2002–03 Sheffield United F.C. season

Sheffield United
2002–03 season
Chairman	Derek Dooley
Manager	Neil Warnock
Stadium	Bramall Lane
First Division	3rd (qualified for play-offs)
Play-offs	Runners-up
FA Cup	Semi-finals
League Cup	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Brown (16); All: Brown (22)[1]
Average home league attendance	18,113

During the 2002–03 English football season, Sheffield United competed in the Football League First Division.

Season summary

The season turned out to be one of the most successful in Sheffield United's history. United reached the semi-finals of both the FA and League Cups before being eliminated by Arsenal and Liverpool respectively; both sides went on to win the respective cups. United also managed to qualify for the play-offs for promotion to the Premiership. United reached the play-off final after beating Nottingham Forest over two legs in the semi-final, but were beaten by Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Portsmouth (C, P)	46	29	11	6	97	45	+52	98	Promotion to 2003–04 FA Premier League
2	Leicester City (P)	46	26	14	6	73	40	+33	92	Promotion to 2003–04 FA Premier League
3	Sheffield United	46	23	11	12	72	52	+20	80	Qualification for First Division Playoffs
4	Reading	46	25	4	17	61	46	+15	79
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers (O, P)	46	20	16	10	81	44	+37	76

Updated to match(es) played on 11 May 2003. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted.

Results

Sheffield United's score comes first[2]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

First Division play-offs


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SF 1st leg	10 May 2003	Nottingham Forest	A	1-1	29,064	Brown (pen)
SF 2nd leg	15 May 2003	Nottingham Forest	H	4-3 (won 5-4 on agg)	30,212	Brown, Kabba, Peschisolido, Walker (own goal)
F	26 May 2003	Wolverhampton Wanderers	N	0-3	69,473

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 2003	Cheltenham Town	H	4-0	9,166	Murphy, McGovern, Kabba (2)
R4	25 January 2003	Ipswich Town	H	4-3	12,757	Brown (2), Jagielka, Peschisolido
R5	15 February 2003	Walsall	H	2-0	17,510	Mooney, Ndlovu
QF	9 March 2003	Leeds United	H	1-0	24,633	Kabba
SF	13 April 2003	Arsenal	N	0-1	59,170

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	10 September 2002	York City	H	1-0	4,675	McGovern
R2	1 October 2002	Wycombe Wanderers	H	4-1	4,389	Boulding, Brown (2), Montgomery
R3	6 November 2002	Leeds United	H	2-1	26,663	Jagielka, Ndlovu
R4	3 December 2002	Sunderland	H	2-0	27,068	Murphy, Allison
R5	17 December 2002	Crystal Palace	H	3-1	22,211	Asaba, Peschisolido (2)
SF 1st leg	8 January 2003	Liverpool	H	2-1	30,095	Tonge (2)
SF 2nd leg	21 January 2003	Liverpool	A	0-2 (lost 2-3 on agg)	43,837

Players

First-team squad

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

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Simon Tracey
2	DF	Rob Kozluk
3	DF	Rob Ullathorne
4	DF	Steve Yates
5	DF	Shaun Murphy
6	DF	Rob Page (captain)
7	MF	Michael Brown
8	MF	Stuart McCall[notes 1] (assistant manager)
9	FW	Carl Asaba
10	FW	Paul Peschisolido
11	FW	Laurens ten Heuvel
12	MF	Nick Montgomery[notes 2]
14	FW	Wayne Allison
15	DF	Ben Doane
16	FW	Peter Ndlovu
17	MF	Phil Jagielka
18	MF	Michael Tonge
19	DF	Benoît Croissant

No.	Position	Player
20	MF	Jean-Philippe Javary
21	MF	Colin Cryan
22	DF	Grant Smith
23	GK	Paddy Kenny[notes 3]
24	GK	Gary Kelly[notes 4]
25	FW	Rob Nugent
26	FW	Mark Rankine (on loan from Preston North End)
27	FW	Lewis Killeen
28	FW	Owen Morrison
29	MF	Adam Baum
30	FW	Tyrone Thompson
31	FW	Ryan Mallon
32	FW	Dean Windass
34	FW	Steve Kabba
36	DF	John Curtis (on loan from Blackburn Rovers)
37	DF	Danny Wood
38	MF	Marcel Cas
39	FW	Iffy Onuora

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.	Position	Player
13	GK	Wilko de Vogt (to RBC Roosendaal)
14	DF	Shane Nicholson (to Tranmere Rovers)
24	FW	Tommy Mooney (on loan from Birmingham City)
24	MF	Jon-Paul McGovern (on loan from Celtic)
26	DF	Jon Harley (on loan from Fulham)

No.	Position	Player
26	DF	Wayne Quinn (on loan from Newcastle United)
28	MF	Lee Featherstone (to Scunthorpe United)
35	MF	Michael Boulding (on loan from Aston Villa)
36	DF	Richard Edghill (released)

References

Notes

McCall was born in Leeds, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally through his parents and represented them at U-21 level before making his international debut for Scotland in March 1990.
Montgomery was born in Leeds, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and represented them at U-21 level.
Kenny was born in Halifax, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his parents and would make his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in June 2004.
Kelly was born in Preston, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his father and represented them at U-19, U-21, U-23, and B level.

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[1] ttp://www.11v11.com/teams/sheffield-united/tab/players/season/2003

[2] ttp://www.statto.com/football/teams/sheffield-united/2002-2003/results

[3] McCall was born in Leeds, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally through his parents and represented them at U-21 level before making his international debut for Scotland in March 1990.

[4] Montgomery was born in Leeds, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and represented them at U-21 level.

[5] Kenny was born in Halifax, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his parents and would make his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in June 2004.

[6] Kelly was born in Preston, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his father and represented them at U-19, U-21, U-23, and B level.