During the 2002–03 English football season, Blackburn Rovers competed in the FA Premier League.
Season summary After a season of consolidation in the Premiership the previous season (capped with victory in the League Cup), Blackburn Rovers enjoyed their best season since winning the title in 1995, finishing in sixth place and qualifying for the UEFA Cup for the second year in a row. While their UEFA Cup campaign was not especially impressive (only beating CSKA Sofia on away goals before being knocked out by eventual runners-up Celtic), their continued progress under Graeme Souness gave the fans much hope for the following season. Blackburn also embarked on another strong run in the League Cup for the second successive year, although they failed to defend their title after suffering a 4-2 aggregate defeat to Manchester United in the semi-finals. The star man for Blackburn this season was American goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who was named as the goalkeeper in the PFA Team of the Year.
Final league table
First-team squad Squad at end of season
Left club during season
Reserve squad
Statistics Appearances and goals
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred out during the season
Transfers
In Andy Todd - Charlton Athletic, 22 May, £750,000 (rising to £1,000,000 depending on appearances) Sebastian Pelzer - 1. FC Kaiserslautern II, 25 June, undisclosed Dwight Yorke - Manchester United, 26 July, £2,000,000 (rising to £2,600,000 depending on appearances and team performance) David Thompson - Coventry City, 29 August, £1,500,000 (rising to £2,500,000 depending on player and team performances) Hakan Şükür - unattached (last played for Parma), 4 December, free Vratislav Greško - Parma, 11 February, four-month loan
Out Mark Hughes - released, 13 May Simon Grayson - Blackpool, 19 July, free Hakan Ünsal - Galatasaray, 27 August, £650,000 Matt Jansen - Coventry City, 18 February, four-month loan Stig Inge Bjørnebye - retired, 11 March Alan Miller - retired, 7 April James Thomas - released
Results
Premier League
Results by matchday
FA Cup
League Cup
UEFA Cup
Scores Overview
OppositionHome scoreAway scoreDoubleArsenal2–02–14–1Aston Villa0–00–30–3Birmingham City1–11–01–0Bolton Wanderers0–01–11–1Charlton Athletic1–01–32–3Chelsea2–32–14–4Everton0–11–21–3Fulham2–14–06–1Leeds United1–03–24–2Liverpool2–21–13–3Manchester City1–02–23–2Manchester United1–01–32–3Middlesbrough1–00–11–1Newcastle United5–21–56–7Southampton1–01–12–1Sunderland0–00–00–0Tottenham Hotspur1–24–05–2West Bromwich Albion1–12–03–1West Ham United2–21–23–4
References
External links FootballSquads - Blackburn Rovers - 2002/03