# 2002–03 Northern Spirit FC season

The 2002–03 season was the fifth season in the history of Northern Spirit (now North West Sydney Spirit). It was also the fifth season in the National Soccer League. Northern Spirit finished 6th in their National Soccer League regular season and 5th in the NSL Championship play-offs.

## Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Julian Watts |
| 3 | DF | CMR | Simon Bell |
| 4 | MF | AUS | Noel Spencer |
| 5 | DF | AUS | Alex Tobin |
| 6 | DF | AUS | Robert Trajkovski |
| 7 | DF | AUS | Andy McDermott |
| 8 | MF | SCO | Ian Ferguson |
| 10 | FW | AUS | Dylan Macallister |
| 11 | MF | AUS | Troy Cranney |
| 12 | MF | MLT | John Hutchinson |
| 14 | MF | AUS | Bradley Groves |
| 15 | DF | AUS | Vuko Tomasevic |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | FW | NZL | Brent Fisher |
| 17 | FW | SCO | Stewart Petrie |
| 18 | DF | AUS | Alex Wilkinson |
| 20 | GK | AUS | Paul Henderson |
| 21 | MF | AUS | Sean Walsh |
| 24 | MF | AUS | Mitchell Prentice |
| 27 | MF | AUS | Jonti Richter |
| 28 | MF | AUS | Matthew Hunter |
| 29 | DF | AUS | Michael Moulis |
| 31 | MF | AUS | Andrew Mailer |
| 32 | FW | AUS | Adam Foti |
| 33 | DF | AUS | Mark Milligan |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred from | Date |
| – | FW | Aaron Burgess | Manly Warringah Dolphins | July 2002 |
| – | FW | Adam Kwasnik | Parramatta Power | July 2002 |
| 10 | FW | Dylan Macallister | Sydney Olympic | July 2002 |
| – | MF | Marc Phillips | Brunei | July 2002 |
| – | FW | Hamilton Thorp | Manly Warringah Dolphins | July 2002 |
| 5 | DF | Alex Tobin | Parramatta Power | July 2002 |
| 15 | DF | Vuko Tomasevic | Bonnyrigg White Eagles | July 2002 |
| 18 | DF | Alex Wilkinson | Manly Warringah Dolphins | July 2002 |
| – | FW | Russell Woodruffe | Mt Gravatt Hawks | July 2002 |
| 8 | MF | Ian Ferguson | Dunfermline Athletic | August 2002 |
| 17 | FW | Stewart Petrie | Dunfermline Athletic | February 2003 |
| 33 | DF | Mark Milligan | FFA Centre of Excellence | April 2003 |

### Transfers out

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred to | Date |
| 10 | FW | Pablo Cardozo | Parramatta Power | June 2002 |
| 16 | FW | Simon Catanzaro | Blacktown City | June 2002 |
| 9 | FW | Adrian Cervinski | Melbourne Knights | June 2002 |
| 17 | FW | Stephen Dobbie | Rangers | June 2002 |
| 18 | MF | Robert Enes | Marconi Fairfield | June 2002 |
| 21 | DF | Adam Griffiths | Newcastle United | June 2002 |
| 13 | MF | Marcus Stergiopoulos | APIA Leichhardt | June 2002 |
| 6 | MF | Scott Thomas | Newcastle United | June 2002 |
| – | MF | James Wesolowski | Leicester City | June 2002 |
| – | MF | Marc Phillips | Brunei | November 2002 |
| 1 | GK | Lupce Acevski | Adelaide City | December 2002 |
| – | FW | Hamilton Thorp | IFK Norrköping | December 2002 |
| 23 | MF | Steven Baveas | Ryde City | March 2003 |
| – | FW | Russell Woodruffe | Queensland Lions | March 2003 |
| 30 | GK | Jacob Rex | Manly Warringah Dolphins | April 2003 |
| – | FW | Adam Kwasnik | Manly Warringah Dolphins | May 2003 |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| National Soccer League | 21 September 2002 | 16 March 2003 | Matchday 1 | 6th | 24 | 11 | 3 | 10 | 37 | 44 | −7 | 045.83 |
| NSL Championship play-offs | 22 March 2003 | 25 May 2003 | Matchday 1 | 5th | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 22 | −15 | 022.22 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 33 | 13 | 5 | 15 | 44 | 66 | −22 | 039.39 |
Last updated: complete Source: Competitions

### National Soccer League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 4 | Newcastle United | 24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 37 | 25 | +12 | 37 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Adelaide Force | 24 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 40 | 34 | +6 | 37 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 6 | Northern Spirit | 24 | 11 | 3 | 10 | 37 | 44 | −7 | 36 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 7 | South Melbourne | 24 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 36 | 37 | −1 | 35 | |
| 8 | Sydney United | 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 23 | 31 | −8 | 27 | |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: worldfootball.net

#### Results by round

| 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 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | B | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | B | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | L | L | W | D | ✖ | L | L | L | D | W | W | W | W | L | D | L | W | ✖ | L | W | W | L | W | W | L |
| Position | 3 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |

#### Championship play-offs

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Perth Glory (C) | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 7 | +20 | 27 | Qualification for the Grand Final |
| 2 | Olympic Sharks | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 14 | +3 | 19 | Qualification for the Grand Final |
| 3 | Adelaide Force (R) | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 17 | Joined the SASF Premier League |
| 4 | Parramatta Power | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 21 | −5 | 13 | |
| 5 | Northern Spirit | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 22 | −15 | 8 | |
| 6 | Newcastle United | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 17 | −8 | 7 | |
* ↑ Awarded 3 bonus points, due to regular season position.
* ↑ Awarded 6 bonus points, due to regular season position.
* ↑ Adelaide Force was not forcibly relegated, but voluntarily left the league due to financial difficulties.
* 1 2 The Round 9 match between Northern Spirit and Newcastle United was not played, as neither team could progress.

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

Players with no appearances not included in the list.
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | National Soccer League | National Soccer League | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 2 | DF | | Julian Watts | 30 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | | Simon Bell | 5(2) | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | | Noel Spencer | 30 | 4 | 30 | 4 |
| 5 | DF | | Alex Tobin | 32 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | | Robert Trajkovski | 1(2) | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | DF | | Andy McDermott | 26(2) | 5 | 28 | 5 |
| 8 | MF | | Ian Ferguson | 26(1) | 1 | 27 | 1 |
| 10 | FW | | Dylan Macallister | 13(4) | 1 | 17 | 1 |
| 11 | MF | | Troy Cranney | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | | John Hutchinson | 32 | 7 | 32 | 7 |
| 14 | MF | | Bradley Groves | 7(7) | 3 | 14 | 3 |
| 15 | DF | | Vuko Tomasevic | 28(1) | 8 | 29 | 8 |
| 16 | FW | | Brent Fisher | 7(10) | 5 | 17 | 5 |
| 17 | FW | | Stewart Petrie | 17 | 3 | 17 | 3 |
| 18 | DF | | Alex Wilkinson | 29(1) | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| 20 | GK | | Paul Henderson | 32 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | | Sean Walsh | 0(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | | Matthew Osman | 5(7) | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | | Omar Obeid | 0(3) | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | | Jonti Richter | 14(15) | 2 | 29 | 2 |
| 28 | MF | | Matthew Hunter | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | | Michael Moulis | 0(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | MF | | Andrew Mailer | 0(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | | Mark Milligan | 1(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | National Soccer League | Total |
| 1 | 20 | GK | | Paul Henderson | 6 | 6 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 6 | 6 |