2002–03 Reading F.C. season

Reading

2002–03 season
Chairman	Sir John Madejski
Manager	Alan Pardew
First Division	4th
FA Cup	Third Round vs Walsall
League Cup	First Round vs Cambridge United
Top goalscorer	League: Nicky Forster (15) All: Nicky Forster (16)
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

The 2002–03 season was Reading's first season back in the First Division, since their promotion from the Second Division in 2002.

Season review

See also Football League First Division 2002–03

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Phil Whitehead 2 DF Graeme Murty 3 DF Nicky Shorey 4 MF Kevin Watson 5 DF Adrian Viveash 6 DF John Mackie 7 FW Tony Rougier 8 DF Adrian Williams 9 FW Martin Butler 10 FW Nicky Forster 11 MF Andy Hughes 12 FW Jamie Cureton 14 MF Sammy Igoe 15 MF James Harper 16 MF Glen Little 17 MF John Salako 19 MF Joe Gamble

No. Position Player 20 FW Bas Savage 21 GK Jamie Ashdown 22 FW Nathan Tyson 23 MF Andre Boucaud 24 FW Darius Henderson 25 MF Ricky Newman 26 DF Alex Smith 27 MF Steve Sidwell 28 MF Steve Warren 29 DF Steve Brown 30 MF Luke Chadwick 31 GK Marcus Hahnemann 32 GK Jamie Young 34 MF Darren Campbell 35 DF Ahmet Rifat 37 DF Peter Castle

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. Position Player 16 MF Phil Parkinson (to Colchester) 18 DF Adrian Whitbread (Retired)

No. Position Player 27 DF Ricky Allaway (Released) 29 DF Matthew Upson (returned to Arsenal after loan)

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee
8 August 2002	GK		Marcus Hahnemann	Fulham	Free
19 December 2002	DF		Steve Brown	Charlton Athletic	Free
20 January 2003	MF		Steve Sidwell	Arsenal	Undisclosed Fee
20 March 2003			Mario Noto	Tottenham Hotspur	Free

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee
1 July 2002	DF		Matthew Robinson	Oxford United	Free
9 August 2002	GK		Frank Talia	Wycombe Wanderers	Free
16 August 2002	DF		Neil Smith	Stevenage	Free
1 November 2002	DF		Ricky Allaway	Basingstoke Town	Free
25 February 2003	MF		Phil Parkinson	Colchester United	Free

Loans in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Until
5 September 2002	DF		Matthew Upson	Arsenal	8 December 2002
7 February 2003	MF		Luke Chadwick	Manchester United	19 March 2003
27 March 2003	MF		Luke Chadwick	Manchester United	15 May 2003
1 April 2003	MF		Glen Little	Burnley	15 May 2003

Loans out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Until
12 December 2002	DF		Alex Smith	Shrewsbury Town	4 May 2003

Released

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	Joined	Date
9 April 2003	DF		Adrian Whitbread	Retired
2 June 2003	DF		Adrian Viveash	Swindon Town
2 June 2003			Steve Warren
1 July 2003	DF		Alex Smith	Chester City	November 2003

Competitions

Competition	Started round	Current position / round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
First Division	—	—	4th	10 August 2002	4 May 2003
FL Cup	R1	—	R1	10 September 2002	10 September 2002
FA Cup	3R	—	3R	4 January 2003	14 January 2003

Last updated: match played 4 May 2003
Source: Competitions

Division One

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
46	25	4	17	61	46	+15	79	13	3	7	33	21	+12	12	1	10	28	25	+3

Fixtures and results

Main article: 2002–03 Football League First Division

Derby County v Reading

10 August 2002	Derby County	3–0	Reading	Pride Park
	Lee  60' Ravanelli  62' Christie  71'	Report		Attendance: 33,016

Reading v Sheffield Wednesday

13 August 2002	Reading	2–1	Sheffield Wednesday	Madejski Stadium
	Cureton  47', 78'	Report	Sibon  18' Quinn  89', 90'	Attendance: 13,638

Reading v Coventry City

17 August 2002	Reading	1–2	Coventry City	Madejski Stadium
	Cureton  12' (pen.)	Report	Davenport  74' Bothroyd  81'	Attendance: 14,712

Leicester City v Reading

24 August 2002	Leicester City	2-1	Reading	Walkers Stadium
	Deane  3' Dickov  4' (pen.)	Report	Cureton  20' (pen.)	Attendance: 22,978

Reading v Burnley

27 August 2002	Reading	3–0	Burnley	Madejski Stadium
	Cureton  55', 90' Butler  87'	Report		Attendance: 12,009

Walsall v Reading

31 August 2002	Walsall	0–2	Reading	Bescot Stadium
	Martínez  84'	Report	Hughes  78', 90'	Attendance: 5,327

Rotherham United v Reading

7 September 2002	Rotherham United	0–0	Reading	Don Valley Stadium
		Report		Attendance: 6,154

Reading v Wimbledon

14 September 2002	Reading	0–1	Wimbledon	Madejski Stadium
		Report	McAnuff  90'	Attendance: 14,832

Reading v Norwich City

18 September 2002	Reading	0–2	Norwich City	Madejski Stadium
		Report	McVeigh  3' Mulryne  5'	Attendance: 14,335

Wolves v Reading

21 September 2002	Wolves	0–1	Reading	Molineux
		Report	Hughes  58'	Attendance: 25,560

Reading v Stoke

28 September 2002	Reading	1–1	Stoke	Madejski Stadium
	Rougier  11'	Report	Vandeurzen  39'	Attendance: 13,646

Grimsby Town v Reading

5 October 2002	Grimsby Town	0–3	Reading	Blundell Park
		Report	Hughes  15' Forster  33' Pouton  90' (o.g.)	Attendance: 5,582

Reading v Ipswich Town

19 October 2002	Reading	3–1	Ipswich Town	Madejski Stadium
	Forster  28', 40', 69'	Report	Ambrose  61'	Attendance: 19,524

PNE v Reading

26 October 2002	PNE	1–0	Reading	Deepdale
	Cresswell  22'	Report		Attendance: 13,021

Reading v Bradford City

29 October 2002	Reading	1–0	Bradford City	Madejski Stadium
	Shorey  70'	Report		Attendance: 12,110

Reading v Millwall

2 November 2002	Reading	2–0	Millwall	Madejski Stadium
	Forster  5' Hughes  90'	Report		Attendance: 13,081

Gillingham v Reading

9 October 2002	Gillingham	0–1	Reading	Priestfield Stadium
		Report	Rougier  82'	Attendance: 8,511

Reading v Watford

23 November 2002	Reading	1–0	Watford	Madejski Stadium
	Watson  61'	Report		Attendance: 17,465

Crystal Palace v Reading

26 November 2002	Crystal Palace	0–1	Reading	Selhurst Park
		Report	Forster  39'	Attendance: 15,712

Brighton & Hove Albion v Reading

29 November 2002	Brighton & Hove Albion	0–1	Reading	Withdean Stadium
		Report	Salako  22'	Attendance: 6,817

Reading v Portsmouth

7 December 2002	Reading	0–0	Portsmouth	Madejski Stadium
		Report		Attendance: 23,462

Reading v Sheffield United

14 December 2002	Reading	0–2	Sheffield United	Madejski Stadium
		Report	Harley  59' Windass  76'	Attendance: 18,534

Nottingham Forest v Reading

21 December 2002	Nottingham Forest	0–2	Reading	City Ground
	Johnson  4' Harewood  67'	Report		Attendance: 25,831

Coventry City v Reading

26 December 2002	Coventry City	2–0	Reading	Highfield Road
	Hignett  39' Partridge  52'	Report		Attendance: 19,526

Reading v Derby County

28 December 2002	Reading	2–1	Derby County	Madejski Stadium
	Tyson  5' Cureton  89'	Report	Burley  7' (pen.)	Attendance: 16,299

Seffield Wednesday v Reading

11 January 2003	Seffield Wednesday	3–2	Reading	Hillsborough
	Quinn  52' Sibon  69' Johnston  71'	Report	Forster  9' Butler  19'

Reading v Walsall

18 January 2003	Reading	0–0	Walsall	Madejski Stadium
		Report		Attendance: 11,786

Reading v Leicester City

28 January 2003	Reading	1–3	Leicester City	Madejski Stadium
	Hughes  54'	Report	Dickov  17', 26' (pen.) Heath  34'	Attendance: 17,156

Burnley v Reading

1 February 2003	Burnley	2–5	Reading	Turf Moor
	Moore  55' West  90'	Report	Sidwell  37', 79' Salako  45', 52' Henderson  90'	Attendance: 14,420

Reading v Gillingham

10 February 2003	Reading	2 -1	Gillingham	Madejski Stadium
	Chadwick  13' Salako  87'	Report	Wallace  10'	Attendance: 11,030

Millwall v Reading

15 February 2003	Millwall	0–2	Reading	The Den
		Report	Forster  45' Henderson  83'	Attendance: 7,038

Sheffield United v Reading

18 February 2003	Sheffield United	1–3	Reading	Bramall Lane
	Brown  4'	Report	Forster  36', 80' Williams  74'	Attendance: 16,884

Reading v Rotherham

22 February 2003	Reading	3–0	Rotherham	Madejski Stadium
	Harper  15' Hughes  32' Forster  40'	Report		Attendance: 14,816

Wimbledon v Reading

1 March 2003	Wimbledon	2–0	Reading	Selhurst Park
	Francis  31' Tapp  85'	Report		Attendance: 3,869

Norwich City v Reading

5 March 2003	Norwich City	0–1	Reading	Carrow Road
		Report	Kenton 75' (o.g.)	Attendance: 18,970

Reading v Wolves

12 March 2003	Reading	0–1	Wolves	Madejski Stadium
		Report	Miller  44'	Attendance: 19,731

Reading v Crystal Palace

15 March 2003	Reading	2–1	Crystal Palace	Madejski Stadium
	Brown  66' Harper  90'	Report	Johnson  76'	Attendance: 18,063

Ipswich Town v Reading

18 March 2003	Ipswich Town	3–1	Reading	Portman Road
	Gaardsoe  1' Magilton  31' Holland  70'	Report	Forster  16'	Attendance: 24,108

Bradford City v Reading

22 March 2003	Bradford City	0–1	Reading	Bradford & Bingley Stadium
		Report	Forster  66'	Attendance: 11,385

Reading v Brighton & Hove

4 April 2003	Reading	1–2	Brighton & Hove	Madejski Stadium
	Cureton  83'	Report	Brooker  17' Kitson  77'	Attendance: 16,133

Reading v PNE

15 April 2003	Reading	5–1	PNE	Madejski Stadium
	Forster  29', 41', 57' Shorey  56' (pen.) Henderson  90'	Report	Jackson  2', 27' Lucas  55' Mears  83'	Attendance: 14,012

Reading v Nottingham Forest

18 April 2003	Reading	1–0	Nottingham Forest	Madejski Stadium
	Hughes  74'	Report		Attendance: 21,612

Portsmouth v Reading

21 April 2003	Portsmouth	3–0	Reading	Fratton Park
	Pericard  19', 45' Todorov  71'	Report		Attendance: 19,535

Reading v Grimsby Town

26 April 2003	Reading	2–1	Grimsby Town	Madejski Stadium
	Little  2' Hughes  22'	Report	Keane  90'	Attendance: 20,273

Watford v Reading

30 April 2003	Watford	0–3	Reading	Vicarage Road
		Report	Rougier  27' Henderson  70' Cureton  90'	Attendance: 11,814

Stoke v Reading

4 May 2003	Stoke	0–1	Reading	Britannia Stadium
		Report	Akinbiyi  55'	Attendance: 20,477

Playoffs

Semi-finals

Main article: Football_League_Championship_Play-Offs § 2003

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Reading

10 May 2003	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	Reading	Molineux
17:30	Newton  74' Naylor  82'	Report	Forster  25' Tyson  90+2'	Attendance: 27,678 Referee: A Kaye

Reading v Wolverhampton Wanderers

14 May 2003	Reading	0–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Madejski Stadium
19:45		Report	Rae  82'	Attendance: 24,060 Referee: Howard Webb

Reading lost 3–1 on aggregate

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Portsmouth (C) (P)	46	29	11	6	97	45	+52	98	Promotion to 2003–04 FA Premier League
2	Leicester City (P)	46	26	14	6	73	40	+33	92
3	Sheffield United	46	23	11	12	72	52	+20	80	Qualification to 2002–03 First Division Playoffs
4	Reading	46	25	4	17	61	46	+15	79
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers (P)	46	20	16	10	81	44	+37	76
6	Nottingham Forest	46	20	14	12	82	50	+32	74
7	Ipswich Town	46	19	13	14	80	64	+16	70
8	Norwich City	46	19	12	15	60	45	+15	69
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
14	Crystal Palace	46	14	17	15	59	52	+7	59
15	Rotherham United	46	15	14	17	62	62	0	59
16	Burnley	46	15	10	21	65	89	−24	55
17	Walsall	46	15	9	22	57	69	−12	54
18	Derby County	46	15	7	24	55	74	−19	52
19	Bradford City	46	14	10	22	51	73	−22	52
20	Coventry City	46	12	14	20	46	62	−16	50
21	Stoke City	46	12	14	20	45	69	−24	50
22	Sheffield Wednesday (R)	46	10	16	20	56	73	−17	46	Relegation to 2003–04 League One
23	Brighton & Hove Albion (R)	46	11	12	23	49	67	−18	45
24	Grimsby Town (R)	46	9	12	25	48	85	−37	39

Updated to games played on 2 December 2011.
Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

League Cup

Main article: 2002–03 Football League Cup

Cambridge United v Reading

10 September 2002	Cambridge United	3–1	Reading	Abbey Stadium
	Duncan  24' Kitson  39' Tudor  71'	Report	Upson  89'	Attendance: 2,696

FA Cup

Main article: 2002–03 FA Cup

Walsall v Reading

4 January 2003 Third round	Walsall	0–0	Reading	Bescot Stadium
15:00		Report		Attendance: 5,987

Reading v Walsall

14 January 2003 Third round reply	Reading	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–1 p)	Walsall	Madejski Stadium
20:00	Aranalde  32' (o.g.)	Report	Wrack  7'	Attendance: 8,767

First team statistics

Appearances and goals

As of match played 14 May 2003

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		First Division		Play-offs		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Phil Whitehead	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF		Graeme Murty	48	0	43+1	0	2	0	2	0	0	0
3	DF		Nicky Shorey	48	2	43	2	2	0	2	0	1	0
4	MF		Kevin Watson	33	1	24+8	1	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
5	DF		Adrian Viveash	5	0	4+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	DF		John Mackie	28	0	20+5	0	0	0	2	0	1	0
7	FW		Tony Rougier	22	3	13+7	3	0+1	0	0	0	0+1	0
8	DF		Ady Williams	41	1	38	1	2	0	0	0	0+1	0
9	FW		Martin Butler	24	2	12+9	2	0	0	2	0	1	0
10	FW		Nicky Forster	44	17	35+5	16	1	1	1+1	0	1	0
11	MF		Andy Hughes	47	9	41+2	9	2	0	0+1	0	1	0
12	FW		Jamie Cureton	32	9	13+14	9	1+1	0	1+1	0	1	0
14	FW		Sammy Igoe	18	0	8+7	0	0	0	2	0	0+1	0
15	MF		James Harper	40	2	34+2	2	2	0	2	0	0	0
16	MF		Glenn Little	7	1	6	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
17	MF		John Salako	46	4	33+10	4	0	0	0+2	0	1	0
21	GK		Jamie Ashdown	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	FW		Nathan Tyson	27	1	9+14	1	0+1	0	2	0	0+1	0
24	FW		Darius Henderson	25	4	1+21	4	2	0	0+1	0	0	0
25	MF		Ricky Newman	32	0	21+7	0	2	0	1	0	0+1	0
26	DF		Alex Smith	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF		Steve Sidwell	15	2	13	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
29	DF		Steve Brown	25	1	21	1	2	0	2	0	0	0
30	MF		Luke Chadwick	17	1	15	1	1+1	0	0	0	0	0
31	GK		Marcus Hahnemann	46	0	41	0	2	0	2	0	1	0
34	MF		Darren Campbell	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
37	DF		Peter Castle	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players who appeared for Reading but left during the season:
16	MF		Phil Parkinson	7	0	0+6	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
29	DF		Matthew Upson	15	1	13+1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1

Top scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Number	Name	First Division	Play Off	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1	FW		10	Nicky Forster	16	1	0	0	17
2	FW		12	Jamie Cureton	9	0	0	0	9
	MF		11	Andy Hughes	9	0	0	0	9
4	MF		17	John Salako	4	0	0	0	4
	FW		24	Darius Henderson	4	0	0	0	4
6	FW		7	Tony Rougier	3	0	0	0	3
7	MF		15	James Harper	2	0	0	0	2
	DF		3	Nicky Shorey	2	0	0	0	2
	FW		9	Martin Butler	2	0	0	0	2
	MF		27	Steve Sidwell	2	0	0	0	2
11	DF		29	Steve Brown	1	0	0	0	1
	MF		4	Kevin Watson	1	0	0	0	1
	FW		22	Nathan Tyson	1	0	0	0	1
	MF		30	Luke Chadwick	1	0	0	0	1
	DF		8	Ady Williams	1	0	0	0	1
	MF		16	Glen Little	1	0	0	0	1
	DF		29	Matthew Upson	0	0	0	1	1
				Totals	58	1	0	1	60

Disciplinary record

Number	Nation	Position	Name	First Division		Play Off		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
25		MF	Ricky Newman	10	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	11	0
6		DF	John Mackie	6	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	1
29		DF	Steve Brown	5	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	8	0
8		DF	Ady Williams	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
7		FW	Tony Rougier	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
4		MF	Kevin Watson	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
14		MF	Sammy Igoe	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
10		FW	Nicky Forster	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
11		MF	Andy Hughes	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	0
3		DF	Nicky Shorey	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
27		MF	Steve Sidwell	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
29		DF	Matthew Upson	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
22		FW	Nathan Tyson	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1
9		FW	Martin Butler	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
2		DF	Graeme Murty	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
17		MF	John Salako	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
5		DF	Adrian Viveash	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
15		MF	James Harper	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
24		FW	Darius Henderson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
			Totals	62	2	3	1	4	0	1	0	70	4

Team kit

Reading's kit for the 2002–03 was manufactured by Kit@, and the main sponsor was Westcoast.

2002–03 home colours

2002–03 away colours

References

Soccerbase