During the 2002–03 English football season, Wigan Athletic F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

Background Despite a disappointing previous season, it was felt that the club still had a strong squad. The Guardian and The Times both predicted that the club would finish 2nd in the league.

Transfers In PlayerPositionFromFeeDateNotes Michael Flynn MF Barry Town £15,000 21 June 2002 Ian Breckin DF Chesterfield Undisclosed 25 June 2002 Nicky Eaden DF Birmingham City Nominal 20 October 2002 Richard Edghill DF Manchester City Free 22 October 2002 Dave Beasant GK Bradford City Free 28 October 2002 Jimmy Bullard MF Peterborough United £275,000 31 January 2003

Out PlayerPositionToFeeDateNotes Stewart Kerr GK Retired 27 September 2002 Richard Edghill DF Sheffield United Released 22 January 2003 Dave Beasant GK Brighton & Hove Albion Free 30 January 2003 Lee Ashcroft FW Southport Released 6 February 2003 Scott Green DF Wrexham Released 14 February 2003 Kieran Charnock DF Southport Free 18 March 2003 Ian Pendlebury DF Leigh RMI Free 19 March 2003 Paul Santus MF Northwich Victoria Released 30 June 2003

Loans in PlayerPosToDateDurationNotes Nicky Eaden DF Birmingham City 20 September 2002 One month

Loans out PlayerPosToDateDurationNotes Lee Ashcroft FW Port Vale 9 October 2002 One month Lee Ashcroft FW Huddersfield Town 9 December 2002 One month Ged Brannan MF Dunfermline Athletic 30 January 2003 End of season

Pre-season DateOpponentVenueResultScorersNotes 16 July 2002 RBC RoosendaalA0–0 18 July 2002 TOP OssA2–1 24 July 2002 MorecambeA0–0 25 July 2002 BurscoughA4–1 27 July 2002 Shrewsbury TownA2–2 30 July 2002 WalsallA2–0 3 August 2002 Preston North EndH1–1

League

Between 2 November and 18 January, the club won a record 11 consecutive league games. Goalkeeper John Filan set another club record during this run of games by keeping eight clean sheets in a row.

The club secured promotion with four games to spare on 15 April when their closest rivals, Crewe Alexandra, dropped points against Bristol City. This was the first time in the club's history that Wigan had been promoted to the second tier of English football. The club went on to win the Second Division, finishing the season with 100 points, 14 clear of runners-up Crewe. This is Wigan's highest-ever points total in a season.

Four Wigan players were named in the PFA Team of the Year.

Results Wigan Athletic's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

+ Second Division match detailsGameDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersNotes 1 10 August 2002 Cheltenham TownA2–05,138Liddell, McCulloch 2 13 August 2002 Mansfield TownH3–25,837Ellington (2), De Vos 3 17 August 2002 Bristol CityH2–06,548Green, McCulloch 4 24 August 2002 Notts CountyA2–06,302Liddell (2) 5 26 August 2002 Port ValeH0–16,532 6 31 August 2002 Colchester UnitedA0–12,721 7 7 September 2002 Wycombe WanderersH3–05,358Liddell (2), McCulloch 8 14 September 2002 ChesterfieldA0–04,124 9 17 September 2002 Tranmere RoversA2–08,153Ellington (2, 1 pen.) 10 21 September 2002 Peterborough UnitedH2–25,797Liddell (pen.), Ellington 11 28 September 2002 BarnsleyA3–19,977Liddell, Jackson, Green 12 5 October 2002 Cardiff CityH2–28,047Dinning, Ellington 13 12 October 2002 Plymouth ArgyleA3–18,746Dinning (2), Ellington 14 19 October 2002 Stockport CountyH2–17,276Ellington, Roberts 15 26 October 2002 Luton TownA1–17,364De Vos 16 29 October 2002 Queens Park RangersH1–16,241Liddell 17 2 November 2002 Crewe AlexandraH2–07,086Liddell (pen.), Foster (o.g.) 18 9 November 2002 BlackpoolA2–07,676Dinning, Flynn 19 23 November 2002 BrentfordA1–05,454Roberts 20 30 November 2002 Northampton TownH1–06,032Roberts 21 14 December 2002 Oldham AthleticA2–08,269Ellington, De Vos 22 21 December 2002 Huddersfield TownH1–06,013De Vos 23 26 December 2002 Port ValeA1–06,395De Vos 24 28 December 2002 Swindon TownH2–06,114Teale, Ellington 25 1 January 2003 Notts CountyH3–16,009Dinning, De Vos, Liddell 26 10 January 2003 Bristol CityA1–013,151Kennedy 27 18 January 2003 Colchester UnitedH2–15,792De Vos, Liddell (pen.) 28 25 January 2003 Swindon TownA1–25,238McCulloch 29 28 January 2003Mansfield TownA2–15,524Ellington, Liddell 30 1 February 2003 Cheltenham TownH0–06,171 31 8 February 2003 BlackpoolH1–110,546Liddell 32 22 February 2003 Wycombe WanderersA2–06,052McCulloch, Liddell (pen.) 33 25 February 2003 Crewe AlexandraA1–08,917Ellington 34 1 March 2003 ChesterfieldH3–16,384Teale, Dinning, Liddell (pen.) 35 4 March 2003 Tranmere RoversH0–09,021 36 8 March 2003 Peterborough UnitedA1–14,970Arber (o.g.) 37 15 March 2003 Luton TownH1–17,087Roberts 38 18 March 2003 Stockport CountyA1–16,719De Vos 39 22 March 2003 Queens Park RangersA1–014,703Ellington 40 29 March 2003 Plymouth ArgyleH0–17,203 41 4 April 2003 Northampton TownA2–05,822Ellington, Liddell (pen.) 42 12 April 2003 BrentfordH2–07,204Ellington, McCulloch 43 19 April 2003 Huddersfield TownA0–013,769 44 21 April 2003 Oldham AthleticH3–112,783Roberts (2), Bullard 45 26 April 2003 Cardiff CityA0–014,702 46 3 May 2003 BarnsleyH1–012,537Dinning

Final league table

Cups FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersNotesFirst16 November 2002 Hereford UnitedA1–04,005GreenSecond7 December 2002 Luton TownH3–04,544Ellington (2), FlynnThird4 January 2003 Stoke CityH0–39,618

League Cup

The club reached the quarter-finals of the League Cup for the first time in its history, with upset victories against three Premiership sides (West Bromwich Albion, Manchester City and Fulham) before being knocked out by Blackburn Rovers.

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersNotesFirst10 September 2002 Northampton TownA1–02,336JarrettSecond2 October 2002 West Bromwich AlbionH3–16,558Ellington (3)Third5 November 2002Manchester CityH1–015,007N. RobertsFourth4 December 2002 FulhamH2–17,615Ellington (2)Quarter final17 December 2002Blackburn RoversH0–216,922

Football League Trophy

Jewell fielded a weakened team in the First Round of the Football League Trophy, but were still able to win against Notts County. In the next round against Conference side Doncaster Rovers, goalkeeper Dave Beasant became the oldest player to appear for the club at 43 years of age.

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersNotesFirst (Northern)22 October 2002 Notts CountyA3–21,020Teale (2), JarrettSecond (Northern)11 November 2002 Doncaster RoversH0–12,030

Squad statistics Squad at end of season

Appearances and goals

|colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Wigan and left during the season:

Notes

References