2002–03 Scottish Premier League

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Scottish Premier League
Season 2002–03
Champions Rangers
Relegated No relegation
Champions League Rangers
Celtic
UEFA Cup Heart of Midlothian
Dundee
Top goalscorer Henrik Larsson (28)
Biggest home win Celtic 7–0 Aberdeen (3 November)
Biggest away win Dunfermline 0–6 Rangers (1 September)
Highest attendance 59,027 – Celtic v Rangers (6 October)
Lowest attendance 3,541 – Partick Thistle v Livingston (28 January)

The 2002–03 Scottish Premier League was won by Rangers by a goal difference of 1.

On the final day of the season, Rangers defeated Dunfermline 6–1, while Celtic could only win 4–0 away at Kilmarnock.

As league champions, Rangers qualified for the UEFA Champions League, with runners-up Celtic also qualifying. Third-placed Hearts qualified for the UEFA Cup, as did Dundee, who took the Scottish Cup place despite losing the final against Rangers, who were also League Cup winners.

Motherwell were spared relegation, as Scottish First Division winners Falkirk's presentation of a groundshare proposal at Airdrie United's Excelsior Stadium was voted down at a meeting of all the SPL's member clubs.

Henrik Larsson was the top scorer with 28 goals for Celtic.

Promotion and relegation from 2001–02

Promoted from First Division to Premier League

Relegated from Premier League to First Division

League table

P Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Rangers 38 31 4 3 101 28 +73 97 2003–04 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
2 Celtic 38 31 4 3 98 26 +72 97 2003–04 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
3 Hearts 38 18 9 11 57 51 +6 63 2003–04 UEFA Cup First round
4 Kilmarnock 38 16 9 13 47 56 –9 57
5 Dunfermline Athletic 38 13 7 18 54 71 –17 46
6 Dundee 38 10 14 14 50 60 –10 44 2003–04 UEFA Cup First round
7 Hibernian 38 15 6 17 56 64 –8 51
8 Aberdeen 38 13 10 15 41 54 –13 49
9 Livingston 38 9 8 21 48 62 –14 35
10 Partick Thistle 38 8 11 19 37 58 –21 35
11 Dundee United 38 7 11 20 35 68 –33 32
12 Motherwell 38 7 7 24 45 71 –26 28

Source: SPL official website

Top scorers

Player Club Goals
Sweden Henrik Larsson Celtic 28
Scotland Stevie Crawford Dunfermline Athletic 19
Wales John Hartson Celtic 18
Netherlands Ronald de Boer Rangers 16
Scotland Alex Burns Partick Thistle 16
Scotland Barry Ferguson Rangers 16
England Chris Sutton Celtic 15
Georgia (country) Shota Arveladze Rangers 15
Suriname Mark de Vries Hearts 15
Netherlands Michael Mols Rangers 13
Scotland James McFadden Motherwell 13

Source: SPL official website

Attendances

The average attendances for SPL clubs during the 2002/03 season are shown below:

Team Average
Celtic 57,471
Rangers 48,814
Hearts 12,057
Aberdeen 11,774
Hibernian 10,157
Dundee United 7,665
Kilmarnock 7,407
Dundee 7,399
Livingston 6,663
Dunfermline Athletic 6,124
Motherwell 6,085
Partick Thistle 5,657

Source: SPL official website

Monthly awards

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Month Manager Player Young Player
August Scotland John Lambie (Partick Thistle) Netherlands Mark de Vries (Hearts) Scotland Kris Boyd (Kilmarnock)
September Scotland Alex McLeish (Rangers) France Jean-Louis Valois (Hearts) Spain Mikel Arteta (Rangers)
October Scotland Bobby Williamson (Hibernian) Netherlands Fernando Ricksen (Rangers) Scotland Ian Murray (Hibernian)
November Northern Ireland Martin O'Neill (Celtic) Sweden Henrik Larsson (Celtic) Scotland Mark Wilson (Dundee United)
December Scotland Jim Jefferies (Kilmarnock) Wales John Hartson (Celtic) Scotland Shaun Dillon (Kilmarnock)
January Scotland Jim Duffy (Dundee) Scotland Barry Ferguson (Rangers) Scotland Kris Boyd (Kilmarnock)
February Scotland Alex McLeish (Rangers) Scotland Lee Wilkie (Dundee) Scotland Shaun Maloney (Celtic)
March Scotland Jim Duffy (Dundee) Scotland Thomas McManus (Hibernian) Georgia (country) Zurab Khizanishvili (Dundee)
April Scotland Craig Levein (Hearts) Guinea Bobo Baldé (Celtic) Scotland Andy Webster (Hearts)