Football in Scotland
Season2002–03
Scotland
2002–03 in Scottish football
Premier League champions
Rangers
First Division champions
Falkirk
Second Division champions
Raith Rovers
Third Division champions
Greenock Morton
Scottish Cup winners
Rangers
League Cup winners
Rangers
Challenge Cup winners
Queen of the South
Junior Cup winners
Tayport
Teams in Europe
Aberdeen, Celtic, Livingston, Rangers
Scotland national team
UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying

The 2002–03 season was the 106th season of competitive football in Scotland. [1]

League competitions

Scottish Premier League

The 2002–03 Scottish Premier League was won on goal difference by Rangers by a single goal over Celtic. Both Rangers and Celtic qualified for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League and Hearts got the UEFA Europa League place. Motherwell finished bottom, but there was no relegation from the SPL as Falkirk did not meet SPL stadium criteria. Celtic's trophyless season was in spite of being favourites to clinch the title and reaching the UEFA Cup final, losing in extra time to F.C. Porto.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Rangers 38 31 4 3 101 28 +73 97 Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
2 Celtic 38 31 4 3 98 26 +72 97 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3 Heart of Midlothian 38 18 9 11 57 51 +6 63 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4 Kilmarnock 38 16 9 13 47 56 −9 57
5 Dunfermline Athletic 38 13 7 18 54 71 −17 46
6 Dundee 38 10 14 14 50 60 −10 44 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[lower-alpha 2]
7 Hibernian 38 15 6 17 56 64 −8 51
8 Aberdeen 38 13 10 15 41 54 −13 49
9 Livingston 38 9 8 21 48 62 −14 35
10 Partick Thistle 38 8 11 19 37 58 −21 35
11 Dundee United 38 7 11 20 35 68 −33 32
12 Motherwell 38 7 7 24 45 71 −26 28 Spared from relegation[lower-alpha 3]
Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
Notes:
  1. ↑ Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
  2. ↑ As Rangers, the 2002–03 Scottish Cup winners, qualified for the UEFA Champions League via their league position, the place in the UEFA Cup was passed onto Dundee, the cup runners-up
  3. ↑ As the First Division champions Falkirk did not have a suitable ground for the SPL, bottom club Motherwell were spared from relegation.

Note: There was no relegation from the Scottish Premier League.

Scottish First Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Falkirk (C) 36 25 6 5 80 32 +48 81
2 Clyde 36 21 9 6 66 37 +29 72
3 St Johnstone 36 20 7 9 49 29 +20 67
4 Inverness CT 36 20 5 11 74 45 +29 65
5 Queen of the South 36 12 12 12 45 48 −3 48
6 Ayr United 36 12 9 15 34 44 −10 45
7 St Mirren 36 9 10 17 42 71 −29 37
8 Ross County 36 9 8 19 42 46 −4 35
9 Alloa Athletic (R) 36 9 8 19 39 72 −33 35 Relegation to the Second Division
10 Arbroath (R) 36 3 6 27 30 77 −47 15
Source: "2002-2003 First Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Note: There was no promotion from the Scottish First Division.

Scottish Second Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Raith Rovers 36 16 11 9 53 36 +17 59 Promoted To First Division 2003–04
2 Brechin City 36 16 7 13 63 59 +4 55
3 Airdrie United 36 14 12 10 51 44 +7 54
4 Forfar Athletic 36 14 9 13 55 53 +2 51
5 Berwick Rangers 36 13 10 13 43 48 −5 49
6 Dumbarton 36 13 9 14 48 47 +1 48
7 Stenhousemuir 36 12 11 13 49 51 −2 47
8 Hamilton Academical 36 12 11 13 43 48 −5 47
9 Stranraer 36 12 8 16 49 57 −8 44 Relegated to Third Division 2003–04
10 Cowdenbeath 36 8 12 16 46 57 −11 36
Source: [2]

Scottish Third Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Greenock Morton 36 21 9 6 67 33 +34 72 Promoted to Second Division 2003–04
2 East Fife 36 20 11 5 73 37 +36 71
3 Albion Rovers 36 20 10 6 62 36 +26 70
4 Peterhead 36 20 8 8 76 37 +39 68
5 Stirling Albion 36 15 11 10 50 44 +6 56
6 Gretna 36 11 12 13 50 50 0 45
7 Montrose 36 7 12 17 35 61 −26 33
8 Queen's Park 36 7 11 18 39 51 −12 32
9 Elgin City 36 5 13 18 33 63 −30 28
10 East Stirlingshire 36 2 7 27 32 105 −73 13
Source: "2002-2003 Third Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL (in Polish). Retrieved 29 April 2021.

Other honours

Cup honours

Competition Winner Score Runner-up Report
Scottish Cup 2002–03 Rangers 1 – 0 Dundee Wikipedia article
League Cup 2002–03 Rangers 2 – 1 Celtic Wikipedia article
Challenge Cup 2002–03 Queen of the South 2 – 0 Brechin City Wikipedia article
Youth Cup Celtic 3 – 1 (a.e.t.) Aberdeen
Junior Cup Tayport 1 – 0 Linlithgow Rose

Individual honours

SPFA awards

Award Player Team
Players' Player of the YearScotland Barry FergusonRangers
Young Player of the YearScotland James McFaddenMotherwell

SFWA awards

Award Player Team
Footballer of the YearScotland Barry FergusonRangers
Young Player of the YearGeorgia (country) Zurab KhizanishviliDundee
Manager of the YearScotland Alex McLeishRangers

Scottish clubs in Europe

Summary

Club Competition(s) Final round Coef.
Celtic UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa League		 Third qualifying round
Runners-Up		 22.00
Livingston UEFA Europa League First round 3.00
Aberdeen UEFA Europa League First round 2.50
Rangers UEFA Europa League First round 2.00

Average coefficient – 7.375

Celtic

Date Venue Opponents Score[3] Celtic scorer(s) Report
Champions League Third qualifying round
14 August Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) Switzerland FC Basel 3–1 Henrik Larsson (pen.), Chris Sutton,
Mohammed Sylla		 BBC Sport
28 August St. Jakob-Park, Basel (A) Switzerland FC Basel 0–2 BBC Sport
UEFA Cup First round
19 September Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) Lithuania FK Sūduva 8–1 Henrik Larsson (3), Stilian Petrov, Chris Sutton,
Paul Lambert, John Hartson, Joos Valgaeren		 BBC Sport
3 October Sūduva Stadium, Marijampolė (A) Lithuania FK Sūduva 2–0 David Fernández, Alan Thompson BBC Sport
UEFA Cup Second round
31 October Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) England Blackburn Rovers 1–0 Henrik Larsson BBC Sport
14 November Ewood Park, Blackburn (A) England Blackburn Rovers 2–0 Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton BBC Sport
UEFA Cup Third round
28 November Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) Spain Celta de Vigo 1–0 Henrik Larsson BBC Sport
13 February Balaídos, Vigo (A) Spain Celta de Vigo 1–2 John Hartson BBC Sport
UEFA Cup Fourth round
21 February Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) Germany VfB Stuttgart 3–1 Paul Lambert, Shaun Maloney, Stilian Petrov BBC Sport
27 February Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart (A) Germany VfB Stuttgart 2–3 Alan Thompson, Chris Sutton BBC Sport
UEFA Cup Quarter-final
13 March Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) England Liverpool 1–1 Henrik Larsson BBC Sport
20 March Anfield, Liverpool (A) England Liverpool 2–0 Alan Thompson, John Hartson BBC Sport
UEFA Cup Semi-final
10 April Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) Portugal Boavista 1–1 Henrik Larsson BBC Sport
24 April Estádio do Bessa, Oporto (A) Portugal Boavista 1–0 Henrik Larsson BBC Sport
UEFA Cup Final
21 May Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla, Seville (N) Portugal F.C. Porto 2–3 Henrik Larsson (2) BBC Sport

Rangers

Date Venue Opponents Score[3] Rangers scorer(s) Report
UEFA Cup First round
17 September FK Viktoria Stadion, Czech Republic (A) Czech Republic Viktoria Zizkov 0–2 BBC Sport
3 October Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H) Czech Republic Viktoria Zizkov 3–1 (a.e.t.) Ronald de Boer (2), Neil McCann BBC Sport

Livingston

Date Venue Opponents Score[3] Livingston scorer(s) Report
UEFA Cup Qualifying round
13 August Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz (A) Liechtenstein FC Vaduz 1–1 Óscar Rubio BBC Sport
29 August Almondvale, Livingston (H) Liechtenstein FC Vaduz 0–0 BBC Sport
UEFA Cup First round
19 September Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium, Graz (A) Austria Sturm Graz 2–5 Rolando Zarate, Stuart Lovell BBC Sport
3 October Almondvale, Livingston (H) Austria Sturm Graz 4–3 Barry Wilson (2), Marvin Andrews, Davide Xausa BBC Sport

Aberdeen

Date Venue Opponents Score[3] Aberdeen Scorer(s) Reports
UEFA Cup Qualifying round
15 August Pittodrie, Aberdeen (H) Moldova Nistru Otaci 1–0 Darren Mackie BBC Sport
29 August Stadionul Călărăşăuca, Otaci (A) Moldova Nistru Otaci 0–0 BBC Sport
UEFA Cup First round
17 September Pittodrie, Aberdeen (H) Germany Hertha Berlin 0–0 BBC Sport
1 October Olympic Stadium, Berlin Germany Hertha Berlin 0–1 BBC Sport

Scotland national team

Date Venue Opponents Score[4] Competition Scotland scorer(s) Report
21 August Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Denmark 0–1 Friendly BBC Sport
7 September Svangaskarð, Toftir (A)  Faroe Islands 2–2 ECQG5 Paul Lambert, Barry Ferguson BBC Sport
12 October Laugardalsvollur, Reykjavík (A)  Iceland 2–0 ECQG5 Christian Dailly, Gary Naysmith BBC Sport
15 October Easter Road, Edinburgh (H)  Canada 3–1 Friendly Stevie Crawford (2), Steven Thompson BBC Sport
20 November Estadio Primeiro de Maio, Braga (A)  Portugal 0–2 Friendly BBC Sport
12 February Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Republic of Ireland 0–2 Friendly BBC Sport
29 March Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Iceland 2–1 ECQG5 Kenny Miller, Lee Wilkie BBC Sport
2 April S Dariaus ir S.Gireno SC, Kaunas (A)  Lithuania 0–1 ECQG5 BBC Sport
30 April Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Austria 0–2 Friendly BBC Sport
27 May Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh (H)  New Zealand 1–1 Friendly Stevie Crawford BBC Sport
7 June Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Germany 1–1 ECQG5 Kenny Miller BBC Sport

Key:

  • (H) = Home match
  • (A) = Away match
  • ECQG5 = European Championship Qualifying – Group 5

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "2002/03 - The Scottish Football League". Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  2. ↑ "2002/03 Scottish Division Two Table / Standings". ESPN. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 The score of the Scottish team is shown first.
  4. ↑ Scotland's score is shown first.
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