# 2001–02 Crystal Palace F.C. season

During the 2001–02 English football season, Crystal Palace F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

## Season summary

Palace turned to Steve Bruce for the 2001–02 season. A good start to the season gave Palace hope for a promotion challenge, but Bruce attempted to walk out on the club after just four months at the helm to take charge of Birmingham City. After a short spell on 'gardening leave', Bruce was eventually allowed to join Birmingham City, succeeded by Trevor Francis, who had ironically been his predecessor at Birmingham.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 8 | Preston North End | 46 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 71 | 59 | +12 | 72 |
| 9 | Wimbledon | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 63 | 57 | +6 | 67 |
| 10 | Crystal Palace | 46 | 20 | 6 | 20 | 70 | 62 | +8 | 66 |
| 11 | Coventry City | 46 | 20 | 6 | 20 | 59 | 53 | +6 | 66 |
| 12 | Gillingham | 46 | 18 | 10 | 18 | 64 | 67 | −3 | 64 |

## Results

Crystal Palace's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 11 August 2001 | Rotherham United | A | 3–2 | 6,994 | Freedman (pen), Riihilahti, Smith |
| 18 August 2001 | Stockport County | H | 4–1 | 15,760 | Riihilahti, Morrison (pen), Freedman |
| 25 August 2001 | Nottingham Forest | A | 2–4 | 18,239 | Freedman (2) |
| 8 September 2001 | Millwall | H | 1–3 | 21,641 | Morrison |
| 15 September 2001 | Portsmouth | A | 2–4 | 18,149 | Rodger, Freedman |
| 18 September 2001 | Grimsby Town | H | 5–0 | 13,970 | Kirovski, Popovic (2), Freedman, Morrison |
| 22 September 2001 | Barnsley | H | 1–0 | 15,433 | Riihilahti |
| 25 September 2001 | Sheffield United | A | 3–1 | 14,180 | Smith, Freedman (pen), Hopkin |
| 29 September 2001 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 4–1 | 17,066 | Freedman (2), Morrison (2) |
| 13 October 2001 | Wimbledon | H | 4–0 | 20,009 | Morrison, Kirovski, Riihilahti, Brown (own goal) |
| 16 October 2001 | Bradford City | H | 2–0 | 15,721 | Morrison (2) |
| 20 October 2001 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–0 | 26,471 | Kirovski |
| 23 October 2001 | Burnley | A | 0–1 | 14,713 | |
| 28 October 2001 | Norwich City | H | 3–2 | 19,553 | Morrison (2), Freedman |
| 31 October 2001 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 0–1 | 17,273 | |
| 3 November 2001 | Walsall | A | 2–2 | 6,795 | Hopkin, Freedman |
| 17 November 2001 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 4–1 | 21,802 | Walton (own goal), Morrison, Kirovski, Freedman |
| 21 November 2001 | Gillingham | A | 0–3 | 9,396 | |
| 24 November 2001 | Preston North End | A | 1–2 | 15,264 | Freedman |
| 28 November 2001 | Coventry City | A | 0–2 | 13,695 | |
| 1 December 2001 | Burnley | H | 1–2 | 18,457 | Morrison |
| 8 December 2001 | Manchester City | H | 2–1 | 22,080 | Freedman, Kirovski |
| 11 December 2001 | Birmingham City | A | 0–1 | 20,119 | |
| 15 December 2001 | Watford | A | 0–1 | 16,499 | |
| 20 December 2001 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–1 | 15,645 | Morrison |
| 26 December 2001 | Millwall | A | 0–3 | 16,630 | |
| 29 December 2001 | Bradford City | A | 2–1 | 14,233 | Berhalter, Benjamin |
| 13 January 2002 | Stockport County | A | 1–0 | 5,541 | Freedman |
| 16 January 2002 | Gillingham | H | 3–1 | 17,646 | Morrison (2), Freedman |
| 19 January 2002 | Rotherham United | H | 2–0 | 17,311 | Morrison, Smith |
| 29 January 2002 | Coventry City | H | 1–3 | 16,197 | Freedman |
| 2 February 2002 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 3–1 | 20,099 | Morrison, Freedman, Smith |
| 7 February 2002 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0–2 | 18,475 | |
| 16 February 2002 | Wimbledon | A | 1–1 | 13,564 | Morrison |
| 23 February 2002 | Sheffield United | H | 0–1 | 18,009 | |
| 26 February 2002 | Barnsley | A | 4–1 | 11,207 | Freedman, Riihilahti, Akinbiyi, Gray |
| 2 March 2002 | Grimsby Town | A | 2–5 | 5,924 | Gray, Morrison |
| 5 March 2002 | Portsmouth | H | 0–0 | 15,915 | |
| 9 March 2002 | Watford | H | 0–2 | 16,817 | |
| 16 March 2002 | Manchester City | A | 0–1 | 33,637 | |
| 23 March 2002 | Walsall | H | 2–0 | 21,038 | Morrison, Freedman (pen) |
| 30 March 2002 | Norwich City | A | 1–2 | 21,251 | Morrison |
| 1 April 2002 | Birmingham City | H | 0–0 | 19,598 | |
| 7 April 2002 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 0–0 | 6,724 | |
| 13 April 2002 | Preston North End | H | 2–0 | 21,361 | Hopkin, Akinbiyi |
| 21 April 2002 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 0–2 | 26,712 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 5 January 2002 | Newcastle United | A | 0–2 | 38,089 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 | 21 August 2001 | Leyton Orient | A | 4–2 | 4,290 | Morrison (2), Black (2) |
| R2 | 12 September 2001 | Everton | A | 1–1 (won 5–4 on pens) | 21,128 | Freedman (pen) |
| R3 | 10 October 2001 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 2–2 (lost 1–3 on pens) | 8,796 | Rodger, Riihilahti |

## Players
### First-team squad

    Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | LVA | Aleksandrs Koliņko |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Jamie Smith |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Craig Harrison |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Dean Austin |
| 6 | MF | SCO | David Hopkin |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Hayden Mullins |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Simon Rodger |
| 9 | FW | SCO | Dougie Freedman |
| 10 | FW | IRL | Clinton Morrison |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Tommy Black |
| 12 | DF | USA | Gregg Berhalter |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Lance Cronin |
| 14 | MF | SCO | Steven Thomson |
| 15 | MF | FIN | Aki Riihilahti |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Andy Frampton |
| 17 | FW | LVA | Andrejs Rubins |
| 20 | FW | ENG | Richard Harris |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | GK | FRA | Cédric Carrasso |
| 24 | MF | ENG | Julian Gray |
| 25 | MF | USA | Jovan Kirovski |
| 27 | FW | ENG | Steve Kabba |
| 28 | DF | AUS | Tony Popovic |
| 30 | DF | ENG | Danny Granville |
| 31 | GK | ENG | Matt Clarke |
| 32 | MF | ENG | Jamie Pollock |
| 33 | DF | ENG | Scott Gooding |
| 34 | MF | ENG | Robert Kember |
| 35 | DF | ENG | Ryan Williams |
| 36 | DF | WAL | Kit Symons |
| 38 | DF | IRL | Curtis Fleming |
| 39 | FW | WAL | Gareth Williams |
| 40 | MF | ENG | Wayne Routledge |
| 55 | FW | NGA | Ade Akinbiyi |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 5 | MF | CHN | Fan Zhiyi (to Dundee) |
| 5 | DF | WAL | Christian Edwards (on loan from Nottingham Forest) |
| 18 | MF | NIR | Wayne Carlisle (to Bristol Rovers) |
| 19 | DF | ENG | David Woozley (to Torquay United) |
| 21 | GK | ENG | Matthew Gregg (released) |
| 22 | FW | WAL | Andy Martin (to Torquay United) |
| 23 | MF | WAL | Stephen Evans (to Brentford) |
| 26 | MF | ENG | Sean Hankin (to Torquay United) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 26 | FW | ENG | Trevor Benjamin (on loan from Leicester City) |
| 26 | DF | AUS | Shaun Murphy (on loan from Sheffield United) |
| 29 | MF | ENG | Jon Boardman (to Woking) |
| 30 | FW | ENG | Chris Sharpling (to Woking) |
| 36 | DF | ENG | Steve Vickers (on loan from Middlesbrough) |
| 37 | DF | ENG | Richard Howell (to Stevenage Borough) |
| 41 | GK | ENG | Gary Hateley (to Weston-Super-Mare) |

### Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ENG | Fraser Digby |
| — | DF | ENG | Gareth Gwillim |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Steve Warren |