2002–03 West Ham United F.C. season

Season summary

Following a successful debut campaign for new manager Glenn Roeder the previous year that saw them finish 7th in the Premiership - two places short of a club record 5th three seasons earlier - hopes were high for the young squad to expand on this and aim for an equal or higher finish in the 2002–03 season. Despite boasting several current or future England internationals, including David James, Trevor Sinclair, Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe, Glen Johnson and Michael Carrick, a disastrous start to the season saw them win just three out of their first 24 matches, and the club found themselves bottom of the table at Christmas with just 16 points. Similarly poor results followed into the new year, as the club continued to struggle in the relegation battle and were knocked out of the FA Cup after a 6–0 defeat to Manchester United in January.

Their poor form in all competitions was put into perspective on 21 April 2003, when manager Glenn Roeder collapsed after a 1–0 Premiership win against Middlesbrough; it was revealed he was suffering from a non-malignant brain tumour, which was later operated on successfully. Following this, club legend Sir Trevor Brooking was named as caretaker manager, and West Ham's luck began to turn with a series of good results towards the end of the season that saw them go into the final day with a chance of staying up. Tied with 17th place Bolton Wanderers but far behind on goal difference, they headed into the last game of the season against Birmingham City needing a superior result to Bolton (and in the case of both teams winning, a 7-goal margin) to escape relegation. However, a 2–2 draw with goals from Les Ferdinand and Paolo Di Canio saw the Hammers relegated after Bolton defeated Middlesbrough 2–1 at the Reebok Stadium, sending them down to England's second division for the first time since 1992.

Final league table

Main article: 2002–03 FA Premier League

Squad

Left club during season

Results

Premier League

Shearer Solano Kanouté Wiltord Fortune Sheringham Gardner Sinclair Zola Di Canio Sinclair Kewell Viduka Leonhardsen Dublin Vassell Ehiogu Pearce Verón Schemmel Cole Defoe Defoe Jenas Parker Kishishev Fish Defoe Gerrard Heskey Carrick Kanouté Kanouté Leonhardsen John Di Canio

League Cup

Main article: 2002–03 Football League Cup

Ebdon Allott Hudson Brandon Sinclair Minto Lomas Carrick

FA Cup

Main article: 2002–03 FA Cup

Cole Reid Van Nistelrooy P. Neville Solskjær

Statistics

Overview

Goalscorers

League position by matchday

Appearances and goals

|- ! colspan=12 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers |- ! colspan=12 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders |- ! colspan=12 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders |- ! colspan=12 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards |}

Transfers

In

Out

References

References

1. [http://www.statto.com/football/teams/west-ham-united/2002-2003 West Ham United 2002-2003 Home - statto.com]
2. (21 April 2003). "Roeder collapses".
3. (11 May 2003). "West Ham relegated". BBC Sport.
4. "Bolton 2-1 Middlesboro". ESPN.
5. "FootballSquads - West Ham United - 2002/03".
6. Hutchison was born in [[Gateshead]], [[England]], but also qualified to represent [[Scotland]] internationally through his father, and made his international debut for [[Scotland national football team. Scotland]] in March 1999.
7. Lomas was born in [[Hanover]], [[Germany]], but also qualified to represent [[Northern Ireland]] internationally and made his international debut for [[Northern Ireland national football team. Northern Ireland]] in 1994.
8. Kanouté was born in [[Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon]], [[France]], and represented them at [[France national under-21 football team. U-21]] level, but also qualified to represent [[Mali]] internationally through his father and made his international debut for [[Mali national football team. Mali]] in 2004.
9. Breen was born in [[Hendon]], [[England]], but also qualified to represent [[Ireland]] internationally, and made his international debut for [[Republic of Ireland national football team. Ireland]] in June 1996.
10. Mehmet was born in [[London]], [[England]], but also qualified to represent [[Ireland]], [[Cyprus]] and [[Turkey]] internationally, and made his international debut for [[Republic of Ireland national football team. Ireland]] at U-21 level in 2004.
11. (2002-06-26). "Roeder swoops for teenager". BBC News.
12. (2002-06-28). "Van der Gouw joins West Ham". BBC News.
13. (2002-07-29). "Hammers land Breen". BBC News.
14. (2002-08-06). "Hammers snap up Cisse". BBC News.
15. (16 August 2002). "Rahim joins Hammers". BBC News.
16. (11 January 2003). "Bowyer signs for Hammers". BBC News.
17. (21 January 2003). "Ferdinand joins West Ham". BBC News.
18. (2003-01-31). "Brevett joins Hammers". BBC News.
19. (29 May 2002). "Redknapp bags Foxe". BBC News.
20. (27 June 2002). "Song goes to Lens". BBC News.
21. (25 July 2002). "Forrest forced to quit". BBC News.
22. (29 July 2002). "Charles forced to retire". BBC News.
23. (20 August 2002). "Brighton land Kitson". BBC News.
24. (12 December 2002). "Labant makes loan return". BBC News.