| Competition: | Football League First Division |
| Winners: | Portsmouth (3rd divisional title) |
| Promoted: | Portsmouth Leicester City Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| Relegated: | Sheffield Wednesday Brighton & Hove Albion Grimsby Town |
| Matches: | 557 |
| Total Goals: | 1512 |
| League Topscorer: | Svetoslav Todorov (26 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Nottm Forest 6–0 Stoke, Wolves 6–0 Gillingham |
| Biggest Away Win: | Millwall 0–6 Rotherham |
| Highest Scoring: | Grimsby 6–5 Burnley, Burnley 4–7 Watford |
| Longest Wins: | 7 games[1] Portsmouth |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 15 games Leicester City |
| Longest Winless: | 16 games Stoke City |
| Longest Losses: | 12 games Brighton & Hove Albion |
| Average Attendance: | 15,599[2] |
| Prevseason: | 2001–02 |
| Nextseason: | 2003–04 |
| Season: | 2002–03 |
The 2002–03 Football League First Division (referred to as the Nationwide First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the league under its current format as the second tier of English football.
Portsmouth won the division to return to the Premier League after a fifteen-year absence. In Harry Redknapp's first full season in charge the team secured the title on 27 April, with a victory over Rotherham, having been promoted with four games to spare by defeating Burnley.[3] [4]
Leicester City were promoted at the first attempt following their relegation. Their promotion was contentious as they entered administration during the season due to debts in excess of £50 million stemming from their loss of Premier League income and major investment in a new stadium, but were able to write-off these entirely when a new consortium took control and therefore avoided having to sell off players.[5] Following this incident, the Football League would introduce rules that penalised any club entering administration with a ten-point points deduction;[6] although Leicester would still have finished in second place had been this been applied.
Wolverhampton Wanderers won the play-offs to reach the modern-day Premiership for the first time after a 3–0 win in the play-off final against a Sheffield United team which had reached the semi-finals of both domestic cup competitions.[7] This marked a return to top-flight football for Wolves after a nineteen-year exodus that had seen them fall as low as the fourth tier. Also leaving the division were Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton & Hove Albion and Grimsby Town, who were all relegated.
Promoted to the Premiership:
Relegated to the Second Division:
Relegated from the Premiership:
Promoted from the Second Division:
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25,136 | ||||
| 22,546 | ||||
| 8,850 | ||||
| 23,489 | ||||
| 26,309 | ||||
| 33,597 | ||||
| 11,582 | ||||
| 10,033 | ||||
| 30,311 | ||||
| 32,500 | ||||
| London | 20,146 | |||
| 30,576 | ||||
| 26,018 | ||||
| 20,224 | ||||
| 23,408 | ||||
| 24,161 | ||||
| 8,300 | ||||
| 32,702 | ||||
| 39,812 | ||||
| 27,740 | ||||
| 11,300 | ||||
| 17,504 | ||||
| Selhurst Park1 | 26,309 | |||
| 27,828 |
Note 1: Wimbledon rented the use of Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park home.
| Team | Manager | Kit maker | Sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradford City | Nicky Law | BCAFC | JCT600 | |
| Burnley | Stan Ternent | TFG Sports | Lanway | |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Martin Hinshelwood | Skint Records | ||
| Coventry City | Gary McAllister | CCFC | Subaru | |
| Crystal Palace | Trevor Francis | Churchill Insurance | ||
| Derby County | John Gregory | Erreà | Pedigree | |
| Gillingham | Andy Hessenthaler | Gills Leisure | SeaFrance | |
| Grimsby Town | Paul Groves | Avec | Dixon | |
| Ipswich Town | George Burley | TXU Energi | ||
| Leicester City | Micky Adams | LG | ||
| Millwall | Mark McGhee | 24seven | ||
| Nottingham Forest | Paul Hart | Pinnacle Insurance | ||
| Norwich City | Nigel Worthington | Xara | Digital Phone Company | |
| Portsmouth | Harry Redknapp | Pompey Sport | Ty | |
| Preston North End | Craig Brown | Voi | NewReg.com | |
| Reading | Alan Pardew | Kit@ | Westcoast | |
| Rotherham United | Bodyline | T-Mobile | ||
| Sheffield United | Neil Warnock | Le Coq Sportif | Desun | |
| Sheffield Wednesday | Terry Yorath | Chupa Chups | ||
| Stoke City | Steve Cotterill | Le Coq Sportif | Britannia | |
| Walsall | Colin Lee | Xara | Banks's | |
| Watford | Ray Lewington | Toshiba | ||
| Wimbledon | Patrick | Go MK | ||
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Dave Jones | Doritos |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Peter Taylor | Resigned | 29 April 2002[8] | Off season | Martin Hinshelwood | 15 July 2002[9] | |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Martin Hinshelwood | Moved to director of football position | 7 October 2002[10] | 24th | Steve Coppell | 7 October 2002 | |
| Stoke City | Steve Cotterill | Resigned to become assistant manager at Sunderland | 10 October 2002[11] | 15th | Tony Pulis | 1 November 2002[12] | |
| Ipswich Town | George Burley | Sacked | 11 October 2002[13] | 19th | Joe Royle | 28 October 2002[14] | |
| Sheffield Wednesday | Terry Yorath | Resigned | 31 October 2002[15] | 22nd | Chris Turner | 7 November 2002[16] | |
| Crystal Palace | Trevor Francis | Mutual consent | 18 April 2003[17] | 11th | Steve Kember | 23 May 2003[18] | |
| Derby County | John Gregory | Sacked | 9 May 20032[19] [20] | 18th (end of season) | George Burley | 5 June 20033[21] [22] |
Note 2: Although Gregory was dismissed on this date, he had already been suspended from his post on 21 March after "serious allegations" were made against him.
Note 3: Burley was initially appointed on 31 March as interim manager following John Gregory's suspension.
See main article: 2003 Football League play-offs.
| Month | Manager of the Month | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=42% | Manager | width=42% | Club | |
| August | Harry Redknapp | Portsmouth | [23] | |
| September | Micky Adams | Leicester City | [24] | |
| October | Ray Lewington | Watford | [25] | |
| November | Alan Pardew | Reading | [26] | |
| December | Gary McAllister | Coventry City | [27] | |
| January | Neil Warnock | Sheffield United | [28] | |
| February | Alan Pardew | Reading | [29] | |
| March | Joe Royle | Ipswich Town | [30] | |
| April | Mark McGhee | Millwall | [31] | |
| Pos. | Player | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Portsmouth | ||
| DF | Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||
| DF | Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||
| DF | Nottingham Forest | ||
| DF | Portsmouth | ||
| MF | Leicester City | ||
| MF | Sheffield United | ||
| MF | Portsmouth | ||
| MF | Sheffield United | ||
| FW | Nottingham Forest | ||
| FW | Leicester City |