2002–03 Football Conference

Football league season

Football Conference
Season	2002–03
Champions	Yeovil Town (1st Football Conference title)
Direct promotion	Yeovil Town
Promoted through play-offs	Doncaster Rovers
FA Trophy winners	Burscough (Northern Premier League Premier Division) (1st FA Trophy title)
Relegated to Level 6	Kettering Town, Nuneaton Borough, Southport
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,342 (2.9 per match)
Top goalscorer	Paul Barnes (Doncaster Rovers), 25
Biggest home win	Yeovil – Southport 6–0 (5 October 2002)
Biggest away win	Woking – Morecambe 0–6 (22 February 2003)
Highest scoring	Burton Albion – Telford 4–7 (8 February 2003)
Longest winning run	?
Longest unbeaten run	?
Longest losing run	?
Highest attendance	Yeovil Town v Chester City, 8,111 (26 April 2003)
Lowest attendance	?
Average attendance	1,616 (+ 18% compared with the previous season)
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

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

Burton Albion (promoted 2001–02)
Gravesend & Northfleet (promoted 2001–02)
Halifax Town (relegated from the Football League 2001–02)
Kettering Town (promoted 2001–02)

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	Participated in play-offs
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	42	6	6	9	25	31	7	4	10	27	46	−25	49
17	Gravesend & Northfleet	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	42	4	3	14	23	39	4	4	13	14	34	−36	31	Relegated to Isthmian League Premier Division

Source:
Notes:

^ New club in the Conference

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

Locations

Barnet Burton Albion Chester Dagenham & R Doncaster Farnborough Forest Green Rovers Gravesend & N Halifax Town Hereford United Kettering Town Leigh RMI Margate Morecambe Northwich Victoria Nuneaton Scarborough Southport Stevenage Telford Woking Yeovil Town class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football Conference 2002–2003 teams

Barnet Dagenham & Redbridge Gravesend & Northfleet class=notpageimage| 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: 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:

Semifinals

1 May 20031st Leg

Doncaster Rovers	1–1	Chester City
Whitman 90'	Report	McIntyre 37'

Belle Vue, DoncasterAttendance: 6,857 5 May 20032nd Leg

Chester City	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Doncaster Rovers
Hatswell 31'	Report	Barnes 57'
Penalties
Clare Quayle Davies McIntyre Cameron	3–4	Paterson Blundell Blunt Morley Ryan

Deva Stadium, ChesterAttendance: 5,702Referee: Atkinson

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

1 May 20031st Leg

Dagenham & Redbridge	2–1	Morecambe
Stein 7', 66' (pen.)	Report	Goodwin 29' (o.g.)

Victoria Road, DagenhamAttendance: 3,447 5 May 20032nd Leg

Morecambe	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Dagenham & Redbridge
West 58' (o.g.) Rigoglioso 86'	Report	Terry 89'
Penalties
Drummond Murphy	2–3	Stein Shipp Mustafa Terry Matthews

Christie Park, MorecambeAttendance: 5,405Referee: Foster

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

Play-Off Final

10 May 2003

Dagenham & Redbridge	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Doncaster Rovers
Stein 63' Mustafa 78'		Green 39' Morley 55' Tierney 110'

Britannia Stadium, StokeAttendance: 13,092Referee: Andre Marriner

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

Footballtransfers.co.uk contains information on many players on whom there is not yet an article in Misplaced Pages.

Source:

References

^ Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2003–2004. Glenda Rollin & Jack Rollin (eds.), Headline, 2003.
Soccerbase

External links

Official Football Conference Website

National League

2024–25
Clubs

National

Clubs

Grounds

North

South

Seasons

1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24
2024–25

See also: National League Cup

2002–03 in English football

« 2001–02 2003–04 »

National teams

League competitions

Level 1	Premier League
Levels 2–4	Football League (First Division, Second Division, Third Division, play-offs)
Level 5	Football Conference
Levels 6–7	Isthmian League (Premier, One North, One South) Northern Premier League (Premier, One) Southern League (Premier, Eastern, Western)
Levels 8–9	Isthmian League (Two) Combined Counties League (level 8 only) Eastern Counties League (Premier, One) Essex Senior League (level 9 only) Hellenic League (Premier, One East, One West) Kent League (level 8 only) Midland Alliance (level 8 only) Midland Football Combination (level 9 only) North West Counties League (One, Two) Northern Counties East League (Premier, One) Northern League (One, Two) Spartan South Midlands League (Premier, One) Sussex County League (One, Two) United Counties League (Premier, One) Wessex League (level 8 only) West Midlands (Regional) League (level 9 only) Western League (Premier, One)

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds, Final) Community Shield FA Trophy (Final)
Football League cups	League Cup (Final) Football League Trophy (Final)

European competitions

Club seasons
Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Charlton Athletic Chelsea Everton Fulham Leeds United Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Southampton Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United
First Division	Bradford City Brighton & Hove Albion Burnley Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Grimsby Town Gillingham Ipswich Town Leicester City Millwall Norwich City Nottingham Forest Portsmouth Preston North End Reading Rotherham United Sheffield United Sheffield Wednesday Stoke City Walsall Watford Wimbledon Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division	Barnsley Blackpool Brentford Bristol City Cardiff City Cheltenham Town Chesterfield Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Huddersfield Town Luton Town Mansfield Town Northampton Town Notts County Oldham Athletic Peterborough United Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Stockport County Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers Wigan Athletic Wycombe Wanderers
Third Division	Boston United Bournemouth Bristol Rovers Bury Cambridge United Carlisle United Darlington Exeter City Hartlepool United Hull City Kidderminster Harriers Leyton Orient Lincoln City Macclesfield Town Oxford United Rochdale Rushden & Diamonds Scunthorpe United Shrewsbury Town Southend United Swansea City Torquay United Wrexham York City
Non-League	Yeovil Town

Categories: