# 2002–03 Charlton Athletic F.C. season

During the 2002–03 English football season, Charlton Athletic competed in the FA Premier League.

## Season summary

Another solid season resulted in a mid-table finish for Charlton. However, the end of the season proved to be the undoing of Alan Curbishley's men once more, and after the start of March, they only managed one more victory, dropping to 12th place in the final table. Considering the relatively small budget Curbishley was operating on; even this was quite an achievement.
Midfielder Scott Parker was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award, but lost to Jermaine Jenas of Newcastle United.
This season saw the final competitive appearance of Richard Rufus coming against Liverpool on 21 April 2003. Rufus had spent his entire career with the one club. While playing for Charlton he was capped six times by England U21. Over 11 years the centre back had made 288 appearances , scoring 12 goals.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 10 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 51 | 62 | −11 | 50 |
| 11 | Middlesbrough | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 48 | 44 | +4 | 49 |
| 12 | Charlton Athletic | 38 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 45 | 56 | −11 | 49 |
| 13 | Birmingham City | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 41 | 49 | −8 | 48 |
| 14 | Fulham | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 41 | 50 | −9 | 48 |

### Results per matchday

| Matchday | 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 | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | L | W | L | W | L | L | D | L | L | W | L | D | L | W | W | W | W | D | D | D | W | L | D | W | W | W | W | W | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | W | L | L |
| Position | 14 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 17 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 12 |

## 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 | IRL | Dean Kiely |
| 2 | DF | BUL | Radostin Kishishev |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Chris Powell |
| 4 | MF | ENG | Graham Stuart (captain) |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Richard Rufus |
| 6 | DF | RSA | Mark Fish |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Scott Parker |
| 8 | MF | SWE | Jesper Blomqvist |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Jason Euell |
| 10 | MF | DEN | Claus Jensen |
| 11 | MF | WAL | John Robinson |
| 15 | DF | ENG | Gary Rowett |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Chris Bart-Williams |
| 17 | FW | RSA | Shaun Bartlett |
| 18 | DF | ENG | Paul Konchesky |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Luke Young |
| 20 | FW | SWE | Mathias Svensson |
| 21 | FW | FIN | Jonatan Johansson |
| 22 | GK | ENG | Ben Roberts |
| 23 | FW | JAM | Kevin Lisbie |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Jonathan Fortune |
| 27 | MF | JAM | Jamal Campbell-Ryce |
| 30 | DF | MAR | Tahar El Khalej |
| 31 | DF | ENG | Osei Sankofa |

### 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 |
| 8 | MF | IRL | Mark Kinsella (to Aston Villa) |
| 12 | DF | ENG | Steve Brown (to Reading) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | FW | SWE | Martin Pringle (retired) |
| 25 | MF | ENG | Robbie Mustoe (released) |

### 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 |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Paul Rachubka |
| 26 | DF | ENG | Michael Turner |
| 28 | MF | IRL | Adrian Deane |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 29 | FW | ENG | Mark DeBolla |
| — | MF | IRL | Neil McCafferty |

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | IRL | Dean Kiely | 41 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | ENG | Ben Roberts | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 3 | DF | ENG | Chris Powell | 37 | 0 | 35+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Richard Rufus | 33 | 2 | 29+1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | RSA | Mark Fish | 25 | 1 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ENG | Gary Rowett | 12 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Luke Young | 34 | 0 | 29+3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Jonathan Fortune | 29 | 1 | 22+4 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | MAR | Tahar El Khalej | 3 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | ENG | Osei Sankofa | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 2 | MF | BUL | Radostin Kishishev | 37 | 2 | 27+7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | ENG | Graham Stuart | 4 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Scott Parker | 29 | 4 | 28 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | SWE | Jesper Blomqvist | 4 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | MF | ENG | Jason Euell | 39 | 11 | 35+1 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | DEN | Claus Jensen | 37 | 6 | 32+3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | WAL | John Robinson | 14 | 0 | 10+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | ENG | Chris Bart-Williams | 15 | 1 | 7+6 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | ENG | Paul Konchesky | 33 | 3 | 17+13 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | JAM | Jamal Campbell-Ryce | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 17 | FW | RSA | Shaun Bartlett | 34 | 4 | 25+6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | SWE | Mathias Svensson | 18 | 0 | 4+11 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | FIN | Jonatan Johansson | 34 | 5 | 10+21 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | JAM | Kevin Lisbie | 33 | 4 | 24+8 | 4 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||||
| 12 | DF | ENG | Steve Brown | 4 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | ENG | Robbie Mustoe | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Last updated: 31 June 2003 Source: