2002–03 Derby County F.C. season

During the 2002–03 English football season, Derby County competed in the Football League First Division, following relegation from the FA Premier League the previous season.

Derby County

2002–03 season
Chairman	Lionel Pickering
Manager	John Gregory (until 21 March) George Burley (from 31 March)
Stadium	Pride Park Stadium
First Division	18th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Christie (8) All: Christie (9)
Highest home attendance	33,016 (vs. Reading, 10 August 2002)
Lowest home attendance	21,014 (vs. Millwall, 16 April 2003)
Average home league attendance	25,469
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

Season summary

Derby were expected to make a bid for an immediate return to the Premiership, but struggled all season which resulted in manager John Gregory being sacked in March and replaced by former Ipswich Town manager George Burley, who led the team to a secure but disappointing 18th-place finish.

Kit

Derby retained the previous season's home kit, manufactured by Italian company Erreà and sponsored by Pedigree.

Final league table

Main article: 2002–03 Football League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
16	Burnley	46	15	10	21	65	89	−24	55
17	Walsall	46	15	9	22	57	69	−12	54
18	Derby County	46	15	7	24	55	74	−19	52
19	Bradford City	46	14	10	22	51	73	−22	52
20	Coventry City	46	12	14	20	46	62	−16	50

Updated to match(es) played on 11 May 2003. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Derby County's score comes first^[1]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10 August 2002	Reading	H	3–0	33,016	Lee, Ravanelli, Christie
13 August 2002	Gillingham	A	0–1	8,775
17 August 2002	Grimsby Town	A	2–1	5,810	Bolder (2)
24 August 2002	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–4	29,954	Christie
26 August 2002	Rotherham United	A	1–2	8,408	Strupar
31 August 2002	Stoke City	H	2–0	21,723	Christie (2)
7 September 2002	Burnley	H	1–2	22,343	Bolder
14 September 2002	Leicester City	A	1–3	31,049	Riggott
17 September 2002	Crystal Palace	A	1–0	14,948	Kinkladze
21 September 2002	Preston North End	H	0–2	29,257
28 September 2002	Ipswich Town	A	1–0	24,439	Carbonari
5 October 2002	Walsall	H	2–2	25,247	Christie (2)
12 October 2002	Bradford City	A	0–0	13,385
20 October 2002	Nottingham Forest	H	0–0	30,547
26 October 2002	Millwall	A	0–3	8,116
30 October 2002	Sheffield United	H	2–1	23,525	McLeod, Burton
2 November 2002	Sheffield Wednesday	A	3–1	19,747	Morris (2), McLeod
9 November 2002	Portsmouth	H	1–2	26,587	Higginbotham (pen)
16 November 2002	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0–1	6,845
25 November 2002	Wimbledon	H	3–2	25,597	Elliott, Burton, Morris
30 November 2002	Norwich City	A	0–1	20,522
7 December 2002	Watford	H	3–0	21,653	Morris, Riggott, Burton
14 December 2002	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	1–0	25,786	Higginbotham (pen)
21 December 2002	Coventry City	A	0–3	13,185
26 December 2002	Grimsby Town	H	1–3	27,141	Morris
28 December 2002	Reading	A	1–2	16,299	Burley (pen)
1 January 2003	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–1	26,442	Christie
11 January 2003	Gillingham	H	1–1	22,769	Zavagno (pen)
18 January 2003	Stoke City	A	3–1	17,308	Christie, Zavagno, Morris
1 February 2003	Rotherham United	H	3–0	26,257	Kinkladze, Bolder, McLeod
8 February 2003	Portsmouth	A	2–6	19,503	Morris, Kinkladze (pen)
15 February 2003	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2–2	26,311	Bolder (2)
22 February 2003	Burnley	A	0–2	15,063
1 March 2003	Leicester City	H	1–1	24,307	Burley
5 March 2003	Crystal Palace	H	0–1	22,682
8 March 2003	Preston North End	A	2–4	14,003	Ravanelli (2)
15 March 2003	Bradford City	H	1–2	23,735	Morris
19 March 2003	Nottingham Forest	A	0–3	29,725
22 March 2003	Sheffield United	A	0–2	18,401
5 April 2003	Norwich City	H	2–1	23,643	Burley, Kenton (own goal)
12 April 2003	Wimbledon	A	2–0	1,934	Valakari, Boertien
16 April 2003	Millwall	H	1–2	21,014	Kinkladze
19 April 2003	Coventry City	H	1–0	23,921	Ravanelli
21 April 2003	Watford	A	0–2	11,909
26 April 2003	Walsall	A	2–3	8,416	Valakari, Ravanelli
4 May 2003	Ipswich Town	H	1–4	28,785	Lee

FA Cup

Main article: 2002–03 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 2003	Brentford	A	0–1	8,709

League Cup

Main article: 2002–03 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	10 September 2002	Mansfield Town	A	3–1	5,788	Morris, Christie, Evatt
R2	2 October 2002	Oldham Athletic	H	1–2 (a.e.t.)	9,029	Higginbotham (pen)

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[2]

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  ENG Warren Barton 3 DF  ARG Luciano Zavagno 5 DF  ENG Steve Elliott 6 DF  SCO Paul Ritchie (on loan from Manchester City) 7 MF  ENG Rob Lee 9 FW  BEL Branko Strupar[notes 1] 10 FW  ENG Tommy Mooney (on loan from Birmingham City) 11 FW  ENG Lee Morris 13 GK  ENG Lee Grant 14 DF  ENG Richard Jackson 16 MF  SCO Craig Burley 17 DF  ENG Paul Boertien 18 MF  GEO Georgi Kinkladze 21 FW  ITA Fabrizio Ravanelli 22 MF  ENG Adam Murray 23 FW  ENG Marvin Robinson 24 GK  ENG Andy Oakes

No. Pos. Nation Player 25 DF  ENG Ian Evatt 26 MF  ENG Adam Bolder 28 DF  FRA Youl Mawéné 31 DF  ENG Chris Palmer 32 MF  ENG Matt O'Halloran 33 MF  FIN Simo Valakari 34 FW  ENG Marcus Tudgay 35 MF  ENG Lewis Hunt 36 MF  SCO Lewis Green 37 DF  ENG Pablo Mills 38 MF  FIN Kris Weckstrom 39 MF  IRL Barry Molloy 40 FW  ENG Izale McLeod 41 DF  ENG Tom Huddlestone 44 MF  ENG Lee Holmes 45 GK  ENG Lee Camp[notes 2]

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  EST Mart Poom (to Sunderland) 4 DF  ENG Danny Higginbotham[notes 3] (to Southampton) 6 DF  ENG Chris Riggott (to Middlesbrough) 8 FW  ENG Nick Chadwick (on loan from Everton) 10 FW  ENG Malcolm Christie (to Middlesbrough) 15 MF  SCO Brian O'Neil (to Preston North End)

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 FW  JAM Deon Burton[notes 4] (to Portsmouth) 27 DF  FRA François Grenet (to Rennes) 29 DF  NOR Bjørn Otto Bragstad (to SW Bregenz) 30 DF  ARG Horacio Carbonari (to Rosario Central) 31 MF  IRL Fiachra McArdle (released)

Transfers

In

• Paul Ritchie – Manchester City, loan
• Tommy Mooney – Birmingham City, 19 March, loan^[3]
• Nick Chadwick – Everton, loan

Out

• Darryl Powell – released (later joined Birmingham City on 12 September)^[4]
• Brian O'Neil – released, 27 November^[5] (later joined Preston North End)
• Fiachra McArdle – released, 27 November^[5]
• Deon Burton – Portsmouth, 11 December, £250,000^[6]
• Mart Poom – Sunderland, 10 January, £2,500,000^[7]
• Chris Riggott and Malcolm Christie– Middlesbrough, 31 January, £3,000,000 combined^[8]
• Danny Higginbotham – Southampton, 31 January, £1,500,000^[9]
• Bjørn Otto Bragstad – released (later joined SW Bregenz)
• Horacio Carbonari – released (later joined Rosario Central)

Loan out

• Deon Burton – Portsmouth, 9 August^[10]
• François Grenet – Rennes, 29 August
• Mart Poom – Sunderland, 15 November
• Marvin Robinson – Tranmere Rovers, 29 November