2002–03 Blackburn Rovers F.C. season

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. 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.

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.	Position	Player
1	GK	Brad Friedel
2	DF	Lucas Neill
3	MF	Tugay Kerimoğlu
4	DF	Andy Todd
6	DF	Craig Short
7	MF	Garry Flitcroft
8	MF	David Dunn
9	FW	Andrew Cole
10	FW	Matt Jansen
11	MF	Damien Duff
12	FW	Corrado Grabbi
13	GK	Alan Kelly
14	DF	Nils-Eric Johansson
15	FW	Craig Hignett
16	MF	Alan Mahon

No.	Position	Player
17	DF	John Curtis
18	MF	Keith Gillespie
19	FW	Dwight Yorke
20	MF	David Thompson
21	DF	Martin Taylor
22	FW	Egil Østenstad
23	DF	Sebastian Pelzer
25	DF	Henning Berg
26	DF	Vratislav Greško (on loan from Parma)
29	MF	Jonathan Douglas
31	FW	Paul Gallagher
33	FW	Hakan Şükür
34	DF	Jay McEveley
35	MF	Neil Danns
36	FW	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.		Position	Player
5		DF	Stig Inge Bjørnebye (retired)
10		FW	Matt Jansen (on loan to Coventry City)

No.		Position	Player
20		MF	Hakan Ünsal (to Galatasaray)
27		GK	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.		Position	Player
24		MF	Darren Dunning
30		DF	Gordon Greer

No.		Position	Player
32		GK	Ryan Robinson

Statistics

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions^[3]

GK: #1, Brad Friedel, 47
RB: #2, Lucas Neill, 45
CB: #14, Nils-Eric Johansson, 27 (#20, David Thompson, has 32 starts)
CB: #21, Martin Taylor, 38
LB: #6, Craig Short, 29
RM: #7, Garry Flitcroft, 39
CM: #8, David Dunn, 33
CM: #3, Tugay Kerimoğlu, 42
LM: #11, Damien Duff, 31
CF: #19, Dwight Yorke, 35
CF: #9, Andy Cole, 40

Transfers

In

Andy Todd - Charlton Athletic, 22 May, £750,000 (rising to £1,000,000 depending on appearances)^[4]
Sebastian Pelzer - 1. FC Kaiserslautern II, 25 June, undisclosed^[5]
Dwight Yorke - Manchester United, 26 July, £2,000,000 (rising to £2,600,000 depending on appearances and team performance)^[6]
David Thompson - Coventry City, 29 August, £1,500,000 (rising to £2,500,000 depending on player and team performances)^[7]
Hakan Şükür - unattached (last played for Parma), 4 December, free^[8]
Vratislav Greško - Parma, 11 February, four-month loan^[9]

Out

Mark Hughes - released, 13 May^[10]
Simon Grayson - Blackpool, 19 July, free^[11]
Hakan Ünsal - Galatasaray, 27 August, £650,000^[12]
Matt Jansen - Coventry City, 18 February, four-month loan^[13]
Stig Inge Bjørnebye - retired, 11 March^[14]
Alan Miller - retired, 7 April^[15]
James Thomas - released

Results

Premier League

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: 27,563 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

31 August 2002 4	Middlesbrough	1–0	Blackburn Rovers	Middlesbrough
	Job 90'			Stadium: Riverside Stadium

11 September 2002 5	Blackburn	2-3	Chelsea	Blackburn
	David Dunn 18' (pen.) David Thompson 45'		Jesper Grønkjær 38' Gianfranco Zola 52', 80'	Stadium: Ewood Park

15 September 2002 6	Manchester City	2-2	Blackburn Rovers	Maine Road Manchester
15:00	Anelka 80' Goater 90' Tiatto 67'	Guardian report	26' Thompson 54' Cole	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

30 September 2002 8	West Bromwich	0-2	Blackburn Rovers
			Dwight Yorke 72' (pen.) Damien Duff 76'

6 October 2002 9	Blackburn	1-2	Tottenham	Blackburn
	Egil Østenstad 59'		Robbie Keane 6' Jamie Redknapp 89'	Stadium: Ewood Park

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 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 83'		Edu 6' (o.g.) Østenstad 37' Johansson 45' Yorke 51' Flitcroft 70', 79'	Stadium: Highbury Attendance: 38,064 Referee: Graham Barber

3 November 2002 12	Blackburn Rovers	0–0	Aston Villa	Blackburn
		[ Report]		Stadium: Ewood Park

9 November 2002 13	Southampton	1-1	Blackburn Rovers
	James Beattie 38' (pen.)		Andy Cole 90'

17 November 2002 14	Blackburn Rovers	0-1	Everton	Blackburn
			Kevin Campbell 19'	Stadium: Ewood Park

24 November 2002 15	Charlton	3-1	Blackburn Rovers
	Paul Konchesky 59' Richard Rufus 74' Jason Euell 90'		David Thompson 60'

30 November 2002 16	Blackburn Rovers	2-1	Fulham	Blackburn
	Dwight Yorke 36' Rufus Brevett 77' (o.g.)		Steve Marlet 60'	Stadium: Ewood Park

7 December 2002 17	Bolton	1-1	Blackburn Rovers
	Jay-Jay Okocha 8'		Craig Short 90'

14 December 2002 18	Everton	2-1	Blackburn Rovers
	Lee Carsley 12' Wayne Rooney 25'		Andy Cole 6'

22 December 2002 19	Blackburn Rovers	1-0	Manchester United	Blackburn
	Garry Flitcroft 40'			Stadium: Ewood Park

26 December 2002 20	Liverpool	1–1	Blackburn Rovers	Liverpool
	Riise 17'	Report	Cole 77'	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 43,075 Referee: Neale Barry

28 December 2002 21	Blackburn Rovers	2-2	West Ham	Blackburn
	Damien Duff 4' Andy Cole 78'		Martin Taylor 24' (o.g.) Jermain Defoe 86'	Stadium: Ewood Park

1 January 2003 22	Blackburn Rovers	1-0	Middlesbrough	Blackburn
	Dwight Yorke 57'			Stadium: Ewood Park

11 January 2003 23	Sunderland	0–0	Blackburn Rovers	Sunderland
		[ Report]		Stadium: Stadium of Light

18 January 2003 24	Blackburn Rovers	1–1	Birmingham City	Blackburn
15:00 GMT (UTC)	Duff 19' Todd 28'	[ Report]	John 83'	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 23,331 Referee: Clive Wilkes

29 January 2003 25	West Ham	2-1	Blackburn Rovers
	Paolo Di Canio 58' (pen.) Jermain Defoe 89'		Dwight Yorke 38'

2 February 2003 26	Aston Villa	3-0	Blackburn Rovers
	Dion Dublin 2', 40' Gareth Barry 81'

8 February 2003 27	Blackburn Rovers	1-0	Southampton	Blackburn
	David Thompson 26'			Stadium: Ewood Park

22 February 2003 28	Chelsea	1-2	Blackburn Rovers
	Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 90'		Dwight Yorke 86' David Dunn 90'

1 March 2003 29	Blackburn Rovers	1-0	Manchester City	Blackburn
15:00	Dunn 13'	Guardian report		Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 28,647 Referee: Steve Dunn

15 March 2003 30	Blackburn Rovers	2-0	Arsenal	Blackburn
	Duff 22' Tugay 52'	[ Report]		Stadium: Ewood Park

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	Dunn 54'	Stadium: St James' Park Attendance: 52,106 Referee: Neale Barry

7 April 2003 32	Fulham	0-4	Blackburn Rovers
			David Dunn 37' (pen.) Hakan Şükür 42', 54' Damien Duff 53'

12 April 2003 33	Blackburn Rovers	1-0	Charlton	Blackburn
	Damien Duff 34'			Stadium: Ewood Park

19 April 2003 34	Manchester United	3-1	Blackburn Rovers
	Ruud van Nistelrooy 20' Paul Scholes 42', 61'	Report	Henning Berg 24'

21 April 2003 35	Blackburn Rovers	0–0	Bolton Wanderers	Blackburn
		Report		Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 28,862 Referee: Mike Dean

26 April 2003 36	Leeds United	2–3	Blackburn Rovers	Leeds, West Yorkshire
	Viduka 21' Smith 90'		Dunn 38' (pen.) A. Cole 69' Todd 78'	Stadium: Elland Road

3 May 2003 37	Blackburn Rovers	1-1	West Bromwich	Blackburn
	Damien Duff 11'	Report	Jason Koumas 54'	Stadium: Ewood Park

11 May 2003 38	Tottenham	0-4	Blackburn Rovers
		Report	Dwight Yorke 5' Craig Hignett 45' Damien Duff 48' Andy Cole 60'

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

25 January 2003 4	Blackburn Rovers	3-3	Sunderland	Blackburn
	Andrew Cole 14', 73' Dwight Yorke 90'		Marcus Stewart 2' Michael Proctor 52' Kevin Phillips 70'	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 14,315

5 February 2003 4R	Sunderland	2-2 (a.e.t.) (3-0 p)	Blackburn Rovers
	Kevin Phillips 10' Gavin McCann 79'		Garry Flitcroft 50', 90'	Attendance: 15,745
		Penalties
	Kevin Phillips Kevin Kilbane Jody Craddock Gavin McCann		David Thompson Andy Cole Corrado Grabbi

League Cup

6 November 2002 3	Blackburn Rovers	2-2 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	Walsall	Blackburn
	Corrado Grabbi 45' Ian Roper 105' (o.g.)		Zigor Aranalde 67' (pen.) David Zdrilic 98'	Stadium: Ewood Park
		Penalties
	John Curtis Corrado Grabbi David Dunn Alan Mahon Marc Richards		Danny Sonner Tony Barras Darren Wrack Darren Bazeley David Zdrilic

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

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'

31 October 2002 Round 2 Leg 1	Celtic	1-0	Blackburn Rovers
	Henrik Larsson 85'

14 November 2002 Round 2 Leg 2	Blackburn Rovers	0-2	Celtic	Blackburn
			Henrik Larsson 15' Chris Sutton 68'	Stadium: Ewood Park

Topscorers

Premier League

External links

FootballSquads - Blackburn Rovers - 2002/03

References

↑ "Blackburn Rovers | Match | Club Statistics | Goalscorers". Rovers.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ "Blackburn Rovers | Match | Club Statistics | Attendance". Rovers.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ "Blackburn Rovers | Match | Club Statistics | Appearances". Rovers.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ "BBC SPORT | Football | Teams | Blackburn Rovers | Todd signs for Blackburn". BBC News. 2002-05-22. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ "BBC SPORT | Football | Teams | Blackburn Rovers | Blackburn bag Pelzer". BBC News. 2002-06-25. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ "BBC SPORT | Football | Teams | Blackburn Rovers | Blackburn sign Yorke". BBC News. 2002-07-26. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ "BBC SPORT | Football | Teams | Blackburn Rovers | Blackburn grab Thompson". BBC News. 2002-08-29. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ Souness on Sukur (2002-12-04). "BBC SPORT | Football | Teams | Blackburn Rovers | Blackburn sign Sukur". BBC News. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ "BBC SPORT | Football | Teams | Blackburn Rovers | Gresko seals Blackburn move". BBC News. 2003-02-11. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ "BBC SPORT | Football | Hughes faces retirement". BBC News. 2002-05-13. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ "BBC SPORT | Football | Teams | Blackpool | Blackpool sign Grayson". BBC News. 2002-07-19. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ "BBC SPORT | Football | Football Transfers". BBC News. 2002-08-01. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ John Williams,Rovers chief executive (2003-02-18). "BBC SPORT | Football | Teams | Coventry City | Jansen completes Coventry move". BBC News. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Blackburn Rovers | Bjornebye quits football". BBC News. 2003-03-11. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
↑ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Blackburn Rovers | Miller forced to retire". BBC News. 2003-04-07. Retrieved 2012-08-03.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club

History Players Managers Reserves Academy

Grounds	Oozehead Pleasington Cricket Ground Alexandra Meadows Leamington Road Ewood Park

Related articles	East Lancashire derby Blackburn Rovers L.F.C. Radio Rovers Burial of the Coffin

Blackburn Rovers F.C. seasons

1888–89 1889–90

001890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900

1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10

1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20

1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30

1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40

1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50

1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60

1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90

001990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000

2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 * 2017–18 * 2018–19 * 2019–20

2002–03 in English football

« 2001–02

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FA competitions

Premier League and
Football League

Football Conference

Football Conference

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

Club seasons

Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Charlton Athletic Chelsea Everton Fulham Leeds United Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Southampton Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United

First Division	Bradford City Brighton & Hove Albion Burnley Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Grimsby Town Gillingham Ipswich Town Leicester City Millwall Norwich City Nottingham Forest Portsmouth Preston North End Reading Rotherham United Sheffield United Sheffield Wednesday Stoke City Walsall Watford Wimbledon Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Barnsley Blackpool Brentford Bristol City Cardiff City Cheltenham Town Chesterfield Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Huddersfield Town Luton Town Mansfield Town Northampton Town Notts County Oldham Athletic Peterborough United Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Stockport County Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers Wigan Athletic Wycombe Wanderers

Third Division	Boston United Bournemouth Bristol Rovers Bury Cambridge United Carlisle United Darlington Exeter City Hartlepool United Hull City Kidderminster Harriers Leyton Orient Lincoln City Macclesfield Town Oxford United Rochdale Rushden & Diamonds Scunthorpe United Shrewsbury Town Southend United Swansea City Torquay United Wrexham York City

Non-League	AFC Wimbledon Gateshead Newport County Yeovil Town

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