2002–03 Gillingham F.C. season

Gillingham F.C. 2002–03 football season
Gillingham F.C.
2002–03 season
ChairmanPaul Scally
ManagerAndy Hessenthaler
First Division11th
FA CupFourth round
League CupThird round
Top goalscorerLeague: Paul Shaw (12)
All: Paul Shaw (12)
Highest home attendancetbc
Lowest home attendancetbc
Home colours

During the 2002–03 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League First Division, the second tier of the English football league system. It was the 71st season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 53rd since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. It was Gillingham's third consecutive season in the second tier of the English football league system, to which the club had gained promotion for the first time in 2000.

Background and pre-season

The 2002–03 season was Gillingham's 71st season playing in the Football League and the 53rd since the club was elected back into the League in 1950 after being voted out in 1938. In the 1999–2000 season, Gillingham beat Wigan Athletic in the Second Division play-off final to reach the second tier of the English football league system for the first time in the club's history.[1][2] In the team's first season at this level, Gillingham were seen by pundits as likely to finish in the bottom three places of the First Division league table and thus be immediately relegated back to the third tier,[3] but instead finished in 13th place out of 24 teams.[4] The following season, they improved on this performance, finishing in 12th place.

Andy Hessenthaler was the club's manager, a position he had held since 2000. Richard Hill, who had held the title of assistant manager during the previous season, was made joint head coach with Wayne Jones, whose job title had previously been first team coach. Both were not offered new long-term contracts but required to work on weekly contracts due to financial issues at the club linked to the collapse of ITV Digital and the resultant loss of the Football League's lucrative TV rights deal with the broadcaster.[5][6] Paul Smith was the team captain.

Shortly after the end of the previous season, Marlon King, Gillingham's top goalscorer during the 2001–02 campaign, was sent to prison after being caught driving a stolen car the previous year.[7] In his place, Gillingham signed two veteran forwards, 31-year-old Tommy Johnson from Sheffield Wednesday and Rod Wallace, aged 32, from Bolton Wanderers. Days before the new season started, the club also signed a young forward, Mamady Sidibe, who had left Swansea City at the end of the previous campaign; he was offered a contract after playing for Gillingham in pre-season friendly matches. Hessenthaler told the press "We see him as the future because we've got a lot of players who are 30-plus and we need to start bringing a few younger ones in."[8]

First Division

August–December

Footballer Marlon King
Marlon King made his return to the team in October after his release from prison.

Gillingham's first game of the season was away to Wimbledon.[9] The match drew an attendance of only 2,476, less than half that of any other league game which Gillingham played during the season,[9] as Wimbledon's supporters almost totally boycotted the game in protest against a proposal by their team's owners to relocate the club to Milton Keynes.[10] Guy Ipoua scored the only goal of the game to give Gillingham a 1–0 victory. Sidibe made his Gillingham debut in the starting line-up and Johnson made his as a late substitute.

January–May

Gillingham ended the season with a 2–1 victory at home to Crystal Palace. Nyron Nosworthy, normally a defender but playing as a forward due to injuries to King and Wallace, scored both goals, his first for the team for more than three years. The result meant that Gillingham ended the season in 11th place in the First Division, the highest finish in the English football league system in the club's history.[11]

League match details

Key

  • In result column, Gillingham's score shown first
  • H = Home match
  • A = Away match
Results[9]
Date Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
10 August 2002 Wimbledon (A) 1–0 Ipoua 2,476
13 August 2002 Derby County (H) 1–0 Shaw 8,775
17 August 2002 Millwall (H) 1–0 Ipoua 7,543
24 August 2002 Norwich City (A) 0–1 20,588
26 August 2002 Preston North End (H) 1–1 Saunders 7,785
31 August 2002 Leicester City (A) 0–2 30,067
7 September 2002 Portsmouth (H) 1–3 James 8,717
14 September 2002 Brighton & Hove Albion (A) 4–2 Shaw (2), Perpetuini, James 6,733
18 September 2002 Nottingham Forest (A) 1–4 Hessenthaler 16,073
21 September 2002 Sheffield United (H) 1–1 Shaw 7,497
29 September 2002 Crystal Palace (A) 2–2 Perpetuini, Mullins (o.g.) 15,699
5 October 2002 Coventry City (H) 0–2 7,722
12 October 2002 Rotherham United (A) 1–1 Wallace 6,094
19 October 2002 Watford (H) 3–0 Sidibe, Ipoua, James 8,728
26 October 2002 Ipswich Town (A) 1–0 Sidibe 24,176
29 October 2002 Wolverhampton Wanderers (H) 0–4 10,036
2 November 2002 Grimsby Town (A) 1–1 Saunders 5,715
9 November 2002 Reading (H) 0–1 8,511
16 November 2002 Sheffield Wednesday (H) 1–1 T. Johnson 8,028
23 November 2002 Walsall (A) 0–1 6,630
30 November 2002 Stoke City (H) 1–1 Shaw 8,150
7 December 2002 Bradford City (A) 3–1 King (2, 1 pen.), Wallace 10,711
14 December 2002 Sheffield Wednesday (A) 2–0 Wallace, Smith 17,715
21 December 2002 Burnley (H) 4–2 Wallace, Smith (2), King 7,905
26 December 2002 Millwall (A) 2–2 Saunders, King (pen.) 10,947
11 January 2003 Derby County (A) 1–1 Ipoua 22,769
18 January 2003 Leicester City (H) 3–2 Shaw, Elliott (o.g.), Sidibe 8,609
1 February 2003 Preston North End (A) 0–3 12,121
10 February 2003 Reading (A) 1–2 Wallace 11,030
15 February 2003 Grimsby Town (H) 3–0 Wallace (2), Hope 7,158
22 February 2003 Portsmouth (A) 0–1 19,521
25 February 2003 Norwich City (H) 1–0 Wallace 7,935
1 March 2003 Brighton & Hove Albion (H) 3–0 Shaw, T. Johnson (pen.), Southall 9,178
4 March 2003 Nottingham Forest (H) 1–4 Wallace 7,277
11 March 2003 Wimbledon (H) 3–3 Shaw (2), Wallace 7,884
15 March 2003 Rotherham United (H) 1–1 Wallace 7,284
18 March 2003 Watford (A) 1–0 Shaw 10,492
22 March 2003 Wolverhampton Wanderers (A) 0–6 25,171
25 March 2003 Sheffield United (A) 2–2 Osborn, Shaw 15,799
29 March 2003 Ipswich Town (H) 1–3 Smith 8,508
5 April 2003 Stoke City (A) 0–0 12,746
12 April 2003 Walsall (H) 0–1 6,972
19 April 2003 Burnley (A) 0–2 14,031
21 April 2003 Bradford City (H) 1–0 Shaw 6,281
26 April 2003 Coventry City (A) 0–0 14,795
4 May 2003 Crystal Palace (H) 2–1 Nosworthy (2) 9,315

Partial league table

Football League First Division final table, positions 9–13
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
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
Source: [citation needed]

FA Cup

Elland Road football stadium
Gillingham were eliminated from the FA Cup at Elland Road, home of Leeds United.

As a First Division team, Gillingham entered the 2002–03 FA Cup at the third round stage.

FA Cup match details

Key

  • In result column, Gillingham's score shown first
  • H = Home match
  • A = Away match
Results
Date Round Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
7 January 2003 Third Sheffield Wednesday (H) 4–1 King (2, 1 pen.), Ipoua, Hope 6,434
25 January 2003 Fourth Leeds United (H) 1–1 Sidibe 11,093
4 February 2003 Fourth (replay) Leeds United (A) 1–2 Ipoua 29,359

Football League Cup

Stamford Bridge football stadium
Gillingham were eliminated from the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea.

As a First Division team, Gillingham entered the 2002–03 Football League Cup in the first round.

League Cup match details

Key

  • In result column, Gillingham's score shown first
  • H = Home match
  • A = Away match
Results
10 September 2002 First Torquay United (A) 1–0 Hessenthaler 1,981
1 October 2002 Second Stockport County (A) 2–1 (a.e.t.) Ipoua, T, Johnson 2,396
6 November 2002 Third Chelsea (A) 1–2 King 28,033

Players

Paul Shaw (pictured in 2011) was the team's top goalscorer.
Footballer Jason Brown
Jason Brown (pictured in 2015) made 39 appearances in goal.
Player statistics[9]
No. Player Position First Division FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 Vince Bartram GK 8 0 0 0 1 0 9 0
2 Mark Patterson 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0
3 Roland Edge 34 0 2 0 1 0 37 0
4 Paul Smith 45 4 2 0 3 0 50 4
5 Barry Ashby 38 0 2 0 3 0 43 0
7 Nyron Nosworthy 39 2 2 0 2 0 43 2
8 Andy Hessenthaler 33 1 3 0 2 1 38 2
9 Marlon King 10 4 1 2 1 1 12 7
10 Guy Ipoua 33 4 3 2 3 1 39 7
12 Paul Shaw 44 12 2 0 3 0 49 12
13 Jason Brown 39 0 3 0 2 0 44 0
14 Leon Johnson 18 0 1 0 1 0 20 0
15 Mark Saunders 34 3 2 0 2 0 38 3
16 Richard Rose 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0
17[a] Adrian Pennock 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
17[a] Akwasi Edusei 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
18 Chris Hope 46 1 3 1 3 0 52 2
19 Rod Wallace 22 11 2 0 1 0 25 11
20 Kevin James 15 3 1 0 1 0 17 3
21 Simon Osborn 18 1 0 0 0 0 18 1
22 Danny Spiller 10 0 1 0 2 0 13 0
23 Tommy Johnson 26 2 1 0 2 1 29 3
26 David Perpetuini 29 2 1 0 3 0 33 2
27 Jones Awuah 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
28 Andrew Crofts 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
29 Mamady Sidibe 30 3 3 1 1 0 34 4
30 Nicky Southall 24 1 3 0 0 0 27 1

FW = Forward, MF = Midfielder, GK = Goalkeeper, DF = Defender

a. ^ Edusei was not allocated a squad number until late in the season and was given the number worn earlier in the season by Pennock, who had since left the club.

References

  1. ^ Rollin & Rollin 2000, pp. 34–35.
  2. ^ "Second time lucky for Gills". BBC Sport. 28 May 2000. Archived from the original on 3 March 2003. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  3. ^ Tomas, Jason (6 August 2000). "Football: Nationwide League Countdown: Nationwide predictions". The Observer. p. 6. Retrieved 23 November 2021 – via Gale.
  4. ^ Rollin & Rollin 2001, p. 44.
  5. ^ "Hill loses assistant manager's title". Kent Online. KM Group. 6 June 2002. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  6. ^ Parkinson, Gary (30 April 2022). ""Everyone said, 'This sounds too good to be true'. It turned out to be exactly that." – Remembering the fall of ITV Digital, twenty years on". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Footballer jailed over stolen car". BBC News. 10 May 2002. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Gills sign striker Sidibe". BBC Sport. 7 August 2002. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d Brown 2003, p. 112.
  10. ^ "Wimbledon 0–1 Gillingham". BBC Sport. 10 August 2002. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Gillingham 2–1 Palace". BBC Sport. 4 May 2003. Retrieved 28 May 2024.

Works cited

  • Brown, Tony (2003). The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record. Nottingham: Soccerdata. ISBN 1-899468-20-X.
  • Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2000). Rothmans Football Yearbook 2000–01. London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 978-0-74727-232-8.
  • Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2001). Rothmans Football Yearbook 2001–02. London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 978-0-74727-260-1.
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