2002–03 Football Conference

The 2002–03 Football Conference season was the 24th season of the Nationwide 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 in order 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 on the 110th minute.

The regular season began on August 17, 2002, and ended on April 26, 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^[1]

Football Conference

Season	2002–03[1][2]
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	1342 (2.9 per match)
Top goalscorer	Paul Barnes (Doncaster Rovers), 25
Biggest home win	Yeovil – Southport 6–0 (5 Oct 2002)
Biggest away win	Woking – Morecambe 0–6 (22 Feb 2003)
Highest scoring	Burton Albion – Telford 4–7 (8 Feb 2003)
Longest winning run	?
Longest unbeaten run	?
Longest losing run	?
Highest attendance	Yeovil Town v Chester City, 8,111 (26 Apr 2003)
Lowest attendance	?
Average attendance	1,616 (+ 18% compared with the previous season)
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

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

Locations of the Football Conference 2002–2003 teams

Barnet

Dagenham & Redbridge

Gravesend & Northfleet

Locations of the Football Conference London teams 2002–2003

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts	Notes
1	Yeovil Town	42		16	5	0	54	13		12	6	3	46	24		100	37	+ 63		95
2	Morecambe	42		17	3	1	52	13		6	6	9	34	29		86	42	+ 44		78
3	Doncaster Rovers	42		11	6	4	28	17		11	6	4	45	30		73	47	+ 26		78
4	Chester City	42		10	6	5	36	21		11	6	4	23	10		59	31	+ 28		75
5	Dagenham & Redbridge	42		12	5	4	38	23		9	4	8	33	36		71	59	+ 12		72
6	Hereford United	42		9	5	7	36	22		10	2	9	28	29		64	51	+ 13		64
7	Scarborough	42		12	3	6	41	28		6	7	8	22	26		63	54	+ 9		64
8	Halifax Town	42		11	5	5	34	28		7	5	9	16	23		50	51	– 1		64
9	Forest Green Rovers	42		12	3	6	41	29		5	5	11	20	33		61	62	– 1		59
10	Margate	42		8	9	4	32	24		7	2	12	28	42		60	66	– 6		56
11	Barnet	42		9	4	8	32	28		4	10	7	33	40		65	68	– 3		53
12	Stevenage Borough	42		7	6	8	31	25		7	4	10	30	40		61	55	+ 6		52
13	Farnborough Town	42		8	6	7	37	29		5	6	10	20	27		57	56	+ 1		51
14	Northwich Victoria	42		6	5	10	26	34		7	7	7	40	38		66	72	– 6		51
15	Telford United	42		7	2	12	20	33		7	5	9	34	36		54	69	– 15		49
16	Burton Albion	42		6	6	9	25	31		7	4	10	27	46		52	77	– 25		49
17	Gravesend & Northfleet	42		8	5	8	37	35		4	7	10	25	38		62	73	– 11		48
18	Leigh RMI	42		8	5	8	26	34		6	1	14	18	37		44	71	– 27		48
19	Woking	42		8	7	6	30	35		3	7	11	22	46		52	81	– 29		47
20	Nuneaton Borough	42		9	4	8	27	32		4	3	14	24	46		51	78	– 27		46	Relegated to Southern League
21	Southport	42		6	8	7	31	32		5	4	12	23	37		54	69	– 15		45	Relegated to Northern Premier League
22	Kettering Town	42		4	3	14	23	39		4	4	13	14	34		37	73	– 36		31	Relegated to Isthmian League

• Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

• Points scored: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw.

Key
	Football Conference Champions, promoted to Football League Division Three
	Promoted to Football League Division Three through play-offs
	Participated in play-offs
	FA Trophy winners, Burscough (Northern Premier League Premier Division)
	Conference League Cup; competition not held
	Relegated from the The Football League
	New club in the Conference, see also Kettering Town
	Relegated to Level 6

Results^[3]

Home \ Away1

BRN

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

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

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

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

1–0

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

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

Source: [1] Soccerbase
¹The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs^[1]

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 May 10, 2003 at Britannia Stadium, Stoke, before a crowd of 13,092.

	Semifinals 1st leg – May 1, 2003; 2nd leg – May 5, 2003							Final at Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent May 10, 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)

Topscorers in Order of League Goals^[1]

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 Wikipedia.

References

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

External links

• Official Football Conference Website