User talk:Mancini's Sandbox/2002–03

	Manchester City
Season 2002–03
Owner	Publicly traded company
Chairmen	David Bernstein (until 5 Mar. 2003) ; John Wardle
Manager	Kevin Keegan
Team captain	Ali Benarbia
Home stadium	Maine Road
Premier0League	Ninth
League Cup	Third round
FA Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: 0 Nicolas Anelka (14 goals) ; (7th highest in Premier League) ; All comps: Nicolas Anelka (14 goals)
Average home ; attendance	34,564 – over 19 PL home games ; (11th highest in Premier League)
Highest home ; attendance	35,141 0v0 Liverpool ; 28 September 2002
Highest away ; attendance	67,646 0v0 Manchester United ; 9 February 2003
Lowest home ; attendance	21,820 0v0 Crewe Alexandra ; 1 October 2002
Lowest away ; attendance	15,007 0v0 Wigan Athletic ; 5 November 2002
← 2001–02 0 0 0 0 0 0 2003–04 →

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The 2002–03 season was Manchester City Football Club's first season back playing in the Premier League again after having been relegated from it at the end of the 2000–01 season. This was the club's sixth season playing in the Premier League since its initial formation as the top tier of English football ten years earlier, with Manchester City as one of its original 22 founding member clubs. Overall, this was Manchester City's 111th season playing in any division of English football, most of which have been spent in the top flight.

Season review

This season was the team's first one playing in the Premier League under the stewardship of Kevin Keegan who, having taken over the helm as manager from Joe Royle after the club had been relegated to the Football League First Division fifteen months earlier, had led the club to an immediate promotion back to the top flight. In fact, the previous season had seen Manchester City promoted in style, with the team breaking many prior club records as it became the new First Division champions. This successful campaign allowed Keegan to delve into the transfer market in the summer and he brought in a number of high profile players - such as striker Nicolas Anelka, defender Sylvain Distin and goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel - in an effort to ensure that the team was strong enough to remain in the Premier League now that it was back there again.

By spending the £13m transfer fee required to bring Anelka to Manchester City from Paris Saint-Germain the club broke its previous transfer record. Sylvain Distin also transferred over to Manchester City from PSG for £5m, while Peter Schmeichel joined the club on a free transfer from Aston Villa. Some of the other players Keegan brought in during the newly introduced summer transfer window were Marc-Vivien Foé, who joined the club on a season-long loan from Lyon, Vicente Matías Vuoso (from Independiente) and Mikkel Bischoff. Additionally, Robbie Fowler, David Sommeil and Djamel Belmadi were also signed by Keegan a few months later during the 2003 January transfer window.

The new year would also see the man that had been the main impetus behind the hiring of Kevin Keegan, chairman David Bernstein, fall out with his new hire and leave the club following a boardroom dispute over finances and managerial structure that followed closely on the back of the previous week's resignation of the club's managing director. The initial cause of this dispute had occurred back in January concerning the protracted transfer saga of Robbie Fowler (which Bernstein had originally brokered).^[1] He was succeeded as club chairman by former deputy chairman John Wardle.^[2]

This season's campaign would finally see Manchester City win its first Manchester Derby in over 13 years, allowing Peter Schmeichel to establish an exceptional record where he has never been on the losing side in a derby game. During his nine years playing with Manchester United the Reds were unbeaten against Manchester City, while in his single final season playing with the Blues, City won the derby game played at Maine Road and drew the one played at Old Trafford. This was also to be Manchester City's last season playing at its historic Maine Road ground before moving to its current home at City of Manchester Stadium. Consequently, the last game of the season was also the last game ever played at the club's old ground, and Marc-Vivien Foé would have the distinction of being recorded in the soccer annals as the player who scored the last ever goal at Maine Road.

Team kit

The team kit was produced by Le Coq Sportif and the shirt sponsorship was provided by the financial and legal services group First Advice.^[3]

Home

Away

Third

Historical league performance

Prior to this season, the history of Manchester City's performance in the English football league hierarchy since the creation of the Premier League in 1992 is summarised by the following timeline chart – which commences with the last season (1991-92) of the old Football League First Division (from which the Premier League was formed).

Games

Premier League

Position in final standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
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^[a]
9	Manchester City	38	15	6	17	47	54	−7	51	Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round^[b]
10	Tottenham Hotspur	38	14	8	16	51	62	−11	50
11	Middlesbrough	38	13	10	15	48	44	+4	49

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

^ 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.
^ Manchester City qualified as the highest-ranked team not already qualified for European competitions of Premiership Fair Play League by The Football Association, the top association among UEFA Fair Play ranking winners.

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	15	6	17	47	54	−7	51	9	2	8	28	26	+2	6	4	9	19	28	−9

Last updated: 11 May 2003 (end of season).
Source: Premier League results 2002-03

Points breakdown

Points at home: 29
Points away from home: 22

Points against "Big Four" teams: 7
Points against promoted teams: 9

6 points: Birmingham City, Fulham, Sunderland

4 points: Everton, Manchester United

3 points: Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers, Leeds United, Liverpool,

0Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion

1 point: 0Blackburn Rovers, Charlton Athletic, Middlesbrough, West Ham United

0 points: Arsenal, Chelsea, Southampton

Biggest & smallest

Biggest home win: 4–1 vs. Fulham, 29 January 2003
Biggest home defeat: 1–5 vs. Arsenal, 22 February 2003
Biggest away win: 0–3 vs. Sunderland, 9 December 2002
Biggest away defeat: 5–0 vs. Chelsea, 22 March 2003

Biggest home attendance: 35,141 vs. Liverpool, 28 September 2002
Smallest home attendance: 33,260 vs. Fulham, 29 January 2003
Biggest away attendance: 67,646 vs. Manchester United, 9 February 2003
Smallest away attendance: 17,937 vs. Fulham, 28 September 2002

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H
Result	L	W	L	W	L	D	D	L	L	L	W	W	W	L	L	W	W	D	L	W	W	D	W	L	W	L	D	L	L	W	L	L	D	W	W	L	W	L

Updated to match(es) played on 11 May 2003 (end of season). Source: Premier League results 2002-03
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Individual match reports

17 August 2002