During the 2002–03 English football season, West Ham United competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons).
West Ham were surprisingly relegated, following a disastrous season. This was despite the club boasting several players who were regulars or would be future regulars for the English national team, including David James, Trevor Sinclair, Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe, Glen Johnson and Michael Carrick.
West Ham were poor all season, and a run of three wins from the opening 24 games saw West Ham bottom of the Premiership with only 16 points. However, the poor league form was put into perspective when manager Glenn Roeder collapsed after a Premiership match against Middlesbrough; it was later revealed he was suffering from a non-malignant brain tumour, which was operated on successfully. United legend Sir Trevor Brooking was put named as caretaker manager, and a good run of form towards the end of the season saw West Ham go into the last day of the season with a chance of beating the drop. The last game of the season was against Birmingham City. They needed to at least better Bolton Wanderers' result at home against Middlesbrough, who were tied on points albeit with a superior goal difference. However, West Ham drew 2-2, with goals from Les Ferdinand and Paolo Di Canio, replying to Birmingham goals from Geoff Horsfield and Stern John, and were relegated. A win would still have seen West Ham relegated as Bolton beat Middlesbrough 2-1.
Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Youssef Sofiane – Auxerre, 26 June 2002
Raimond van der Gouw – Manchester United, free transfer, 28 June 2002
Gary Breen – Coventry City, free transfer, 29 July 2002
Édouard Cissé – Paris Saint-Germain, season loan, 6 August 2002
Brent Rahim – Levski Sofia, five-month loan, 16 August 2002
Lee Bowyer – Leeds United, £100,000, 11 January 2003
Les Ferdinand – Tottenham Hotspur, undisclosed fee, 21 January 2003
Rufus Brevett – Fulham, undisclosed fee, 31 January 2003
Clive Delaney - UCD
Rigobert Song – Lens, 27 June 2002
Craig Forrest – retired, 25 July 2002
Gary Charles – retired, 29 July 2002
Paul Kitson – Brighton & Hove Albion, free transfer, 20 August 2002
Adam Newton – released (later joined Peterborough United in May 2002)
Hayden Foxe – released (later joined Portsmouth in May 2002)
Shaka Hislop – released (later joined Portsmouth on 1 July 2002)
Ragnvald Soma – released (later joined Bryne in 2002)
Sven Andersson – released, 2002
Steve Potts – Dagenham & Redbridge, 13 September 2002
Vladimír Labant – Sparta Prague, season loan, December 2002
Grant McCann – Cheltenham Town, loan made permanent for fee of £50,000, January 2003
Laurent Courtois – FC Istres
Ömer Rıza – Cambridge United
Louis Riddle – Stevenage Borough
Tottenham-West Ham United 3–2
1–0 Simon Davies (62)
1–1 Frédéric Kanouté (66)
2–1 Teddy Sheringham (71 pen)
2–2 Trevor Sinclair (77)
3–2 Anthony Gardner (89)
Chelsea-West Ham United 2–3
1–0 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (21 pen)
1–1 Jermain Defoe (40)
1–2 Paolo Di Canio (49)
2–2 Gianfranco Zola (74)
2–3 Paolo Di Canio (84)
West Ham-Birmingham 1–2
0–1 Stern John (4)
1–1 Joe Cole (17)
1–2 Stern John (43)
Sunderland-West Ham United 0–1
0–1 Trevor Sinclair (23)
West Ham United-Everton 0–1
0–1 Lee Carsley (70)
West Ham United-Manchester United 1–1
0–1 Ruud van Nistelrooy (38)
1–1 Jermain Defoe (86)
Aston Villa-West Ham 4–1
1–0 Lee Hendrie (29)
2–0 Øyvind Leonhardsen (59)
2–1 Paolo Di Canio (70)
3–1 Dion Dublin (72)
4–1 Darius Vassell (80)
West Ham-Southampton 0–1
0–1 James Beattie (90)
Middlesbrough-West Ham 2–2
0–1 Joe Cole (46)
1–1 Szilárd Németh (58)
1–2 Ian Pearce (76)
2–2 Ugo Ehiogu (88)
Manchester United-West Ham 3–0
1–0 Ole Gunnar Solskjær (15)
2–0 Juan Sebastián Verón (17)
3–0 Sébastien Schemmel (61 og)
West Ham-Bolton 1–1
1–0 Ian Pearce (17)
1–1 Michael Ricketts (65)
West Ham-Fulham 1–1
0–1 Facundo Sava (49)
1–1 Trevor Sinclair (65 pen)
Blackburn-West Ham 2–2
1–0 Damien Duff (4)
1–1 Martin Taylor (24 og)
2–1 Andy Cole (78)
2–2 Jermain Defoe (86)
Charlton-West Ham 4–2
0–1 Richard Rufus (19 og)
1–1 Claus Jensen (42)
2–1 Scott Parker (45)
3–1 Scott Parker (51)
3–2 Mark Fish (62 og)
4–2 Radostin Kishishev (90)
West Ham United-Blackburn Rovers 2–1
0–1 Dwight Yorke (38)
1–1 Paolo Di Canio (58 pen)
2–1 Jermain Defoe (89)
West Bromwich Albion-West Ham United 1–2
0–1 Trevor Sinclair (45)
1–1 Daniele Dichio (50)
1–2 Trevor Sinclair (67)
West Ham-Tottenham 2–0
1–0 Les Ferdinand (31)
2–0 Michael Carrick (47)
West Ham United-Sunderland 2–0
1–0 Jermain Defoe (24)
2–0 Frédéric Kanouté (65)
Southampton-West Ham United 1–1
1–0 James Beattie (44)
1–1 Jermain Defoe (83)
West Ham-Aston Villa 2–2
1–0 Trevor Sinclair (15)
1–1 Darius Vassell (36 pen)
1–2 Øyvind Leonhardsen (53)
2–2 Frédéric Kanouté (65)
Paolo Di Canio 9
Jermain Defoe 8
Trevor Sinclair 8
Frédéric Kanouté 5
Joe Cole 4
