# 2002–03 Preston North End F.C. season

The 2002–03 season saw Preston North End compete in the Football League First Division where they finished in 12th position with 61 points.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 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 |

## Results

Preston North End's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 10 August 2002 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–2 | 14,663 | Fuller |
| 2 | 14 August 2002 | Nottingham Forest | A | 2–2 | 18,065 | Fuller, Etuhu |
| 3 | 17 August 2002 | Rotherham United | A | 0–0 | 6,885 | |
| 4 | 24 August 2002 | Stoke City | H | 4–3 | 15,422 | Healy (2), Fuller, Cresswell |
| 5 | 26 August 2002 | Gillingham | A | 1–1 | 7,785 | Cresswell |
| 6 | 1 September 2002 | Ipswich Town | H | 0–0 | 15,357 | |
| 7 | 14 September 2002 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 2–2 | 13,652 | Fuller, Cresswell |
| 8 | 17 September 2002 | Watford | H | 1–1 | 12,408 | Cresswell |
| 9 | 21 September 2002 | Derby County | A | 2–0 | 29,257 | Healy, Etuhu |
| 10 | 24 September 2002 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 0–4 | 23,695 | |
| 11 | 28 September 2002 | Norwich City | H | 1–2 | 13,550 | Cresswell |
| 12 | 5 October 2002 | Bradford City | A | 1–1 | 13,215 | Alexander |
| 13 | 19 October 2002 | Walsall | A | 3–3 | 6,832 | Alexander, Healy, Lucketti |
| 14 | 26 October 2002 | Reading | H | 1–0 | 13,021 | Cresswell |
| 15 | 29 October 2002 | Portsmouth | A | 2–3 | 18,367 | Cresswell, Alexander |
| 16 | 2 November 2002 | Burnley | H | 3–1 | 16,046 | Fuller (2), McKenna |
| 17 | 9 November 2002 | Millwall | A | 1–2 | 7,554 | Fuller |
| 18 | 16 November 2002 | Grimsby Town | A | 3–3 | 5,774 | Cresswell, Alexander, Etuhu |
| 19 | 23 November 2002 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 2–2 | 13,068 | Cresswell, Lucketti |
| 20 | 26 November 2002 | Leicester City | H | 2–0 | 13,048 | Fuller (2) |
| 21 | 30 November 2002 | Coventry City | A | 2–1 | 13,313 | Cresswell, Lewis |
| 22 | 7 December 2002 | Wimbledon | H | 3–5 | 12,415 | Leigertwood (o.g.), McKenna, Alexander |
| 23 | 14 December 2002 | Grimsby Town | H | 3–0 | 12,420 | Alexander, Cresswell, Healy |
| 24 | 21 December 2002 | Sheffield United | A | 0–1 | 16,342 | |
| 25 | 26 December 2002 | Rotherham United | H | 0–2 | 15,542 | |
| 26 | 28 December 2002 | Crystal Palace | A | 0–2 | 18,484 | |
| 27 | 1 January 2003 | Stoke City | A | 1–2 | 14,862 | Abbott |
| 28 | 18 January 2003 | Ipswich Town | A | 0–3 | 24,666 | |
| 29 | 25 January 2003 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–1 | 13,503 | Cartwright |
| 30 | 1 February 2003 | Gillingham | H | 3–0 | 12,121 | Lewis, Alexander, Ashby (o.g.) |
| 31 | 8 February 2003 | Millwall | H | 2–1 | 13,117 | Lewis, Cartwright |
| 32 | 22 February 2003 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0–2 | 16,070 | |
| 33 | 1 March 2003 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1–0 | 18,912 | Cresswell |
| 34 | 4 March 2003 | Watford | A | 1–0 | 11,101 | Alexander |
| 35 | 8 March 2003 | Derby County | H | 4–2 | 14,003 | Alexander, Etuhu, Koumantarakis, Cresswell |
| 36 | 15 March 2003 | Leicester City | A | 1–2 | 30,713 | Lewis |
| 37 | 18 March 2003 | Walsall | H | 5–0 | 11,170 | Alexander, Etuhu, Cresswell, Koumantarakis (2) |
| 38 | 22 March 2003 | Portsmouth | H | 1–1 | 16,665 | McKenna |
| 39 | 5 April 2003 | Coventry City | H | 2–2 | 13,026 | Cresswell, Abbott |
| 40 | 8 April 2003 | Burnley | A | 0–2 | 12,245 | |
| 41 | 12 April 2003 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 2–0 | 6,669 | Cresswell, Jackson |
| 42 | 15 April 2003 | Reading | A | 1–5 | 14,012 | Mears |
| 43 | 19 April 2003 | Sheffield United | H | 2–0 | 14,793 | Etuhu, Lewis |
| 44 | 21 April 2003 | Wimbledon | A | 0–2 | 1,053 | |
| 45 | 26 April 2003 | Bradford City | H | 1–0 | 13,652 | Abbott |
| 46 | 4 May 2003 | Norwich City | A | 0–2 | 20,232 | |

### FA Cup

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R3 | 4 January 2003 | Rochdale | H | 1–2 | 8,762 | Anderson |

### Football League Cup

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R1 | 11 September 2002 | Scunthorpe United | H | 2–1 | 5,594 | Fuller, Alexander |
| R2 | 1 October 2002 | Macclesfield Town | A | 2–1 | 2,036 | Skora, Jackson |
| R3 | 5 November 2002 | Birmingham City | A | 2–0 | 12,241 | Fuller, Lewis |
| R4 | 4 December 2002 | Aston Villa | A | 0–5 | 23,042 | |

## 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 | David Lucas | 19(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 23(2) | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Graham Alexander | 45 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 50 | 11 |
| 3 | DF | Brian O'Neil | 12(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12(3) | 0 |
| 4 | MF | Dickson Etuhu | 33(6) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 38(6) | 6 |
| 5 | DF | Michael Jackson | 21(1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 22(1) | 2 |
| 6 | DF | Marlon Broomes | 21(7) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 25(7) | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Sean Gregan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Lee Cartwright | 13(9) | 2 | 0(1) | 0 | 0(2) | 0 | 13(12) | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Mark Rankine | 11(7) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(3) | 0 | 12(10) | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Ricardo Fuller | 18 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1(1) | 2 | 19(1) | 11 |
| 10 | FW | George Koumantarakis | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 |
| 11 | FW | David Healy | 12(11) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 17(11) | 5 |
| 13 | GK | Andy Lonergan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | Colin Murdock | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 26(1) | 0 |
| 15 | DF | Rob Edwards | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Paul McKenna | 39(2) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 43(2) | 3 |
| 17 | MF | Eddie Lewis | 34(4) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3(1) | 1 | 38(5) | 6 |
| 18 | FW | Pawel Abbott | 6(10) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7(10) | 3 |
| 19 | MF | Michael Keane | 1(4) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2(4) | 0 |
| 20 | DF | Chris Lucketti | 43 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 48 | 2 |
| 21 | GK | Tepi Moilanen | 14(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0(2) | 0 | 15(3) | 0 |
| 22 | DF | Adam Eaton | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1(10 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | Mark Wright | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | Tyrone Mears | 11(11) | 1 | 0(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12(12) | 1 |
| 25 | FW | Richard Cresswell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | Éric Skora | 30(5) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 33(5) | 1 |
| 27 | MF | Alan McCormack | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | Brian Barry-Murphy | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | Joe O'Neill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | Kelham O'Hanlon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | MF | Iain Anderson | 0(8) | 0 | 0(1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1(9) | 1 |
| 34 | FW | Simon Lynch | 6(11) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6(11) | 0 |
| 40 | GK | Jonathan Gould | 13(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13(1) | 0 |