During the 2002–03 season, Middlesbrough participated in the FA Premier League.
Kit Middlesbrough had a new sponsor, Dial-a-Phone, for the 2002–03 season. The team's kit was produced by Errea. The home shirt consisted of a plain red shirt, red shorts and red socks with white trim. The away strip consisted of white shirts with black piping, plain white shorts and white socks with navy blue trim.
Season review Despite losing the new £6 million signing of the returning Juninho, Boro made a promising start to the 2002–03 season, peaking at third in early October. The signings of Maccarone and Boateng, along with the loan of Geremi, gave the fans real hope of a top-six finish. However, following a fantastic 3–0 win away at Spurs at the end of September which sent the club 3rd, Middlesbrough seemed to press the self-destruct button, losing the next 8 games away from home without scoring; although they remained undefeated in this period at home, this saw them sink to 12th position. This persuaded Steve McClaren to make changes, and during the January transfer window he brought in Chris Riggott and Malcolm Christie from Derby County, Michael Ricketts from Bolton Wanderers and Doriva on loan from Celta Vigo. This, coupled with the return of the now-fit Juninho, stopped the bad run of form and the results picked up a bit. Middlesbrough hovered around 14th for a few weeks before finishing 11th. Again, the season was regarded as a disappointment after the promising start.
Both cups were also a disappointment for Boro. They went out of the FA Cup in the third round, losing 1–0 at Chelsea. They fared slightly better in the League Cup, beating Brentford 4–1 in the second round but then losing to lower league opposition in the form of Ipswich Town, 3–1 away.
Final league table
First-team squad
Discipline
Disciplinary records for 2002–03 league and cup matches. Players with 1 card or more included only. No.Nat.Player Yellow cards Red cards1 102 303 734 505 106 307 609 2010 1011 2012 5014 2015 1016 1018 3121 1023 2026 2027 1030 1031 2137 10
Transfers
In
DatePlayerPrevious clubCost 4 June 2002 Massimo Maccarone Empoli£8,150,000 25 July 2002 Geremi Real MadridSeason-long loan 30 July 2002 George BoatengAston Villa£5,000,000 5 August 2002 Juninho Atlético Madrid£6,000,000 31 January 2003 Malcolm Christie and Chris RiggottDerby County£5,000,000 31 January 2003 Michael RickettsBolton Wanderers£3,500,000 31 January 2003 Doriva Celta VigoLoan
Out
DatePlayerNew clubCost6 August 2002 Paul InceWolverhampton WanderersFree12 August 2002 Paul OkonLeeds UnitedFree22 August 2002 Mark SummerbellCarlisle UnitedFree29 August 2002 Phil Stamp HeartsFree30 August 2002 Robbie MustoeCharlton AthleticFree15 January 2003 Dean WindassSheffield UnitedFree21 March 2003 Mark HudsonChesterfieldFree17 May 2003 Anthony OrmerodScarboroughFree2 June 2003 Alen BokšićContract terminated-
Results
Premier League
Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first. Man of the Match is according to mfc.co.uk.
GameDateVenueOpponentResultF–AAttendanceBoro GoalscorersMan of the Match117 August 2002ASouthampton0–028,341Schwarzer224 August 2002HFulham2–228,588Maccarone 32', 51'331 August 2002HBlackburn Rovers1–028,270Job 90'Southgate43 September 2002AManchester United0–167,464510 September 2002HSunderland3–032,155Németh 17', 66' Maccarone 37'614 September 2002AEverton1–232,240Németh 11'721 September 2002HBirmingham City1–029,869Queudrue 29'828 September 2002ATottenham Hotspur3–036,082Maccarone 33', Geremi 55', Job 58'Maccarone95 October 2002HBolton Wanderers2–031,005Ehiogu 23', Geremi 68'1020 October 2002ACharlton Athletic0–126,2711126 October 2002HLeeds United2–234,723Job 25', Southgate 83'124 November 2002ANewcastle United0–251,558139 November 2002HLiverpool1–034,747Southgate 82'Greening1416 November 2002AChelsea0–139,0641523 November 2002HManchester City3–131,510Ehiogu 53', Bokšić 62, Geremi 84'1630 November 2002AWest Bromwich Albion0–127,029177 December 2002HWest Ham United2–228,283Németh 58', Ehiogu 88'1814 December 2002HChelsea1–129,160Geremi 32'1921 December 2002AArsenal0–238,0032026 December 2002HManchester United3–134,673Bokšić 44', Németh 48', Job 85'2128 December 2002AAston Villa0–133,637221 January 2003ABlackburn Rovers0–123,4132311 January 2003HSouthampton2–227,443Whelan 73', Maccarone 82'2419 January 2003AFulham0–114,2532528 January 2003HAston Villa2–527,546Maccarone 33', Greening 35'268 February 2003ALiverpool1–142,247Geremi 38'2722 February 2003ASunderland3–142,134Riggott 21', 28', Christie 59'281 March 2003HEverton1–132,473Juninho 74'295 March 2003HNewcastle United1–034,814Geremi 62'3015 March 2003ALeeds United3–239,073Maccarone 36', Juninho 45', Geremi 64'3122 March 2003HCharlton Athletic1–129,080Christie 57'325 April 2003HWest Bromwich Albion3–030,187Christie 36', Greening 76', Németh 87'3312 April 2003AManchester City0–034,7933419 April 2003HArsenal0–234,7243521 April 2003AWest Ham United0–135,0193626 April 2003ABirmingham City0–328,821373 May 2003HTottenham Hotspur5–130,230Christie 23', Juninho 26', Németh 28', Maccarone 51', 75'3811 May 2003ABolton Wanderers1–227,241Ricketts 61'
League Cup +RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers 21 October 2002BrentfordAway4–17,558Marinelli, Whelan, Wilson, Downing 36 November 2002Ipswich TownAway1–314,417Queudrue
FA Cup +RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers34 January 2003ChelseaAway1–029,796
Statistics Overview CompetitionRecord Premier League FA Cup League Cup Total
Goalscorers Goalscoring statistics for 2002–03. +NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotal Massimo Maccarone9009 Németh7007 Geremi7007 Job4004 Ehiogu3003 Christie4004 Juninho3003 Bokšić2002 Greening2002 Riggott2002 Queudrue1012 Whelan1012 Ricketts1001 Marinelli0011 Wilson0011 Downing0011 Southgate2002
Appearances and discipline Appearance and disciplinary records for 2002–03 league and cup matches. +NameAppearancesYellow cardsRed cards Schwarzer3910 Crossley200 Parnaby2310 Queudrue3373 Ehiogu3250 Riggott510 Southgate3730 Gavin100 Close110 Vidmar1520 Davies200 Stockdale1530 Cooper2310 Murphy800 Boateng2860 Juninho1010 Downing300 Geremi3420 Greening3960 Johnston200 Dove200 Eustace110 Wilson931 Doriva500 Marinelli910 Wilkshire1611 Christie1200 Maccarone3430 Ricketts910 Whelan1730 Windass410 Németh3000 Bokšić1920 Job2910
References and notes