The 2002–03 season saw West Ham United relegated from the FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons) after a 10-year run in the top flight. West Ham were relegated to the First Division at the end of the season, finishing in 18th place.
Season summary Following a successful debut campaign for new manager Glenn Roeder the previous year that saw them finish 7th in the Premiership - two places short of a club record 5th three seasons earlier - hopes were high for the young squad to expand on this and aim for an equal or higher finish in the 2002–03 season. Despite boasting several current or future England internationals, including David James, Trevor Sinclair, Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe, Glen Johnson and Michael Carrick, a disastrous start to the season saw them win just three out of their first 24 matches, and the club found themselves bottom of the table at Christmas with just 16 points.West Ham United 2002-2003 Home - statto.com Similarly poor results followed into the new year, as the club continued to struggle in the relegation battle and were knocked out of the FA Cup after a 6–0 defeat to Manchester United in January.
Their poor form in all competitions was put into perspective on 21 April 2003, when manager Glenn Roeder collapsed after a 1–0 Premiership win against Middlesbrough; it was revealed he was suffering from a non-malignant brain tumour, which was later operated on successfully. Following this, club legend Sir Trevor Brooking was named as caretaker manager, and West Ham's luck began to turn with a series of good results towards the end of the season that saw them go into the final day with a chance of staying up. Tied with 17th place Bolton Wanderers but far behind on goal difference, they headed into the last game of the season against Birmingham City needing a superior result to Bolton (and in the case of both teams winning, a 7-goal margin) to escape relegation. However, a 2–2 draw with goals from Les Ferdinand and Paolo Di Canio saw the Hammers relegated after Bolton defeated Middlesbrough 2–1 at the Reebok Stadium, sending them down to England's second division for the first time since 1992.
Final league table
Squad
Left club during season
Results
Premier League
League Cup
FA Cup
Statistics
Overview CompetitionRecord Premier League FA Cup League Cup Total
Goalscorers NamePremier LeagueFA CupLeague CupTotal1ST9Jermain Defoe821112ST10Paolo Di Canio90093MF8Trevor Sinclair80084ST14Frédéric Kanouté5005MF26Joe Cole41056Own goals30037DF19Ian Pearce2002ST22Les Ferdinand20029MF6Michael Carrick0011Totals423146
League position by matchday
Appearances and goals
! colspan=12 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers
! colspan=12 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders
! colspan=12 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders
! colspan=12 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards
Transfers
In DatePos.NameFromFee26 June 2002ST Youssef Sofiane AuxerreFree28 June 2002GK Raimond van der Gouw Manchester UnitedFree29 July 2002DF Gary Breen Coventry CityFree6 August 2002MF Édouard Cissé Paris Saint-GermainLoan16 August 2002MF Brent Rahim Levski SofiaLoan11 January 2003MF Lee Bowyer Leeds United£100,00021 January 2003ST Les Ferdinand Tottenham HotspurUndisclosed31 January 2003DF Rufus Brevett FulhamUndisclosed
Out
DatePos.NameFromFeeMay 2002DF Adam Newton Peterborough UnitedFreeMay 2002DF Ragnvald Soma Bryne FKFree29 May 2002DF Hayden Foxe Portsmouth£400,00027 June 2002DF Rigobert Song LensFree1 July 2002GK Shaka Hislop PortsmouthFree25 July 2002GK Craig ForrestRetired29 July 2002DF Gary CharlesRetired20 August 2002ST Paul Kitson Brighton & Hove AlbionFree13 September 2002DF Steve Potts Dagenham & RedbridgeFree12 December 2002DF Vladimír Labant Sparta PragueLoanJanuary 2003MF Grant McCann Cheltenham Town£50,00015 January 2003MF Laurent Courtois FC IstresFree
References