2002–03 Reading F.C. season explained

Club:	Reading
Season:	2002–03
Manager:	Alan Pardew
Mgrtitle:	Manager
Chairman:	Sir John Madejski
Chrtitle:	Chairman
League:	First Division
League Result:	4th (play off Semi-Finals)
Cup1:	FA Cup
Cup1 Result:	Third Round vs Walsall
Cup2:	League Cup
Cup2 Result:	First Round vs Cambridge United
League Topscorer:	Nicky Forster (15)
Season Topscorer:	Nicky Forster (16)
Pattern La1:	_whiteborder
Pattern B1:	_bluehoops
Pattern Ra1:	_whiteborder
Leftarm1:	0000ff
Rightarm1:	0000ff
Prevseason:	2001–02
Nextseason:	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

No.	Name	Nationality	Position	Date of birth (Age^[1])	Signed from	Signed in	Contract ends	Apps.	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	Phil Whitehead		GK	2003 5, df=yes	West Bromwich Albion	1999		108	0
21	Jamie Ashdown		GK	2003 5, df=yes	Academy	1998		5	0
31	Marcus Hahnemann		GK	2003 5, df=yes	Fulham	2002		50	0
32	Jamie Young		GK	2003 5, df=yes	Academy	2002		0	0
Defenders
2	Graeme Murty		DF	2003 5, df=yes	York City	1998		155	1
3	Nicky Shorey		DF	2003 5, df=yes	Leyton Orient	2001		86	2
5	Adi Viveash		DF	2003 5, df=yes	Walsall	2000	2003	91	4
6	John Mackie		DF	2003 5, df=yes	Sutton United	1999		75	2
8	Ady Williams		DF	2003 5, df=yes	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2000^[2]	2003
26	Alex Smith		DF	2003 5, df=yes	Port Vale	2001		18	3
29	Steve Brown		DF	2003 5, df=yes	Charlton Athletic	2002		25	1
35	Ahmet Rifat		DF	2003 5, df=yes	Academy	2003		0	0
37	Peter Castle		DF	2003 5, df=yes	Academy	2003		1	0
Midfielders
4	Kevin Watson		MF	2003 5, df=yes	Rotherham United	2003		45	2
11	Andy Hughes		MF	2003 5, df=yes	Notts County	2001		89	15
14	Sammy Igoe		MF	2003 5, df=yes	Portsmouth	2000		105	7
15	James Harper		MF	2003 5, df=yes	Arsenal	2001		86	4
16	Glen Little		MF	2003 5, df=yes	on loan from Burnley	2003	2003	7	1
17	John Salako		MF	2003 5, df=yes	Charlton Athletic	2001		78	10
19	Joe Gamble		MF	2003 5, df=yes	Cork City	2000		13	0
23	Andre Boucaud		MF	2003 5, df=yes	Academy	2002		0	0
25	Ricky Newman		MF	2003 5, df=yes	Millwall	2000		83	2
27	Steve Sidwell		MF	2003 5, df=yes	Arsenal	2003		15	2
28	Steve Warren		MF	2003 5, df=yes	Crystal Palace	2003		0	0
30	Luke Chadwick		MF	2003 5, df=yes	loan from Manchester United	2003	2003	17	1
34	Darren Campbell		MF	2003 5, df=yes	Academy	2003		1	0
Forwards
7	Tony Rougier		FW	2003 5, df=yes	Port Vale	2000		99	6
9	Martin Butler		FW	2003 5, df=yes	Cambridge United	2000		115	36
10	Nicky Forster		FW	2003 5, df=yes	Birmingham City	1999		147	47
12	Jamie Cureton		FW	2003 5, df=yes	Bristol Rovers	2000		127	55
20	Bas Savage		FW	2003 5, df=yes	Academy	2001		1	0
22	Nathan Tyson		FW	2003 5, df=yes	Academy	1999		32	1
24	Darius Henderson		FW	2003 5, df=yes	Academy	1999		82	15
Out on loan
Left during the season
16	Phil Parkinson		DF	2003 5, df=yes	Bury	1992
18	Adrian Whitbread		DF	2003 5, df=yes	Portsmouth	2001		37	0
27	Ricky Allaway		DF	2003 5, df=yes	Academy	1999		0	0
29	Matthew Upson		DF	2003 5, df=yes	loan from Arsenal	2002	2002	15	1

Left club during season

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^[3]
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^[4]
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

Released

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

Competitions

Division One

Fixtures and results

See main article: 2002–03 Football League First Division.

Playoffs

Semi-finals

Reading lost 3–1 on aggregate

League table

League Cup

See main article: 2002–03 Football League Cup.

FA Cup

See main article: 2002–03 FA Cup.

First team statistics

Appearances and goals

^[5] |-|colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Reading but left during the season: |}

Top scorers

width=60	Place	width=60	Position	width=60	Nation	width=60	Number	width=150	Name	width=80	First Division	width=80	Play Off	width=80	FA Cup	width=80	League Cup	width=80	Total
1	FW		10		16	1	0	0	17
2	FW		12		9	0	0	0	9
	MF		11		9	0	0	0	9
4	MF		17		4	0	0	0	4
	FW		24		4	0	0	0	4
6	FW		7		3	0	0	0	3
7	MF		15		2	0	0	0	2
	DF		3		2	0	0	0	2
	FW		9		2	0	0	0	2
	MF		27		2	0	0	0	2
11	DF		29		1	0	0	0	1
	MF		4		1	0	0	0	1
	FW		22		1	0	0	0	1
	MF		30		1	0	0	0	1
	DF		8		1	0	0	0	1
	MF		16		1	0	0	0	1
	DF		29		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
				width=60 style="background: #FFEE99"		width=60 style="background: #FF8888"		width=60 style="background: #FFEE99"		width=60 style="background: #FF8888"		width=60 style="background: #FFEE99"		width=60 style="background: #FF8888"		width=60 style="background: #FFEE99"		width=60 style="background: #FF8888"		width=60 style="background: #FFEE99"		width=60 style="background: #FF8888"
25		MF		10	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	11	0
6		DF		6	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	1
29		DF		5	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	8	0
8		DF		6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
7		FW		5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
4		MF		5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
14		MF		4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
10		FW		3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
11		MF		2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	0
3		DF		3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
27		MF		1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
29		DF		3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
22		FW		1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1
9		FW		2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
2		DF		2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
17		MF		2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
5		DF		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
15		MF		0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
24		FW		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.

References

• Soccerbase

Notes and References

1. Age as of the end of the season
2. Web site: Reading reveal new trio . BBC . 3 July 2000 . 17 October 2012.
3. News: 11 February 2003 . Sidwell joins Reading . BBC Sport . 21 October 2013.
4. News: Reading secure Upson deal . BBC Sport . 5 September 2002 . 21 October 2013.
5. Web site: Reading F.C. player appearances: 2002–03 . Soccerbase . 23 April 2013.