2002–03 Rangers F.C. season

The 2002–03 season was the 123rd season of competitive football by Rangers.

Rangers

2002–03 season
Chairman	John McClelland
Manager	Alex McLeish
Ground	Ibrox Stadium
Scottish Premier League	Winners
Scottish Cup	Winners
League Cup	Winners
UEFA Cup	First Round
Top goalscorer	League: Barry Ferguson Ronald de Boer (16) All: Ronald de Boer (20)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

Overview

Rangers played a total of 50 competitive matches during the 2002–03 season. They won their seventh domestic treble in manager Alex McLeish's first full season in charge, having taken over from Dick Advocaat the previous season. The league championship was won on goal difference in the last match of the season with a 6–1 win against Dunfermline Athletic. The club finished on +73 GD, just one ahead of Celtic.^[1][2]

The League Cup was won with a 2–1 final win against Celtic^[3] and the Scottish Cup with a 1–0 win against Dundee.^[4] Despite domestic success, Rangers crashed out of Europe at the first round stage to little known Czech team Victoria Zizkov losing on the away goals rule.^[5]

Players

Transfers

In

Date	Player	From	Fee
1 July 2002	Mikel Arteta	Barcelona	£5,800,000[6]
1 July 2002	Kevin Muscat	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Free[7]
26 December 2002	Steven Thompson	Dundee United	£200,000[8]
27 January 2003	Jérôme Bonnissel	Bordeaux	Free[9]
31 January 2003	Dan Eggen	Alavés	Free[10]

Out

Date	Player	To	Fee
20 May 2002	Sebastian Rozental		End of contract[11]
1 June 2002	Scott Wilson	Dunfermline Athletic	End of contract[12][13]
1 June 2002	Andrei Kanchelskis	Southampton	End of contract[14][15]
1 June 2002	Tony Vidmar	Middlesbrough	End of contract[16][17]
16 June 2002	Lee Feeney	Linfield	End of contract[18]
20 June 2002	Tero Penttilä	HJK Helsinki	End of contract[19]
20 June 2002	Jani Kauppila	Tervarit	End of contract[20]
23 July 2002	Jesper Christiansen	VfL Wolfsburg	Loan[21]
30 August 2002	Tore André Flo	Sunderland	£6,750,000[22]
30 October 2002	Dariusz Adamczuk		Contract terminated[23]
30 December 2002	Billy Dodds	Dundee United	Free[24]
31 December 2002	Paul Reid	Northampton Town	Loan[25]
14 January 2003	Russell Latapy		Free[26][27]

• Expenditure: £6,000,000
• Income: £6,750,000
• Total loss/gain: £750,000

Player statistics

				Total			Scottish Premier League		UEFA Cup		Scottish Cup		League Cup
No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Sts	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls
1	GK		Stefan Klos	50	50		38		2		6		4
2	DF		Fernando Ricksen	46	46	3	35	3	2		5		4
3	DF		Craig Moore	51	44	4	35	3	2		5	1	2
4	DF		Lorenzo Amoruso	32	32	6	24	4	1		5	2	2
5	DF		Arthur Numan	35	35	1	26	1	1		5		3
6	MF		Barry Ferguson	48	48	18	36	16	2		6	2	4
7	FW		Claudio Caniggia	14	36	12	26	8	2		4	1	4	3
8	MF		Christian Nerlinger		3		3
9	FW		Tore Andre Flo	1	4		4
10	FW		Michael Mols	30	35	14	27	13	1		4	1	3
11	MF		Neil McCann	16	26	3	18	2	1	1	6		1
12	DF		Robert Malcolm	26	33	1	24	1	1		6		2
14	MF		Ronald de Boer	43	43	20	33	16	2	2	5	1	3	1
15	DF		Bert Konterman	10	24	1	16		2		3	1	3
16	FW		Billy Dodds	1	6		6
16	DF		Jérôme Bonnissel	3	4		3						1
17	DF		Kevin Muscat	26	29		22		2		4		1
19	FW		Steven Thompson	1	11	2	8	2					3
20	MF		Russell Latapy	2	8		7		1
21	DF		Maurice Ross	22	27	1	20	1	1		2		4
22	GK		Allan McGregor
23	MF		Mikel Arteta	34	35	5	27	4	1		3	1	4
24	FW		Shota Arveladze	31	40	16	30	15	2		6	1	2
26	MF		Peter Løvenkrands	27	33	12	27	9	2		1	1	3	2
27	MF		Stephen Hughes	7	16	1	12	1			2		2
36	FW		Steven MacLean		4		3				1
53	DF		Alan Hutton	1	1		1

Last updated: 9 May 2003
Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Ordered by squad numbers
0 shown as blank

Matches

Friendlies

Game	Date	Tournament	Round	Ground	Opponent	Score1	Report
1	11 July 2002	Friendly		N	NJC All Stars	3–0	Report Report link Attendance 500 NJC All Stars Rangers 20' Amoruso 42' Mols 55' Konterman
2	13 July 2002	Friendly		N	River Plate	2–3	Report [http://rangers.co.uk/news/features/on-this-day-river-at-giants/? Report link] Attendance 22,070 Referee Jair Marrufo River Plate Rangers 17' Ayala 51' Zapata 79' López 61' Arveladze 77' Amoruso Numan
3	17 July 2002	Friendly		N	Reading Rage	4–1	Attendance 1,000 Reading Rage Rangers Ferguson (pen.) Ferguson Arveladze Flo
4	20 July 2002	Friendly		N	Santos	0–1	Kick off 16:00 EDT Attendance 13,200 Referee Alex Prus Santos Rangers Diego
5	28 July 2002	Friendly		H	AC Milan	2–2	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 40,411 Rangers Milan 15' de Boer 42' Caniggia 45' Tomasson 79' Borriello
6	30 July 2002	Friendly		A	Linfield	2–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 18,000 Linfield Rangers 29' Dodds 70' Flo
7	7 August 2002	Friendly		H	Leeds United	1–1	Report Report link Kick off 19:45 BST Attendance 32,497 Rangers Leeds United 49' (pen.) Arveladze 17' Smith
8	18 January 2003	Friendly		N	Energie Cottbus	1–1	Report Report link Kick off 20:00 GST Attendance 3,000 Rangers Energie Cottbus 90' (pen.) Muscat Reghecampf

Last updated: 18 January 2003
Source: ^{[citation needed]
1}Rangers goals come first.
National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different from that of Rangers.
M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.

Scottish Premier League

Game	Date	Tournament	Round	Ground	Opponent	Score1	Report
1	3 August 2002	Scottish Premier League	1	A	Kilmarnock	1–1	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 13,972 Referee Kenny Clark Kilmarnock Rangers 80' McLaren 30' Arveladze
2	10 August 2002	Scottish Premier League	2	H	Dundee	3–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 47,044 Referee Alan Freeland Rangers Dundee 12' de Boer 67' Arveladze 88' Løvenkrands
3	18 August 2002	Scottish Premier League	3	A	Hibernian	4–2	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 11,633 Referee Hugh Dallas Hibernian Rangers 35' Townsley  66'  Luna 89' O'Connor 6' de Boer 45' (pen.) Ferguson 65' Løvenkrands 87' Løvenkrands
4	25 August 2002	Scottish Premier League	4	H	Aberdeen	2–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 49,219 Referee John Underhill Rangers Aberdeen 30' de Boer 78' (pen.) Ferguson  78'  McNaughton
5	1 September 2002	Scottish Premier League	5	A	Dunfermline Athletic	6–0	Report Report link Kick off BST Attendance 8,948 Referee Dougie McDonald Dunfermline Athletic Rangers 11' Caniggia 27' Arteta 41' Ricksen 57' (pen.) Ferguson 59' Caniggia 68' Caniggia
6	11 September 2002	Scottish Premier League	6	H	Heart of Midlothian	2–0	Report Report link Kick off 19:45 BST Attendance 48,581 Referee Mike McCurry Rangers Heart of Midlothian 41' Caniggia 79' Arveladze
7	14 September 2002	Scottish Premier League	7	A	Livingston	2–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 10,003 Referee Kenny Clark Livingston Rangers  58'  Mamam 61' Ross 87' (pen.) Ferguson
9	21 September 2002	Scottish Premier League	8	H	Partick Thistle	3–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 48,696 Referee Kevin Toner Rangers Partick Thistle 3' Løvenkrands 28' de Boer 70' de Boer
10	28 September 2002	Scottish Premier League	9	A	Dundee United	3–0	Report Report link Kick off 12:30 BST Attendance 10,013 Referee John Rowbotham Dundee United Rangers 22' Amoruso 45' Ferguson 73' Arveladze
12	6 October 2002	Scottish Premier League	10	A	Celtic	3–3	Report Report link Kick off 14:15 BST Attendance 59,027 Referee Stuart Dougal Celtic Rangers 39' Larsson 53' Larsson 78' Sutton 6' Arteta 54' de Boer 75' Arveladze
13	19 October 2002	Scottish Premier League	11	H	Motherwell	3–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 49,376 Referee Alan Freeland Rangers Motherwell 2' Amoruso 72' Løvenkrands 90' de Boer  77' Partridge
15	27 October 2002	Scottish Premier League	12	H	Kilmarnock	6–1	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 48,368 Referee Willie Young Rangers Kilmarnock 5' Mols 15' Mols 26' de Boer 34' Ferguson 67' Moore 71' (pen.) Ferguson 44' Fulton
16	2 November 2002	Scottish Premier League	13	A	Dundee	3–0	Report Report link Kick off 12:30 GMT Attendance 10,124 Referee Ian Fyfe Dundee Rangers  45' Khizanishvili 30' Malcolm 50' Løvenkrands 79' Moore
18	10 November 2002	Scottish Premier League	14	H	Hibernian	2–1	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 48,798 Referee Mike McCurry Rangers Hibernian 11' Mols 35' Arveladze 45' McManus
19	16 November 2002	Scottish Premier League	15	A	Aberdeen	2–2	Report Report link Kick off 12:30 GMT Attendance 14,915 Referee Stuart Dougal Rangers Aberdeen 24' Numan 78' (pen.) Ferguson 56' Mike 74' Mackie
20	23 November 2002	Scottish Premier League	16	H	Dunfermline Athletic	3–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 48,431 Referee John Underhill Rangers Dunfermline Athletic 60' McCann 81' Mols 83' Arveladze  60' Kilgannon
21	1 December 2002	Scottish Premier League	17	A	Heart of Midlothian	4–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 12,156 Referee Hugh Dallas Heart of Midlothian Rangers  58'  Maybury 52' Ricksen 79' (pen.) Ferguson 81' Ricksen 90' Hughes
22	4 December 2002	Scottish Premier League	18	H	Livingston	4–3	Report Report link Kick off 19:45 GMT Attendance 45,992 Referee Dougie McDonald Rangers Livingston 8' Ferguson 10' Arveladze 18' Arveladze 46' Arveladze 50' Zárate 72' Wilson  75'  Bollan 87' Zárate
23	7 December 2002	Scottish Premier League	19	H	Celtic	3–2	Report Report link Kick off 12:30 GMT Attendance 50,022 Referee Kenny Clark Rangers Celtic 10' Moore 35' de Boer 40' Mols 1' Sutton 61' Hartson
24	14 December 2002	Scottish Premier League	20	H	Dundee United	3–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 47,639 Referee Stuart Dougal Rangers Dundee United 13' Ferguson 56' Ferguson  60' Ricksen 86' (pen.) Ferguson  80' McIntyre
25	22 December 2002	Scottish Premier League	21	A	Partick Thistle	2–1	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 8,022 Referee John Underhill Partick Thistle Rangers 7' Burns  72' Britton 70' Mols 79' de Boer
26	26 December 2002	Scottish Premier League	22	A	Motherwell	0–1	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 11,234 Referee Willie Young Motherwell Rangers 65' McFadden
27	29 December 2002	Scottish Premier League	23	A	Kilmarnock	1–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 13,396 Referee Dougie McDonald Kilmarnock Rangers 24' Løvenkrands
28	2 January 2003	Scottish Premier League	24	H	Dundee	3–1	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 49,112 Referee Tom Brown Rangers Dundee 21' Ferguson 44' de Boer 82' Thompson 23' Lovell
30	29 January 2003	Scottish Premier League	25	A	Hibernian	2–0	Report Report link Kick off 19:45 GMT Attendance 13,686 Referee Kenny Clark Hibernian Rangers  90'  Smith 58' Ferguson 85' Caniggia
31	1 February 2003	Scottish Premier League	26	H	Aberdeen	2–1	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 49,667 Referee Willie Young Rangers Aberdeen 37' Mols 77' Mols 75' Tosh
33	8 February 2003	Scottish Premier League	27	A	Dunfermline Athletic	3–1	Report Report link Kick off 12:30 GMT Attendance 8,754 Referee Hugh Dallas Dunfermline Athletic Rangers 49' Brewster 38' McCann 71' Amoruso 90' Caniggia
34	15 February 2003	Scottish Premier League	28	H	Heart of Midlothian	1–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 49,459 Referee John Underhill Rangers Heart of Midlothian 41' (o.g.) Severin
36	2 March 2003	Scottish Premier League	29	A	Livingston	2–1	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 10,004 Referee John Rowbotham Livingston Rangers 90' Dadi 8' Amoruso 16' Arveladze
37	8 March 2003	Scottish Premier League	30	A	Celtic	0–1	Report Report link Kick off 12:30 GMT Attendance 58,787 Referee Mike McCurry Celtic Rangers 58' Hartson
39	19 March 2003	Scottish Premier League	31	H	Motherwell	2–0	Report Report link Kick off 19:45 GMT Attendance 49,420 Referee Hugh Dallas Rangers Motherwell 18' Ferguson 46' Løvenkrands
41	5 April 2003	Scottish Premier League	32	H	Partick Thistle	2–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 49,472 Referee Kenny Clark Rangers Partick Thistle 70' Mols 75' Mols
43	13 April 2003	Scottish Premier League	33	A	Dundee United	4–1	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 10,271 Referee Dougie McDonald Dundee United Rangers 71' Dodds 11' de Boer 18' Arveladze 45' de Boer 69' Arveladze
45	27 April 2003	Scottish Premier League	34	H	Celtic	1–2	Report Report link Kick off 12:30 BST Attendance 50,096 Referee Hugh Dallas Rangers Celtic 57' de Boer 29' (pen.) Thompson 43' Hartson
46	4 May 2003	Scottish Premier League	35	A	Dundee	2–2	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 9,204 Referee John Rowbotham Dundee Rangers 17' Caballero 28' Caballero 1' (o.g.) Wilkie 85' (pen.) Arteta
47	11 May 2003	Scottish Premier League	36	H	Kilmarnock	4–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 49,036 Referee Alan Freeland Rangers Kilmarnock 6' Mols 7' Mols 59' Arveladze 80' Caniggia
48	18 May 2003	Scottish Premier League	37	A	Heart of Midlothian	2–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 15,632 Referee Hugh Dallas Heart of Midlothian Rangers 65' de Boer 73' Løvenkrands
49	25 May 2003	Scottish Premier League	38	H	Dunfermline Athletic	6–1	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 49,731 Referee Stuart Dougal Rangers Dunfermline Athletic 3' Mols 16' Caniggia 30' Arveladze 64' de Boer 67' Thompson 90' (pen.) Arteta 11' Dair

Last updated: 25 May 2003
Source: Wikipedia article
¹Rangers goals come first.
National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different from that of Rangers.
M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.

Scottish League Cup

Game	Date	Tournament	Round	Ground	Opponent	Score1	Report
14	24 October 2002	League Cup	3	A	Hibernian	3–2	Report Report link Kick off 19:45 GMT Attendance 8,016 Referee Hugh Dallas Hibernian Rangers 6' Murray 72' O'Connor  87'  Smith 22' (o.g.) Townsley 25' Caniggia 78' Løvenkrands
17	7 November 2002	League Cup	QF	A	Dunfermline Athletic	1–0	Report Report link Kick off 20:00 GMT Attendance 8,415 Referee Dougie McDonald Dunfermline Athletic Rangers 79' Caniggia
32	4 February 2003	League Cup	SF	N	Heart of Midlothian	1–0	Report Report link Kick off 19:45 GMT Attendance 31,609 Referee Mike McCurry Rangers Heart of Midlothian 27' de Boer
38	16 March 2003	League Cup	F	N	Celtic	2–1	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 52,000 Referee Kenny Clark Celtic Rangers 57' Larsson  88'  Lennon 23' Caniggia 35' Løvenkrands

Last updated: 16 March 2003
Source: Wikipedia article
¹Rangers goals come first.
National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different from that of Rangers.
M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.

Scottish Cup

Game	Date	Tournament	Round	Ground	Opponent	Score1	Report
29	25 January 2003	Scottish Cup	3	A	Arbroath	3–0	Report Report link Kick off 17:35 GMT Attendance 4,125 Referee John Rowbotham Arbroath Rangers 27' Ferguson 32' Moore 58' Arveladze
35	22 February 2003	Scottish Cup	4	A	Ayr United	1–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 9,608 Referee Alan Freeland Ayr United Rangers 79' de Boer
40	23 March 2003	Scottish Cup	QF	A	Dunfermline Athletic	1–1	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 GMT Attendance 9,875 Referee John Underhill Rangers Dunfermline Athletic 31' Caniggia  89' Ferguson 23' Grondin
42	9 April 2003	Scottish Cup	QF R	H	Dunfermline Athletic	3–0	Report Report link Kick off 19:45 BST Attendance 24,752 Referee John Underhill Rangers Dunfermline Athletic 4' Løvenkrands 19' Ferguson 54' Arteta
44	19 April 2003	Scottish Cup	SF	N	Motherwell	4–3	Report Report link Kick off 12:30 BST Attendance 29,352 Referee Mike McCurry Rangers Motherwell 2' Konterman 56' Mols 60' Amoruso 73' (o.g.) Partridge 15' Craig 27' McFadden 90' Adams
50	31 May 2003	Scottish Cup	F	N	Dundee	1–0	Report Report link Kick off 15:00 BST Attendance 47,136 Referee Kenny Clark Dundee Rangers 66' Amoruso

Last updated: 31 May 2003
Source: Wikipedia article
¹Rangers goals come first.
National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different from that of Rangers.
M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.

UEFA Cup

Game	Date	Tournament	Round	Ground	Opponent	Score1	Report
8	17 September 2002	UEFA Cup	1	A	Viktoria Žižkov	0–2	Report Report link Kick off 16:30 BST Attendance 3,427 Referee Julian Rodriguez Santiago Viktoria Žižkov Rangers 7' Pikl 60' Stracený
11	3 October 2002	UEFA Cup	1	H	Viktoria Žižkov	3–1	Report Report link Kick off 19:45 BST Attendance 47,646 Referee Athanassios Briakos Rangers Viktoria Žižkov 43' de Boer 59' de Boer 97' McCann 100' Licka  118'  Buryan

Last updated: 3 October 2002
Source: Wikipedia article
¹Rangers goals come first.
National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different from that of Rangers.
M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.

Competitions

Overall

Competition	Started round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
Scottish Premier League	—	1st	3 August	25 May
UEFA Cup	1st Round	1st Round	17 September	3 October
Scottish League Cup	3rd Round	Winners	24 October	16 March
Scottish Cup	3rd Round	Winners	25 January	31 May

Source: Competitions

Scottish Premier League

Main article: 2002–03 Scottish Premier League

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation[a]
1	Rangers (C)	38	31	4	3	101	28	+73	97	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
2	Celtic	38	31	4	3	98	26	+72	97	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3	Heart of Midlothian	38	18	9	11	57	51	+6	63	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Kilmarnock	38	16	9	13	47	56	−9	57
5	Dunfermline Athletic	38	13	7	18	54	71	−17	46

Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	31	4	3	101	28	+73	97	18	0	1	55	12	+43	13	4	2	46	16	+30

Last updated: 25 May 2003.
Source: Wikipedia article

Results by round

Round	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	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	D	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	L	D	W	W	W

Updated to match(es) played on 25 May 2003. Source: 2002–03 Scottish Premier League
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss