From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

2002–03 Stoke City F.C. season

Field	Value
club	Stoke City
season	2002–03
manager	Steve Cotterill,
Dave Kevan,
Tony Pulis
chairman	Gunnar Gíslason
stadium	Britannia Stadium
league	[Football League First Division](2002-03-football-league)
league result	21st (50 Points)
cup1	[FA Cup](2002-03-fa-cup)
cup1 result	Fifth Round
cup2	[League Cup](2002-03-football-league-cup)
cup2 result	First Round
league topscorer	Andy Cooke
(6)
season topscorer	Chris Iwelumo
(7)
highest attendance	21,023 vs Brighton & Hove Albion
(5 March 2003)
lowest attendance	10,406 vs Walsall
(26 February 2003)
average attendance	14,532
prevseason	[2001–02](2001-02-stoke-city-f-c-season)
nextseason	[2003–04](2003-04-stoke-city-f-c-season)
pattern_la1	_red_stripes
pattern_b1	_red_stripes
pattern_ra1	_red_stripes
pattern_so1	_band_white
shorts1	FFFFFF
socks1	FF0000

Dave Kevan, Tony Pulis (6) (7) (5 March 2003) (26 February 2003) The 2002–03 season was Stoke City's 96th season in the Football League and the 36th in the second tier.

Stoke now back in the First Division appointed young manager Steve Cotterill prior to the start of the season. Cotterill had got an impressive reputation following his success with Cheltenham Town but after just 13 matches in charge he shocked the club by quitting in favour of becoming assistant manager at Sunderland. Dave Kevan took over as caretaker until Tony Pulis was appointed in November. His task was to ensure Stoke survived which looked a tough ask as Stoke went 16 matches without a win and when Stoke did manage to get a positive result they lost 6–0 at Nottingham Forest. Following that defeat Pulis improved his defence and results were slowly being ground out and it went to the final day of the season against Reading, with Stoke knowing that if they win they will stay up and thanks to Ade Akinbiyi they won 1–0 and finished four points above the relegation zone.

Season review

League

With Gudjon Thordarson failing to gain a new contract the Stoke board moved to appoint Steve Cotterill from Cheltenham Town. Cotterill was seen as one of the best young managers in the country and it was hoped that he would be a long term appointment. He brought in Chris Greenacre a striker from Mansfield Town where he had been a prolific goalscorer. The season started with a 0–0 draw away at Sheffield Wednesday and their first win came at home to Bradford City. This was followed by a 4–3 defeat at Preston North End and defeats by Derby and Burnley. Stoke then went five matches unbeaten to lift them away from danger but the club was shocked on 10 October 2002 as Cotterill quit the club in favour of becoming assistant manager at Sunderland.

Dave Kevan assumed a caretaker manager role and in his four matches in charge Stoke lost them all to start a worrying run of results. The board had expected to appoint George Burley as manager but somewhat surprisingly Tony Pulis was the man given the job. Pulis had previously turned down the chance to manage the club in 1999 and his appointment was not a popular one with the supporters. In his first match in charge away at Walsall he received a less than warm welcome and Stoke crashed to a 4–2 defeat. It took Pulis' team nine more matches to register a victory and after it looked as though Stoke could start pulling away from relegation they suffered humiliation by losing 6–0 at Nottingham Forest and the survival bid looked grim.

But Pulis signed a number of players on loan which included Ade Akinbiyi, Paul Warhurst, Lee Mills, and goalkeepers Steve Banks and Mark Crossley. Pulis made Stoke a difficult team to beat and after three hard-fought goalless draws against teams trying to gain promotion Stoke gained vital victories against Watford, Rotherham United, Wimbledon and Coventry City. This took the relegation fight to the last day of the season with Stoke needing a victory against Reading to ensure their stay in First Division would be extended. A 55th-minute strike from Ade Akinbiyi sealed the win they needed and Stoke could start building for the future.

FA Cup

Two 3–0 wins against Wigan Athletic and Bournemouth set up a tie against Premier League Chelsea and two second half goals gave the Londoners a 2–0 victory.

League Cup

Stoke lost in the first round to Bury 1–0 at Gigg Lane.

Final league table

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Pre-season friendlies

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
1	14 July 2002	Newcastle Town	A	7–1	3,379	Winters, Goodfellow (2), Greenacre (3), Neal
2	22 July 2002	Wacker Burghausen	A	0–2
3	26 July 2002	Sturm Graz	A	1–1		Handyside
4	31 July 2002	West Bromwich Albion	H	0–0	6,241
5	3 August 2002	Birmingham City	H	0–2	5,781

Football League First Division

Main article: 2002–03 Football League

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers	Reports
1	10 August 2002	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0–0	26,746		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2181130.stm)
2	14 August 2002	Leicester City	H	0–1	14,028		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2185017.stm)
3	17 August 2002	Bradford City	H	2–1	12,424	Cooke 4', Marteinsson 34'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2195409.stm)
4	24 August 2002	Preston North End	A	3–4	15,422	Clarke (2) 7', 65' (2 pens), Cooke 90+2'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/2198205.stm)
5	26 August 2002	Norwich City	H	1–1	13,931	Commons 74'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2199483.stm)
6	31 August 2002	Derby County	A	0–2	21,723		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2213774.stm)
7	14 September 2002	Burnley	A	1–2	14,244	Guðjónsson 74'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2241422.stm)
8	17 September 2002	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	2–1	6,369	Mooney 17' (pen), Cooke 90'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2257534.stm)
9	21 September 2002	Ipswich Town	H	2–1	14,587	Shtanyuk 17', Cooke 80'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2270910.stm)
10	25 September 2002	Nottingham Forest	H	2–2	14,554	Shtanyuk 13', Goodfellow 72'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2278671.stm)
11	28 September 2002	Reading	A	1–1	13,646	Vandeurzen 39'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2272672.stm)
12	5 October 2002	Crystal Palace	H	1–1	14,214	Iwelumo 85'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2281725.stm)
13	19 October 2002	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–2	16,885		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2313875.stm)
14	23 October 2002	Sheffield United	A	1–2	15,163	Greenacre 84'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2348863.stm)
15	26 October 2002	Rotherham United	A	0–4	7,078		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/2342279.stm)
16	30 October 2002	Watford	H	1–2	11,215	Mooney 72'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2371535.stm)
17	2 November 2002	Walsall	A	2–4	6,391	Cooke (2) 77', 81'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2363901.stm)
18	9 November 2002	Grimsby Town	H	1–2	11,488	Mooney 50' (pen)	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2387995.stm)
19	16 November 2002	Portsmouth	A	0–3	18,701		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2429965.stm)
20	23 November 2002	Millwall	H	0–1	13,776		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2483391.stm)
21	30 November 2002	Gillingham	A	1–1	8,150	Clarke 56'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/2504275.stm)
22	7 December 2002	Coventry City	H	1–2	12,760	Hoekstra 35'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2530737.stm)
23	14 December 2002	Portsmouth	H	1–1	13,330	Gunnarsson 34'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2553147.stm)
24	21 December 2002	Wimbledon	A	1–1	1,697	Iwelumo 88'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2575567.stm)
25	26 December 2002	Bradford City	A	2–4	14,575	Marteinsson 9', Henry 23'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2587717.stm)
26	28 December 2002	Sheffield Wednesday	H	3–2	16,042	Iwelumo (2) 16', 66', Gunnarsson 90+4'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2597071.stm)
27	1 January 2003	Preston North End	H	2–1	14,862	Gunnarsson 43', Hoekstra 45'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/2606743.stm)
28	11 January 2003	Leicester City	A	0–0	25,058		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2611287.stm)
29	18 January 2003	Derby County	H	1–3	17,308	Greenacre 63'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2648669.stm)
30	1 February 2003	Norwich City	A	2–2	20,186	Gunnarsson 63', Mills 88'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2693875.stm)
31	8 February 2003	Grimsby Town	A	0–2	5,657		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/2715883.stm)
32	22 February 2003	Nottingham Forest	A	0–6	24,085		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/2762253.stm)
33	26 February 2003	Walsall	H	1–0	10,409	Mills 19'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2790247.stm)
34	1 March 2003	Burnley	H	0–1	12,874		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2789907.stm)
35	5 March 2003	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	1–0	21,023	Greenacre 83'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2803959.stm)
36	8 March 2003	Ipswich Town	A	0–0	24,547		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2805331.stm)
37	15 March 2003	Sheffield United	H	0–0	14,449		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2830637.stm)
38	18 March 2003	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–0	25,235		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2851169.stm)
39	22 March 2003	Watford	A	2–1	12,570	Hoekstra (2) 34' 49', (1 pen)	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2852721.stm)
40	5 April 2003	Gillingham	H	0–0	12,746		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2898517.stm)
41	9 April 2003	Rotherham United	H	2–0	19,553	Warhurst 21', Cooke 40'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/2932813.stm)
42	12 April 2003	Millwall	A	1–3	8,725	Shtanyuk 73'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2917757.stm)
43	19 April 2003	Wimbledon	H	2–1	12,587	Gunnarsson 29', Akinbiyi 45'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/2942153.stm)
44	21 April 2003	Coventry City	A	1–0	12,675	Montgomery 87' (o.g.)	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2950501.stm)
45	26 April 2003	Crystal Palace	A	0–1	16,604		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2950727.stm)
46	4 May 2003	Reading	H	1–0	20,477	Akinbiyi 55'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2967967.stm)

FA Cup

Main article: 2002–03 FA Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers	Report
R3	4 January 2003	Wigan Athletic	H	3–0	9,618	Greenacre (2) 20', 67' Iwelumo 31'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/2607235.stm)
R4	25 January 2003	Bournemouth	H	3–0	12,004	Iwelumo (2) 45', 51' (1 pen), Hoekstra 84'	[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/fa_cup/2671839.stm)
R5	16 February 2003	Chelsea	H	0–2	26,615		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/2740045.stm)

League Cup

Main article: 2002–03 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers	Report
	R1	10 September 2002	Bury	A	0–1	2,581		[Report](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/2239143.stm)

Squad statistics

No.	Pos.	Name	League	FA Cup	League Cup	Total	Discipline	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps
1	GK	ENG Neil Cutler	20	0	1(1)	0	1	22(1)	0	0	0
2	DF	ENG Wayne Thomas	41	0	3	0	1	45	0	6	1
3	DF	IRE Clive Clarke	27(4)	3	0	0	1	28(4)	3	5	0
4	DF	SCO Peter Handyside	44	0	2	0	1	47	0	3	1
5	DF	BLR Sergei Shtanuk	44	3	2	0	1	47	3	8	1
6	MF	ISL Brynjar Gunnarsson	40	5	3	0	1	44	5	10	2
7	MF	ISL Bjarni Guðjónsson	25(11)	1	2(1)	0	1	28(12)	1	2	0
8	FW	ENG Andy Cooke	24(7)	6	0	0	1	25(7)	6	4	0
9	FW	ENG Lee Mills	7(4)	2	0	0	0	7(4)	2	0	0
10	FW	ENG Chris Greenacre	18(12)	4	3	2	0	21(12)	6	1	0
11	MF	NED Peter Hoekstra	26(4)	4	2	1	0(1)	28(5)	5	6	0
12	GK	FIN Jani Viander	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	GK	ENG Ben Foster	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	FW	SCO Chris Iwelumo	15(17)	4	3	3	1	19(17)	7	4	0
16	FW	ENG Tommy Mooney	11(1)	3	0	0	0	11(1)	3	0	1
16	DF	ENG Frazer Richardson	7	0	0	0	0	7	0	0	0
17	MF	IRE James O'Connor	43	0	3	0	1	47	0	12	0
18	MF	ENG Lewis Neal	7(9)	0	1(2)	0	0	8(11)	0	2	0
19	FW	ENG Marc Goodfellow	6(14)	1	0(3)	0	0(1)	6(18)	1	0	0
20	MF	ENG Mark Wilson	4	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
21	MF	ISL Pétur Marteinsson	7(5)	2	1(1)	0	0	8(6)	2	3	1
22	MF	ENG Brian Wilson	1(2)	0	0	0	0	1(2)	0	0	0
23	MF	ENG Karl Henry	15(3)	1	2(1)	0	0(1)	17(5)	1	1	0
24	MF	SCO Kris Commons	6(2)	1	0	0	1	9	1	0	0
25	DF	WAL Gareth Owen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	FW	NGA Ade Akinbiyi	4	2	0	0	0	4	2	0	0
27	MF	BEL Jurgen Vandeurzen	7(5)	1	0	0	0	7(5)	1	0	0
27	FW	ENG Paul Warhurst	4(1)	1	0	0	0	4(1)	1	1	0
28	GK	WAL Mark Crossley	12	0	0	0	0	12	0	2	0
29	DF	IRE Richard Keogh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	DF	ENG Marcus Hall	23(1)	0	3	0	0	26(1)	0	3	0
31	GK	ENG Steve Banks	14	0	2	0	0	16	0	0	0
32	DF	NIR Mark Williams	5(1)	0	0	0	0	5(1)	0	1	0
33	FW	ENG Laurence Hall	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
–	–	Own goals	–	1	–	0	–	–	1	–	–

References

(15 May 2003). "Stoke City season review 2002-03 City leave it late to ensure survival". The Sentinel.
(27 May 2002). "Cotterill unveiled by Stoke". The Telegraph.
(10 October 2002). "Stoke 'shocked' by Cotterill walkout". The Guardian.
(4 May 2003). "Akinbiyi keeps Stoke up". [[BBC Sport]].

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

stoke-city-f.c.-seasons 2002–03-football-league-first-division-by-team

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 2002–03 Stoke City F.C. season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report