The 2002–03 season was the 124th season in Bolton Wanderers F.C.'s existence, and was their second consecutive season in the top-flight. This article covers the period from 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003.

Season summary A home victory over Aston Villa and a memorable 1–0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford got Bolton off to another promising start to the season, but their subsequent form was memorable for all the wrong reasons as they only won 2 of their next 21 games, causing most pundits to write them off by the start of 2003. A 4–2 win over Birmingham City on 1 February finally kickstarted their campaign and the club only lost two more games (away to Chelsea and Liverpool) during the rest of the season, leaving them in control of their destiny on the final day. They achieved survival with a 2–1 victory over Middlesbrough.

First-team squad

Left club during season

Reserve squad

Results

FA Premier League

Results per matchday

DateOpponentsH / AResult F – AScorersAttendance17 August 2002FulhamA1 – 4Ricketts 4' (pen)16,33824 August 2002Charlton AthleticH1 – 2Djorkaeff 2'21,7531 September 2002Aston VillaH1 – 0Ricketts 56' (pen)22,50011 September 2002Manchester UnitedA1 – 0Nolan 76'67,62314 September 2002LiverpoolH2 – 3Gardner 54', Campo 87'27,32821 September 2002ArsenalA1 – 2Farrelly 47'37,97428 September 2002SouthamptonH1 – 1Djorkaeff 90'22,6925 October 2002MiddlesbroughA0 – 231,00520 October 2002Tottenham HotspurA1 – 3Djorkaeff 63'35,90928 October 2002SunderlandH1 – 1Babb 80' (og)23,0362 November 2002Birmingham CityA1 – 3Okocha 72'27,2249 November 2002West Bromwich AlbionH1 – 1Frandsen 89'23,63017 November 2002Leeds UnitedA4 – 2Pedersen (2) 3', 90', Djorkaeff 80' Ricketts 89' (pen)36,62723 November 2002ChelseaH1 – 1Pedersen 63'25,47630 November 2002Manchester CityA0 – 234,8607 December 2002Blackburn RoversH1 – 1Okocha 8'24,55616 December 2002Leeds UnitedH0 – 323,37821 December 2002West Ham UnitedA1 – 1Ricketts 65'34,89226 December 2002Newcastle UnitedH4 – 3Okocha 5', Gardner 9', Ricketts (2) 45', 63'27,31428 December 2002EvertonA0 – 039,4801 January 2003Aston VillaA0 – 231,83811 January 2003FulhamH0 – 025,15618 January 2003Charlton AthleticA1 – 1Djorkaeff 85'26,05722 January 2003Newcastle UnitedA0 – 152,00528 January 2003EvertonH1 – 2Bergsson 90'25,1191 February 2003Birmingham CityH4 – 2Cunningham 12' (o.g.), Pedersen 46', Djorkaeff 84', Facey 87' 24,3428 February 2003West Bromwich AlbionA1 – 1Pedersen 18'26,93322 February 2003Manchester UnitedH1 – 1Ngotty 90'27,4098 March 2003LiverpoolA0 – 241,46215 March 2003SunderlandA2 – 0Okocha 50', Pedersen 55'42,12424 March 2003Tottenham HotspurH1 – 0Okocha 90' (pen)23,0845 April 2003Manchester CityH2 – 0Pedersen 32', Campo 52'26,94912 April 2003ChelseaA0 – 139,85219 April 2003West Ham UnitedH1 – 0Okocha 38' 27,16021 April 2003Blackburn RoversA0 – 028,86226 April 2003ArsenalH2 – 2Djorkaeff 74', Keown 84' (og)27,2533 May 2003SouthamptonA0 – 030,95111 May 2003MiddlesbroughH2 – 1Frandsen 10', Okocha 21' 27,241

FA Cup DateRoundOpponentsH / AResult F – AScorersAttendance4 January 2003Round 3SunderlandH1 – 1Ricketts 18'10,12314 February 2003Round 3 replaySunderlandA0 – 2 (aet)14,550

Coca-Cola Cup DateRoundOpponentsH / AResult F – AScorersAttendance2 October 2002Round 2 BuryH0 – 1 12,621

Statistics

Appearances Bolton used a total of 32 players during the season.

PPlayerPositionPLFACLCTotal1 Jussi JääskeläinenGoalkeeper38 (0)0 (0)0 (0)38 (0)2 Youri DjorkaeffMidfielder36 (0)1 (0)0 (0)37 (0)3 Per FrandsenMidfielder34 (0)0 (0)0 (0)34 (0)4= Henrik PedersenStriker31 (2)0 (0)0 (1)31 (3)4= Iván CampoDefender/Midfielder28 (3)2 (0)1 (0)31 (3)6 Ricardo GardnerMidfielder31 (1)0 (0)0 (0)31 (1)7 Guðni BergssonDefender31 (0)0 (0)0 (0)31 (0)8 Simon CharltonDefender27 (4)0 (0)0 (0)27 (4)9 Jay-Jay OkochaMidfielder26 (5)0 (1)0 (0)26 (6)10 Bruno NgottyDefender23 (0)1 (0)0 (0)24 (0)11 Anthony BarnessDefender21 (4)1 (0)0 (0)22 (4)12 Bernard MendyDefender20 (1)1 (0)1 (0)22 (1)13 Kevin NolanMidfielder15 (18)1 (1)0 (1)16 (20)14 Mike WhitlowDefender14 (3)1 (1)0 (0)15 (4)15 Michael RickettsStriker13 (9)1 (0)0 (0)14 (9)16 Florent LavilleDefender10 (0)0 (0)0 (0)10 (0)17 Gareth FarrellyMidfielder6 (2)2 (0)0 (0)8 (2)18 Stig TøftingMidfielder2 (6)2 (0)1 (0)5 (6)19 Dean HoldsworthStriker5 (4)0 (0)0 (1)5 (5)20 Paul WarhurstDefender/Midfielder5 (2)0 (1)0 (0)5 (3)21 Delroy FaceyStriker1 (8)2 (0)0 (0)3 (8)22= Kevin PooleGoalkeeper0 (0)2 (0)1 (0)3 (0)22= Jeff SmithMidfielder0 (0)2 (0)1 (0)3 (0)24 Danny LiveseyDefender0 (2)1 (0)1 (0)2 (2)25 Bülent AkınMidfielder0 (1)1 (0)1 (0)2 (1)26= Jonathan WaltersStriker0 (4)0 (1)1 (0)1 (5)26= Salva BallestaStriker1 (5)0 (0)0 (0)1 (5)28 Jermaine JohnsonMidfielder0 (2)0 (0)1 (0)1 (2)29 Nicky HuntDefender0 (0)1 (1)0 (0)1 (1)30= Chris ArmstrongStriker0 (0)0 (0)1 (0)1 (0)30= David HoldsworthDefender0 (0)0 (0)1 (0)1 (0)32 Pierre-Yves AndréStriker0 (9)0 (0)0 (0)0 (9)

Top scorers

PPlayerPositionPLFACLCTotal1= Youri DjorkaeffMidfielder70071= Jay-Jay OkochaMidfielder70071= Henrik PedersenStriker70074 Michael RickettsStriker61075Own Goals3003

References