# 2002–03 AJ Auxerre season

The 2002–03 season was the 97th season in the existence of AJ Auxerre and the club's 23rd consecutive season in the top-flight of French football. In addition to the domestic league, Auxerre participated in this season's editions of the Coupe de France, the Coupe de la Ligue, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup.

## Season summary

Auxerre missed out on only a second-ever league title by four points, finishing in sixth to qualify for the UEFA Cup. They were also knocked out of the Champions League in the first group stage, finishing behind Arsenal and Dortmund, and the UEFA Cup in the fourth round by Liverpool. Compensation came in the form of winning the Coupe de France.

## First team squad

    Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | FRA | Fabien Cool |
| 2 | DF | FRA | Johan Radet |
| 3 | DF | FRA | Jean-Sébastien Jaurès |
| 4 | DF | CMR | Jean-Alain Boumsong |
| 5 | DF | FRA | Philippe Mexès |
| 6 | MF | TOG | Kuami Agboh |
| 7 | MF | SEN | Amdy Faye |
| 8 | MF | FRA | Yann Lachuer |
| 9 | FW | FRA | Djibril Cissé |
| 10 | MF | FIN | Teemu Tainio |
| 11 | MF | SEN | Khalilou Fadiga |
| 13 | DF | SUI | Stéphane Grichting |
| 14 | MF | FRA | David Vandenbossche |
| 16 | GK | FRA | Sébastien Hamel |
| 18 | MF | FRA | Lionel Mathis |
| 19 | MF | FRA | Nicolas Marin |
| 20 | MF | FRA | Arnaud Gonzalez |
| 21 | FW | ZIM | Benjani Mwaruwari |
| 23 | FW | FRA | Olivier Kapo |
| 24 | MF | FRA | Pierre Deblock |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 25 | DF | FRA | David Recorbet |
| 26 | DF | FRA | Jean-Joël Perrier-Doumbé |
| 27 | MF | FRA | Pantxi Sirieix |
| 28 | FW | FRA | Romain Poyet |
| 29 | DF | FRA | Joseph Assati |
| 30 | GK | FRA | Baptiste Chabert |
| 31 | MF | FRA | Hassan Yebda |
| 32 | MF | CIV | Kanga Akalé |
| 33 | MF | FRA | Jean-Pascal Mignot |
| 34 | FW | FRA | Benoit Leroy |
| 35 | DF | FRA | Richard Suriano |
| 37 | MF | FRA | Ferdinand Bitangane |
| 38 | MF | FRA | Sebastien Cochet |
| 39 | FW | FRA | Rafik Djebbour |
| 40 | MF | FRA | Kevin Lejeune |
| 41 | MF | FRA | Baptiste Llop |
| 42 | MF | FRA | Julien Petitjean |
| 43 | DF | FRA | Guillaume Legacheur |
| 44 | GK | FRA | Christophe Langlois |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | DF | FRA | Frédéric Jay (on loan to Rennes) |
| 17 | FW | POR | Hélder Esteves (on to Créteil) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 22 | FW | FRA | Pedro Kamata (on loan to Clermont Foot) |

## Competitions
### Overall record

| 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 % |
| Ligue 1 | 3 August 2002 | 24 May 2003 | Matchday 1 | 6th | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 38 | 29 | +9 | 047.37 |
| Coupe de France | 4 January 2003 | 31 May 2003 | Round of 64 | Winners | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 083.33 |
| Coupe de la Ligue | 8 December 2002 | 8 December 2002 | Round of 32 | Round of 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Champions League | 13 August 2002 | 12 November 2002 | Third qualifying round | First group stage | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 037.50 |
| UEFA Cup | 28 November 2002 | 27 February 2003 | Third round | Fourth round | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 025.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 57 | 27 | 13 | 17 | 57 | 45 | +12 | 047.37 |
Source: Competitions

### Ligue 1
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 4 | Bordeaux | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 57 | 36 | +21 | 64 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Sochaux | 38 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 46 | 31 | +15 | 64 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Auxerre | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 38 | 29 | +9 | 64 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Guingamp | 38 | 19 | 5 | 14 | 59 | 46 | +13 | 62 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup third round |
| 8 | Lens | 38 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 43 | 31 | +12 | 57 | Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round |
* ↑ Lens qualified for the UEFA Cup qualifying round through the UEFA Fair Play ranking award.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source:

#### 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 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | L | W | W | W | D | W | D | W | W | D | L | W | L | L | L | W | W | D | D | D | W | W | D | L | W | W | L | L | L | D | D | W | L | W | W | D | W | W |
| Position | 16 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |

#### Matches
### Champions League
#### Third qualifying round
#### First group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Arsenal | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 10 | Advance to second group stage |
| 2 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 10 | Advance to second group stage |
| 3 | Auxerre | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 7 | Transfer to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | PSV Eindhoven | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 6 | |

### UEFA Cup
#### Fourth round
## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos. | Name | From | Fee | Source |

### Out

| Date | Pos. | Name | To | Fee | Source |

### Loans in

| Start | Pos. | Name | From | Expiry | Source |

### Loans out

| Start | Pos. | Name | To | Expiry | Source |