August 2002	Sheffield United	A	1-1	14,011	Corica
24 August 2002	Nottingham Forest	H	2-1	5,096	Sonner (pen), Wrack
26 August 2002	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	2-0	6,519	Corica, Leitão
31 August 2002	Reading	H	0-2	5,327
7 September 2002	Watford	A	0-2	10,528
14 September 2002	Bradford City	H	0-1	4,678
17 September 2002	Rotherham United	H	3-4	4,648	Zdrilic (2), Leitão
21 September 2002	Millwall	A	3-0	7,525	Zdrilic, Wrack, Leitão
28 September 2002	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1-0	6,792	Simpson
5 October 2002	Derby County	A	2-2	25,247	Corica, Aranalde (pen)
12 October 2002	Burnley	A	1-2	12,907	Birch
19 October 2002	Preston North End	H	3-3	6,832	Leitão, Júnior, Aranalde (pen)
26 October 2002	Coventry City	A	0-0	14,544
29 October 2002	Crystal Palace	H	3-4	6,368	Corica, Júnior (2)
2 November 2002	Stoke City	H	4-2	6,391	Leitão (2), Júnior, Aranalde (pen)
9 November 2002	Leicester City	A	0-2	25,243
16 November 2002	Wimbledon	A	2-3	1,255	Júnior, Sonner (pen)
23 November 2002	Gillingham	H	1-0	6,630	Júnior
30 November 2002	Portsmouth	A	2-3	17,701	Sonner (2 pens)
7 December 2002	Grimsby Town	H	3-1	5,888	Júnior, Leitão, Wrack
14 December 2002	Wimbledon	H	2-0	6,596	Wrack, Júnior
21 December 2002	Norwich City	A	1-2	19,872	Easton (own goal)
26 December 2002	Sheffield United	H	0-1	10,459
28 December 2002	Ipswich Town	A	2-3	26,550	Wrack (2)
1 January 2003	Nottingham Forest	A	1-1	28,441	Ainsworth
11 January 2003	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0-1	11,037
18 January 2003	Reading	A	0-0	11,786
1 February 2003	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	1-0	8,413	Leitão
8 February 2003	Leicester City	H	1-4	8,741	O'Connor
22 February 2003	Watford	H	2-0	7,705	Júnior, Leitão
26 February 2003	Stoke City	A	0-1	10,409
1 March 2003	Bradford City	A	2-1	10,893	Robinson, Matías
4 March 2003	Rotherham United	A	0-0	5,792
8 March 2003	Millwall	H	1-2	6,647	Júnior
15 March 2003	Burnley	H	3-2	6,327	Leitão, Carbon, Matías
18 March 2003	Preston North End	A	0-5	11,170
22 March 2003	Crystal Palace	A	0-2	19,102
5 April 2003	Portsmouth	H	1-2	7,899	Júnior
12 April 2003	Gillingham	A	1-0	6,972	Leitão
15 April 2003	Coventry City	H	0-0	7,337
19 April 2003	Norwich City	H	0-0	7,018
21 April 2003	Grimsby Town	A	1-0	4,618	Júnior
26 April 2003	Derby County	H	3-2	8,416	Júnior (3)
4 May 2003	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1-2	20,864	Matías

FA Cup

Main article: 2002–03 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 2003	Reading	H	0-0	5,987
R3R	14 January 2003	Reading	A	1-1 (won 4-1 on pens)	8,767	Wrack
R4	25 January 2003	Wimbledon	H	1-0	6,693	Zdrilic
R5	15 February 2003	Sheffield United	A	0-2	17,510

League Cup

Main article: 2002–03 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	10 September 2002	Shrewsbury Town	H	1-0	3,847	Leitão
R2	2 October 2002	Nottingham Forest	A	2-1	6,343	Leitão, Júnior
R3	6 November 2002	Blackburn Rovers	A	2-2 (lost 4-5 on pens)	9,486	Aranalde (pen), Zdrilic

First-team squad

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.	Position	Player
1	GK	Jimmy Walker
2	MF	Darren Bazeley
3	DF	Zigor Aranalde
4	DF	Matt Carbon
5	DF	Danny Hay
6	DF	Ian Roper
7	MF	Darren Wrack
8	MF	Martin O'Connor^[3]
9	FW	Jorge Leitão
10	MF	Steve Corica
11	MF	Pedro Matías
12	MF	Carl Robinson (on loan from Portsmouth)
14	FW	David Zdrilic

No.	Position	Player
15	DF	Tony Barras
16	MF	Danny Sonner^[4]
17	FW	Gary Birch
18	MF	Gareth Ainsworth (on loan from Wimbledon)
19	MF	Mark Wright
24	MF	Vinny Samways
25	FW	José Júnior (on loan from Treze)
26	MF	Fitzroy Simpson^[5]
27	GK	Gavin Ward
29	MF	Chris Shuker (on loan from Manchester City)
29	MF	Jamie Lawrence^[6]
30	DF	Ludovic Pollet (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)
33	MF	Neil Emblen (on loan from Norwich City)

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.		Position	Player
12		FW	Dani Rodrigues (to Ionikos)
13		MF	Moreira Herivelto (to Ionikos)

No.		Position	Player
18		DF	Matt Gadsby (to Mansfield Town)
24		MF	Roberto Martínez (to Swansea City)

Reserve squad

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

No.	Position	Player
20	FW	Karl Hawley
21	MF	Craig Stanley
22	FW	Andy Bishop

No.	Position	Player
23	MF	Nick Smith
28	GK	Matthew Harris
31	MF	Jean-Philippe Javary (on loan from Sheffield United)

References

↑ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/walsall/2002-2003/results
↑ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/2002-2003/d1/walsall.htm
↑ O'Connor was born in Walsall, England, but represented the Cayman Islands internationally, although FIFA later ruled that he was ineligible.
↑ Sonner was born in Wigan, England.
↑ Simpson was born in Bradford-on-Avon, England.
↑ Lawrence was born in Balham, England.

Walsall Football Club

Players Managers Seasons Records

Home ground	The Chuckery West Bromwich Road Fellows Park Bescot Stadium

Matches	2001 Football League Second Division play-off Final 2015 Football League Trophy Final

Walsall F.C. seasons

1890–91 * 1891–92 * 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900

1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10

1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20

1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30

1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40

1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50

1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60

1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90

001990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000

2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

2002–03 in English football

« 2001–02

2003–04 »

FA competitions

Premier League and
Football League

Football Conference

Football Conference

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

Club seasons

Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Charlton Athletic Chelsea Everton Fulham Leeds United Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Southampton Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United

First Division	Bradford City Brighton & Hove Albion Burnley Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Grimsby Town Gillingham Ipswich Town Leicester City Millwall Norwich City Nottingham Forest Portsmouth Preston North End Reading Rotherham United Sheffield United Sheffield Wednesday Stoke City Walsall Watford Wimbledon Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Barnsley Blackpool Brentford Bristol City Cardiff City Cheltenham Town Chesterfield Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Huddersfield Town Luton Town Mansfield Town Northampton Town Notts County Oldham Athletic Peterborough United Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Stockport County Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers Wigan Athletic Wycombe Wanderers

Third Division	Boston United Bournemouth Bristol Rovers Bury Cambridge United Carlisle United Darlington Exeter City Hartlepool United Hull City Kidderminster Harriers Leyton Orient Lincoln City Macclesfield Town Oxford United Rochdale Rushden & Diamonds Scunthorpe United Shrewsbury Town Southend United Swansea City Torquay United Wrexham York City

Non-League	AFC Wimbledon Gateshead Newport County Yeovil Town

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