2002–03 Gillingham F.C. season

Gillingham topped the table after three matches, but that would be as good as it got for the Kent side. They were within a shout of the playoffs as late as March,^[1] but a run of three wins from their last thirteen (two of those wins came in the final three games)^[1] saw their slim promotion hopes quashed, although the final 11th place was Gillingham's highest ever in the Football League.

In the FA Cup, Gillingham earned a 1-1 home draw against Premiers League Leeds United in the fourth round, before losing 2-1 in the replay at Elland Road. This would be the scoreline that saw Gillingham knocked out of the League Cup too, against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Kit

Gillingham continued to manufacture their team kits under their own brand, while French ferry company SeaFrance remained kit sponsors. The kit was essentially the same as that worn the previous season, except that the collar had been changed, to a v-neck shape with a red band.^[2]

Final league table

Main article: 2002–03 Football League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Portsmouth	46	17	3	3	52	22	12	8	3	45	23	97	45	+52	98
2	Leicester City	46	16	5	2	40	12	10	9	4	33	28	73	40	+33	92
3	Sheffield United	46	13	7	3	38	23	10	4	9	34	29	72	52	+20	80
4	Reading	46	13	3	7	33	21	12	1	10	28	25	61	46	+15	79
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	9	10	4	40	19	11	6	6	41	25	81	44	+37	76
6	Nottingham Forest	46	14	7	2	57	23	6	7	10	25	27	82	50	+32	74
7	Ipswich Town	46	10	5	8	49	39	9	8	6	31	25	80	64	+16	70
8	Norwich City	46	14	4	5	36	17	5	8	10	24	32	60	49	+11	69
9	Millwall	46	11	6	6	34	32	8	3	12	25	37	59	69	–10	66
10	Wimbledon	46	12	5	6	39	28	6	6	11	37	45	76	73	+3	65
11	Gillingham	46	10	6	7	33	31	6	8	9	23	34	56	65	–9	62
12	Preston North End	46	11	7	5	44	29	5	6	12	24	41	68	70	–2	61
13	Watford	46	11	5	7	33	26	6	4	13	21	44	54	70	–16	60
14	Crystal Palace	46	8	10	5	29	17	6	7	10	30	35	59	52	+7	59
15	Rotherham United	46	8	9	6	27	25	7	5	11	35	37	62	62	±0	59
16	Burnley	46	10	4	9	35	44	5	6	12	30	45	65	89	–24	55
17	Walsall	46	10	3	10	34	34	5	6	12	23	35	57	69	–12	54
18	Derby County	46	9	5	9	33	32	6	2	15	22	42	55	74	–19	52
19	Bradford City	46	7	8	8	27	35	7	2	14	24	38	51	73	–22	52
20	Coventry City	46	6	6	11	23	31	6	8	9	23	31	46	62	–16	50
21	Stoke City	46	9	6	8	25	25	3	8	12	20	44	45	69	–24	50
22	Sheffield Wednesday	46	7	7	9	29	32	3	9	11	27	41	56	73	–17	46
23	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	7	6	10	29	31	4	6	13	20	36	49	67	–18	45
24	Grimsby Town	46	5	6	12	26	39	4	6	13	22	46	48	85	–37	39

Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Football League Champions, promoted to FA Premier League
	Promoted to FA Premier League
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted to Premier League through play-offs
	Relegated

Results

Gillingham's score comes first^[3]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10 August 2002	Wimbledon	A	1-0	2,476	Ipoua
13 August 2002	Derby County	H	1-0	8,775	Shaw
17 August 2002	Millwall	H	1-0	7,543	Ipoua
24 August 2002	Norwich City	A	0-1	20,588
26 August 2002	Preston North End	H	1-1	7,785	Saunders
31 August 2002	Leicester City	A	0-2	30,067
7 September 2002	Portsmouth	H	1-3	8,717	James
14 September 2002	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	4-2	6,733	Shaw (2), Perpetuini, James
18 September 2002	Nottingham Forest	A	1-4	16,073	Hessenthaler
21 September 2002	Sheffield United	H	1-1	7,497	Shaw
29 September 2002	Crystal Palace	A	2-2	15,699	Perpetuini, Mullins (own goal)
5 October 2002	Coventry City	H	0-2	7,722
12 October 2002	Rotherham United	A	1-1	6,094	Wallace
19 October 2002	Watford	H	3-0	8,728	Sidibe, Ipoua, James
26 October 2002	Ipswich Town	A	1-0	24,176	Sidibe
29 October 2002	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0-4	10,036
2 November 2002	Grimsby Town	A	1-1	5,715	Saunders
9 November 2002	Reading	H	0-1	8,511
16 November 2002	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1-1	8,028	T Johnson
23 November 2002	Walsall	A	0-1	6,630
30 November 2002	Stoke City	H	1-1	8,150	Shaw
7 December 2002	Bradford City	A	3-1	10,711	King (2, 1 pen), Wallace
14 December 2002	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2-0	17,715	Wallace, Smith
21 December 2002	Burnley	H	4-2	7,905	Wallace, Smith (2), King
26 December 2002	Millwall	A	2-2	10,947	Saunders, King (pen)
11 January 2003	Derby County	A	1-1	22,769	Ipoua
18 January 2003	Leicester City	H	3-2	8,609	Shaw, Elliott (own goal), Sidibe
1 February 2003	Preston North End	A	0-3	12,121
10 February 2003	Reading	A	1-2	11,030	Wallace
15 February 2003	Grimsby Town	H	3-0	7,158	Wallace (2), Hope
22 February 2003	Portsmouth	A	0-1	19,521
25 February 2003	Norwich City	H	1-0	7,935	Wallace
1 March 2003	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	3-0	9,178	Shaw, T Johnson (pen), Southall
4 March 2003	Nottingham Forest	H	1-4	7,277	Wallace
11 March 2003	Wimbledon	H	3-3	7,884	Shaw (2), Wallace
15 March 2003	Rotherham United	H	1-1	7,284	Wallace
18 March 2003	Watford	A	1-0	10,492	Shaw
22 March 2003	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0-6	25,171
25 March 2003	Sheffield United	A	2-2	15,799	Osborn, Shaw
29 March 2003	Ipswich Town	H	1-3	8,508	Smith
5 April 2003	Stoke City	A	0-0	12,746
12 April 2003	Walsall	H	0-1	6,972
19 April 2003	Burnley	A	0-2	14,031
21 April 2003	Bradford City	H	1-0	6,281	Shaw
26 April 2003	Coventry City	A	0-0	14,795
4 May 2003	Crystal Palace	H	2-1	9,315	Nosworthy (2)

FA Cup

Main article: 2002–03 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	7 January 2003	Sheffield Wednesday	H	4-1	6,434	King (2, 1 pen), Ipoua, Hope
R4	25 January 2003	Leeds United	H	1-1	11,093	Sidibe
R4R	4 February 2003	Leeds United	A	1-2	29,359	Ipoua

League Cup

Main article: 2002–03 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	10 September 2002	Torquay United	A	1-0	1,981	Hessenthaler
R2	1 October 2002	Stockport County	A	2-1 (a.e.t.)	2,396	Ipoua, T Johnson
R3	6 November 2002	Chelsea	A	1-2	28,033	King

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	Vince Bartram
3	DF	Roland Edge
4	MF	Paul Smith
5	DF	Barry Ashby
7	DF	Nyron Nosworthy^[4]
8	MF	Andy Hessenthaler (player-manager)
9	FW	Marlon King^[5]
10	FW	Guy Ipoua
11	MF	Ty Gooden
12	MF	Paul Shaw
13	GK	Jason Brown^[6]
14	MF	Leon Johnson
15	MF	Mark Saunders
16	DF	Richard Rose
17	FW	Akwasi Fobi-Edusei^[7]

No.	Position	Player
18	DF	Chris Hope
19	FW	Rod Wallace
20	FW	Kevin James
21	MF	Simon Osborn
22	MF	Danny Spiller
23	FW	Tommy Johnson
24	MF	Michael Phillips
25	GK	Danny Knowles
26	DF	David Perpetuini
27	FW	Jones Awuah
28	MF	Andrew Crofts^[8]
29	FW	Mamady Sidibe
30	DF	Nicky Southall
31	MF	Jon Wallis

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
2	DF	Mark Patterson (retired^[9])
6	DF	Guy Butters (to Brighton and Hove Albion)
14	MF	Marcus Browning (to Bournemouth^[10])

No.	Position	Player
16	DF	Richard Rose (on loan to Bristol Rovers)
17	DF	Adrian Pennock (to Gravesend & Northfleet)
25	DF	Ben White (to Gravesend & Northfleet)

Transfers

In

Leon Johnson - Southend United, free, 2002
Rod Wallace - Bolton Wanderers, free, June 2002
Mamady Sidibe - Swansea City, free, 7 August 2002^[11]

References

1 2 First Division table, 29 March 2003, Statto
↑ Gillingham historical football kits
↑ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/gillingham/2002-2003/results
↑ Nosworthy was born in Brixton, England, but qualifies to represent Jamaica internationally through his father; he was not called up for the squad until October 2007.
↑ King was born in Dulwich, England, but qualifies to represent Jamaica internationally; he was not called up for the squad until 2004.
↑ Brown was born in Southwark, England, but qualifies to represent Wales internationally; he played for the U21 side during the season and would make his debut for the full national side in May 2006.
↑ Fobi-Edusei was born in London, England; it would be alleged in 2006 that he had been called up for the Ghana U19 side, qualifying through his parents, though these reports have yet to be substantiated.
↑ Crofts was born in Chatham, England, but qualifies to represent Wales internationally through a grandparent; he played for the U19 team during the season and would make his debut for the full national side in October 2005.
↑ November transfers, The Telegraph, John Ley, 3 December 2002
↑ Browning was born in Bristol, England, but qualifies to represent Wales internationally and made his debut for the full national side in 1996.
↑ Gills sign striker Sidibe, BBC News, 7 August 2002

Gillingham F.C. seasons

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2002–03 in English football

« 2001–02

2003–04 »

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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