2002–03 Bolton Wanderers F.C. season

The 2002–03 season was the 124th season in Bolton Wanderers F.C.'s existence, and was their second consecutive season in the top-flight. This article covers the period from 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003.^[1]

Bolton Wanderers

2002–03 season
Chairman	Phil Gartside
Manager	Sam Allardyce
Stadium	Reebok Stadium
Premier League	17th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	Youri Djorkaeff Jay-Jay Okocha Henrik Pedersen (7)
Highest home attendance	27,409 (vs. Manchester United, 22 February)
Lowest home attendance	10,123 (vs. Sunderland, 4 January)
Home colours Away colours
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

Season summary

A home victory over Aston Villa and a memorable 1–0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford got Bolton off to another promising start to the season, but their subsequent form was memorable for all the wrong reasons as they only won 2 of their next 21 games, causing most pundits to write them off by the start of 2003. A 4–2 win over Birmingham City on 1 February finally kickstarted their campaign and the club only lost two more games (away to Chelsea and Liverpool) during the rest of the season, leaving them in control of their destiny on the final day. They achieved survival with a 2–1 victory over Middlesbrough.

First-team squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  FRA Bernard Mendy (on loan from PSG) 3 DF  ENG Mike Whitlow 4 DF  ISL Guðni Bergsson 5 DF  FRA Bruno Ngotty 6 DF  ENG Paul Warhurst 8 MF  DEN Per Frandsen 9 FW  DEN Henrik Pedersen 10 FW  NGA Jay-Jay Okocha 11 MF  JAM Ricardo Gardner 12 FW  IRL Jonathan Walters[2] 13 FW  FRA Youri Djorkaeff 14 MF  IRL Gareth Farrelly 15 MF  ENG Kevin Nolan 16 DF  ESP Iván Campo (on loan from Real Madrid) 17 DF  FRA Florent Laville (on loan from Lyon)

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 FW  FRA Pierre-Yves André (on loan from Nantes) 19 FW  ENG Delroy Facey[3] 20 FW  ESP Salva Ballesta (on loan from Valencia) 21 FW  ENG Chris Armstrong 22 GK  FIN Jussi Jääskeläinen 23 DF  ENG Danny Livesey 24 DF  ENG Anthony Barness 25 DF  ENG Simon Charlton 28 MF  JAM Jermaine Johnson 29 MF  DEN Stig Tøfting 30 GK  ENG Kevin Poole 33 DF  SCO Colin Hendry 34 MF  ENG Jeff Smith 36 DF  ENG Nicky Hunt

Left club during season

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Steve Banks (to Stoke City) 7 MF  TUR Bülent Akın (released) 17 FW  ENG Michael Ricketts (to Middlesbrough) 18 FW  ENG Dean Holdsworth (to Coventry City) 20 MF  ENG Nicky Southall (to Gillingham) 21 FW  DEN Bo Hansen (to Midtjylland)

No. Pos. Nation Player 26 MF  ENG David Norris (to Plymouth Argyle) 38 MF  NIR Wayne Buchanan (released) 39 MF  IRL Ciaran Ryan (released) 36 DF  ENG David Holdsworth (to Scarborough) 41 DF  IRL Alan O'Hare (to Chesterfield)

Reserve squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 27 MF  TAH Gerald Forschelet 35 DF  ENG Leam Richardson 37 MF  JAM Cleveland Taylor[4]

No. Pos. Nation Player 40 MF  ENG Chris Downey 42 MF  SCO Derek Niven 50 GK  FRA Jeremy Bon

Results

FA Premier League

Main article: 2002–03 FA Premier League

Results per matchday

Matchday	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
Ground	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	L	L	W	W	L	L	D	L	L	D	L	D	W	D	L	D	L	D	W	D	L	D	D	L	L	W	D	D	L	W	W	W	L	W	D	D	D	W
Position	19	20	17	12	13	17	17	18	20	20	20	20	18	18	19	18	19	19	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	16	17	17	17	16	17	17	16	17	17	17

Updated to match(es) played on 11 May 2003. Source: Statto.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
17 August 2002	Fulham	A	1 – 4	Ricketts 4' (pen)	16,338
24 August 2002	Charlton Athletic	H	1 – 2	Djorkaeff 2'	21,753
1 September 2002	Aston Villa	H	1 – 0	Ricketts 56' (pen)	22,500
11 September 2002	Manchester United	A	1 – 0	Nolan 76'	67,623
14 September 2002	Liverpool	H	2 – 3	Gardner 54', Campo 87'	27,328
21 September 2002	Arsenal	A	1 – 2	Farrelly 47'	37,974
28 September 2002	Southampton	H	1 – 1	Djorkaeff 90'	22,692
5 October 2002	Middlesbrough	A	0 – 2		31,005
20 October 2002	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1 – 3	Djorkaeff 63'	35,909
28 October 2002	Sunderland	H	1 – 1	Babb 80' (og)	23,036
2 November 2002	Birmingham City	A	1 – 3	Okocha 72'	27,224
9 November 2002	West Bromwich Albion	H	1 – 1	Frandsen 89'	23,630
17 November 2002	Leeds United	A	4 – 2	Pedersen (2) 3', 90', Djorkaeff 80' Ricketts 89' (pen)	36,627
23 November 2002	Chelsea	H	1 – 1	Pedersen 63'	25,476
30 November 2002	Manchester City	A	0 – 2		34,860
7 December 2002	Blackburn Rovers	H	1 – 1	Okocha 8'	24,556
16 December 2002	Leeds United	H	0 – 3		23,378
21 December 2002	West Ham United	A	1 – 1	Ricketts 65'	34,892
26 December 2002	Newcastle United	H	4 – 3	Okocha 5', Gardner 9', Ricketts (2) 45', 63'	27,314
28 December 2002	Everton	A	0 – 0		39,480
1 January 2003	Aston Villa	A	0 – 2		31,838
11 January 2003	Fulham	H	0 – 0		25,156
18 January 2003	Charlton Athletic	A	1 – 1	Djorkaeff 85'	26,057
22 January 2003	Newcastle United	A	0 – 1		52,005
28 January 2003	Everton	H	1 – 2	Bergsson 90'	25,119
1 February 2003	Birmingham City	H	4 – 2	Cunningham 12' (o.g.), Pedersen 46', Djorkaeff 84', Facey 87'	24,342
8 February 2003	West Bromwich Albion	A	1 – 1	Pedersen 18'	26,933
22 February 2003	Manchester United	H	1 – 1	Ngotty 90'	27,409
8 March 2003	Liverpool	A	0 – 2		41,462
15 March 2003	Sunderland	A	2 – 0	Okocha 50', Pedersen 55'	42,124
24 March 2003	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1 – 0	Okocha 90' (pen)	23,084
5 April 2003	Manchester City	H	2 – 0	Pedersen 32', Campo 52'	26,949
12 April 2003	Chelsea	A	0 – 1		39,852
19 April 2003	West Ham United	H	1 – 0	Okocha 38'	27,160
21 April 2003	Blackburn Rovers	A	0 – 0		28,862
26 April 2003	Arsenal	H	2 – 2	Djorkaeff 74', Keown 84' (og)	27,253
3 May 2003	Southampton	A	0 – 0		30,951
11 May 2003	Middlesbrough	H	2 – 1	Frandsen 10', Okocha 21'	27,241

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
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
19	West Bromwich Albion (R)	38	6	8	24	29	65	−36	26

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
4 January 2003	Round 3	Sunderland	H	1 – 1	Ricketts 18'	10,123
14 February 2003	Round 3 replay	Sunderland	A	0 – 2 (aet)		14,550

Coca-Cola Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
2 October 2002	Round 2	Bury	H	0 – 1		12,621

Statistics

Appearances

Bolton used a total of 32 players during the season.

P	Player	Position	PL	FAC	LC	Total
1	Jussi Jääskeläinen	Goalkeeper	38 0(0)	00 0(0)	00 0(0)	38 0(0)
2	Youri Djorkaeff	Midfielder	36 0(0)	01 0(0)	00 0(0)	37 0(0)
3	Per Frandsen	Midfielder	34 0(0)	00 0(0)	00 0(0)	34 0(0)
4=	Henrik Pedersen	Striker	31 0(2)	00 0(0)	00 0(1)	31 0(3)
4=	Iván Campo	Defender/Midfielder	28 0(3)	02 0(0)	01 0(0)	31 0(3)
6	Ricardo Gardner	Midfielder	31 0(1)	00 0(0)	00 0(0)	31 0(1)
7	Guðni Bergsson	Defender	31 0(0)	00 0(0)	00 0(0)	31 0(0)
8	Simon Charlton	Defender	27 0(4)	00 0(0)	00 0(0)	27 0 (4)
9	Jay-Jay Okocha	Midfielder	26 0(5)	00 0(1)	00 0(0)	26 0(6)
10	Bruno Ngotty	Defender	23 0(0)	01 0(0)	00 0(0)	24 0(0)
11	Anthony Barness	Defender	21 0(4)	01 0(0)	00 0(0)	22 0(4)
12	Bernard Mendy	Defender	20 0(1)	01 0(0)	01 0(0)	22 0(1)
13	Kevin Nolan	Midfielder	15 (18)	01 0(1)	00 0(1)	16 (20)
14	Mike Whitlow	Defender	14 0(3)	01 0(1)	00 0(0)	15 0(4)
15	Michael Ricketts	Striker	13 0 (9)	01 0(0)	00 0(0)	14 0(9)
16	Florent Laville	Defender	10 0(0)	00 0(0)	00 0(0)	10 0(0)
17	Gareth Farrelly	Midfielder	06 0(2)	02 0(0)	00 0(0)	08 0(2)
18	Stig Tøfting	Midfielder	02 0(6)	02 0(0)	01 0(0)	05 0(6)
19	Dean Holdsworth	Striker	05 0(4)	00 0(0)	00 0(1)	05 0(5)
20	Paul Warhurst	Defender/Midfielder	05 0(2)	00 0(1)	00 0(0)	05 0(3)
21	Delroy Facey	Striker	01 0(8)	02 0(0)	00 0(0)	03 0(8)
22=	Kevin Poole	Goalkeeper	00 0(0)	02 0(0)	01 0(0)	03 0(0)
22=	Jeff Smith	Midfielder	00 0(0)	02 0(0)	01 0(0)	03 0(0)
24	Danny Livesey	Defender	00 0(2)	01 0(0)	01 0(0)	02 0(2)
25	Bülent Akın	Midfielder	00 0(1)	01 0(0)	01 0(0)	02 0(1)
26=	Jonathan Walters	Striker	00 0(4)	00 0(1)	01 0(0)	01 0(5)
26=	Salva Ballesta	Striker	01 0(5)	00 0(0)	00 0(0)	01 0(5)
28	Jermaine Johnson	Midfielder	00 0(2)	00 0(0)	01 0(0)	01 0(2)
29	Nicky Hunt	Defender	00 0(0)	01 0(1)	00 0(0)	01 0(1)
30=	Chris Armstrong	Striker	00 0(0)	00 0(0)	01 0(0)	01 0(0)
30=	David Holdsworth	Defender	00 0(0)	00 0(0)	01 0(0)	01 0(0)
32	Pierre-Yves André	Striker	00 0(9)	00 0(0)	00 0(0)	00 0(9)

Top scorers

P	Player	Position	PL	FAC	LC	Total
1=	Youri Djorkaeff	Midfielder	7	0	0	7
1=	Jay-Jay Okocha	Midfielder	7	0	0	7
1=	Henrik Pedersen	Striker	7	0	0	7
4	Michael Ricketts	Striker	6	1	0	7
5	Own Goals		3	0	0	3