2002–03 Cardiff City F.C. season

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Cardiff City 2002–03 football season

Cardiff City

2002–03 season
Chairman	Sam Hammam
Manager	Lennie Lawrence
Division Two	6th
FA Cup	Third round
Carling Cup	Second round
LDV Vans Trophy	Quarter-finals
FAW Premier Cup	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Robert Earnshaw (31) All: Robert Earnshaw (35)
Highest home attendance	15,245 vs Queens Park Rangers (5 April 2003)
Lowest home attendance	11,389 vs Notts County (8 March 2003)
Average home league attendance	13,049
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

During the 2002–03 season Cardiff City played in the Football League Division Two. They finished in six place and were promoted to Division One after beating Queens Park Rangers in the play-off final in Cardiff.

The season also saw Robert Earnshaw break the 56-year record of 30 league goals held by Stan Richards and the record of Hughie Ferguson of 32 goals in all competitions.

Squad

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Championship		FA Cup		League Cup		LDV Vans Trophy
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	SCO	Neil Alexander	48	0	43	0	4	0	1	0	0	0
2	DF	WAL	Rhys Weston	50	2	42	2	5	0	2	0	1	0
3	DF	WAL	Andy Legg	46	3	38	3	5	0	2	0	1	0
4	MF	ENG	Gareth Whalley	23	0	22	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
5	DF	ENG	Spencer Prior	46	0	40	0	4	0	2	0	0	0
6	DF	WAL	Danny Gabbidon	28	0	27	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
7	FW	ENG	Andy Campbell	40	7	31	4	5	2	2	0	2	1
8	MF	EIR	Graham Kavanagh	50	4	47	4	1	0	2	0	0	0
9	FW	ENG	Leo Fortune-West	28	4	19	2	5	1	2	0	2	1
10	FW	WAL	Robert Earnshaw	55	35	49	31	4	1	2	3	0	0
11	FW	ENG	Peter Thorne	55	16	49	14	4	1	1	1	1	0
12	MF	EIR	Willie Boland	50	1	44	0	4	1	2	0	0	0
13	GK	WAL	Martyn Margetson	10	0	6	0	1	0	1	0	2	0
14	FW	WAL	Jason Bowen	18	4	11	3	5	0	0	0	2	1
15	MF	ENG	Mark Bonner	19	0	17	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
16	MF	WAL	Leyton Maxwell	22	0	16	0	3	0	2	0	1	0
17	DF	WAL	James Collins	7	2	2	0	3	2	0	0	2	0
18	DF	WAL	Scott Young	14	1	12	1	2	0	0	0	0	0
19	MF	ENG	Michael Simpkins	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
19	MF	ENG	Gareth Ainsworth	9	0	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	FW	ENG	Gavin Gordon	11	3	10	2	0	0	0	0	1	1
21	MF	WAL	David Hughes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	GK	WAL	Mark Walton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	DF	ENG	Chris Barker	50	0	43	0	5	0	1	0	1	0
24	MF	WAL	Gethin Jones	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	DF	ENG	Des Hamilton	12	0	6	0	3	0	1	0	2	0
26	DF	ENG	Gary Croft	51	1	45	1	4	0	2	0	0	0
27	DF	WAL	Ryan Green	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
27	DF	WAL	Josh Low	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF	EIR	Alan Mahon	15	2	15	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	DF	SCO	Andy Jordan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	MF	WAL	Kevin Evans	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	MF	WAL	Martyn Giles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	GK	WAL	Lee Kendall	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	DF	WAL	Steve Jenkins	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	DF	CHN	Fan Zhiyi	7	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

Standings

Main article: 2002–03 Football League § Second Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
4	Queens Park Rangers	46	24	11	11	69	45	+24	83	Participated in play-offs
5	Oldham Athletic	46	22	16	8	68	38	+30	82
6	Cardiff City (O, P)	46	23	12	11	68	43	+25	81
7	Tranmere Rovers	46	23	11	12	66	57	+9	80
8	Plymouth Argyle	46	17	14	15	63	52	+11	65

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).
(O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted

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	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	A
Result	W	W	L	W	D	D	W	W	W	D	W	D	W	L	W	W	W	L	W	W	L	W	L	W	D	W	L	D	W	D	D	W	D	W	L	D	W	W	L	W	W	L	L	L	D	D
Position	~	2	5	3	5	5	8	4	4	1	1	2	1	2	2	1	1	3	2	1	3	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	4	3	3	3	3	4	5	6

Source:
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Fixtures and results

Division Two

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10 Aug	Oldham Athletic	A	W 2 – 1	8,033	Campbell, Earnshaw
13 Aug	Port Vale	H	W 3 – 1	13,296	Thorne, Fortune-West, Legg
17 Aug	Northampton Town	H	L 1 – 2	13,321	Kavanagh
24 Aug	Swindon Town	A	W 1 – 0	7,564	Fortune-West
26 Aug	Luton Town	H	D 0 – 0	13,564
31 Aug	Cheltenham Town	A	D 1 – 1	4,395	Campbell
14 Sep	Stockport County	H	W 2 – 1	11,546	Earnshaw, Kavanagh
17 Sep	Brentford	H	W 2 – 0	12,032	Legg, Earnshaw
21 Sep	Notts County	A	W 1 – 0	6,118	Croft
24 Sep	Plymouth Argyle	A	D 2 – 2	11,606	Earnshaw (2)
28 Sep	Crewe Alexandra	H	W 2 – 1	13,208	Earnshaw (2)
5 Oct	Wigan Athletic	A	D 2 – 2	8,047	Earnshaw (2)
12 Oct	Wycombe Wanderers	H	W 1 – 0	13,120	Kavanagh
19 Oct	Blackpool	A	L 0 – 1	7,744
26 Oct	Tranmere Rovers	H	W 4 – 0	12,096	Thorne (2), Earnshaw, Weston
29 Oct	Mansfield Town	A	W 1 – 0	3,441	Thorne
2 Nov	Peterborough United	H	W 3 – 0	12,918	Kavanagh, Earnshaw, Weston
9 Nov	Barnsley	A	L 2 – 3	10,894	Earnshaw (2)
24 Nov	Chesterfield	H	W 1 – 0	13,331	Thorne
29 Nov	Queens Park Rangers	A	W 4 – 0	14,345	Earnshaw (3), Campbell
14 Dec	Bristol City	H	L 0 – 2	15,239
20 Dec	Colchester United	A	W 2 – 1	3,096	Earnshaw (2)
26 Dec	Luton Town	A	L 0 – 2	7,805
29 Dec	Huddersfield Town	H	W 4 – 0	13,703	Bowen (2), Earnshaw (2)
1 Jan	Swindon Town	H	D 1 – 1	13,062	Earnshaw
18 Jan	Cheltenham Town	H	W 2 – 1	11,605	Thorne, Earnshaw
25 Jan	Huddersfield Town	A	L 0 – 1	9,462
31 Jan	Oldham Athletic	H	D 1 – 1	12,579	Bowen
4 Feb	Northampton Town	A	W 1 – 0	4,553	Earnshaw
8 Feb	Barnsley	H	D 1 – 1	12,759	Gordon
21 Feb	Plymouth Argyle	H	D 1 – 1	14,006	Earnshaw
25 Feb	Port Vale	A	W 2 – 0	3,831	Gordon, Thorne
1 Mar	Stockport County	A	D 1 – 1	5,385	Thorne
4 Mar	Brentford	A	W 2 – 0	5,727	Young, Earnshaw
8 Mar	Notts County	H	L 0 – 2	11,389
14 Mar	Tranmere Rovers	A	D 3 – 3	9,637	Earnshaw (3)
18 Mar	Blackpool	H	W 2 – 1	11,788	Earnshaw, Mahon
21 Mar	Mansfield Town	H	W 1 – 0	13,009	Earnshaw
5 Apr	Queens Park Rangers	H	L 1 – 2	15,245	Thorne
8 Apr	Wycombe Wanderers	A	W 4 – 0	5,889	Thorne (2), Mahon, Legg
13 Apr	Chesterfield	A	W 3 – 0	4,398	Kavanagh, Thorne (2)
16 Apr	Peterborough United	A	L 0 – 2	4,984
19 Apr	Colchester United	H	L 0 – 3	12,633
22 Apr	Bristol City	A	L 0 – 2	15,615
26 Apr	Wigan Athletic	H	D 0 – 0	14,702
3 May	Crewe Alexandra	A	D 1 – 1	9,562	Earnshaw

Play-Offs

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10 May	Semi-final (first leg)	Bristol City	H	W 1 – 0	19,146	Thorne
13 May	Semi-final (second leg)	Bristol City	A	D 0 – 0	16,307
25 May	Final	Queens Park Rangers	N	W 1 – 0 (aet)	66,096	Campbell

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
11 Sep	One	Boston United	A	W 5 – 1	2,280	Earnshaw (3), OG, Thorne
1 Oct	Two	Tottenham Hotspur	A	L 0 – 1

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
16 Nov	One	Tranmere Rovers	A	D 2 – 2	5,592	Collins, Kavanagh
26 Nov	One (replay)	Tranmere Rovers	H	W 2 – 1	6,853	Campbell, Collins
7 Dec	Two	Margate	A	W 3 – 0	1,362	Thorne, Boland, Fortune-West
4 Jan	Three	Coventry City	H	D 2 – 2	16,013	Earnshaw, Campbell
15 Jan	Three (replay)	Coventry City	A	L 0 – 3	11,997

LDV Vans Trophy

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
12 Nov	One	Exeter City	A	W 3 – 0	1,360	Bowen, Campbell, Fortune-West
10 Dec	Quarter-final	Bournemouth	A	L 1 – 2	3,615	Gordon

FAW Premier Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
–	Quarter-final	Total Network Solutions	A	W 3 – 1	–	Gordon (2), Fleetwood
24 Mar	Semi-final	Newport County	A	L 0 – 0 (Lost 4 – 5 on pens)	1,160

Notes

1. ^ "Earnie sends records tumbling". BBC Sport. 22 March 2003. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
2. ^ Includes play-off matches and goals
3. ^ "Cardiff City 2002-03 results". Cardiff City Forum. Retrieved 31 January 2022.

See also

• Cardiff City F.C. seasons
• 2002–03 in English football
• 2003 Football League Second Division play-off final