2001–02 Football League

The 2001–02 Football League (known as the Nationwide Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 103rd completed season of The Football League.

The Football League

Season	2001–02
Champions	Manchester City
Promoted	Manchester City West Bromwich Albion Birmingham City
Relegated	Halifax Town
New team in League	Rushden & Diamonds
← 2000–01 2002–03 →

Final league tables and results

The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website.^[1] Play-off results are from the same website.

First Division

First Division

Season	2001–02
Champions	Manchester City
Promoted	Manchester City West Bromwich Albion Birmingham City
Relegated	Crewe Alexandra Barnsley Stockport County
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,485 (2.69 per match)
Top goalscorer	Shaun Goater (28 goals)[2]
← 2000–01 2002–03 →

Team changes

The following teams changed division since the 2000–01 season.

From First Division

Promoted to FA Premier League

• Fulham
• Blackburn Rovers
• Bolton Wanderers

Relegated to Second Division

• Huddersfield Town
• Queens Park Rangers
• Tranmere Rovers

To First Division

Promoted from Second Division

• Millwall
• Rotherham United
• Walsall

Relegated from FA Premier League

• Manchester City
• Coventry City
• Bradford City

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester City (C, P)	46	31	6	9	108	52	+56	99	Promotion to the Premier League
2	West Bromwich Albion (P)	46	27	8	11	61	29	+32	89
3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	25	11	10	76	43	+33	86	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
4	Millwall	46	22	11	13	69	48	+21	77
5	Birmingham City (O, P)	46	21	13	12	70	49	+21	76
6	Norwich City	46	22	9	15	60	51	+9	75
7	Burnley	46	21	12	13	70	62	+8	75
8	Preston North End	46	20	12	14	71	59	+12	72
9	Wimbledon	46	18	13	15	63	57	+6	67
10	Crystal Palace	46	20	6	20	70	62	+8	66
11	Coventry City	46	20	6	20	59	53	+6	66
12	Gillingham	46	18	10	18	64	67	−3	64
13	Sheffield United	46	15	15	16	53	54	−1	60
14	Watford	46	16	11	19	62	56	+6	59
15	Bradford City	46	15	10	21	69	76	−7	55
16	Nottingham Forest	46	12	18	16	50	51	−1	54
17	Portsmouth	46	13	14	19	60	72	−12	53
18	Walsall	46	13	12	21	51	71	−20	51
19	Grimsby Town	46	12	14	20	50	72	−22	50
20	Sheffield Wednesday	46	12	14	20	49	71	−22	50
21	Rotherham United	46	10	19	17	52	66	−14	49
22	Crewe Alexandra (R)	46	12	13	21	47	76	−29	49	Relegation to the Second Division
23	Barnsley (R)	46	11	15	20	59	86	−27	48
24	Stockport County (R)	46	6	8	32	42	102	−60	26

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Play-offs

Main article: 2002 Football League play-offs § First Division

	Semifinals 1st leg –Apr 28; 2nd leg –May 1/2, 2002							Final at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff May 12, 2002
	3rd	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1	1	2
	6th	Norwich City	3	0	3
								5th	Birmingham City (pen.)	1 (4)
								6th	Norwich City	1 (2)
	4th	Millwall	1	0	1
	5th	Birmingham City	1	1	2

^[1]

First Division maps

Barnsley

Birmingham

Bradford City

Burnley

Crewe Alexandra

Coventry

Crystal Palace

Gillingham

Grimsby Town

Manchester City

Millwall

Norwich City

Nottingham Forest

Portsmouth

Preston North End

Rotherham

Sheffield United

Sheffield Wednesday

Stockport

Walsall

Watford

West Bromwich Albion

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Locations of the Football League First Division 2001–2002 teams

Crystal Palace

Millwall

Watford

Wimbledon

Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 2001–2002

Second Division

Football League, Second Division

Season	2001–02
Champions	Brighton & Hove Albion (1st third tier title, and second successive division championship)
Direct promotion	Brighton & Hove Albion, Reading
Promoted through play-offs	Stoke City
Relegated	AFC Bournemouth, Bury, Cambridge United, Wrexham
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,472 (2.67 per match)
Top goalscorer	Bobby Zamora (Brighton & Hove Albion), 28 [2]
← 2000–01 2002–03 →

Team changes

The following teams changed division since the 2000–01 season.

From Second Division

Promoted to First Division

• Millwall
• Rotherham United
• Walsall

Relegated to Third Division

• Bristol Rovers
• Luton Town
• Swansea City
• Oxford United

To Second Division

Promoted from Third Division

• Brighton & Hove Albion
• Cardiff City
• Chesterfield
• Blackpool

Relegated from First Division

• Huddersfield Town
• Queens Park Rangers
• Tranmere Rovers

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Brighton & Hove Albion (C, P)	46	25	15	6	66	42	+24	90	Promotion to Football League First Division
2	Reading (P)	46	23	15	8	70	43	+27	84
3	Brentford	46	24	11	11	77	43	+34	83	Qualification for the Second Division play-offs
4	Cardiff City	46	23	14	9	75	50	+25	83
5	Stoke City (O, P)	46	23	11	12	67	40	+27	80
6	Huddersfield Town	46	21	15	10	65	47	+18	78
7	Bristol City	46	21	10	15	68	53	+15	73
8	Queens Park Rangers	46	19	14	13	60	49	+11	71
9	Oldham Athletic	46	18	16	12	77	65	+12	70
10	Wigan Athletic	46	16	16	14	66	51	+15	64
11	Wycombe Wanderers	46	17	13	16	58	64	−6	64
12	Tranmere Rovers	46	16	15	15	63	60	+3	63
13	Swindon Town	46	15	14	17	46	56	−10	59
14	Port Vale	46	16	10	20	51	62	−11	58
15	Colchester United	46	15	12	19	65	76	−11	57
16	Blackpool	46	14	14	18	66	69	−3	56
17	Peterborough United	46	15	10	21	64	59	+5	55
18	Chesterfield	46	13	13	20	53	65	−12	52
19	Notts County	46	13	11	22	59	71	−12	50
20	Northampton Town	46	14	7	25	54	79	−25	49
21	Bournemouth (R)	46	10	14	22	56	71	−15	44	Relegation to Football League Third Division
22	Bury (R)	46	11	11	24	43	75	−32	44
23	Wrexham (R)	46	11	10	25	56	89	−33	43
24	Cambridge United (R)	46	7	13	26	47	93	−46	34

Source: ^[1]
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Play-offs

Main article: 2002 Football League play-offs § Second Division

	Semifinals 1st leg –Apr 28th; 2nd leg –May 1st, 2002							Final at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff May 11th, 2002
	3rd	Brentford	0	2	2
	6th	Huddersfield Town	0	1	1
								3rd	Brentford	0
								5th	Stoke City	2
	4th	Cardiff City	2	0	2
	5th	Stoke City	1	2	3

Second Division maps

AFC Bournemouth

Blackpool

Brentford

Brighton & Hove

Bristol City

Bury

Cambridge Utd

Cardiff City

Chesterfield

Colchester

Huddersfield

Northampton Town

Notts County

Oldham

Peterborough

Port Vale

QPR

Reading

Stoke

Swindon

Tranmere

Wigan Athletic

Wrexham

Wycombe

Locations of the Football League Second Division 2001–2002 teams

Brentford

Queens Park Rangers

Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 2001–2002

Third Division

Third Division

Season	2001–02
Champions	Plymouth Argyle
Promoted	Plymouth Argyle Luton Town Mansfield Town Cheltenham Town
Relegated	Halifax Town
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,397 (2.53 per match)
Top goalscorer	Steve Howard (24 goals)[2]
← 2000–01 2002–03 →

Team changes

The following teams changed division since the 2000–01 season.

From Third Division

Promoted to Second Division

• Brighton & Hove Albion
• Cardiff City
• Chesterfield
• Blackpool

Relegated to Football Conference

• Barnet

To Third Division

Promoted from Football Conference

• Rushden & Diamonds

Relegated from Second Division

• Bristol Rovers
• Luton Town
• Swansea City
• Oxford United

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Plymouth Argyle (C, P)	46	31	9	6	71	28	+43	102	Promotion to Football League Second Division
2	Luton Town (P)	46	30	7	9	96	48	+48	97
3	Mansfield Town (P)	46	24	7	15	72	60	+12	79
4	Cheltenham Town (O, P)	46	21	15	10	66	49	+17	78	Qualification for the Third Division play-offs
5	Rochdale	46	21	15	10	65	52	+13	78
6	Rushden & Diamonds	46	20	13	13	69	53	+16	73
7	Hartlepool United	46	20	11	15	74	48	+26	71
8	Scunthorpe United	46	19	14	13	74	56	+18	71
9	Shrewsbury Town	46	20	10	16	64	53	+11	70
10	Kidderminster Harriers	46	19	9	18	56	47	+9	66
11	Hull City	46	16	13	17	57	51	+6	61
12	Southend United	46	15	13	18	51	54	−3	58
13	Macclesfield Town	46	15	13	18	41	52	−11	58
14	York City	46	16	9	21	54	67	−13	57
15	Darlington	46	15	11	20	60	71	−11	56
16	Exeter City	46	14	13	19	48	73	−25	55
17	Carlisle United	46	12	16	18	49	56	−7	52
18	Leyton Orient	46	13	13	20	55	71	−16	52
19	Torquay United	46	12	15	19	46	63	−17	51
20	Swansea City	46	13	12	21	53	77	−24	51
21	Oxford United	46	11	14	21	53	62	−9	47
22	Lincoln City	46	10	16	20	44	62	−18	46
23	Bristol Rovers	46	11	12	23	40	60	−20	45
24	Halifax Town (R)	46	8	12	26	39	84	−45	36	Relegation to Football Conference

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Play-offs

Main article: 2002 Football League play-offs § Third Division

	Semifinals 1st leg –Apr 27th; 2nd leg –Apr 30th, 2002							Final at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff May 6th, 2002
	4th	Cheltenham Town (pens.)	1	1	2 (5)
	7th	Hartlepool United	1	1	2 (4)
								4th	Cheltenham Town	3
								6th	Rushden & Diamonds	1
	5th	Rochdale	2	1	3
	6th	Rushden & Diamonds	2	2	4

Third Division maps

Bristol Rovers

Carlisle United

Cheltenham

Darlington

Exeter City

Halifax Town

Hartlepool

Hull

Kidderminster Harriers

Leyton Orient

Lincoln City

Luton Town

Macclesfield

Mansfield Town

Oxford

Plymouth Argyle

Rochdale

Rushden & Diamonds

Scunthorpe United

Southend

Shrewsbury

Swansea City

Torquay

York City

Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 2001–2002

See also

• 2001–02 in English football
• 2001 in association football
• 2002 in association football