Scottish Premier League 2002/03

Scottish Premier League 2002/03
master	Glasgow Rangers
Champions League qualification	Glasgow Rangers Celtic Glasgow
Uefa cup	Heart of Midlothian
UEFA Cup qualification	Dundee FC
Cup winners	Glasgow Rangers
Relegated	none
Teams	12
Games	228
Gates	669  (ø 2.93 per game)
Top scorer	Henrik Larsson (Celtic Glasgow)
← Premier League 2001/02 Premier League 2003/04 →
First Division 2002/03 ↓

The Scottish Premier League was played for the fifth time in 2002/03 . It was also the 106th edition of the top soccer division within the Scottish Football League in which the Scottish champions were determined. In the 2002/03 season, 12 clubs competed against each other in a total of 38 matchdays. Each team played once at home and away against every other team in the first round. After that, the league was divided into two halves, in which the teams play against each other again. In the event of a tie, the goal difference counted .

The Glasgow Rangers won the Scottish Championship for the 50th time in the club's history. The Rangers qualified as champions for the 2003/04 Champions League season . Runner-up Celtic Glasgow also played in the Champions League because of Scotland's improved position in the UEFA five-year standings . The defeated cup finalists , FC Dundee , and the third-placed Heart of Midlothian qualified for the UEFA Cup . This season there was no relegation to the First Division because the actual promoted, FC Falkirk, did not get a license. Celtic Glasgow's Henrik Larsson was the top scorer with 28 goals .

1 round

table

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Glasgow Rangers (P, L)	33	28	3	2	086:230	+63	87
2.	Celtic Glasgow (M)	33	26th	4th	3	081:220	+59	82
3.	Heart of Midlothian	33	16	9	8th	055:470	+8	57
4th	FC Kilmarnock	33	14th	8th	11	043:460	−3	50
5.	Dunfermline Athletic	33	13	5	15th	048:560	−8	44
6th	Dundee FC	33	10	12	11	044:480	−4	42
7th	Hibernian Edinburgh	33	11	6th	16	046:580	−12	39
8th.	Aberdeen FC	33	9	10	14th	032:480	−16	37
9.	Livingston FC	33	8th	8th	17th	041:500	−9	32
10.	Partick Thistle (N)	33	6th	11	16	029:500	−21	29
11.	Dundee United	33	5	10	18th	029:610	−32	25th
12.	Motherwell FC	33	6th	6th	21st	035:600	−25	24

Placement criteria: 1st points - 2nd goal difference - 3rd goals scored

Legend
2002/03 season
	Participation in the championship play-offs
	Participation in the relegation play-offs
At the end of the 2001/02 season
(M)	Champion of the previous year
(P)	Cup winner of the previous year
(L)	League cup winner of the previous year
(N)	Newcomer from the First Division

2nd round

Championship play-offs

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points	bonus	total
1.	Glasgow Rangers (P, L)	5	3	1	1	015: 500	+10	10	87	97
2.	Celtic Glasgow (M)	5	5	0	0	017: 400	+13	15th	82	97
3.	Heart of Midlothian	5	2	0	3	002: 400	−2	06th	57	63
4th	FC Kilmarnock	5	2	1	2	004:100	−6	07th	50	57
5.	Dunfermline Athletic	5	0	2	3	006:150	−9	02	44	46
6th	Dundee FC	5	0	2	3	006:120	−6	02	42	44

Legend
2002/03 season
	Scottish champion and participation in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League 3rd qualifying round
	Participation in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round
	Cup finalist and participation in the qualifying round of the 2003/04 UEFA Cup
	Participation in the 1st round of the 2003/04 UEFA Cup
At the end of the 2001/02 season
(M)	Champion of the previous year
(P)	Cup winner of the previous year
(L)	League cup winner of the previous year

Relegation play-offs

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points	bonus	total
7th	Hibernian Edinburgh	5	4th	0	1	010: 600	+4	12	39	51
8th.	Aberdeen FC	5	4th	0	1	009: 600	+3	12	37	49
9.	Livingston FC	5	1	0	4th	007:120	−5	03	32	35
10.	Partick Thistle (N)	5	2	0	3	008: 800	± 0	06th	29	35
11.	Dundee United	5	2	1	2	006: 700	−1	07th	25th	32
12.	Motherwell FC	5	1	1	3	010:110	−1	04th	24	28

At the end of the 2001/02 season
(N)	Newcomer from the First Division

Awards during the season

month	Trainer of the month	Player of the month
August 2002	John Lambie ( Partick Thistle )	Mark de Vries ( Heart of Midlothian )
September 2002	Alex McLeish ( Glasgow Rangers )	Jean-Louis Valois (Heart of Midlothian)
October 2002	Bobby Williamson ( Hibernian Edinburgh )	Fernando Ricksen (Glasgow Rangers)
November 2002	Martin O'Neill ( Celtic Glasgow )	Henrik Larsson (Celtic Glasgow)
December 2002	Jim Jefferies ( Kilmarnock FC )	John Hartson (Celtic Glasgow)
January 2003	Jim Duffy ( Dundee FC )	Barry Ferguson (Glasgow Rangers)
February 2003	Alex McLeish (Glasgow Rangers)	Lee Wilkie (Dundee FC)
March 2003	Jim Duffy (Dundee FC)	Tam McManus (Hibernian Edinburgh)
April 2003	Craig Levein (Heart of Midlothian)	Bobo Baldé (Celtic Glasgow)

The Glasgow Rangers championship team

(Players with at least 5 appearances were considered; the games and goals are given in brackets)

1.

Glasgow Rangers

Goal : Stefan Klos (38 / -) Defense : Lorenzo Amoruso (24/4), Bert Konterman (16 / -), Robert Malcolm (24/1), Craig Moore (35/3), Arthur Numan (26/1), Fernando Ricksen (35/3), Maurice Ross (20/1) Midfield : Mikel Arteta (27/4), Ronald de Boer (33/16), Barry Ferguson (36/16), Stephen Hughes (12/1), Russell Latapy (7 / -), Neil McCann (18/2) Forward : Schota Arweladse (30/15), Claudio Caniggia (26/8), Billy Dodds (6 / -), Peter Løvenkrands (27/9), Michael Mols (27/13) Trainer : Alex McLeish

List of goalscorers

space	player	nationality	Club	Gates
1.	Henrik Larsson	Sweden	Celtic Glasgow	28
2.	Stevie Crawford	Scotland	Dunfermline Athletic	19th
3.	John Hartson	Wales	Celtic Glasgow	18th
4th	Ronald de Boer	Netherlands	Glasgow Rangers	16
	Barry Ferguson	Scotland	Glasgow Rangers	16
	Alex Burns	Scotland	Partick Thistle	16

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Scottish Football League & Scottish Premier League Top goalscorers per division. (No longer available online.) Scottish-football-historical-archive.com, archived from the original on September 27, 2012 ; accessed on April 15, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Web links

• Scottish Premier League 2002/03 at Statto.com
• Scottish Premier League 2002/03 in the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation database
• Scottish Premier League 2002/03 at www.kicker.de