Leeds United

2002–03 season
Chairman	Peter Ridsdale (until 31 March) [1] Professor John McKenzie (from 31 March)
Manager	Terry Venables (until 21 March) [2] Peter Reid (from 21 March)
Stadium	Elland Road
Premier League	15th
FA Cup	Sixth round
League Cup	Third round
UEFA Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Mark Viduka (20) All: Mark Viduka (22)
Highest home attendance	40,205 vs Aston Villa (11 May 2003, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance	29,359 vs Gillingham (4 February 2003, FA Cup)
Average home league attendance	37,768
←  2001–02 2003–04 →

The 2002–03 season saw Leeds United competing in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons) and the UEFA Cup.

Season summary

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When Terry Venables was appointed as manager, much was expected at Leeds as Venables had previously brought success to Tottenham and Barcelona before taking England to the semi-finals of Euro 96. But the looming debt Leeds were now facing meant they couldn't keep star defender Rio Ferdinand, who was sold to Manchester United for £30 million. After the season began, striker Robbie Keane was also sold to Tottenham. Despite the rough start, Leeds began well, as back to back wins over Newcastle and Manchester United put Leeds top after 6 games. But a 1–4 loss to Arsenal, and later 0–1 to Liverpool, saw their form begin to drop. Leeds were then embarrassingly knocked out of the League Cup by Sheffield United, and despite wins in the UEFA Cup Leeds' spiraling debts meant manager Terry Venables was forced to sell more top players. Lee Bowyer and midfielder Olivier Dacourt soon left the club, and over time defenders Danny Mills and Jonathan Woodgate, as well as striker Robbie Fowler, were all sold. In the league, Leeds were losing consecutive games to Bolton, Charlton and Fulham and slipping towards the relegation zone. A 1-2 home defeat to Málaga also knocked them out of the UEFA Cup (Leeds' last appearance in European competition to date). Pressure was mounting on Venables, although this was eased by New Year's Day as Leeds took 13 points from 15 over the holiday season, a run which included 16-year-old James Milner scoring in consecutive games to secure wins against Sunderland and Chelsea, becoming the youngest scorer in Premiership history in the process (this record was later broken by James Vaughan in 2005). Defender Matthew Kilgallon and midfielder Frazer Richardson were also given debuts. Leeds reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, but were again knocked out by Sheffield United. Venables, frustrated at the continued selling of key players, quit the club, and former Manchester City and Sunderland boss Peter Reid was appointed with 8 games left. With a 1-6 thrashing of Charlton, a 2–0 win over Fulham, and then later a 3–2 victory against Arsenal which, just as in 1999, ended the Gunners' title hopes, Mark Viduka in fantastic form saved the club from relegation. Leeds finished in 15th place, however only days after the season ended, star striker Harry Kewell also left the club. With these accumulated departures, and finances still not under control, the worst was yet to come for Leeds United.

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
13	Birmingham City	38	13	9	16	41	49	−8	48
14	Fulham	38	13	9	16	41	50	−9	48
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

Kit

Nike remained as Leeds United's kit sponsors, and introduced a new home kit for the season.

First-team squad

^[3] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   ENG Nigel Martyn 2 DF   IRL Gary Kelly 3 DF   IRL Ian Harte 4 MF   FRA Olivier Dacourt 5 DF   RSA Lucas Radebe 8 FW   ENG Michael Bridges 9 FW   AUS Mark Viduka 10 FW   AUS Harry Kewell 11 MF   ESP Raúl Bravo (on loan from Real Madrid) 12 MF   ENG Nick Barmby 13 GK   ENG Paul Robinson 14 MF   IRL Stephen McPhail 15 DF   SWE Teddy Lučić (on loan from AIK) 16 MF   ENG Jason Wilcox 17 FW   ENG Alan Smith

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 DF   ENG Danny Mills 19 MF   NOR Eirik Bakke 20 MF   ENG Seth Johnson 21 DF   SCO Dominic Matteo (captain) 22 DF   ENG Michael Duberry 23 MF   ENG David Batty 24 MF   AUS Paul Okon 25 MF   AUS Jacob Burns 26 GK   AUS Danny Milosevic 28 MF   ENG Jamie McMaster 34 DF   ENG Frazer Richardson 36 DF   ENG Matthew Kilgallon 38 MF   ENG James Milner 39 FW   ENG Simon Johnson

Left club during season

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 6 DF   ENG Jonathan Woodgate (to Newcastle United) 7 FW   IRL Robbie Keane (to Tottenham Hotspur) 11 MF   ENG Lee Bowyer (to West Ham United)

No. Pos. Nation Player 27 FW   ENG Robbie Fowler (to Manchester City) — GK   ENG Shaun Allaway (on loan to Grimsby Town)

Reserve squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 32 MF   ENG Harpal Singh 35 DF   AUS Shane Cansdell-Sherriff

No. Pos. Nation Player 37 MF   IRL Paul Keegan — FW   ENG Emmanuel Ibhadon

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup		UEFA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
13	GK	ENG	Paul Robinson	50	0	38	0	5	0	1	0	6	0
Defenders
2	DF	IRL	Gary Kelly	35	1	24+1	0	4	1	0	0	6	0
3	DF	IRL	Ian Harte	36	3	24+3	3	3	0	1	0	5	0
5	DF	RSA	Lucas Radebe	26	0	16+3	0	4	0	0	0	3	0
11	DF	ESP	Raúl Bravo	6	0	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
15	DF	SWE	Teddy Lučić	21	1	16+1	1	2+1	0	1	0	0	0
18	DF	ENG	Danny Mills	41	1	32+1	1	4	0	1	0	2+1	0
21	DF	SCO	Dominic Matteo	24	0	20	0	3	0	0	0	1	0
22	DF	ENG	Michael Duberry	21	0	11+3	0	1+1	0	0+1	0	3+1	0
34	DF	ENG	Frazer Richardson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
36	DF	ENG	Matthew Kilgallon	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
4	MF	FRA	Olivier Dacourt	9	0	4+3	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
10	MF	AUS	Harry Kewell	41	16	31	14	4	1	1	0	5	1
12	MF	ENG	Nick Barmby	25	5	16+3	4	0+2	0	1	0	3	1
14	MF	IRL	Stephen McPhail	19	0	7+6	0	0	0	0+1	0	2+3	0
16	MF	ENG	Jason Wilcox	33	1	23+2	1	4	0	1	0	3	0
19	MF	NOR	Eirik Bakke	45	4	31+3	1	3+1	2	1	0	6	1
20	MF	ENG	Seth Johnson	13	1	3+6	1	3+1	0	0	0	0	0
24	MF	AUS	Paul Okon	21	0	15	0	5	0	0	0	1	0
25	MF	AUS	Jacob Burns	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF	ENG	Jamie McMaster	4	0	0+4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
38	MF	ENG	James Milner	22	2	1+17	2	0+4	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
8	FW	ENG	Michael Bridges	9	0	1+4	0	0	0	0+1	0	1+2	0
9	FW	AUS	Mark Viduka	40	22	29+4	20	4	2	1	0	2	0
17	FW	ENG	Alan Smith	43	9	33	3	4	1	0	0	6	5
39	FW	ENG	Simon Johnson	4	0	1+3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players transferred out during the season
6	DF	ENG	Jonathan Woodgate	24	1	18	1	1	0	1	0	4	0
7	FW	IRL	Robbie Keane	3	1	0+3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	MF	ENG	Lee Bowyer	22	3	15	3	1	0	1	0	5	0
27	FW	ENG	Robbie Fowler	10	2	2+6	2	0+1	0	0	0	0+1	0

Results

Premier League

Results by round

Manager: Terry Venables

Manager: Peter Reid

FA Cup

League Cup

UEFA Cup

First round

Second round

Third round

Transfers

In

Date	Nat.	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
8 August 2002		Nick Barmby	Liverpool	£2,750,000	[4]
12 August 2002		Paul Okon	Middlesbrough	Free	[5]

Out

Date	Nat.	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
22 July 2002		Rio Ferdinand	Manchester United	£30,000,000	[6]
31 August 2002		Robbie Keane	Tottenham Hotspur	£7,000,000	[7]
11 January 2003		Lee Bowyer	West Ham United	£300,000	[8]
31 January 2003		Jonathan Woodgate	Newcastle United	£9,000,000	[9]
13 February 2003		Robbie Fowler	Manchester City	£6,000,000	[10]
14 February 2003		Caleb Folan	Chesterfield	Free	[11]

Loaned in

Date	Nat.	Name	From	Ref.
31 August 2002		Teddy Lučić	AIK	[12]
31 January 2003		Raúl Bravo	Real Madrid	[13]

Loaned out

Date	Nat.	Name	To	Ref.
11 August 2002		Simon Johnson	Hull City	[14]
20 August 2002		Shaun Allaway	Grimsby Town	[14]
5 November 2002		Danny Milosevic	Plymouth Argyle	[15]
5 November 2002		Steven Ferguson	Hyde United	[15]
7 November 2002		Harpal Singh	Bradford City	[15]
8 November 2002		Shane Cansdell-Sherriff	Rochdale	[15]
19 November 2002		Jamie McMaster	Coventry City	[15]
13 December 2002		Craig Stiens	Swansea City	[16]
8 January 2003		Olivier Dacourt	Roma	[17]
10 January 2003		Frazer Richardson	Stoke City	[18]
20 January 2003		Danny Milosevic	Crewe Alexandra	[19]
29 March 2003		Tom Newey	Darlington	[20]

References