# 2002–03 Football League First Division

The 2002–03 Football League First Division (referred to as the Nationwide First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the league under its current format as the second tier of English football.
Portsmouth won the division to return to the Premier League after a fifteen-year absence. In Harry Redknapp's first full season in charge the team secured the title on 27 April, with a victory over Rotherham, having been promoted with four games to spare by defeating Burnley.
Leicester City were promoted at the first attempt following their relegation. Their promotion was contentious as they entered administration during the season due to debts in excess of £50 million stemming from their loss of Premier League income and major investment in a new stadium, but were able to write-off these entirely when a new consortium took control and therefore avoided having to sell off players. Following this incident, the Football League would introduce rules that penalised any club entering administration with a ten-point points deduction; although Leicester would still have finished in second place had been this been applied.
Wolverhampton Wanderers won the play-offs to reach the modern-day Premiership for the first time after a 3–0 win in the play-off final against a Sheffield United team which had reached the semi-finals of both domestic cup competitions. This marked a return to top-flight football for Wolves after a nineteen-year exodus that had seen them fall as low as the fourth tier. Also leaving the division were Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton & Hove Albion and Grimsby Town, who were all relegated.

## Team changes from previous season
### From the First Division

Promoted to the Premiership:
* Manchester City
* West Bromwich Albion
* Birmingham City
Relegated to the Second Division:
* Crewe Alexandra
* Barnsley
* Stockport County

### To the First Division

Relegated from the Premiership:
* Leicester City
* Ipswich Town
* Derby County
Promoted from the Second Division:
* Brighton & Hove Albion
* Reading
* Stoke City

## Team overview
### Stadia and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Bradford City | Bradford | Bradford & Bingley Stadium | 25,136 |
| Burnley | Burnley | Turf Moor | 22,546 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Brighton | Withdean Stadium | 8,850 |
| Coventry City | Coventry | Highfield Road | 23,489 |
| Crystal Palace | London | Selhurst Park | 26,309 |
| Derby County | Derby | Pride Park | 33,597 |
| Gillingham | Gillingham | Priestfield Stadium | 11,582 |
| Grimsby Town | Cleethorpes | Blundell Park | 10,033 |
| Ipswich Town | Ipswich | Portman Road | 30,311 |
| Leicester City | Leicester | Walkers Stadium | 32,500 |
| Millwall | London | The New Den | 20,146 |
| Nottingham Forest | Nottingham | City Ground | 30,576 |
| Norwich City | Norwich | Carrow Road | 26,018 |
| Portsmouth | Portsmouth | Fratton Park | 20,224 |
| Preston North End | Preston | Deepdale | 23,408 |
| Reading | Reading | Madejski Stadium | 24,161 |
| Rotherham United | Rotherham | Millmoor | 8,300 |
| Sheffield United | Sheffield | Bramall Lane | 32,702 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | Sheffield | Hillsborough | 39,812 |
| Stoke City | Stoke | Britannia Stadium | 27,740 |
| Walsall | Walsall | Bescot Stadium | 11,300 |
| Watford | Watford | Vicarage Road | 17,504 |
| Wimbledon | London | Selhurst Park | 26,309 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Wolverhampton | Molineux | 27,828 |
* Note 1: Wimbledon rented the use of Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park home.

### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Manager | Kit maker | Sponsor |
| Bradford City | Nicky Law | BCAFC | JCT600 |
| Burnley | Stan Ternent | TFG Sports | Lanway |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Martin Hinshelwood | Erreà | Skint Records |
| Coventry City | Gary McAllister | CCFC | Subaru |
| Crystal Palace | Trevor Francis | Le Coq Sportif | Churchill Insurance |
| Derby County | John Gregory | Erreà | Pedigree |
| Gillingham | Andy Hessenthaler | Gills Leisure | SeaFrance |
| Grimsby Town | Paul Groves | Avec | Dixon |
| Ipswich Town | George Burley | Punch | TXU Energi |
| Leicester City | Micky Adams | Le Coq Sportif | LG |
| Millwall | Mark McGhee | Strikeforce | 24seven |
| Nottingham Forest | Paul Hart | Umbro | Pinnacle Insurance |
| Norwich City | Nigel Worthington | Xara | Digital Phone Company |
| Portsmouth | Harry Redknapp | Pompey Sport | Ty |
| Preston North End | Craig Brown | Voi | NewReg.com |
| Reading | Alan Pardew | Kit@ | Westcoast |
| Rotherham United | Ronnie Moore | Bodyline | T-Mobile |
| Sheffield United | Neil Warnock | Le Coq Sportif | Desun |
| Sheffield Wednesday | Terry Yorath | Diadora | Chupa Chups |
| Stoke City | Steve Cotterill | Le Coq Sportif | Britannia |
| Walsall | Colin Lee | Xara | Banks's |
| Watford | Ray Lewington | Kit@ | Toshiba |
| Wimbledon | Stuart Murdoch | Patrick | Go MK |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Dave Jones | Admiral | Doritos |

#### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Peter Taylor | Resigned | 29 April 2002 | Off season | Martin Hinshelwood | 15 July 2002 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Martin Hinshelwood | Moved to director of football position | 7 October 2002 | 24th | Steve Coppell | 7 October 2002 |
| Stoke City | Steve Cotterill | Resigned to become assistant manager at Sunderland | 10 October 2002 | 15th | Tony Pulis | 1 November 2002 |
| Ipswich Town | George Burley | Sacked | 11 October 2002 | 19th | Joe Royle | 28 October 2002 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | Terry Yorath | Resigned | 31 October 2002 | 22nd | Chris Turner | 7 November 2002 |
| Crystal Palace | Trevor Francis | Mutual consent | 18 April 2003 | 11th | Steve Kember | 23 May 2003 |
| Derby County | John Gregory | Sacked | 9 May 2003 | 18th (end of season) | George Burley | 5 June 2003 |
* Note 2: Although Gregory was dismissed on this date, he had already been suspended from his post on 21 March after "serious allegations" were made against him.
* Note 3: Burley was initially appointed on 31 March as interim manager following John Gregory's suspension.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Portsmouth (C, P) | 46 | 29 | 11 | 6 | 97 | 45 | +52 | 98 | Promotion to 2003–04 FA Premier League |
| 2 | Leicester City (P) | 46 | 26 | 14 | 6 | 73 | 40 | +33 | 92 | Promotion to 2003–04 FA Premier League |
| 3 | Sheffield United | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 72 | 52 | +20 | 80 | Qualification for First Division Playoffs |
| 4 | Reading | 46 | 25 | 4 | 17 | 61 | 46 | +15 | 79 | Qualification for First Division Playoffs |
| 5 | Wolverhampton Wanderers (O, P) | 46 | 20 | 16 | 10 | 81 | 44 | +37 | 76 | Qualification for First Division Playoffs |
| 6 | Nottingham Forest | 46 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 82 | 50 | +32 | 74 | Qualification for First Division Playoffs |
| 7 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 80 | 64 | +16 | 70 | |
| 8 | Norwich City | 46 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 60 | 49 | +11 | 69 | |
| 9 | Millwall | 46 | 19 | 9 | 18 | 59 | 69 | −10 | 66 | |
| 10 | Wimbledon | 46 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 76 | 73 | +3 | 65 | |
| 11 | Gillingham | 46 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 56 | 65 | −9 | 62 | |
| 12 | Preston North End | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 68 | 70 | −2 | 61 | |
| 13 | Watford | 46 | 17 | 9 | 20 | 54 | 70 | −16 | 60 | |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 46 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 59 | 52 | +7 | 59 | |
| 15 | Rotherham United | 46 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 62 | 62 | 0 | 59 | |
| 16 | Burnley | 46 | 15 | 10 | 21 | 65 | 89 | −24 | 55 | |
| 17 | Walsall | 46 | 15 | 9 | 22 | 57 | 69 | −12 | 54 | |
| 18 | Derby County | 46 | 15 | 7 | 24 | 55 | 74 | −19 | 52 | |
| 19 | Bradford City | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 51 | 73 | −22 | 52 | |
| 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 |

## Play-offs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 3 | Sheffield United | 1 | 4 | 5 | | | |
| 6 | Nottingham Forest | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | |
| 6 | Nottingham Forest | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | Sheffield United | 0 |
| | | | | | 5 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3 |
| 4 | Reading | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3 |
| 5 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | |

## Awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Notes |
| Month | Manager | Club | Notes |
| August | Harry Redknapp | Portsmouth | |
| September | Micky Adams | Leicester City | |
| October | Ray Lewington | Watford | |
| November | Alan Pardew | Reading | |
| December | Gary McAllister | Coventry City | |
| January | Neil Warnock | Sheffield United | |
| February | Alan Pardew | Reading | |
| March | Joe Royle | Ipswich Town | |
| April | Mark McGhee | Millwall | |

### PFA Team of the Year

| Pos. | Player | Club |
| GK | Shaka Hislop | Portsmouth |
| DF | Denis Irwin | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| DF | Joleon Lescott | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| DF | Michael Dawson | Nottingham Forest |
| DF | Matthew Taylor | Portsmouth |
| MF | Muzzy Izzet | Leicester City |
| MF | Michael Brown | Sheffield United |
| MF | Paul Merson | Portsmouth |
| MF | Michael Tonge | Sheffield United |
| FW | David Johnson | Nottingham Forest |
| FW | Paul Dickov | Leicester City |