2002–03 Football Conference

Football Conference
Season2002–03[1][2]
ChampionsYeovil Town (1st Football Conference title)
Direct promotionYeovil Town
Promoted through play-offsDoncaster Rovers
FA Trophy winnersBurscough
(Northern Premier League Premier Division) (1st FA Trophy title)
Relegated to Level 6Kettering Town,
Nuneaton Borough,
Southport
Matches played462
Goals scored1,342 (2.9 per match)
Top goalscorerPaul Barnes (Doncaster Rovers), 25
Biggest home winYeovil – Southport 6–0 (5 October 2002)
Biggest away winWoking – Morecambe 0–6 (22 February 2003)
Highest scoringBurton Albion – Telford 4–7 (8 February 2003)
Longest winning run?
Longest unbeaten run?
Longest losing run?
Highest attendanceYeovil Town v Chester City, 8,111 (26 April 2003)
Lowest attendance?
Average attendance1,616 (+ 18% compared with the previous season)

The 2002–03 Football Conference season was the 24th season of the Football Conference.

Overview

This season the number of teams promoted to the Football League Division Three was increased from one to two, and play-offs were introduced to determine the second team to be promoted, along with the Conference champions. The bottom three, as usual, were relegated to either the Northern Premier League, the Southern Premier League or the Isthmian League.

Yeovil Town clinched the league title and won promotion to the Football League Division Three.

Doncaster Rovers also earned promotion to Division Three following their 3–2 play-off win over Dagenham & Redbridge, during extra time with a sudden death goal in the 110th minute.

The regular season began on 17 August 2002, and ended on 26 April 2003.

Changes since the previous season

Final league table

Pos Team Pld HW HD HL HGF HGA AW AD AL AGF AGA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Yeovil Town 42 16 5 0 54 13 12 6 3 46 24 +63 95 Football Conference Champions, promoted to Football League Division Three
2 Morecambe 42 17 3 1 52 13 6 6 9 34 29 +44 78 Participated in play-offs
3 Doncaster Rovers 42 11 6 4 28 17 11 6 4 45 30 +26 78 Promoted to Football League Division Three through play-offs
4 Chester City 42 10 6 5 36 21 11 6 4 23 10 +28 75 Participated in play-offs
5 Dagenham & Redbridge 42 12 5 4 38 23 9 4 8 33 36 +12 72
6 Hereford United 42 9 5 7 36 22 10 2 9 28 29 +13 64
7 Scarborough 42 12 3 6 41 28 6 7 8 22 26 +9 64
8 Halifax Town 42 11 5 5 34 28 7 5 9 16 23 −1 64 Relegated from The Football League
9 Forest Green Rovers 42 12 3 6 41 29 5 5 11 20 33 −1 59
10 Margate 42 8 9 4 32 24 7 2 12 28 42 −6 56
11 Barnet 42 9 4 8 32 28 4 10 7 33 40 −3 53
12 Stevenage Borough 42 7 6 8 31 25 7 4 10 30 30 +6 52
13 Farnborough Town 42 8 6 7 37 29 5 6 10 20 27 +1 51
14 Northwich Victoria 42 6 5 10 26 34 7 7 7 40 38 −6 51
15 Telford United 42 7 2 12 20 33 7 5 9 34 36 −15 49
16 Burton Albion[a] 42 6 6 9 25 31 7 4 10 27 46 −25 49
17 Gravesend & Northfleet[a] 42 8 5 8 37 35 4 7 10 25 38 −11 48
18 Leigh RMI 42 8 5 8 26 34 6 1 14 18 37 −27 48
19 Woking 42 8 7 6 30 35 3 7 11 22 46 −29 47
20 Nuneaton Borough 42 9 4 8 27 32 4 3 14 24 46 −27 46 Relegated to Southern League Premier Division
21 Southport 42 6 8 7 31 32 5 4 12 23 37 −15 45 Relegated to Northern Premier League Premier Division
22 Kettering Town[a] 42 4 3 14 23 39 4 4 13 14 34 −36 31 Relegated to Isthmian League Premier Division
Source: [1]
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c New club in the Conference

Note: Burscough (Northern Premier League Premier Division) are the FA Trophy winners

Locations

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Locations of the Football Conference 2002–2003 teams
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Locations of the Football Conference London teams 2002–2003

Results

Home \ Away BAR BRT CHE D&R DON FAR FGR GRN HAL HER KET LEI MAR MOR NOR NUN SCA SOU STB TEL WOK YEO
Barnet 2–2 0–3 2–1 1–2 1–2 2–0 1–4 0–0 2–1 0–2 4–0 0–1 1–1 3–4 2–1 3–0 3–1 0–2 3–0 0–0 2–1
Burton Albion 0–3 2–0 0–0 1–2 2–0 2–3 1–1 2–2 2–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 1–4 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–2 4–7 0–2 1–1
Chester City 1–1 2–1 5–2 1–0 0–2 0–1 1–1 2–0 0–1 0–0 2–1 5–0 2–1 2–3 1–2 0–0 2–0 2–0 4–1 2–2 2–2
Dagenham & Redbridge 5–1 1–2 1–0 3–3 1–0 3–1 4–0 0–0 1–0 3–1 3–1 3–0 1–1 2–0 1–2 1–0 0–3 3–2 1–1 1–1 0–4
Doncaster Rovers 2–1 1–0 0–0 5–1 1–0 1–0 4–1 0–0 1–0 3–1 3–1 3–0 1–1 2–0 1–2 1–0 0–3 3–2 1–1 1–1 0–4
Farnborough Town 2–2 5–1 1–2 1–0 0–0 0–3 1–1 3–0 2–2 0–1 1–0 4–1 2–3 3–2 0–2 1–1 2–1 0–1 2–2 5–0 2–4
Forest Green Rovers 4–4 2–0 0–2 5–2 1–2 3–1 2–1 0–2 1–3 1–0 4–1 4–1 1–0 1–0 6–1 0–0 0–2 0–3 1–1 3–2 2–1
Gravesend & Northfleet 2–2 3–2 0–1 1–2 2–2 0–0 1–1 1–0 3–0 0–2 1–3 1–2 3–2 1–1 4–1 5–2 1–3 2–1 0–2 4–2 2–4
Halifax Town 2–4 0–1 0–0 3–3 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 4–0 1–0 2–2 1–0 0–5 3–1 2–1 3–4 1–0 2–0 1–1 2–3
Hereford United 4–0 4–0 0–0 2–1 2–4 2–1 1–1 3–0 1–1 2–0 0–1 2–3 1–2 1–2 2–1 0–1 0–2 2–2 2–0 5–0 0–0
Kettering Town 1–2 1–2 0–1 1–3 0–2 1–4 2–3 1–1 0–1 2–3 0–1 1–1 3–2 2–2 3–0 1–3 1–0 1–0 2–4 0–3 0–1
Leigh RMI 4–2 4–2 0–4 1–3 0–2 3–2 1–0 0–0 0–2 0–2 2–2 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–1 0–3 1–0 2–4
Margate 2–2 0–0 0–1 0–1 2–1 0–0 3–0 4–2 2–1 0–2 2–2 2–0 1–1 4–4 1–1 3–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–2
Morecambe 1–1 5–0 1–1 2–1 3–0 1–1 4–0 2–0 2–0 3–1 1–0 2–1 3–0 3–1 3–2 3–1 3–0 3–1 1–0 5–0 1–2
Northwich Victoria 1–1 1–3 1–1 0–2 1–2 2–2 2–1 1–2 0–2 2–2 1–2 0–1 1–0 3–2 3–1 0–2 2–1 1–1 2–1 1–3 1–2
Nuneaton Borough 3–2 1–2 1–0 1–3 0–3 0–2 3–2 0–1 2–0 0–3 1–0 0–1 3–2 1–1 1–4 1–1 3–2 3–0 1–0 1–1 1–1
Scarborough 1–1 4–1 0–1 0–1 2–5 1–0 3–0 3–2 0–1 2–1 4–1 2–0 3–2 1–0 4–1 4–1 2–2 1–2 1–4 1–1 2–1
Southport 2–1 2–2 1–3 2–3 0–4 0–0 2–2 1–1 2–0 1–2 0–0 4–2 0–2 2–3 1–1 1–0 1–1 3–2 1–1 5–1 0–1
Stevenage Borough 1–2 0–1 0–1 2–0 2–3 5–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 0–2 2–0 3–1 1–3 1–1 2–2 3–1 1–1 3–0 1–3 1–1 2–2
Telford United 2–1 0–2 0–1 1–2 4–4 0–2 0–1 2–1 1–2 0–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 0–3 1–0 1–2 0–2 2–0 1–3 1–0 0–5
Woking 0–0 2–2 1–0 0–0 2–2 1–1 1–0 2–3 2–1 1–2 2–1 3–0 1–5 0–6 2–3 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–5 3–0 1–1
Yeovil Town 0–0 6–1 1–1 2–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–2 3–0 4–0 4–0 3–1 2–1 2–0 2–1 3–2 1–0 6–0 2–1 3–0 4–0
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: [1] Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

Main article: 2003 Football Conference play-off Final

The Conference National play-offs determine the second team that will be promoted to the Football League Division Three. The teams placed second through fifth qualify for the play-offs. The semi-finals are played in a two-leg, home and away format, while the final is played as one leg, and this season it was held on 10 May 2003 at Britannia Stadium, Stoke, before a crowd of 13,092.

Semi-finals
1st leg – 1 May 2003; 2nd leg – 5 May 2003 		Final at Britannia Stadium,
Stoke-on-Trent 10 May 2003
        
3rd Doncaster Rovers (pen.) 1 1 2 (4)
4th Chester City 1 1 2 (3)
3rd Doncaster Rovers (a.e.t.), golden goal) 3
5th Dagenham & Redbridge 2
2nd Morecambe 1 2 3 (2)
5th Dagenham & Redbridge (pen.) 2 1 3 (3)

Source:[1]

Semifinals

1st Leg
Doncaster Rovers1–1Chester City
  • Whitman 90'
 Report
Attendance: 6,857
2nd Leg
Chester City1–1 (a.e.t.)Doncaster Rovers
 Report
Penalties
 3–4
Attendance: 5,702
Referee: Atkinson

Doncaster Rovers win 4–3 on penalties after tying 2–2 on Aggregate.

1st Leg
Dagenham & Redbridge2–1Morecambe
 Report
Attendance: 3,447
2nd Leg
Morecambe2–1 (a.e.t.)Dagenham & Redbridge
 Report
Penalties
 2–3
Attendance: 5,405
Referee: Foster

Dagenham & Redbridge win 3–2 on penalties after tying 3–3 on Aggregate.

Play-Off Final

Dagenham & Redbridge2–3 (a.e.t.)Doncaster Rovers
Attendance: 13,092

Top scorers in order of league goals

Rank Player Club League Play-offs FA Cup FA Trophy LDV Total
1 Paul Barnes Doncaster Rovers 25 1 2 0 0 28
2 Kirk Jackson Yeovil Town 24 0 1 1 1 27
3 Gregg Blundell Doncaster Rovers 20 0 0 2 0 22
4 Junior Agogo Barnet 20 0 0 0 0 20
5 Wayne Curtis Morecambe 18 0 0 0 0 18
6 Dino Maamria Stevenage Borough 17 0 1 0 0 18
= Daryl Clare Chester City 17 0 0 0 0 17
8 Mark Stein Dagenham & Redbridge 16 3 0 2 0 21
= Christian Moore Burton Albion 16 0 2 0 0 18
= Steve West Dagenham & Redbridge 16 0 0 1 0 17
= David Brown Telford United 16 0 0 1 0 17
12 Neil Grayson Forest Green Rovers 15 0 0 5 0 20
= Mark Quayle Chester City 15 0 1 0 0 16
14 Warren Patmore Woking 14 0 0 2 0 16
= Paul Moore Telford United 14 0 0 1 0 15
16 Kayode Odejayi Forest Green Rovers 13 0 1 2 0 16
= Lee Elam Morecambe 13 0 1 1 0 15
= Kevin Gall Yeovil Town 13 0 0 1 0 14
= Steve Guinan Hereford United 13 0 0 0 0 13

Source:[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2003–2004. Glenda Rollin & Jack Rollin (eds.), Headline, 2003.
  2. ^ Soccerbase