Final League Table -
Division I
Teams in a silver box denotes a player
representing England in 1902-03
Teams in
italics were
relegated to the second division for the following season |
|
Team |
P |
Home |
Away |
₧
|
|
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
|
The Wednesday |
34 |
12 |
3 |
2 |
31 |
7 |
7 |
1 |
9 |
23 |
29 |
42 |
|
Aston Villa |
34 |
11 |
3 |
3 |
43 |
18 |
8 |
0 |
9 |
18 |
22 |
41 |
|
Sunderland |
34 |
10 |
5 |
2 |
27 |
11 |
6 |
4 |
7 |
24 |
25 |
41 |
|
Sheffield
United |
34 |
11 |
0 |
6 |
36 |
22 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
22 |
22 |
39 |
|
Liverpool |
34 |
11 |
3 |
3 |
48 |
21 |
6 |
1 |
10 |
20 |
28 |
38 |
|
Stoke |
34 |
11 |
2 |
4 |
29 |
11 |
4 |
5 |
8 |
17 |
27 |
37 |
|
West Bromwich Albion |
34 |
10 |
2 |
5 |
37 |
27 |
6 |
2 |
9 |
17 |
26 |
36 |
|
Bury |
34 |
14 |
1 |
2 |
41 |
14 |
2 |
2 |
13 |
13 |
29 |
35 |
|
Derby
County |
34 |
13 |
2 |
2 |
34 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
13 |
16 |
36 |
35 |
|
Nottingham Forest |
34 |
10 |
3 |
4 |
33 |
22 |
4 |
4 |
9 |
16 |
25 |
35 |
|
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
34 |
12 |
2 |
3 |
34 |
17 |
2 |
3 |
12 |
14 |
40 |
33 |
|
Everton |
34 |
10 |
2 |
5 |
28 |
18 |
3 |
4 |
10 |
17 |
29 |
32 |
|
Middlesbrough |
34 |
10 |
3 |
4 |
27 |
16 |
4 |
1 |
12 |
14 |
34 |
32 |
|
Newcastle United |
34 |
12 |
1 |
4 |
31 |
11 |
2 |
3 |
12 |
10 |
40 |
32 |
|
Notts County |
34 |
8 |
5 |
4 |
25 |
16 |
4 |
2 |
11 |
16 |
33 |
31 |
|
Blackburn Rovers |
34 |
9 |
2 |
6 |
27 |
24 |
3 |
3 |
11 |
17 |
39 |
29 |
|
Grimsby Town |
34 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
28 |
22 |
2 |
4 |
11 |
15 |
40 |
25 |
|
Bolton Wanderers |
34 |
6 |
2 |
9 |
18 |
20 |
2 |
1 |
14 |
19 |
53 |
19 |
|
West
Bromwich Albion
recorded a six-match winning run from 18
October 1902:
Sheffield U. (a) 2-1, Grimsby (h) 1-0, Aston
V. (a) 3-0, Nottingham F. (h) 2-0, Bury (a) 2-1, Blackburn (h) 5-3, before
drawing 0-0 at Sunderland on 29 November 1902. The Wednesday's biggest winning sequence was of
three matches. |
|
How The League Was Won 1902-03 Season |
|
Timeline |
34 Saturdays from 6 September 1902 to 25 April 1903, plus
Christmas Day (Thursday, 25th December 1902), Boxing Day (Friday, 26th December 1902),
New Year's Day (Thursday, 1 January 1903), Good Friday,
10 April 1903 and Easter Monday, 13 April 1903
With no games allowed in August, there
were five
opening games on Monday, 1 September 1902, plus one on a Monday and
one on a Tuesday later in September. An additional game was played on
a Monday, a Thursday and a Friday in October, and one on the first
Friday of the new year. Three
games were played on Mondays and one on a Thursday in March, and games were played on Mondays and Wednesdays in April. The
FA Cup took precedence on five weekends from the first round on 7
February 1903 (two weeks later than the previous season) to the
final on 18 April 1903.
There were two weeks between each round and four before the final. Last
two league games were played on
Monday, 27 April 1903.
|
Saturday, 18 April 1903 |
Sunderland 2 Middlesbrough 1
St James' Park, Newcastle
(25,000)
Hewitt, Millar
~ J.Robertson
Sunderland were forced to play their last 'home' game at
the home of their closest rivals, due to the unruly behaviour of
some of their fans when they lost at home to The Wednesday, the
previous month. Oranges were thrown at the referee during the
game and stones at a horse-drawn carriage containing Wednesday
players and officials after the game. |
The Wednesday completed their fixtures by maintaining a
one-point advantage over Sunderland, who still had a game to
play. They would have to win it, however, as The Wednesday had a
superior goal average. Aston Villa and Sheffield United were
also in contention at the start of the day, and in opposition
against each other. Villa's 4-2 win meant that United could not
win the title and Wednesday's victory meant that Villa were also
out of contention. |
The Wednesday 3 West
Bromwich Albion
1
Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield
(19,000)
Langley, Spiksley,
Wilson
~ E.Smith |
|
Saturday,
25 April 1903 |
Newcastle United 1 Sunderland
0
St James' Park, Newcastle
(26,562)
McColl
Sunderland made a quick return to Newcastle, but this time their
hopes were extinguished by 'Toffee Bob' McColl, co-founder of
McColl's convenience stores, who made a second claim to fame in
scoring the goal that sent the title to Hillsborough (then known
as Owlerton Stadium).
The Wednesday won the title by a point and, to add insult to
injury, Aston Villa then pipped Sunderland to the runners-up
spot on goal average. |
|
|
The Elite League 1902-03 Season
(games between the top four) |
For the third
season in succession, only Sunderland retained their top-four placing from the
previous season.
Blackburn Rovers, Everton and Newcastle United all dropped
out of the top four.
Games played between the top two:-
|
Saturday, 22 November 1902 |
The Wednesday 1 Sunderland 0
Owlerton
Stadium, Sheffield
(12,500)
Chapman |
|
Saturday, 21 March 1903 |
Sunderland 0 The
Wednesday 1
Roker Park,
Sunderland
(22,000)
Wilson |
|
|
The Continuous League
1888-1903
(first 15 seasons) |
|
Aston Villa increased their lead to 34 points. This was the
fifth
season
of 34 games each, following three of 22, one of 26 and six of thirty
games each. Sunderland
still had the highest average points per game from their 13
seasons.
Sunderland maintained their five-point lead, though it had been
reduced from eight in the 'Rolling Five-Season' League. |
Manager: Arthur
Dickinson
1902-03
Most Appearances
by England Players |
|
Name |
Played |
Goals |
|
Harry Ruddlesdin |
34 |
2 |
|
Tommy Crawshaw |
33 |
|
|
Fred Spiksley |
32 |
8 |
|
Harry Davis |
26 |
13 |
|
Tommy Crawshaw and Fred Spiksley did not play for England in 1902-03 and
Harry Ruddlesdin did not make his England debut until 1904. |
|
1902-03
Most Goals
by England Players |
|
Name |
Played |
Goals |
|
Harry Davis |
26 |
13 |
Liverpool's
Sam Raybould
was top scorer with 31.
Second
on the list was Forest's
Grenville Morris, a Welsh international, with 24,
and the Villa pair of Billy Garraty and
Scotsman, Jasper McLuckie scored 15.
|
|
England and the Football
League 1902-03 Season |
|
England's impact on the Football League |
Of the 33 playing positions used
during the active 1902-03 season, Football League players provided
23 of them, and of the seven goals scored, League players scored
three of them.
Eleven of the 18 first division clubs were
represented.
Ten Football League games had a direct impact on
two of England's games, on 14 February and 4 April.
As a
result, on 14 February, England took Aston Villa's Howard Spencer,
Everton's Jimmy Settle and Jack Sharp, Sheffield United's Harry
Johnson, Stoke's Tom Holford and Arthur Lockett, The Wednesday's
Harry Davis, West Brom's Harry Hadley and Tom Baddeley of Wolves. On
4 April, Baddeley and Davis were again absent from their clubs, as
were Blackburn's Bob Crompton,
Everton's Tom Booth, Notts County's Percy Humphreys and Arthur Capes
of Stoke. |
|
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