# 2002–03 Grimsby Town F.C. season

The 2002–03 season saw Grimsby Town compete in the Football League First Division where they finished in 24th position with 39 points and were relegated to the Second Division.

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date | Pos | Player | Transferred from | Fee |
| 15 May 2002 | GK | Bradley Hughes | Watford | Free Transfer |
| 5 July 2002 | MF | Terry Cooke | Manchester City | Free Transfer |
| 1 August 2002 | DF | Greg Young | Sheffield Wednesday | Free Transfer |
| 1 August 2002 | MF | Stephen Downes | Ossett Albion | Free Transfer |
| 2 August 2022 | DF | Steve Chettle | Barnsley | Free Transfer |
| 2 August 2002 | MF | Darren Barnard | Barnsley | Free Transfer |
| 22 August 2002 | FW | Robert Taylor | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Free Transfer |
| 27 September 2022 | DF | Georges Santos | Sheffield United | Free Transfer |
| 21 December 2002 | GK | Andy Pettinger | Everton | Free Transfer |
| 13 January 2003 | FW | Michael Boulding | Aston Villa | Free Transfer |
| 7 February 2003 | FW | Jake Sagare | Portland Timbers | Free Transfer |

### Loans in

| Date | Pos | Player | Transferred from | Date Until |
| 9 August 2002 | FW | Paul Robinson | Newcastle United | 27 October 2002 |
| 23 August 2002 | FW | Steve Kabba | Crystal Palace | 8 November 2002 |
| 31 August 2002 | GK | Shaun Allaway | Leeds United | 5 May 2003 |
| 31 October 2022 | MF | John Oster | Sunderland | 30 December 2002 |
| 2 November 2002 | DF | Jason Gavin | Middlesbrough | 5 January 2003 |
| 10 January 2003 | FW | Michael Boulding | Aston Villa | 12 January 2003 |
| 21 February 2003 | MF | John Oster | Sunderland | 24 March 2003 |
| 22 February 2003 | MF | Richard Hughes | Portsmouth | 5 May 2003 |
| 27 March 2003 | MF | Michael Keane | Preston North End | 5 May 2003 |

### Transfers out

| Date | Pos | Player | Transferred To | Fee |
| 31 May 2002 | FW | Mike Jeffrey | Retired | Released |
| 31 May 2002 | MF | Gary Moran | Rugby United | Released |
| 1 June 2002 | MF | Menno Willems | HFC Haarlem | Released |
| 1 July 2002 | MF | David Smith | Swansea City | Released |
| 1 July 2002 | MF | Ben Chapman | Boston United | Released |
| 3 July 2002 | FW | Willie Falconer | Clyde | Released |
| 5 July 2002 | DF | Danny Butterfield | Crystal Palace | Free Transfer |
| 8 July 2002 | FW | Michael Boulding | Aston Villa | Free Transfer |
| 29 August 2002 | FW | Bradley Allen | Peterborough United | Released |
| 9 September 2002 | MF | Wayne Burnett | Woking | Released |
| 13 February 2003 | DF | Paul Raven | Carlisle United | Released |
| 28 February 2003 | MF | Robert Taylor | Scunthorpe United | Released |

### Loans out

| Date | Pos | Player | Transferred To | Date Until | Ref |
| 5 September 2002 | FW | Phil Jevons | Hull City | 4 May 2003 | |

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 20 | Coventry City | 46 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 46 | 62 | −16 | 50 | |
| 21 | Stoke City | 46 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 45 | 69 | −24 | 50 | |
| 22 | Sheffield Wednesday (R) | 46 | 10 | 16 | 20 | 56 | 73 | −17 | 46 | Relegation to 2003–04 Second Division |
| 23 | Brighton & Hove Albion (R) | 46 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 49 | 67 | −18 | 45 | Relegation to 2003–04 Second Division |
| 24 | Grimsby Town (R) | 46 | 9 | 12 | 25 | 48 | 85 | −37 | 39 | Relegation to 2003–04 Second Division |

## Results

Grimsby Town's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 10 August 2002 | Norwich City | A | 0–4 | 19,869 | |
| 2 | 13 August 2002 | Wimbledon | H | 0–0 | 4,625 | |
| 3 | 17 August 2002 | Derby County | H | 1–2 | 5,810 | Barnard |
| 4 | 24 August 2002 | Bradford City | A | 0–0 | 10,914 | |
| 5 | 26 August 2002 | Portsmouth | H | 0–1 | 5,770 | |
| 6 | 31 August 2002 | Millwall | A | 0–2 | 6,677 | |
| 7 | 14 September 2002 | Coventry City | A | 2–3 | 12,403 | Kabba, Pouton |
| 8 | 17 September 2002 | Sheffield United | A | 1–2 | 14,208 | Robinson |
| 9 | 21 September 2002 | Nottingham Forest | H | 0–3 | 7,072 | |
| 10 | 28 September 2002 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 2–1 | 6,547 | Barnard, Pouton |
| 11 | 5 October 2002 | Reading | H | 0–3 | 5,528 | |
| 12 | 8 October 2002 | Ipswich Town | H | 3–0 | 4,688 | Kabba (2), Pouton |
| 13 | 12 October 2002 | Watford | A | 0–2 | 13,821 | |
| 14 | 19 October 2002 | Rotherham United | H | 0–0 | 6,418 | |
| 15 | 26 October 2002 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–4 | 23,875 | Kabba |
| 16 | 29 October 2002 | Burnley | H | 6–5 | 5,620 | Kabba (2), Livingstone, Campbell, Pouton, Ford |
| 17 | 2 November 2002 | Gillingham | H | 1–1 | 5,715 | Oster |
| 18 | 9 November 2002 | Stoke City | A | 2–1 | 11,488 | Livingstone, Campbell |
| 19 | 16 November 2002 | Preston North End | H | 3–3 | 5,774 | Campbell, Ford, Mansaram |
| 20 | 23 November 2002 | Crystal Palace | A | 0–2 | 20,093 | |
| 21 | 30 November 2002 | Leicester City | H | 1–2 | 7,310 | Oster |
| 22 | 7 December 2002 | Walsall | A | 1–3 | 5,888 | Livingstone |
| 23 | 14 December 2002 | Preston North End | A | 0–3 | 12,420 | |
| 24 | 21 December 2002 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 2–0 | 8,224 | Mansaram, Santos |
| 25 | 26 December 2002 | Derby County | A | 3–1 | 27,141 | Oster (2), Soames |
| 26 | 28 December 2002 | Norwich City | H | 1–1 | 8,306 | Oster |
| 27 | 11 January 2003 | Wimbledon | A | 3–3 | 1,336 | Campbell, Boulding, Andersen |
| 28 | 18 January 2003 | Millwall | H | 0–2 | 4,993 | |
| 29 | 25 January 2003 | Bradford City | H | 1–2 | 5,582 | Boulding |
| 30 | 1 February 2003 | Portsmouth | A | 0–3 | 19,428 | |
| 31 | 8 February 2003 | Stoke City | H | 2–0 | 5,657 | Boulding, Thompson |
| 32 | 15 February 2003 | Gillingham | A | 0–3 | 7,158 | |
| 33 | 22 February 2003 | Ipswich Town | A | 2–2 | 24,118 | Boulding, Groves |
| 34 | 1 March 2003 | Coventry City | H | 0–2 | 5,736 | |
| 35 | 4 March 2003 | Sheffield United | H | 1–4 | 6,897 | Campbell |
| 36 | 10 March 2003 | Nottingham Forest | A | 2–2 | 25,507 | Pouton, Groves |
| 37 | 15 March 2003 | Watford | H | 1–0 | 4,847 | Groves |
| 38 | 18 March 2003 | Rotherham United | A | 1–0 | 6,236 | Oster |
| 39 | 22 March 2003 | Burnley | A | 1–1 | 13,445 | Campbell |
| 40 | 5 April 2003 | Leicester City | A | 0–2 | 31,014 | |
| 41 | 8 April 2003 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0–1 | 4,983 | |
| 42 | 12 April 2003 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–4 | 4,707 | Chettle |
| 43 | 19 April 2003 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 0–0 | 26,082 | |
| 44 | 21 April 2003 | Walsall | H | 0–1 | 4,618 | |
| 45 | 26 April 2003 | Reading | A | 1–2 | 20,273 | Keane |
| 46 | 4 May 2003 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 2–2 | 6,393 | Keane, Hughes |

### FA Cup

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| Third round | 4 January 2003 | Burnley | H | 2–2 | 5,320 | Cooke, Mansaram |
| Third round replay | 14 January 2003 | Burnley | A | 0–4 | 5,436 | |

### Football League Cup

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| First round | 10 September 2002 | Chesterfield | H | 0–1 | 3,248 | |

## Squad statistics

| No. | Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | Danny Coyne | 46 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | John McDermott | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Tony Gallimore | 38 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Paul Groves | 32(4) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35(4) | 3 |
| 5 | DF | Paul Raven | 6(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6(1) | 0 |
| 6 | MF | Stacy Coldicott | 26(5) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28(5) | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Alan Pouton | 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 5 |
| 8 | MF | Stuart Campbell | 45 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 6 |
| 9 | FW | Phil Jevons | 0(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(3) | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Steve Livingstone | 21(9) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22(9) | 3 |
| 11 | MF | Terry Cooke | 15(10) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17(10) | 1 |
| 12 | FW | Jonathan Rowan | 2(7) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 2(9) | 0 |
| 13 | GK | Steve Croudson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Chris Thompson | 3(3) | 1 | 0(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3(5) | 1 |
| 15 | MF | Chris Bolder | 7(5) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7(6) | 0 |
| 16 | DF | Iain Ward | 9(2) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 9(4) | 0 |
| 17 | DF | Simon Ford | 35(4) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36(4) | 2 |
| 18 | DF | Steve Chettle | 18(2) | 1 | 1(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20(3) | 1 |
| 19 | MF | Darren Barnard | 21(8) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22(8) | 2 |
| 20 | FW | David Soames | 0(10) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2(10) | 1 |
| 20 | FW | Paul Robinson | 5(7) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6(7) | 1 |
| 21 | FW | Michael Boulding | 10(2) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10(2) | 4 |
| 21 | FW | Robert Taylor | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | Jason Gavin | 8(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8(2) | 0 |
| 22 | DF | Richard Hughes | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| 22 | FW | Steve Kabba | 13 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 6 |
| 23 | DF | Georges Santos | 24(2) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25(2) | 1 |
| 24 | MF | Graham Hockless | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | Greg Young | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | Stephen Downes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | Wes Parker | 1(4) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2(4) | 0 |
| 28 | FW | Darren Mansaram | 21(13) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0(1) | 0 | 23(14) | 3 |
| 31 | MF | Michael Keane | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| 32 | MF | John Oster | 17 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 6 |
| 33 | MF | Jake Sagare | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |