2002–03 Stoke City F.C. season
Introduction 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.
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. 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.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.===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
Results ''Stoke's score comes first''===Legend===WinDrawLoss===Pre-Season Friendlies===MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers114 July 2002Newcastle TownA7–13,379Winters, Goodfellow (2), Greenacre (3), Neal222 July 2002Wacker BurghausenA326 July 2002Sturm GrazAHandyside431 July 2002West Bromwich AlbionH0–06,24153 August 2002Birmingham CityH0–25,781===Football League First Division===MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReports1 10 August 2002 Sheffield WednesdayA0–0 Report2 14 August 2002 Leicester CityH0–1 Report3 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 CountyA0–2 Report7 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 WanderersH0–2 Report14 23 October 2002 Sheffield UnitedA1–215,163Greenacre 84' Report15 26 October 2002 Rotherham UnitedA0–4 Report16 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 PortsmouthA0–3 Report20 23 November 2002 MillwallH0–1 Report21 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 CityA0–0 Report29 18 January 2003 Derby CountyH1–317,308Greenacre 63' Report30 1 February 2003 Norwich CityA2–220,186Gunnarsson 63', Mills 88' Report31 8 February 2003 Grimsby TownA0–2 Report32 22 February 2003 Nottingham ForestA0–6 Report33 26 February 2003 WalsallH1–010,409Mills 19' Report34 1 March 2003 BurnleyH0–1 Report35 5 March 2003 Brighton & Hove AlbionH1–021,023Greenacre 83' Report36 8 March 2003 Ipswich TownA0–0 Report37 15 March 2003 Sheffield UnitedH0–0 Report38 18 March 2003 Wolverhampton WanderersA0–0 Report39 22 March 2003 WatfordA2–112,570Hoekstra (2) 34' 49', (1 pen) Report40 5 April 2003 GillinghamH0–0 Report41 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 PalaceA0–1 Report46 4 May 2003 ReadingH1–020,477Akinbiyi 55' Report===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 ChelseaH0–2 Report===League Cup===RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReportR110 September 2002 BuryA0–1 Report
Squad statistics No.Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalDisciplineAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals13px13px1GK Neil Cutler2001(1)01022(1)0002DF Wayne Thomas4103010450613DF Clive Clarke27(4)3001028(4)3504DF Peter Handyside4402010470315DF Sergei Shtanuk4432010473816MF Brynjar Gunnarsson40530104451027MF Bjarni Guðjónsson25(11)12(1)01028(12)1208FW Andy Cooke24(7)6001025(7)6409FW Lee Mills7(4)200007(4)20010FW Chris Greenacre18(12)4320021(12)61011MF Peter Hoekstra26(4)4210(1)028(5)56012GK Jani Viander000000000014GK Ben Foster000000000015FW Chris Iwelumo15(17)4331019(17)74016FW Tommy Mooney 11(1)3000011(1)30116DF Frazer Richardson700000700017MF James O'Connor430301047012018MF Lewis Neal7(9)01(2)0008(11)02019FW Marc Goodfellow6(14)10(3)00(1)06(18)10020MF Mark Wilson400000400021MF Pétur Marteinsson7(5)21(1)0008(6)23122MF Brian Wilson1(2)000001(2)00023MF Karl Henry15(3)12(1)00(1)017(5)11024MF Kris Commons6(2)10010910025DF Gareth Owen000000000026FW Ade Akinbiyi420000420027MF Jurgen Vandeurzen 7(5)100007(5)10027FW Paul Warhurst4(1)100004(1)11028GK Mark Crossley12000001202029DF Richard Keogh000000000030DF Marcus Hall23(1)0300026(1)03031GK Steve Banks14020001600032DF Mark Williams5(1)000005(1)01033FW Laurence Hall0000000000––Own goals–1–0–0–1––
References