Blackburn Rovers
2002–03 season
ManagerScotland Graeme Souness
Premier League6th
FA CupFourth round
League CupSemi-finals
UEFA CupSecond round
Top goalscorerLeague: Damien Duff (9)
All: Dwight Yorke (13)[1]
Highest home attendance30,475 (vs. Manchester United, 22 December 2002)
Lowest home attendance21,096 (vs. Fulham, 30 November 2002)
Average home league attendance26,225[2]

During the 2002–03 English football season, Blackburn Rovers competed in the FA Premier League.

Season summary

After a season of consolidation in the Premiership the previous season (capped with victory in the League Cup), Blackburn Rovers enjoyed their best season since winning the title in 1995, finishing in sixth place and qualifying for the UEFA Cup for the second year in a row. While their UEFA Cup campaign was not especially impressive (only beating CSKA Sofia on away goals before being knocked out by eventual runners-up Celtic), their continued progress under Graeme Souness gave the fans much hope for the following season. Blackburn also embarked on another strong run in the League Cup for the second successive year, although they failed to defend their title after suffering a 4-2 aggregate defeat to Manchester United in the semi-finals. The star man for Blackburn this season was American goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who was named as the goalkeeper in the PFA Team of the Year.

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
4 Chelsea 38 19 10 9 68 38 +30 67 Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
5 Liverpool 38 18 10 10 61 41 +20 64 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[lower-alpha 1]
6 Blackburn Rovers 38 16 12 10 52 43 +9 60
7 Everton 38 17 8 13 48 49 1 59
8 Southampton 38 13 13 12 43 46 3 52 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[lower-alpha 2]
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. Since Liverpool qualified for the UEFA Cup via the league, their place in the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners reverted to the league and was awarded to Blackburn Rovers as the highest-placed team not already qualified for European competitions.
  2. Since Arsenal qualified for the Champions League, their place in the UEFA Cup as FA Cup winners went to Southampton, who were the FA Cup runners-up.

First-team squad

Squad at end of 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
1 GK United States USA Brad Friedel
2 DF Australia AUS Lucas Neill
3 MF Turkey TUR Tugay Kerimoğlu
4 DF England ENG Andy Todd
6 DF England ENG Craig Short
7 MF England ENG Garry Flitcroft
8 MF England ENG David Dunn
9 FW England ENG Andrew Cole
10 FW England ENG Matt Jansen
11 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Damien Duff
12 FW Italy ITA Corrado Grabbi
13 GK Republic of Ireland IRL Alan Kelly
14 DF Sweden SWE Nils-Eric Johansson
15 FW England ENG Craig Hignett
16 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Alan Mahon
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 DF England ENG John Curtis
18 MF Northern Ireland NIR Keith Gillespie
19 FW Trinidad and Tobago TRI Dwight Yorke
20 MF England ENG David Thompson
21 DF England ENG Martin Taylor
22 FW Norway NOR Egil Østenstad
23 DF Germany GER Sebastian Pelzer
25 DF Norway NOR Henning Berg
26 DF Slovakia SVK Vratislav Greško (on loan from Parma)
29 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Jonathan Douglas
31 FW Scotland SCO Paul Gallagher
33 FW Turkey TUR Hakan Şükür
34 DF England ENG Jay McEveley
35 MF England ENG Neil Danns
36 FW England ENG Marc Richards

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
5 DF Norway NOR Stig Inge Bjørnebye (retired)
10 FW England ENG Matt Jansen (on loan to Coventry City)
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF Turkey TUR Hakan Ünsal (to Galatasaray)
27 GK England ENG Alan Miller (retired)

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
24 MF England ENG Darren Dunning
30 DF Scotland SCO Gordon Greer
No. Pos. Nation Player
32 GK England ENG Ryan Robinson

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No. Pos Nat Player TotalPremier LeagueFA CupLeague CupUEFA Cup
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Goalkeepers
1 GK United States USA Brad Friedel 470370303040
13 GK Republic of Ireland IRL Alan Kelly 3010002000
Defenders
2 DF Australia AUS Lucas Neill 450340304040
4 DF England ENG Andy Todd 1917+51204010
6 DF England ENG Craig Short 30126+11001020
14 DF Sweden SWE Nils-Eric Johansson 39020+1001+102+1040
17 DF England ENG John Curtis 7050001010
21 DF England ENG Martin Taylor 42229+42303030
23 DF Germany GER Sebastian Pelzer 1000001000
25 DF Norway NOR Henning Berg 19115+1110001+10
26 DF Slovakia SVK Vratislav Greško 100100000000
34 DF England ENG Jay McEveley 15090203+1000
Midfielders
3 MF Turkey TUR Tugay Kerimoğlu 48132+512+104040
7 MF England ENG Garry Flitcroft 404332223+1010
8 MF England ENG David Dunn 36826+2820203+10
11 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Damien Duff 3111269002131
15 MF England ENG Craig Hignett 411+21000010
16 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Alan Mahon 300+20001000
18 MF Northern Ireland NIR Keith Gillespie 34010+1500+202+200+30
20 MF England ENG David Thompson 326234204131
29 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Jonathan Douglas 500+101+200+1000
35 MF England ENG Neil Danns 601+10102010
Forwards
9 FW England ENG Andy Cole 431332+2722442+10
10 FW England ENG Matt Jansen 1320+70221+200+10
12 FW Italy ITA Corrado Grabbi 1531+1010+101+1111
19 FW Trinidad and Tobago TRI Dwight Yorke 431325+88334230
22 FW Norway NOR Egil Østenstad 2528+911+200+202+11
31 FW Scotland SCO Paul Gallagher 100+10000000
33 FW Turkey TUR Hakan Şükür 927+22000000
36 FW England ENG Marc Richards 1000000+1000
Players transferred out during the season
5 DF Norway NOR Stig Inge Bjørnebye 1000001000

Last updated: 31 May 2003
Source: [3]

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions[4][5]

Transfers

In

Out

Results

Premier League

Results by matchday

Matchday1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHA
ResultDWDLLDWWLWWDDLLWDLWDDWDDLLWWWWLWWLDWDW
Position1099101514109108888899101091011810911121198787777776
Source: worldfootball.net
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
17 August 2002 1 Blackburn Rovers 0–0 Sunderland Blackburn
Report Stadium: Ewood Park
Attendance: 27,122
Referee: David Elleray
24 August 2002 2 Birmingham City 0–1 Blackburn Rovers Birmingham
15:00 BST (UTC+01) Report Yorke 13' Stadium: St. Andrew's
Attendance: 28,563
Referee: Dermot Gallagher
28 August 2002 3 Blackburn Rovers 2–2 Liverpool Blackburn
Dunn 15'
Grabbi 83'
Report Murphy 31'
Riise 77'
Stadium: Ewood Park
Attendance: 29,207
Referee: Steve Bennett
15 September 2002 6 Manchester City 2–2 Blackburn Rovers Manchester
15:00 Anelka 80'
Goater 90'
Tiatto Red card 67'
Report Thompson 26'
Cole 54'
Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 34,130
22 September 2002 7 Blackburn Rovers 1–0 Leeds United Blackburn
Flitcroft 24' Report Stadium: Ewood Park
Attendance: 25,415
Referee: Graham Poll
19 October 2002 10 Blackburn Rovers 5–2 Newcastle United Blackburn
15:00 Dunn 5' (pen.), 8'
Taylor 55', 74'
Griffin 65' (o.g.)
Report Dabizas Red card 4'
Shearer 36' (pen.), 48'
Stadium: Ewood Park
Attendance: 27,307
Referee: Alan Wiley
26 October 2002 (2002-10-26) 11 Arsenal 1–2 Blackburn Rovers London
15:00 BST Edu 45'
Henry Yellow card 83'
Report Edu 6' (o.g.)
Østenstad Yellow card 37'
Johansson Yellow card 45'
Yorke 51'
Flitcroft Yellow card 70' Yellow-red card 79'
Stadium: Highbury
Attendance: 38,064
Referee: Graham Barber
30 November 2002 16 Blackburn Rovers 2–1 Fulham Blackburn
Dwight Yorke 36'
Rufus Brevett 77' (o.g.)
Report Steve Marlet 60' Stadium: Ewood Park
Attendance: 21,096
26 December 2002 20 Liverpool 1–1 Blackburn Rovers Liverpool
Riise 17' Report Cole 77' Stadium: Anfield
Attendance: 43,075
Referee: Neale Barry
18 January 2003 24 Blackburn Rovers 1–1 Birmingham City Blackburn
15:00 GMT (UTC) Duff 19'
Todd Red card 28'
Report John 83' Stadium: Ewood Park
Attendance: 23,331
Referee: Clive Wilkes
1 March 2003 29 Blackburn Rovers 1–0 Manchester City Blackburn
15:00 Dunn 13' Report Stadium: Ewood Park
Attendance: 28,647
Referee: Steve Dunn
22 March 2003 31 Newcastle United 5–1 Blackburn Rovers Newcastle upon Tyne
15:00 Solano 24'
Robert 61'
Jenas 85'
Gresko 89' (o.g.)
Bellamy 90'
Report Duff 54' Stadium: St James' Park
Attendance: 52,106
Referee: Neale Barry
21 April 2003 35 Blackburn Rovers 0–0 Bolton Wanderers Blackburn
Report Stadium: Ewood Park
Attendance: 28,862
Referee: Mike Dean

FA Cup

4 January 2003 3 Aston Villa 1–4 Blackburn Rovers
Juan Pablo Angel 41' Matt Jansen 17', 60'
Dwight Yorke 52', 71'
Attendance: 23,884

League Cup

4 December 2002 4 Blackburn Rovers 4–0 Rotherham United Blackburn
Yorke 12', 39'
Cole 16'
Duff 43'
Stadium: Ewood Park
Attendance: 11,220
Referee: Matt Messias
17 December 2002 5 Wigan Athletic 0–2 Blackburn Rovers Wigan
Cole 16', 80' Stadium: JJB Stadium
Attendance: 16,922
Referee: Andy D'Urso
7 January 2003 Semi Final
Leg 1
Manchester United 1–1 Blackburn Rovers Manchester
20:00 Scholes 58' Report Thompson 61' Stadium: Old Trafford
Attendance: 62,740
Referee: Uriah Rennie
22 January 2003 Semi Final
Leg 2
Blackburn Rovers 1–3 Manchester United Blackburn
20:00 Cole 12' Report Scholes 30', 42'
van Nistelrooy 77' (pen.)
Stadium: Ewood Park
Attendance: 29,048
Referee: Jeff Winter

UEFA Cup

19 September 2002 Round 1
Leg 1
Blackburn Rovers 1–1 CSKA Sofia Blackburn
Corrado Grabbi 27' Velizar Dimitrov 23' Stadium: Ewood Park
Referee: Bruno Coué (France)
3 October 2002 Round 1
Leg 2
CSKA Sofia 3–3 Blackburn Rovers
Emil Gargorov 66', 88' (pen.)
Agnaldo 69'
David Thompson 30'
Egil Østenstad 56'
Damien Duff 58'
Referee: Alon Yefet (Israel)
31 October 2002 Round 2
Leg 1
Celtic 1–0 Blackburn Rovers
Henrik Larsson 85' Referee: Hermann Albrecht (Germany)
14 November 2002 Round 2
Leg 2
Blackburn Rovers 0–2 Celtic Blackburn
Henrik Larsson 15'
Chris Sutton 68'
Stadium: Ewood Park
Referee: Cosimo Bolognino (Italy)

Scores Overview

Opposition Home Score Away Score Double
Arsenal 2 – 0 2 – 1 Green tick
Aston Villa 0 – 0 0 – 3 Red X
Birmingham City 1 – 1 1 – 0 Red X
Bolton Wanderers 0 – 0 1 – 1 Red X
Charlton Athletic 1 – 0 1 – 3 Red X
Chelsea 2 – 3 2 – 1 Red X
Everton 0 – 1 1 – 2 Red X
Fulham 2 – 1 4 – 0 Green tick
Leeds United 1 – 0 3 – 2 Green tick
Liverpool 2 – 2 1 – 1 Red X
Manchester City 1 – 0 2 – 2 Red X
Manchester United 1 – 0 1 – 3 Red X
Middlesbrough 1 – 0 0 – 1 Red X
Newcastle United 5 – 2 1 – 5 Red X
Southampton 1 – 0 1 – 1 Red X
Sunderland 0 – 0 0 – 0 Red X
Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 2 4 – 0 Red X
West Bromwich Albion 1 – 1 2 – 0 Red X
West Ham United 2 – 2 1 – 2 Red X

References

  1. "Blackburn Rovers | Match | Club Statistics | Goalscorers". Rovers.co.uk. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  2. "Blackburn Rovers | Match | Club Statistics | Attendance". Rovers.co.uk. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  3. "All Blackburn Rovers players: 2003".
  4. "Blackburn Rovers | Match | Club Statistics | Appearances". Rovers.co.uk. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  5. "Blackburn Rovers in FA Premier League 2002/2003 analysis and predictions". football-lineups.com.
  6. "Football | Teams | Blackburn Rovers | Todd signs for Blackburn". BBC Sport. 22 May 2002. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  7. "Football | Teams | Blackburn Rovers | Blackburn bag Pelzer". BBC Sport. 25 June 2002. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  8. "Football | Teams | Blackburn Rovers | Blackburn sign Yorke". BBC Sport. 26 July 2002. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  9. "Football | Teams | Blackburn Rovers | Blackburn grab Thompson". BBC Sport. 29 August 2002. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  10. Souness on Sukur (4 December 2002). "Football | Teams | Blackburn Rovers | Blackburn sign Sukur". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  11. "Football | Teams | Blackburn Rovers | Gresko seals Blackburn move". BBC Sport. 11 February 2003. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  12. "Football | Hughes faces retirement". BBC Sport. 13 May 2002. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  13. "Football | Teams | Blackpool | Blackpool sign Grayson". BBC Sport. 19 July 2002. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  14. "Football | Football Transfers". BBC Sport. 1 August 2002. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  15. John Williams,Rovers chief executive (18 February 2003). "Football | Teams | Coventry City | Jansen completes Coventry move". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  16. "Football | My Club | Blackburn Rovers | Bjornebye quits football". BBC Sport. 11 March 2003. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  17. "Football | My Club | Blackburn Rovers | Miller forced to retire". BBC Sport. 7 April 2003. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
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