Birmingham City F.C. season 2002-03
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| Birmingham City | |
| Season 2002-03 | |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Steve Bruce |
| Chairman | David Gold |
| League | Premiership |
| Final league position | 13th |
| FA Cup | 3rd round |
| League Cup | 3rd round |
| Top goalscorer | League: Clinton Morrison (6)All:  Stern John (9) |
| Highest home attendance | 29,505 vs Aston Villa (16 September 2002) |
| Lowest home attendance | 12,241 vs Preston North End (5 November 2002) |
The 2002-03 season will be Birmingham City's 110th in the Football League, their 1st in the Premiership, and their 51st in the top teir of English football.
Contents |
[edit] Season review
Birmingham’s first season in the Premiership was a roller coaster of a ride that resulted in the team finishing in 13th, although they were favourites to be relegated at the start of the season.
Once Birmingham had secured their states in the Premiership after beating Norwich City in the Division One Playoff Final the year before, manager Steve Bruce started to strengthen the side. Internationals Robbie Savage (Wales), Kenny Cunningham, Clinton Morrison (both Irish), and Aliou Cisse (Senegalese) all joined the side.
As it was Birmingham’s first season in the premiership, and it is important to mention that Stern John scored Birmingham first ever goal in the premiership (and first in the top flight since Robert Hopkins scored against Newcastle United back in the 1985-86 season) when the striker scored a penalty in the 1-1 draw with Everton on August 28, 2002.
The match after the Everton game secured Birmingham their first three points in the league, as the beat once great Leeds United 2-1 thanks to goals from Paul Devlin and Damien Johnson.
One of the many highlights of the season was the superb performance that gave Birmingham a 3-0 victory over local rivals Aston Villa. A first half goal from Clinton Morrison saw Birmingham in control at half time, before a comedy of errors saw a through in by Olof Mellberg roll under the foot of Villa keeper Peter Enckelman and into the net to gift the side a 2-0 lead. Geoff Horsfield added a third later in the game thanks to bad defending from Turkish defender Alpay.
By the new years, Birmingham were in 15th position in the table, and 7 points clear of Sunderland who were in 18th position in the table. This did not stop Bruce spending in the winter transfer window however, as Stephen Clemence, Jamie Clapham, and Matthew Upson all joined the club. These transfers fall into insignificance however, when compared to the impact that French world cup winning striker Christophe Dugarry would have on the side in April.
A bad start to 2003 saw Birmingham fall to 16th in the table, with only 5 points separating themselves and 18th place West Bromwich Albion. This was before Liverpool’s visit to St Andrews, where Birmingham went into a two goal lead thanks to Clemence and Morrison, before Michael Owen added a late consolation goal for the Merseyside team. The Liverpool game was followed by the away tie against Aston Villa. The game kicked into life when Villa striker Dion Dublin head butted Savage in the 51st minute, and was rightly sent off for the incident. This did not help his side as on the 74th minute Australian Stan Lazaridis scored his first of the season, and only three minutes later, a poor header back by Jlloyd Samuel allowed Horsfield to run onto the ball, beat Enckelman and slot the ball home from close range. The game ended with another sending of, as Icelandic Joey Gudjonsson lunged at Upson with a two footed tackle.
Birmingham may have been safe by the time they played Sunderland on April 12. But after Bryan Hughes had give the side the lead, Dugarry finally got on the score sheet to give Birmingham the 2-0 win. The Frenchman would go on to score another four goals in Birmingham’s next three games, including a stunning effort against Middlesbrough where he beat the offside trap before calmly taking the ball out of the air with his nee before volleying it into the net.
The last game of the season saw the side entertain West Ham United, who were in real danger of relegation. Birmingham managed a 2-2 draw thanks to goals from Horsfield and John, but it was enough to send the Hammers down.
[edit] Playing stats
- Last updated on February 9, 2008.
| No. | Nat. | Position | Player | Total | Premier League | FA Cup | Worthington Cup | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
| 1 | |
GK | Ian Bennett | 12 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | |
DF | Jeff Kenna | 39 | 1 | 37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | |
DF | Martin Grainger | 10 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | |
DF | Steve Vickers | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | |
DF | Darren Purse | 21 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 |  |
MF | Aliou Cisse | 21 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 |  |
MF | Paul Devlin | 33 | 3 | 32 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 |  |
MF | Robbie Savage | 34 | 4 | 33 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | |
FW | Geoff Horsfield | 33 | 5 | 31 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | |
MF | Bryan Hughes | 24 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 |  |
MF | Stan Lazaridis | 32 | 2 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 12 | |
DF | Kenny Cunningham | 32 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | |
FW | Stern John | 32 | 9 | 30 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 |  |
FW | Jovan Kirovski | 20 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | |
FW | Tommy Mooney | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 |  |
DF | Michael Johnson | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | .svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small} |
GK | Nico Vaesen | 28 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | |
FW | Clinton Morrison | 29 | 6 | 27 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 |  |
FW | Christophe Dugarry | 16 | 5 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 |  |
MF | Damien Johnson | 32 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | |
DF | Jamie Clapham | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | |
MF | Darren Carter | 13 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | |
DF | Matthew Upson | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 |  |
DF | Olivier Tebily | 13 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | |
DF | Joey Hutchinson | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 28 | |
MF | Curtis Woodhouse | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 29 | |
FW | Craig Fagan | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 30 | |
DF | Matthew Sadler | 12 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 32 | |
MF | Stephen Clemence | 15 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | |
DF | Ferdinand Coly | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 |  |
MF | Piotr Swierczewski | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | |
GK | Andy Marriott | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players not playing for Birmingham City at the end of the season: | |||||||||||
| 25 | |
MF | Darryl Powell | 14 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
[edit] Player transfers
[edit] In
| Date | Pos. | No. | Name | From | Fee | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-05-08 | MF | 7 | Paul Devlin |
Sheffield United |
£200,000 | soccerbase |
| 2002-05-30 | MF | 8 | Robbie Savage |
Leicester City |
£1,250,000 | soccerbase |
| 2002-07-08 | MF | 6 | Aliou Cisse |
Montpellier |
£1,500,000 | soccerbase |
| 2002-07-16 | DF | 12 | Kenny Cunningham |
Wimbledon |
Free | soccerbase |
| 2002-07-30 | FW | 19 | Clinton Morrison |
Crystal Palace |
£4,250,000 | soccerbase |
| 2002-08-15 | FW | 15 | Jovan Kirovski |
Crystal Palace |
Free | soccerbase |
| 2002-09-13 | MF | 25 | Darryl Powell |
Derby County |
Free | soccerbase |
| 2003-01-10 | DF | 23 | Jamie Clapham |
Ipswich Town |
£1,300,000 | soccerbase |
| 2003-01-10 | MF | 32 | Stephen Clemence |
Tottenham Hotspur |
£250,000 | soccerbase |
| 2003-01-22 | DF | 25 | Matthew Upson |
Arsenal |
£1,000,000 | soccerbase |
| 2003-03-13 | GK | 36 | Andy Marriott |
Barnsley |
Nominal | soccerbase |
[edit] Out
| Date | Pos. | No. | Name | To | Fee | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-07-18 | MF | 4 | Danny Sonner |
Walsall |
Free | soccerbase |
| 2002-07-30 | FW | 19 | Andy Johnson |
Crystal Palace |
£750,000 | soccerbase |
| 2002-08-08 | MF | 7 | Jon McCarthy |
Port Vale |
Free | soccerbase |
| 2002-08-17 | FW | 24 |  Dele Adebola |
Crystal Palace |
Free | soccerbase |
| 2002-08-31 | DF | 6 | David Holdsworth |
Bolton Wanderers |
Free | soccerbase |
| 2002-09-05 | FW | 25 | Paul Furlong |
Queens Park Rangers |
Free | soccerbase |
| 2002-10-21 | DF | 21 | Nicky Eaden |
Wigan Athletic |
Free | soccerbase |
| 2002-11-11 | DF | Jerry Gill |
Northampton Town |
Free | soccerbase | |
| 2002-11-27 | MF | Graham Hyde |
Bristol Rovers |
Free | soccerbase | |
| 2003-01-15 | MF | 25 | Darryl Powell |
Sheffield Wednesday |
Free | soccerbase |
| 2003-04-30 | DF | Tony Capaldi |
Plymouth Argyle |
Free | soccerbase |
[edit] Loaned In
| Date In | Date Back | Pos. | No. | Name | From | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-01-02 | 2003-05-12 | FW | 21 | Christophe Dugarry |
Bordeaux |
soccerbase |
| 2003-01-04 | 2003-05-12 | DF | 33 | Ferdinand Coly |
Lens |
soccerbase |
| 2003-01-22 | 2003-05-12 | MF | 34 | Piotr Swierczewski |
Marseille |
soccerbase |
[edit] Loaned Out
| Date In | Date Back | Pos. | No. | Name | To | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-08-08 | 2002-11-10 | DF | Jerry Gill |
Northampton Town |
soccerbase | |
| 2002-08-08 | 2002-09-04 | FW | 25 | Paul Furlong |
Queens Park Rangers |
soccerbase |
| 2002-08-10 | 2003-05-26 | DF | 20 | Tom Williams |
Queens Park Rangers |
soccerbase |
| 2002-09-13 | 2002-12-18 | FW | 16 | Tommy Mooney |
Stoke City |
soccerbase |
| 2002-09-20 | 2002-10-20 | DF | 21 | Nicky Eaden |
Wigan Athletic |
soccerbase |
| 2002-09-20 | 2002-11-04 | MF | 13 | Graham Hyde |
Peterborough United |
soccerbase |
| 2003-01-15 | 2003-05-14 | FW | Craig Fagan |
Bristol City |
soccerbase | |
| 2003-01-17 | 2003-03-05 | FW | 16 | Tommy Mooney |
Sheffield United |
soccerbase |
| 2003-01-24 | 2003-05-05 | MF | 28 | Curtis Woodhouse |
Rotherham United |
soccerbase |
| 2003-03-19 | 2003-05-05 | FW | 16 | Tommy Mooney |
Derby County |
soccerbase |
[edit] Results
[edit] The Premiership
- Birmingham City scores given first
[edit] FA Cup
Birmingham failed to get past the third round of the FA Cup 2002-03 as the lost to Fulham of the Premiership.
- Birmingham City scores given first
| Round | Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Scorers | Attendance | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Third Round | 5 January 2003 | Away | Fulham | 1–3 | S. John 90' | 9,203 | BCFC.com |
[edit] Carling Cup
Birmingham reached the Third round of the Football League Cup 2002-03 before losing to Preston North End of Division One.
- Birmingham City scores given first
| Round | Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Scorers | Attendance | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second Round | 2 October 2002 | Away | Leyton Orient | 3-2 | S. John 16', 27', 77' | 3,615 | BCFC.com |
| Third Round | 5 November 2002 | Home | Preston North End | 0-2 | 12,241 | BCFC.com |
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Birmingham City F.C.
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Birmingham City F.C. seasons
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