2002–03 Stoke City F.C. season

March 2015 March 2015 Stoke City 2002–03 Steve Cotterill, Dave Kevan, Tony Pulis Gunnar Gíslason Britannia Stadium Football League First Division 21st (50 Points) FA Cup Fifth Round League Cup First Round Andy Cooke (6) Chris Iwelumo (7) 21,023 vs Brighton & Hove Albion (5 March 2003) 10,406 vs Walsall (26 February 2003) 14,532 2001–02 2003–04 _red_stripes _red_stripes _red_stripes _band_white FFFFFF FF0000 The 2002–03 season was Stoke City's 96th season in the Football League and the 36th in the second tier. Stoke now back in the First Division appointed young manager Steve Cotterill prior to the start of the season. Cotterill had got an impressive reputation following his success with Cheltenham Town but after just 13 matches in charge he shocked the club by quitting in favour of becoming assistant manager at Sunderland. Dave Kevan took over as caretaker until Tony Pulis was appointed in November. His task was to ensure Stoke survived which looked a tough ask as Stoke went 16 matches without a win and when Stoke did manage to get a positive result they lost 6–0 at Nottingham Forest. Following that defeat Pulis improved his defence and results were slowly being ground out and it went to the final day of the season against Reading, with Stoke knowing that if they win they will stay up and thanks to Ade Akinbiyi they won 1–0 and finished four points above the relegation zone.Stoke City season review 2002-03 City leave it late to ensure survival The Sentinel 15 May 2003 Season review League With Gudjon Thordarson failing to gain a new contract the Stoke board moved to appoint Steve Cotterill from Cheltenham Town. Cotterill was seen as one of the best young managers in the country and it was hoped that he would be a long term appointment.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/3028537/Cotterill-unveiled-by-Stoke.html Cotterill unveiled by Stoke 19 October 2011 The Telegraph London 27 May 2002 He brought in Chris Greenacre a striker from Mansfield Town where he had been a prolific goalscorer. The season started with a 0–0 draw away at Sheffield Wednesday and their first win came at home to Bradford City. This was followed by a 4–3 defeat at Preston North End and defeats by Derby and Burnley. Stoke then went five matches unbeaten to lift them away from danger but the club was shocked on 10 October 2002 as Cotterill quit the club in favour of becoming assistant manager at Sunderland.https://www.theguardian.com/football/2002/oct/10/newsstory.sport13 Stoke 'shocked' by Cotterill walkout 19 October 2011 The Guardian London 10 October 2002 Dave Kevan assumed a caretaker manager role and in his four matches in charge Stoke lost them all to start a worrying run of results. The board had expected to appoint George Burley as manager but somewhat surprisingly Tony Pulis was the man given the job. Pulis had previously turned down the chance to manage the club in 1999 and his appointment was not a popular one with the supporters. In his first match in charge away at Walsall he received a less than warm welcome and Stoke crashed to a 4–2 defeat. It took Pulis' team nine more matches to register a victory and after it looked as though Stoke could start pulling away from relegation they suffered humiliation by losing 6–0 at Nottingham Forest and the survival bid looked grim. But Pulis signed a number of players on loan which included Ade Akinbiyi, Paul Warhurst, Lee Mills, and goalkeepers Steve Banks and Mark Crossley. Pulis made Stoke a difficult team to beat and after three hard-fought goalless draws against teams trying to gain promotion Stoke gained vital victories against Watford, Rotherham United, Wimbledon and Coventry City. This took the relegation fight to the last day of the season with Stoke needing a victory against Reading to ensure their stay in First Division would be extended. A 55th-minute strike from Ade Akinbiyi sealed the win they needed and Stoke could start building for the future.https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/2967967.stm Akinbiyi keeps Stoke up BBC Sport 4 May 2003 12 June 2007 FA Cup Two 3–0 wins against Wigan Athletic and Bournemouth set up a tie against Premier League Chelsea and two second half goals gave the Londoners a 2–0 victory. League Cup Stoke lost in the first round to Bury 1–0 at Gigg Lane. Final league table y STK Results Stoke's score comes first Legend WinDrawLoss Pre-season friendlies MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers114 July 2002Newcastle TownA7–13,379Winters, Goodfellow (2), Greenacre (3), Neal222 July 2002Wacker BurghausenA0–2326 July 2002Sturm GrazA1–1Handyside431 July 2002West Bromwich AlbionH0–06,24153 August 2002Birmingham CityH0–25,781 Football League First Division 2002–03 Football League MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReports1 10 August 2002 Sheffield WednesdayA0–026,746Report2 14 August 2002 Leicester CityH0–114,028Report3 17 August 2002 Bradford CityH2–112,424Cooke 4', Marteinsson 34'Report4 24 August 2002 Preston North EndA3–415,422Clarke (2) 7', 65' (2 pens), Cooke 90+2'Report5 26 August 2002 Norwich CityH1–113,931Commons 74'Report6 31 August 2002 Derby CountyA0–221,723Report7 14 September 2002 BurnleyA1–214,244Guðjónsson 74'Report8 17 September 2002 Brighton & Hove AlbionA2–16,369Mooney 17' (pen), Cooke 90'Report9 21 September 2002 Ipswich TownH2–114,587Shtanyuk 17', Cooke 80'Report10 25 September 2002 Nottingham ForestH2–214,554Shtanyuk 13', Goodfellow 72'Report11 28 September 2002 ReadingA1–113,646Vandeurzen 39'Report12 5 October 2002 Crystal PalaceH1–114,214Iwelumo 85'Report13 19 October 2002 Wolverhampton WanderersH0–216,885Report14 23 October 2002 Sheffield UnitedA1–215,163Greenacre 84'Report15 26 October 2002 Rotherham UnitedA0–47,078Report16 30 October 2002 WatfordH1–211,215Mooney 72'Report17 2 November 2002 WalsallA2–46,391Cooke (2) 77', 81'Report18 9 November 2002 Grimsby TownH1–211,488Mooney 50' (pen)Report19 16 November 2002 PortsmouthA0–318,701Report20 23 November 2002 MillwallH0–113,776Report21 30 November 2002 GillinghamA1–18,150Clarke 56'Report22 7 December 2002 Coventry CityH1–212,760Hoekstra 35'Report23 14 December 2002 PortsmouthH1–113,330Gunnarsson 34'Report24 21 December 2002 WimbledonA1–11,697Iwelumo 88'Report25 26 December 2002 Bradford CityA2–414,575Marteinsson 9', Henry 23'Report26 28 December 2002 Sheffield WednesdayH3–216,042Iwelumo (2) 16', 66', Gunnarsson 90+4'Report27 1 January 2003 Preston North EndH2–114,862Gunnarsson 43', Hoekstra 45'Report28 11 January 2003 Leicester CityA0–025,058Report29 18 January 2003 Derby CountyH1–317,308Greenacre 63'Report30 1 February 2003 Norwich CityA2–220,186Gunnarsson 63', Mills 88'Report31 8 February 2003 Grimsby TownA0–25,657Report32 22 February 2003 Nottingham ForestA0–624,085Report33 26 February 2003 WalsallH1–010,409Mills 19'Report34 1 March 2003 BurnleyH0–112,874Report35 5 March 2003 Brighton & Hove AlbionH1–021,023Greenacre 83'Report36 8 March 2003 Ipswich TownA0–024,547Report37 15 March 2003 Sheffield UnitedH0–014,449Report38 18 March 2003 Wolverhampton WanderersA0–025,235Report39 22 March 2003 WatfordA2–112,570Hoekstra (2) 34' 49', (1 pen)Report40 5 April 2003 GillinghamH0–012,746Report41 9 April 2003 Rotherham UnitedH2–019,553Warhurst 21', Cooke 40'Report42 12 April 2003 MillwallA1–38,725Shtanyuk 73'Report43 19 April 2003 WimbledonH2–112,587Gunnarsson 29', Akinbiyi 45'Report44 21 April 2003 Coventry CityA1–012,675Montgomery 87' (o.g.)Report45 26 April 2003 Crystal PalaceA0–116,604Report46 4 May 2003 ReadingH1–020,477Akinbiyi 55'Report FA Cup 2002–03 FA Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReportR34 January 2003 Wigan AthleticH3–09,618Greenacre (2) 20', 67' Iwelumo 31'ReportR425 January 2003 BournemouthH3–012,004Iwelumo (2) 45', 51' (1 pen), Hoekstra 84'ReportR516 February 2003 ChelseaH0–226,615Report League Cup 2002–03 Football League Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReportR110 September 2002 BuryA0–12,581Report Squad statistics No.Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalDisciplineAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals13px13px1GKENG Neil Cutler2001(1)01022(1)0002DFENG Wayne Thomas4103010450613DFIRE Clive Clarke27(4)3001028(4)3504DFSCO Peter Handyside4402010470315DFBLR Sergei Shtanuk4432010473816MFISL Brynjar Gunnarsson40530104451027MFISL Bjarni Guðjónsson25(11)12(1)01028(12)1208FWENG Andy Cooke24(7)6001025(7)6409FWENG Lee Mills7(4)200007(4)20010FWENG Chris Greenacre18(12)4320021(12)61011MFNED Peter Hoekstra26(4)4210(1)028(5)56012GKFIN Jani Viander000000000014GKENG Ben Foster000000000015FWSCO Chris Iwelumo15(17)4331019(17)74016FWENG Tommy Mooney 11(1)3000011(1)30116DFENG Frazer Richardson700000700017MFIRE James O'Connor430301047012018MFENG Lewis Neal7(9)01(2)0008(11)02019FWENG Marc Goodfellow6(14)10(3)00(1)06(18)10020MFENG Mark Wilson400000400021MFISL Pétur Marteinsson7(5)21(1)0008(6)23122MFENG Brian Wilson1(2)000001(2)00023MFENG Karl Henry15(3)12(1)00(1)017(5)11024MFSCO Kris Commons6(2)10010910025DFWAL Gareth Owen000000000026FWNGA Ade Akinbiyi420000420027MFBEL Jurgen Vandeurzen 7(5)100007(5)10027FWENG Paul Warhurst4(1)100004(1)11028GKWAL Mark Crossley12000001202029DFIRE Richard Keogh000000000030DFENG Marcus Hall23(1)0300026(1)03031GKENG Steve Banks14020001600032DFNIR Mark Williams5(1)000005(1)01033FWENG Laurence Hall0000000000––Own goals–1–0–0–1–– References Category:Stoke City F.C. seasons Stoke City