The 2002–03 season was Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

's 11th season in the Premier League, and their 15th consecutive season in the top division of English football

Football in England

Association football is a national sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game...

.

Season review

Fans had hoped that the return of successful former manager Graham Taylor would spark a serious challenge for honours once more, but unfortunately the actual result was Villa's worst Premier League campaign to date, with the club in serious danger of relegation throughout the season. Survival was only achieved in the penultimate game of the season with a victory over already-doomed Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

; Taylor was soon on his way out of the club for good.

First-team squad

Pre-season

Date	Opponents	Home/ Away	Result F – A	Scorers	Competition
20 July 2002	FC Zurich	A	0 – 2		Intertoto Cup
27 July 2002	FC Zurich	H	3 – 0	Boulding Michael Boulding Michael Thomas Boulding is an English professional footballer. He can play as a forward or as a winger, and had previously been a promising young tennis player, ranking among the top 20 players in Britain...  (33), Allback Marcus Allbäck Marcus Christian Allbäck , is a Swedish legend and coach, who currently is assistant coach for the Sweden national football team and plays as striker for the Division 1 Södra club Örgryte IS. He is a well-travelled striker known for his sharp finishing ability...  (52), Staunton Steve Staunton Stephen "Steve" Staunton is an Irish association football manager and former professional footballer, who was most recently manager of Darlington...  (77)	Intertoto Cup
Augest 2002	Lille Lille Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...	A	1 – 1	Taylor Ian Taylor (footballer) Ian Kenneth Taylor is an English former footballer, best known for his time at Aston Villa. A midfielder, he had a fifteen year career in the Football League and Premier League, making 478 league appearances....  (83)	Intertoto Cup
Augest 2002	Lille Lille Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...	H	0 – 2		Intertoto Cup

Premier League

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance	League position

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
15	Leeds United Leeds United A.F.C. Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...	38	14	5	19	58	57	+1	47
16	Aston Villa Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...	38	12	9	17	42	47	−5	45
17	Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers F.C. Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....	38	10	14	14	41	51	−10	44

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
4 January 2003	Round 3	Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....	H	1 – 4	Angel Juan Pablo Ángel Juan Pablo Ángel Arango is a Colombian footballer. He currently plays for Chivas USA in Major League Soccer.-Atlético Nacional and River Plate:...  41'	23,884

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
2 October 2002	Round 2	Luton Town Luton Town F.C. Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...	H	3 – 0	De La Cruz Ulises de la Cruz Ulises Hernán de la Cruz Bernardo is a Ecuadorian footballer currently with LDU Quito.De la Cruz has set up a charity, Friends of FundeCruz, in his home village to fund a number of projects serving the local community....  9', Dublin Dion Dublin Dion Dublin , is a retired English footballer. He was capped four times for England. Dublin started his career as a centre back with Norwich City, but made his name at Cambridge United as a goal-scoring centre forward. However, in his later years he showed his versatility by becoming an...  (2) 35', 48'	20,833
6 November 2002	Round 3	Oxford United Oxford United F.C. Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...	A Kassam Stadium The Kassam Stadium is the home of Oxford United Football Club, and is named after the ground's owner, and former chairman of the club, Firoz Kassam....	3 – 0	Taylor Ian Taylor (footballer) Ian Kenneth Taylor is an English former footballer, best known for his time at Aston Villa. A midfielder, he had a fifteen year career in the Football League and Premier League, making 478 league appearances....  74', Barry Gareth Barry Gareth Barry is an English footballer who plays for Manchester City and the England national football team.Barry moved to Aston Villa from Brighton & Hove Albion as a youngster, and spent 12 years at the club. He captained Aston Villa, and, at the end of his career with the club, lay eighth in...  77', Dublin Dion Dublin Dion Dublin , is a retired English footballer. He was capped four times for England. Dublin started his career as a centre back with Norwich City, but made his name at Cambridge United as a goal-scoring centre forward. However, in his later years he showed his versatility by becoming an...  86'	12,177
4 December 2002	Round 4	Preston North End Preston North End F.C. Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...	H	5 – 0	Vassell Darius Vassell Darius Vassell is an English footballer who plays for Championship side Leicester City, having previously played for Aston Villa, Manchester City and Ankaragücü, as well as the England national team....  44', 55', Dublin Dion Dublin Dion Dublin , is a retired English footballer. He was capped four times for England. Dublin started his career as a centre back with Norwich City, but made his name at Cambridge United as a goal-scoring centre forward. However, in his later years he showed his versatility by becoming an...  80', Ángel Juan Pablo Ángel Juan Pablo Ángel Arango is a Colombian footballer. He currently plays for Chivas USA in Major League Soccer.-Atlético Nacional and River Plate:...  84', Hitzlsperger Thomas Hitzlsperger Thomas Hitzlsperger is a German footballer who plays as a midfielder. He plays for Bundesliga club Wolfsburg after signing a three-year deal on 17 August 2011. Hitzlsperger spent the early part of his career playing for Aston Villa in England , before returning to Germany to play for Stuttgart...  87'	23,042
18 December 2003	Round 5	Liverpool Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...	H	3 – 4	Vassell Darius Vassell Darius Vassell is an English footballer who plays for Championship side Leicester City, having previously played for Aston Villa, Manchester City and Ankaragücü, as well as the England national team....  23' (pen Penalty kick A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play... ), Hitzlsperger Thomas Hitzlsperger Thomas Hitzlsperger is a German footballer who plays as a midfielder. He plays for Bundesliga club Wolfsburg after signing a three-year deal on 17 August 2011. Hitzlsperger spent the early part of his career playing for Aston Villa in England , before returning to Germany to play for Stuttgart...  72', Henchoz Stéphane Henchoz Stéphane Henchoz is a former Swiss international footballer who last played for Blackburn Rovers as a defender. He has been capped 72 times and played for his country at Euro 1996 and Euro 2004.- Early career :...  88 (o.g. Own goal An own net occurs in goal-scoring games when a player scores a goal that is registered against his or her own team. It is usually accidental, and may be a result of an attempt at defensive play that failed or was spoiled by opponents.... )	38,530