The 2002–03 season was the 94th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003. United finished the season in eighth place.

United were knocked out of the Tennent's Scottish Cup by Hibernian in the third round, and were beaten by Celtic in the CIS Insurance Cup semi-finals.

Review and events What had begun with optimism and hopes that United could continue the progress made the previous year would end up being statistically the club's worst season since before World War II. Eddie Thompson took over as chairman with the season barely a month old and quickly sacked Alex Smith, though a run of just two wins from the first ten games did not help the manager's cause. After a failed attempt to recruit Ian McCall, Paul Hegarty was put in charge provisionally until the end of the season. While the former club hero got off to a decent start with 7 points from five matches, a dismal run of ten weeks without a win followed, leading to Hegarty being dismissed at the end of January and McCall being successfully recruited.

The key factor in McCall's change of heart was that while his previous club Falkirk were runaway leaders of the First Division, it was by now evident that they were unlikely to be promoted as their ground did not meet the SPL's requirements. McCall still had the task of keeping United off the bottom of the table in the unlikely event that the SPL had a change of heart or one of the chasing pack overhauled Falkirk, and he ultimately managed this with an excellent run of form after the SPL split, leaving them to finish eleventh. However, this good finish could not mask what had been an extremely poor season by any measure, and left McCall facing a major reconstruction job.

Match results Dundee United played a total of 43 competitive matches during the 2002–03 season. The team finished eleventh in the Scottish Premier League.

In the cup competitions, United were knocked out of the Tennent's Scottish Cup in the third round, losing at home to Hibernian. Celtic knocked United out of the CIS Cup in the semi-finals.

Legend WinDrawLoss

All results are written with Dundee United's score first.

Bank of Scotland Premierleague DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 3 August 2002 Partick ThistleA0–06,375 10 August 2002 KilmarnockH1–26,366Thompson 17 August 2002 CelticA0–556,907 25 August 2002 MotherwellH1–15,795McIntyre 31 August 2002 DundeeH0–012,402 11 September 2002 AberdeenA2–110,724Thompson (2) 14 September 2002 DunfermlineH1–26,041Lilley 21 September 2002 HeartsA0–211,532 28 September 2002 RangersH0–310,013 5 October 2002 HibernianA1–211,532Thompson 19 October 2002 LivingstonH2–35,572Lilley, McIntyre 26 October 2002 Partick ThistleH1–16,369Thompson 2 November 2002 KilmarnockA2–15,417Thompson, McIntyre 10 November 2002 CelticH0–210,664 16 November 2002 MotherwellA2–15,381Hamilton (2) 23 November 2002 DundeeA2–311,539Hamilton, McIntyre 30 November 2002 AberdeenH1–18,621Hamilton 4 December 2002 DunfermlineA1–44,342McIntyre 7 December 2002 HibernianH1–15,673Wilson 14 December 2002 RangersA0–347,639 21 December 2002 HeartsH0–36,025 26 December 2002 LivingstonA0–35,103 29 December 2002 Partick ThistleA0–05,109 2 January 2003 KilmarnockH2–27,183Dodds, McIntyre 29 January 2003 CelticA0–255,204 1 February 2003 MotherwellH2–16,672Tod, Miller 9 February 2003 DundeeH1–110,457 16 February 2003 AberdeenA0–39,146 1 March 2003 DunfermlineH3–06,004Craig Easton, Tod, Ogunmade 9 March 2003 HibernianA1–17,518McIntyre 15 March 2003 LivingstonH0–16,247 5 April 2003 HeartsA1–29,663Griffin 13 April 2003 RangersH1–410,013Dodds26 April 2003 HibernianH1–26,758McCracken 3 May 2003 MotherwellA2–29,056Miller, McIntyre 10 May 2003 LivingstonA2–16,314McIntyre, Miller 17 May 2003 Partick ThistleA1–06,357Paterson 24 May 2003 AberdeenH0–28,516

Tennent's Scottish Cup DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 25 January 2003 HibernianH2–38,986O'Donnell, Hamilton

CIS Insurance Cup DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 24 September 2002 Queen's ParkH4–13,600O'Donnell (3), Thompson 29 October 2002 Airdrie UnitedA2–11,768Thompson (2) 13 November 2002 LivingstonA2–03,592Lilley (2) 6 February 2003 CelticN0–318,856

Player details During the 2002–03 season, United used 32 different players, with a further played named as a substitute who did not make an appearance on the pitch. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.

Goalscorers Thirteen players scored for the United first team with the team scoring 43 goals in total. Steven Thompson and Jim McIntyre were the top goalscorers, scoring nine goals apiece. NameLeagueCupsTotal90 963 941 522 413 430 320 220 210 110 110 110 110 1

Discipline During the 2001–02 season, five United players were sent off, and 20 players received at least one yellow card. In total, the team received six dismissals and 67 cautions. NameCautionsDismissals 2 8 1 7 1 5 1 1 9 6 4 4 4 4 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Team statistics

League table

Transfers

In Six players were signed during the 2002–03 season, with a total (public) transfer cost of around £150,000. Four players were also signed for the following season. In addition, two players were signed on loan.

The players that joined Dundee United during the 2001–02 season, along with their previous club, are listed below. Date Player From Fee (£) 6 July 2002 Unattached (ex-Kilmarnock) Free 30 July 2002 Unattached (ex-Leicester City) Free 1 January 2003 Rangers Free 10 January 2003 Unattached (ex-Partick Thistle) Swap 28 January 2003 Livingston Bosman 23 February 2003 Unattached (ex-Rangers) Free 16 May 2003 Inverness CT £0,070,000 3 June 2003 Partick Thistle Bosman 3 June 2003 Partick Thistle Bosman 27 June 2003 Ross County Swap

Loans in Date Player To Fee 23 August 2002 Chelsea January 28 January 2003 Bradford City End of season

Out Eight players left the club during the season with only one transfer – Steven Thompson to Rangers – bringing in a fee (£200k). Two players were loaned out during the season with six also released before next season.

Listed below are the players that were released during the season, along with the club that they joined. Players did not necessarily join their next club immediately. Date Player To Fee 1 July 2002 Scunthorpe United Released 22 July 2002 Motherwell Free 30 August 2002 Plymouth Argyle Released 1 January 2003 Rangers £0,200,000 16 January 2003 Partick Thistle Released 16 January 2003 Ross County Released 31 January 2003 KR Released 7 March 2003 Dunfermline Released 22 May 2003 Barnsley Released 22 May 2003 Partick Thistle Released 31 May 2003 Released (went to Livingston) Free 31 May 2003 Released (went to Livingston) Free 27 June 2003 Ross County Swap 27 June 2003 Ross County Swap

Loans out Date Player From Fee (£) 1 January 2003 Ross County End of season 14 August 2002 Stirling Albion January 23 August 2002 Clyde End of season 29 June 2003 Ross County January

Playing kit

The jerseys were sponsored by Telewest for the last time.

Awards Mark Wilson Scottish Premier League Young Player of the Month: 1 November 2002

See also 2002–03 Scottish Premier League 2002–03 Scottish Cup 2002–03 in Scottish football

References

External links Official site: 2002/03 Results Soccerbase Results Squad stats Transfers