# 2002–03 Northampton Town F.C. season

The 2002–03 season was Northampton Town's 106th season in their history and the third successive season in the Second Division. Alongside competing in Division Two, the club also participated in the FA Cup, League Cup and Football League Trophy.

## Players

    As of match played 3 May 2003.
| No. | Name | Position | Place of Birth | Date of Birth (Age) | Apps | Goals | Previous club | Date signed | Fee |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||
| 1 | Lee Harper | GK | Chelsea | (1971-10-30)30 October 1971 (aged 31) | 34 | 0 | Walsall | 15 July 2002 | Free |
| 13 | Nathan Abbey | GK | Islington | (1978-07-11)11 July 1978 (aged 24) | 8 | 0 | Chesterfield | 2 August 2002 | Free |
| 24 | Mark Bunn | GK | Kettering | (1984-11-16)16 November 1984 (aged 18) | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | 21 August 2001 | N/A |
| 27 | Glyn Thompson | GK | Telford | (1981-02-24)24 February 1981 (aged 22) | 12 | 0 | Fulham | 27 March 2003 | Free |
| Defenders |||||||||||
| 2 | Chris Marsh | RB | Dudley | (1970-01-14)14 January 1970 (aged 33) | 43 | 0 | Wycombe Wanderers | 6 September 2001 | £10,000 |
| 3 | Duncan Spedding | LB | Camberley | (1977-09-07)7 September 1977 (aged 25) | 143 | 1 | Southampton | 14 July 1998 | Free |
| 4 | Ian Sampson | CB | Wakefield | (1968-11-14)14 November 1968 (aged 34) | 401 | 29 | Sunderland | 5 August 1994 | £30,000 |
| 5 | Richard Hope | CB | Stockton-on-Tees | (1978-06-22)22 June 1978 (aged 24) | 153 | 7 | Darlington | 18 December 1998 | Undisclosed |
| 6 | John Frain | LB | Birmingham | (1968-10-08)8 October 1968 (aged 34) | 243 | 7 | Birmingham City | Summer 1997 | Free |
| 16 | Daryl Burgess | FB | Birmingham | (1971-01-24)24 January 1971 (aged 32) | 69 | 2 | West Bromwich Albion | 27 June 2001 | Free |
| 21 | Jerry Gill | RB | Clevedon | (1970-09-08)8 September 1970 (aged 32) | 46 | 0 | Birmingham City | 11 November 2002 | Free |
| 25 | Luke Chambers | RB | Kettering | (1985-09-28)28 September 1985 (aged 17) | 1 | 0 | Apprentice | 26 April 2003 | N/A |
| 28 | Paul Reid | CB | Carlisle | (1982-02-18)18 February 1982 (aged 21) | 19 | 0 | Rangers | 30 December 2002 | Loan |
| Midfielders |||||||||||
| 7 | Paul McGregor | RW | Liverpool | (1974-12-17)17 December 1974 (aged 28) | 71 | 7 | Plymouth Argyle | 8 June 2001 | Free |
| 8 | Paul Harsley | CM | Scunthorpe | (1978-05-29)29 May 1978 (aged 24) | 51 | 3 | Halifax Town | 13 June 2002 | Free |
| 11 | Chris Carruthers | LM | Kettering | (1983-08-19)19 August 1983 (aged 19) | 55 | 1 | Apprentice | 1 August 2000 | N/A |
| 14 | Paul Rickers | RM | Pontefract | (1975-05-09)9 May 1975 (aged 27) | 15 | 1 | Oldham Athletic | 3 July 2002 | Free |
| 15 | Paul Trollope | CM | Swindon (ENG) | (1972-06-03)3 June 1972 (aged 30) | 48 | 2 | Coventry City | 23 July 2002 | Free |
| 17 | Greg Lincoln | CM | Cheshunt | (1980-03-23)23 March 1980 (aged 23) | 12 | 0 | Margate | 6 June 2002 | Free |
| 20 | Chris Hargreaves | CM | Cleethorpes | (1972-05-12)12 May 1972 (aged 30) | 122 | 5 | Plymouth Argyle | 27 June 2000 | Free |
| Forwards |||||||||||
| 9 | Darryn Stamp | FW | Beverley | (1978-09-21)21 September 1978 (aged 24) | 24 | 5 | Scarborough | 29 May 2002 | £45,000 |
| 10 | Marco Gabbiadini | FW | Nottingham | (1968-01-20)20 January 1968 (aged 35) | 136 | 30 | Darlington | 27 June 2000 | Free |
| 19 | Derek Asamoah | FW | Accra | (1981-05-01)1 May 1981 (aged 22) | 92 | 9 | Slough Town | 25 July 2001 | Free |
| 22 | Steve Morison | FW | Enfield | (1983-08-29)29 August 1983 (aged 19) | 16 | 1 | Apprentice | 27 August 2001 | N/A |
| 30 | Lawrie Dudfield | FW | Southwark | (1980-05-07)7 May 1980 (aged 22) | 10 | 1 | Hull City | 15 March 2003 | Loan |
| 31 | Tom Youngs | FW | Bury St Edmunds | (1979-08-31)31 August 1979 (aged 23) | 5 | 0 | Cambridge United | 15 March 2003 | £50,000 |

## Competitions
### Nationwide Football League Division Two
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 20 | Chesterfield | 46 | 14 | 8 | 24 | 43 | 73 | −30 | 50 | |
| 21 | Cheltenham Town (R) | 46 | 10 | 18 | 18 | 53 | 68 | −15 | 48 | Relegation to Football League Third Division |
| 22 | Huddersfield Town (R) | 46 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 39 | 61 | −22 | 45 | Relegation to Football League Third Division |
| 23 | Mansfield Town (R) | 46 | 12 | 8 | 26 | 66 | 97 | −31 | 44 | Relegation to Football League Third Division |
| 24 | Northampton Town (R) | 46 | 10 | 9 | 27 | 40 | 79 | −39 | 39 | Relegation to Football League Third Division |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 22 April 2020. Source: 11v11.com

#### League position by match

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | D | D | W | L | L | W | L | D | W | L | W | D | L | L | L | L | W | W | W | L | L | L | L | D | W | L | L | L | D | L | D | L | L | L | L | W | D | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L |
| Position | 12 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 14 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss

### Appearances, goals and cards

| No. | Pos | Player | Division Two | Division Two | Division Two | FA Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Trophy | League Trophy | League Trophy | Total | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline |
| No. | Pos | Player | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | | |
| 1 | GK | Lee Harper | 31 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 33 | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 2 | RB | Chris Marsh | 15 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 15 | – | – | 2 | – |
| 3 | LB | Duncan Spedding | 9 | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | 3 | – | 2 | – |
| 4 | CB | Ian Sampson | 31 | 2 | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | 36 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| 5 | CB | Richard Hope | 17 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | 19 | 9 | 1 | 5 | – |
| 6 | LB | John Frain | 13 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 14 | 1 | – | – | – |
| 7 | RM | Paul McGregor | 17 | 6 | 2 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 18 | 8 | 2 | 1 | – |
| 8 | CM | Paul Harsley | 41 | 4 | 2 | 3 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | 46 | 5 | 3 | 1 | – |
| 9 | ST | Darryn Stamp | 12 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| 10 | ST | Marco Gabbiadini | 33 | 8 | 12 | 3 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | 1 | 39 | 8 | 14 | 7 | 1 |
| 11 | LM | Chris Carruthers | 26 | 7 | – | 3 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 30 | 8 | – | 1 | – |
| 13 | GK | Nathan Abbey | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 7 | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 14 | RM | Paul Rickers | 8 | 3 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 1 | – |
| 15 | CM | Paul Trollope | 41 | – | 2 | 3 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 47 | – | 2 | 7 | – |
| 16 | RB | Daryl Burgess | 24 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 28 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| 17 | CM | Greg Lincoln | 5 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | 7 | – | – | – |
| 19 | ST | Derek Asamoah | 20 | 22 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 24 | 24 | 6 | 2 | – |
| 20 | CM | Chris Hargreaves | 36 | 3 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | 1 | 42 | 3 | 2 | 8 | – |
| 21 | RB | Jerry Gill | 41 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 46 | – | – | 5 | – |
| 22 | ST | Steve Morison | 4 | 9 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | 4 | 11 | 1 | – | – |
| 23 | MF | Danny Lowe | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 24 | GK | Mark Bunn | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 25 | RB | Luke Chambers | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| 26 | CM | Aaran Cavill | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 27 | GK | Glyn Thompson | 11 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | – | – | – | – |
| 28 | CB | Paul Reid | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 19 | – | – | 3 | – |
| 29 | DF | Adam Barradell | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 30 | ST | Lawrie Dudfield | 8 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | 2 | 1 | – | – |
| 31 | ST | Tom Youngs | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | – | – | – | – |
| Players no longer at the club: ||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | ST | Jamie Forrester | 18 | 7 | 5 | 3 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | 2 | 24 | 7 | 7 | – | – |
| 18 | CM | Brent Rahim | 6 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | – | 1 | 1 | – |
| 23 | ST | Armand One | 6 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | 6 | 1 | 1 | – | – |
| 29 | LM | Andy Turner | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | – |
| 30 | CM | Richard Johnson | 5 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – |