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 (AgeAge as of the end of the season) Signed from Signed in Contract ends Apps. Goals Goalkeepers 1 Phil Whitehead GK West Bromwich Albion 1999 108 0 21 Jamie Ashdown GK Academy 1998 5 0 31 Marcus Hahnemann GK Fulham 2002 50 0 32 Jamie Young GK Academy 2002 0 0 Defenders 2 Graeme Murty DF York City 1998 155 1 3 Nicky Shorey DF Leyton Orient 2001 86 2 5 Adi Viveash DF Walsall 2000 2003 91 4 6 John Mackie DF Sutton United 1999 75 2 8 Ady Williams DF Wolverhampton Wanderers 2000 2003 26 Alex Smith DF Port Vale 2001 18 3 29 Steve Brown DF Charlton Athletic 2002 25 1 35 Ahmet Rifat DF Academy 2003 0 0 37 Peter Castle DF Academy 2003 1 0 Midfielders 4 Kevin Watson MF Rotherham United 2003 45 2 11 Andy Hughes MF Notts County 2001 89 15 14 Sammy Igoe MF Portsmouth 2000 105 7 15 James Harper MF Arsenal 2001 86 4 16 Glen Little MF on loan from Burnley 2003 2003 7 1 17 John Salako MF Charlton Athletic 2001 78 10 19 Joe Gamble MF Cork City 2000 13 0 23 Andre Boucaud MF Academy 2002 0 0 25 Ricky Newman MF Millwall 2000 83 2 27 Steve Sidwell MF Arsenal 2003 15 2 28 Steve Warren MF Crystal Palace 2003 0 0 30 Luke Chadwick MF loan from Manchester United 2003 2003 17 1 34 Darren Campbell MF Academy 2003 1 0 Forwards 7 Tony Rougier FW Port Vale 2000 99 6 9 Martin Butler FW Cambridge United 2000 115 36 10 Nicky Forster FW Birmingham City 1999 147 47 12 Jamie Cureton FW Bristol Rovers 2000 127 55 20 Bas Savage FW Academy 2001 1 0 22 Nathan Tyson FW Academy 1999 32 1 24 Darius Henderson FW Academy 1999 82 15 Out on loan Left during the season 16 Phil Parkinson DF Bury 1992 18 Adrian Whitbread DF Portsmouth 2001 37 0 27 Ricky Allaway DF Academy 1999 0 0 29 Matthew Upson DF loan from Arsenal 2002 2002 15 1

Left club during season

Transfers

In Date Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 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 Ref. 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 Ref. 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 Ref. 12 December 2002 DF Alex Smith Shrewsbury Town 4 May 2003

Released Date Position Nationality Name Joined Date Ref. 9 April 2003 DF Adrian WhitbreadRetired 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

Results summary

Results by round

Fixtures and results

Playoffs

Semi-finals

Reading lost 3–1 on aggregate

League table

League Cup

FA Cup

First team statistics

Appearances and goals

|colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Reading but left during the season:

Top scorers PlacePositionNationNumberNameFirst DivisionPlay OffFA CupLeague CupTotal1 FW 10 Nicky Forster 16 1 0 0 17 2 FW 12 Jamie Cureton 9 0 0 0 9MF 11 Andy Hughes 9 0 0 0 9 4 MF 17 John Salako 4 0 0 0 4FW 24 Darius Henderson 4 0 0 0 46 FW 7 Tony Rougier 3 0 0 0 3 7 MF 15 James Harper 2 0 0 0 2DF 3 Nicky Shorey 2 0 0 0 2FW 9 Martin Butler 2 0 0 0 2MF 27 Steve Sidwell 2 0 0 0 2 11 DF 29 Steve Brown 1 0 0 0 1MF 4 Kevin Watson 1 0 0 0 1FW 22 Nathan Tyson 1 0 0 0 1MF 30 Luke Chadwick 1 0 0 0 1DF 8 Ady Williams 1 0 0 0 1MF 16 Glen Little 1 0 0 0 1DF 29 Matthew Upson 0 0 0 1 1Totals58 1 0 1 60

Disciplinary record NumberNationPositionNameFirst DivisionPlay OffFA CupLeague CupTotal25 MF Ricky Newman 10 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 11 06 DF John Mackie 6 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 7 129 DF Steve Brown 5 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 8 08 DF Ady Williams 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 07 FW Tony Rougier 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 04 MF Kevin Watson 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 014 MF Sammy Igoe 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 010 FW Nicky Forster 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 011 MF Andy Hughes 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 03 DF Nicky Shorey 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 027 MF Steve Sidwell 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 029 DF Matthew Upson 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 022 FW Nathan Tyson 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 19 FW Martin Butler 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 02 DF Graeme Murty 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 017 MF John Salako 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 05 DF Adi Viveash 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 115 MF James Harper 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 024 FW Darius Henderson 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0Totals622314010704

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

References

Soccerbase