2002–03 Hibernian F.C. season

September 2020 Hibernian 2002–03 Bobby Williamson SPL 7th Scottish Cup R4 CIS Cup R3 McManus, 11 McManus, 11 2001–02 2003–04 13686 7518 9937https://www.fitbastats.com/hibs/club_records_league_attendance.php Average Home League Game Attendances fitbastats.com 4 November 2013 (down 1666) Season 2002–03 was a disappointment for Hibernian, as the team finished in the bottom half of the Scottish Premier League in Bobby Williamson's first full season in charge. The team were also knocked out of the two domestic cup competitions at an early stage. In a preview for the next season, BBC Sport commented that the biggest problem "was a fragile defence that developed a nasty habit of conceding late goals".https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/h/hibernian/3123549.stm Room for improvement at Hibs BBC BBC Sport 4 August 2003 League season Hibs got off to a very poor start to the league season, collecting only three points from a possible 18.https://archive.today/20130505152541/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/scottishpremier/3034300/Brewster-destroys-Hibs.html Brewster destroys Hibs, The Daily Telegraph, 12 September 2002. This included heavy defeats by Hearts and Dunfermline. Former Hibs player Ulrik Laursen commented in the match programme for his new club, Celtic, that he believed former Hibs manager Alex McLeish (now at Rangers) was to blame for this decline in fortunes, due to his decision to release popular players such as Mixu Paatelainen and Stuart Lovell.https://archive.today/20130505090636/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/scottishpremier/3034552/Laursen-blames-McLeish-over-Hibs.html Laursen blames McLeish over Hibs, The Daily Telegraph, 16 September 2002. Hibs lost the game 1–0 at Celtic Park and remained bottom of the early league table, but fortunes immediately improved, as Hibs won their next five league games in succession. This revival meant that they were in a good league position going into the third Edinburgh derby of the season, on 2 January, where victory would mean that Hibs would leapfrog Hearts into third place.High drama in Edinburgh derby, BBC Sport, 2 January 2003. Hibs twice took a two-goal lead, but conceded two goals (both scored by Graham Weir) late in stoppage time to gift Hearts a 4–4 draw. Hibs then lost their next five league games and drifted down the league, eventually finishing in 7th place. Results L 3 August 2002 SPL 1–2 Hibernian Luna 31 Aberdeen Mackie 64Clark 90 Easter Road, Edinburgh 13,340 Toner L 11 August 2002 SPL 5–1 Heart of Midlothian Kirk 18 de Vries 40 66 90 90 Hibernian Murray 51 Tynecastle, Edinburgh 15,245 McCurry L 18 August 2002 SPL 2–4 Hibernian Townsley 35 O'Connor 89 Rangers de Boer 6 Ferguson 45 pen. Løvenkrands 65 87 Easter Road, Edinburgh 11,633 Dallas L 24 August 2002 SPL 2–1 Dundee Caballero 79Lovell 90 Hibernian O'Connor 10 Dens Park, Dundee 6,411 Young W 31 August 2002 SPL 0–2 Motherwell Hibernian Townsley 15 72 Fir Park, Motherwell 5,888 Clark L 11 September 2002 SPL 1–4 Hibernian Paatelainen 42 Dunfermline Athletic Walker 11Brewster 24 57Crawford 32 Easter Road, Edinburgh 9,837 Dougal L 14 September 2002 SPL 1–0 Celtic Hartson 31 Hibernian Celtic Park, Glasgow 56,703 McDonald W 21 September 2002 SPL 2–0 Hibernian Murray 8McManus 11 Kilmarnock Easter Road, Edinburgh 8,680 Rowbotham W 28 September 2002 SPL 1–0 Hibernian Murray 45 Livingston Easter Road, Edinburgh 9,541 Freeland W 5 October 2002 SPL 2–1 Hibernian O'Connor 29Murray 51 Dundee United Thompson 76 Easter Road, Edinburgh 9,175 Underhill W 19 October 2002 SPL 0–3 Partick Thistle Hibernian O'Connor 44 88Paatelainen 81 Firhill Stadium, Glasgow 5,946 Rowbotham W 27 October 2002 SPL 0–1 Aberdeen Hibernian Brebner 70 Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen 12,321 Clark L 3 November 2002 SPL 1–2 Hibernian Paatelainen 36 Heart of Midlothian McKenna 86Stamp 90 Easter Road, Edinburgh 15,560 Young L 10 November 2002 SPL 2–1 Rangers Mols 11Arveladze 35 Hibernian McManus 45 Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow 48,798 McCurry W 16 November 2002 SPL 2–1 Hibernian Paatelainen 12 49 pen. Dundee Novo 90 Easter Road, Edinburgh 8,870 Dallas W 23 November 2002 SPL 3–1 Hibernian Paatelainen 59McManus 64O'Neil 90 pen. Motherwell Ferguson 47 Easter Road, Edinburgh 8,859 McDonald D 30 November 2002 SPL 1–1 Dunfermline Athletic Crawford 66 Hibernian McManus 57 East End Park, Dunfermline 7,515 Fyfe L 4 December 2002 SPL 0–1 Hibernian Celtic Petrov 76 Easter Road, Edinburgh 12,042 McCurry D 7 December 2002 SPL 1–1 Dundee United Wilson 3 Hibernian Murray 7 Tannadice Park, Dundee 5,673 McDonald W 14 December 2002 SPL 1–2 Livingston Brinquin 90 Hibernian Murray 55James 66 Almondvale, Livingston 6,501 Brines L 21 December 2002 SPL 2–1 Kilmarnock McSwegan 63Fulton 88 Hibernian Luna 83 Rugby Park, Kilmarnock 5,814 Dallas D 26 December 2002 SPL 1–1 Hibernian O'Neil 89 pen. Partick Thistle Burns 78 Easter Road, Edinburgh 10,317 Thomson W 29 December 2002 SPL 2–0 Hibernian Paatelainen 70McManus 85 Aberdeen Easter Road, Edinburgh 11,604 Rowbotham D 2 January 2003 SPL 4–4 Heart of Midlothian Pressley 30 pen.de Vries 62Weir 90 90 Hibernian Townsley 11McManus 17James 89Brebner 90 Tynecastle, Edinburgh 17,732 Dougal L 29 January 2003 SPL 0–2 Hibernian Rangers Ferguson 58Caniggia 85 Easter Road, Edinburgh 13,686 Clark L 8 February 2003 SPL 2–1 Motherwell Clarkson 31Fagan 41 Hibernian O'Connor 71 Fir Park, Motherwell 4,999 Richmond L 15 February 2003 SPL 1–3 Hibernian O'Connor 67 Dunfermline Athletic Mason 20Crawford 39 55 Easter Road, Edinburgh 9,175 McCurry L 25 February 2003 SPL 3–0 Dundee Rae 9Milne 86Murray 90 o.g. Hibernian Dens Park, Dundee 8,414 Freeland L 2 March 2003 SPL 3–2 Celtic Hartson 1 23Mjallby 90 Hibernian McManus 37 60 Celtic Park, Glasgow 57,512 Young D 9 March 2003 SPL 1–1 Hibernian McManus 3 Dundee United McIntyre 69 Easter Road, Edinburgh 7,518 Somers W 15 March 2003 SPL 0–1 Partick Thistle Hibernian McManus 15 Firhill Stadium, Glasgow 4,551 Mitchell L 5 April 2003 SPL 6–2 Kilmarnock McDonald 11McSwegan 24 42 47 62Boyd 90 pen. Hibernian Murray 18Jack 83 Rugby Park, Kilmarnock 5,558 J Underhill D 12 April 2003 SPL 2–2 Hibernian Orman 44Riordan 53 Livingston Wilson 87O'Brien 89 Easter Road, Edinburgh 8,150 Rowbotham W 26 April 2003 SPL 1–2 Dundee United McCracken 32 Hibernian McManus 58 pen.Murray 90 Tannadice Park, Dundee 6,758 McCurry W 3 May 2003 SPL 3–1 Hibernian Jack 42Riordan 61 72 Aberdeen Tiernan 88 Easter Road, Edinburgh 7,904 Richmond W 10 May 2003 SPL 1–0 Hibernian Brebner 66 pen. Motherwell Easter Road, Edinburgh 7,809 Young W 17 May 2003 SPL 1–2 Livingston Pasquinelli 87 Hibernian Brown 38 69 Almondvale, Livingston 5,423 Fyfe L 24 May 2003 SPL 2–3 Hibernian Jack 8Brown 34 Partick Thistle Britton 29Rowson 52Burns 86 Easter Road, Edinburgh 9,286 Underhill Final table HIB Scottish League Cup As one of the SPL clubs who had not automatically qualified for European competition, Hibs entered at the last 32 stage (second round) of the competition, in which they defeated Alloa Athletic 2–0. Hibs were then drawn against Rangers, managed by former Hibs boss Alex McLeish, at home in the last 16.Hibernian 2 Rangers 3, Sporting Life. The match proved to be a "miserable night" for Hibs, as the tie was lost 3–2 despite taking an early lead. The lead was quickly turned into a deficit by an own goal and a defensive error by Derek Townsley. Despite Garry O'Connor's goal levelling the score midway through the second half, Rangers scored what proved to be the winning goal soon afterwards. Gary Smith was sent off late on, reducing Hibs to ten men. To top things off, midfielder Alen Orman had what appeared to be an epileptic seizure during the first half and had to be substituted. Results W 24 September 2002 Scottish League Cup 0–2 Alloa Athletic Hibernian Brebner 59O'Connor 72 Recreation Park, Alloa 1,842 McCurry L 24 October 2002 Scottish League Cup 2–3 Hibernian Murray 6O'Connor 72 Rangers Townsley 22 o.g.Caniggia 25Løvenkrands 78 Easter Road, Edinburgh 10,000 Dallas Scottish Cup Results W 25 January 2003 Scottish Cup 2–3 Dundee United O'Donnell 70Hamilton 79 pen. Hibernian Brebner 10 28 87 Tannadice Park, Dundee 8,986 Brown D 22 February 2003 Scottish Cup 1–1 Dunfermline Athletic Nicholson 58 Hibernian Murray 42 East End Park, Dunfermline 6,619 Dougal L 6 March 2003 Scottish Cup 0–2 Hibernian Dunfermline Athletic Crawford 57Wilson 79 Easter Road, Edinburgh 5,851 Dallas Transfers During this period, Hibs were experiencing severe financial problems, due to a "collapse in television revenues".Kwik-Fit keeps Hibs afloat, BBC Sport, 25 June 2003. Hibs chairman Ken Lewandowski stated that the club's debt burden at the financial year end would be approximately £17M, and that the club could only continue to operate due to the support offered by majority shareholder Tom Farmer. At the end of the season, the club explored the possibility of selling Easter Road and sharing a new ground with Edinburgh derby rivals Hearts.Capital groundshare plan, BBC Sport, 16 June 2003. During the summer of 2002, Hibs somewhat addressed these financial deficits by selling Ulises de la Cruz and Ulrik Laursen. De la Cruz was sold just one season after Hibs had bought him for a club record fee.De la Cruz for Villa, The Guardian, 26 July 2002. Players in PlayerFromFeeFinland Mixu PaatelainenRC StrasbourgFreeFrance Yannick ZambernardiTroyes ACFreeHungary Janos MatyusEnergie CottbusFreeSweden Daniel AnderssonAIKFree Players out PlayerToFeeEcuador Ulises de la CruzAston Villa£1,500,000Denmark Ulrik LaursenCeltic£1,500,000Scotland Mark DempsieSt MirrenFreeEngland Tony CaigNewcastle UnitedFreeSpain Paco LunaUD AlmeríaFreeFrance Frederic DaquinFC RouenFree Loans in PlayerFromEngland Craig JamesSunderland Loans out PlayerToScotland Paul HillandCowdenbeathScotland Derek RiordanCowdenbeath Player stats During the 2002–03 season, Hibs used 30 different players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.http://www.soccerbase.com/squad_season.sd?teamid=1227 Hibernian 2002/2003 player appearances Soccerbase 13 December 2009 SPL Scottish Cup League Cup Daniel Andersson GK Sweden 3 0 0 0 0 0 Tony Caig GK England 6 0 0 0 0 0 Nick Colgan GK Ireland 30 0 3 0 2 0 Allan Dempsie DF Scotland 2 0 0 0 0 0 Mark Dempsie DF Scotland 3 0 0 0 0 0 Mathias Kouo-Doumbé DF France 13 0 2 0 0 0 Paul Fenwick DF Canada 31 0 3 0 2 0 Craig James DF England 22 2 2 0 1 0 Janos Matyus DF Hungary 14 0 0 0 1 0 Gary Smith DF Scotland 32 0 3 0 2 0 Steven Whittaker DF Scotland 6 0 0 0 0 0 Yannick Zambernardi DF France 28 0 1 0 2 0 Frederic Arpinon MF France 8 0 1 0 0 0 Grant Brebner MF Scotland 32 3 3 3 2 1 Mathias Jack MF Germany 19 3 2 0 0 0 Ian Murray MF Scotland 36 8 3 1 1 1 Kevin Nicol MF Scotland 1 0 0 0 0 0 John O'Neil MF Scotland 21 2 3 0 0 0 Alen Orman MF Austria 25 1 1 0 2 0 Alan Reid MF Scotland 7 0 0 0 0 0 Darran Thomson MF Scotland 2 0 0 0 0 0 Derek Townsley MF England 25 4 3 0 2 0 Jarkko Wiss MF Finland 24 0 1 0 2 0 Scott Brown FW Scotland 4 3 0 0 0 0 Frederic Daquin FW France 2 0 0 0 0 0 Paco Luna FW Spain 18 2 0 0 2 0 Tam McManus FW Scotland 35 11 3 0 1 0 Garry O'Connor FW Scotland 23 7 3 0 2 2 Mixu Paatelainen FW Finland 24 7 3 0 2 0 Derek Riordan FW Scotland 10 3 0 0 1 0 |} See also List of Hibernian F.C. seasons References 30em External links Fixtures & Results, Hibernian F.C. official site Hibernian 2002/2003 results and fixtures, Soccerbase Category:Hibernian F.C. seasons Hibernian