Everything about Fa Premier League 2001-02 totally explained
The
2001-02 FA Premier League season was the tenth season of the competition. It began with a new sponsor,
Barclaycard, and was titled the FA Barclaycard Premiership, replacing the previous sponsor,
Carling. The title was contested between four different sides -
Arsenal,
Manchester United,
Liverpool and
Newcastle United.
Arsenal clinched the title on
May 8,
2002 after a convincing win against Manchester United at
Old Trafford, in the penultimate game of the season. This new attacking Arsenal side had won the
FA Cup five days before and made history by accomplishing their third double; second under the reign of
Arsène Wenger. He showed his commitment by signing a new four-year deal with the Gunners.
The season started from
August 18,
2001 and ended on
May 11,
2002.
Race for the Title
At the start of 2002 the title was wide open as teams such as Newcastle Utd and Leeds Utd were flying at the top of the table along with the big boys. Newcastle, after two back to back christmas away wins 3-1 at Arsenal and 4-3 at Leeds stamped themselves as genuine title challengers and led the league at the turn of the year. Leeds were also top at christmas before losing that dramatic 4-3 thriller at Elland Road to the Magpies.
Come March time, the Premiership was mainly contested between
Arsenal,
Liverpool and
Manchester United, due to Chelsea, Newcastle and Leeds failure to stay in touch with those specific clubs.
Liverpool appeared to crash out of the title race. Despite being top of the table at the start of December and eleven points clear of Manchester United, they suffered a slump into fifth place and five points behind United.
January saw Liverpool head to Arsenal and Manchester United, all in a fortnight.
Danny Murphy scored a late winner to give Liverpool the three points at Old Trafford, while
John Arne Riise salvaged a point against Arsenal. Manchester United were top of the table for the first time in the season after Liverpool and Arsenal's stalemate draw.
Liverpool's defeat to
Tottenham in March installed Arsenal as favourites for the title. The Gunners win against Bolton Wanderers, in April saw them close the gap to just three points for an Arsenal Championship victory.
All eyes were on the match at
Old Trafford between Arsenal and Manchester United. Arsenal needed a draw to guarantee the title for the second time in five seasons, while United needed a win to have any say in the outcome of the league.
Sylvain Wiltord was the only scorer in the fiercely battled rival, which had meant that Arsenal secured their third double in ironic fashion. United's loss allowed Liverpool to leapfrog into second place, after their win against Blackburn Rovers, on the same night.
Liverpool confirmed second place and another season of European football on the last day of the season. They trashed and relegated
Ipswich Town, 5-0 at home. Arsenal displayed their trophy in style after beating Everton 4-3 at
Highbury, while Manchester United could only manage a draw against
Charlton.
Double Trouble: Arsenal
Arsenal yet again entered themselves in the record books by becoming the only side during the whole season not to lose a match away from home and score in all 38 matches. Instrumental to the success was striker,
Thierry Henry who netted in 24 goals during the season and defender
Sol Campbell who joined the club from arch-rivals
Tottenham Hotspur on a free deal.
The Gunners suffered only three defeats, - Charlton, Leeds and Newcastle, all coming from home. It also started a thirty match unbeaten run, which eventually ended in October 2002 against
Everton. Arsenal also won the
FA Cup, after defeating Chelsea by two goals to nil.
Ray Parlour and
Freddie Ljungberg were both on the scoresheet which ended Arsenal's four year double drought.
Captain,
Tony Adams and fellow defender
Lee Dixon announced their retirement at the end of the season. Wenger placed
Patrick Vieira as captain.
End Position: Champions
Liverpool
Gérard Houllier saw his Liverpool side finish second in the table, one better than he predicted. It was their highest position since 1991, when they finished outside the top two.
Champions League football would be back at Anfield for a second season, and there was more of a buzz that the Frenchman would deliver the title back to
Anfield.
John Arne Riise was the only major signing that Liverpool brought in at the start of the season. It prompted questions from the press and the desire from Houllier to spend big.
The season started fairly well for the side; defeating Manchester United in the
Charity Shield and beating
West Ham United at the start of the season. However, dramatic news unfolded at Anfield in October.
Gérard Houllier underwent emergency heart surgery after complaining about 'uncomfortable chest pains' in his body, during the match against Leeds United. He was advised to take rest and assistant manager,
Phil Thompson had taken in-charge for a temporary basis.
Thompson's first major decision was whether or not to sell striker,
Robbie Fowler. Great interest was brewing from rival teams such as Chelsea, Aston Villa and Arsenal, whom Wenger had stated that he admired his 'style of play'. Fowler was eventually sold to Leeds United, on a five year, £11 million deal with the club.
After a whole-list of greetings and get well messages, most notably from
David Beckham,
David O'Leary,
Arsène Wenger and
Elton John, Houllier eventually arrived back to Liverpool in March, and had taken in-charge against Roma in the Champions League. The Reds won the match but failed to progress further to the semi-finals - a year to remember for the Liverpool fans.
End Position: Runners-up
Manchester United
Manchester United endured a trophyless season for the first time since 1998. Having spent nearly £45 million on players such as
Juan Sebastián Verón and
Ruud van Nistelrooy, United failed to retain their trophy and win a fourth title in four consecutive seasons.
Sir Alex Ferguson was on course to retire following the season and had his sights set on the
2002 UEFA Champions League Final in
Hampden Park, Scotland. United went out in the semi-finals on the away goal ruling to
Bayer Leverkusen, the same team that had defeated Liverpool in the previous round.
The Red Devils ended up finishing third in the table - the lowest in Ferguson's reign since the formation of the Premiership, and were second best to Liverpool and Arsenal, who both beat Manchester United - home and away. Ferguson eventually decided to stay with Manchester United, for a further four years.
End Position: Third
Promotion and Relegation
For the first time in the history of the Premier League, all three promoted teams avoided relegation -
Fulham,
Bolton Wanderers and
Blackburn Rovers.
Fulham had splashed out £34 million on new players during the close season, and their owner
Mohamed Al-Fayed was one of the wealthiest benefactors in English football. He even boasted that they'd win the Premiership title in 2001-02, and most pundits tipped Fulham to push for a place in Europe. However, Fulham finished thirteenth, 47 points away from Arsenal.
Bolton Wanderers went top of the Premiership after winning their first three fixtures of the season, and causing an upset by beating Gerard Houllier's Liverpool in the latter stage of the game. Manager
Sam Allardyce was boasting that his side were good enough to win their first ever league title. But Bolton's league form slumped after the first two months of the season and they finished 16th place - their survival was confirmed in the penultimate game of the season.
Blackburn Rovers were the most successful of the promoted sides. They beat
Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in the League Cup final to lift the trophy for the first time, and then climbed from 18th place in the Premiership in late February to finish in a secure 10th place - higher than any other newly promoted team that season. Blackburn secured a UEFA Cup place for 2002-03.
Leicester City was the first team officially relegated from the Premiership. They finished bottom of table with just five Premiership wins in their last season at 111-year-old
Filbert Street before relocation to the new 32,000-seat
Walkers Stadium. The club went through the regime of two different managers during the season -
Peter Taylor was replaced by
David Bassett in early October and six months later Bassett joined the club's board to be replaced by assistant manager
Micky Adams.
Just after the start of the
2002-03 season, Leicester's relegation (which cost them extensive television revenue) and the cost of their new stadium had created debts in excess of £30 million, and the club went into administration before being taken over by a new owner. Despite this setback, Leicester had gained promotion back to the Premiership at the first time of asking, although they slipped back down again after just one season and Adams had since resigned to make way for new manager,
Craig Levein.
Next to go down were
Derby County, who had been promoted alongside Leicester six years earlier. Their manager
Jim Smith resigned in early October to be replaced by assistant manager
Colin Todd, who was sacked three months later after Derby were knocked out of the FA Cup by
Division Three strugglers
Bristol Rovers.
The last team to be relegated were
Ipswich Town, who the previous season had qualified for the
UEFA Cup and earned manager George Burley the Manager of the Year award. Ipswich made a terrible start to the season, winning just one of their first 18 Premiership games. They then went on a strong run of form, winning seven out of eight games, which looked to have secured their Premiership survival. But they then suffered another setback which George Burley's men were unable to reverse. Their relegation was confirmed on the final day of the season by a 5-0 thrashing at Liverpool.
European qualification
| Team |
League Position |
Competition |
Reason |
| Arsenal |
1 |
UEFA Champions League |
Champions |
| Liverpool |
2 |
UEFA Champions League |
Runners up |
| Manchester United |
3 |
UEFA Champions League |
Position |
| Newcastle |
4 |
UEFA Champions League |
Position |
| Leeds United |
5 |
UEFA Cup |
Position |
| Chelsea |
6 |
UEFA Cup |
Runners up of the FA Cup/position |
| Blackburn Rovers |
10 |
UEFA Cup |
Winners of the Worthington Cup |
| Fulham |
13 |
UEFA Cup |
Winners of the UEFA Intertoto Cup |
| Ipswich Town |
18 |
UEFA Cup |
Despite being relegated, they won the UEFA Fair Play Draw. |
Managerial Changes
2001-02 Barclaycard Premiership Statistics
Scoresheet
| |
RS |
ST |
LA |
OL |
HA |
HE |
ER |
VE |
UL |
PS |
EE |
EI |
IV |
AN |
ID |
EW |
OU |
UN |
OT |
HU |
| Arsenal | |
3-2 |
3-3 |
1-1 |
2-4 |
2-1 |
1-0 |
4-3 |
4-1 |
2-0 |
1-2 |
4-0 |
1-1 |
3-1 |
2-1 |
1-3 |
1-1 |
3-0 |
2-1 |
2-0
|
| Aston Villa | |
XXX |
2-0 |
3-2 |
1-0 |
1-1 |
2-1 |
0-0 |
2-0 |
2-1 |
0-1 |
0-2 |
1-2 |
1-1 |
0-0 |
1-1 |
2-1 |
0-0 |
1-1 |
2-1
|
| Blackburn Rovers | |
3-0 |
'XXX |
1-1 |
4-1 |
0-0 |
0-1 |
1-0 |
3-0 |
2-1 |
1-2 |
0-0 |
1-1 |
2-2 |
0-1 |
2-2 |
2-0 |
0-3 |
2-1 |
7-1
|
| Bolton Wanderers | |
3-2 |
1-1 |
'XXX |
0-0 |
2-2 |
1-3 |
2-2 |
0-0 |
4-1 |
0-3 |
2-2 |
2-1 |
0-4 |
1-1 |
0-4 |
0-1 |
0-2 |
1-1 |
1-0
|
| Charlton Athletic | |
1-2 |
0-2 |
1-2 |
XXX |
2-1 |
1-0 |
1-2 |
1-1 |
3-2 |
0-2 |
2-0 |
0-2 |
0-2 |
0-0 |
1-1 |
1-1 |
2-2 |
3-1 |
4-4
|
| Chelsea | |
1-3 |
0-0 |
5-1 |
0-1 |
'XXX |
2-1 |
1-1 |
3-2 |
2-1 |
2-0 |
2-0 |
4-0 |
0-3 |
2-2 |
1-1 |
2-4 |
4-0 |
4-0 |
5-1
|
| Derby County | |
3-1 |
2-0 |
1-0 |
1-1 |
1-1 |
'XXX |
3-4 |
0-1 |
1-3 |
0-1 |
2-3 |
0-1 |
2-2 |
0-1 |
2-3 |
1-0 |
0-1 |
1-0 |
0-0
|
| Everton | |
3-2 |
1-2 |
3-1 |
0-3 |
0-0 |
1-0 |
'XXX |
2-1 |
1-2 |
0-0 |
2-2 |
1-3 |
0-2 |
2-0 |
1-3 |
2-0 |
1-0 |
1-1 |
5-0
|
| Fulham | |
0-0 |
2-0 |
3-0 |
0-0 |
1-1 |
0-0 |
2-0 |
'XXX |
1-1 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-2 |
2-3 |
2-1 |
3-1 |
2-1 |
2-0 |
0-2 |
0-1
|
| Ipswich Town | |
0-0 |
0-1 |
1-2 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
3-1 |
0-0 |
1-0 |
'XXX |
1-2 |
2-0 |
0-6 |
0-1 |
1-0 |
0-1 |
1-3 |
5-0 |
2-1 |
3-0
|
| Leeds United | |
1-1 |
3-1 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
3-0 |
3-2 |
0-1 |
2-0 |
'XXX |
2-2 |
0-4 |
3-4 |
1-0 |
3-4 |
2-0 |
2-0 |
2-1 |
3-0
|
| Leicester City | |
2-2 |
2-1 |
0-5 |
1-1 |
2-3 |
0-3 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-1 |
0-2 |
'XXX |
1-4 |
0-1 |
1-2 |
0-0 |
0-4 |
1-0 |
2-1 |
1-1
|
| Liverpool | |
1-3 |
4-3 |
1-1 |
2-0 |
1-0 |
2-0 |
1-1 |
0-0 |
5-0 |
1-1 |
1-0 |
'XXX |
3-1 |
2-0 |
3-0 |
1-1 |
1-0 |
1-0 |
2-1
|
| Manchester United | |
1-0 |
2-1 |
1-2 |
0-0 |
0-3 |
5-0 |
4-1 |
3-2 |
4-0 |
1-1 |
2-0 |
0-1 |
'XXX |
0-1 |
3-1 |
6-1 |
4-1 |
4-0 |
0-1
|
| Middlesbrough | |
2-1 |
1-3 |
1-1 |
0-0 |
0-2 |
5-1 |
1-0 |
2-1 |
0-0 |
2-2 |
1-0 |
1-2 |
0-1 |
'XXX |
1-4 |
1-3 |
2-0 |
1-1 |
2-0
|
| Newcastle United | |
3-0 |
2-1 |
3-2 |
3-0 |
1-2 |
1-0 |
6-2 |
1-1 |
2-2 |
3-1 |
1-0 |
0-2 |
4-3 |
3-0 |
'XXX |
3-1 |
1-1 |
0-2 |
3-1
|
| Southampton | |
1-3 |
1-2 |
0-0 |
1-0 |
0-2 |
2-0 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
3-3 |
0-1 |
2-2 |
2-0 |
1-3 |
1-1 |
3-1 |
'XXX |
2-0 |
1-0 |
2-0
|
| Sunderland | |
1-1 |
1-0 |
1-0 |
2-2 |
0-0 |
1-1 |
1-0 |
1-1 |
1-0 |
2-0 |
2-1 |
0-1 |
1-3 |
0-1 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
'XXX |
1-2 |
1-0
|
| Tottenham Hotspur | |
0-0 |
1-0 |
3-2 |
0-1 |
2-3 |
3-1 |
1-1 |
4-0 |
1-2 |
2-1 |
2-1 |
1-0 |
3-5 |
2-1 |
1-3 |
2-0 |
2-1 |
'XXX |
1-1
|
| West Ham United | |
1-1 |
2-0 |
2-1 |
2-0 |
2-1 |
4-0 |
1-0 |
0-2 |
3-1 |
0-0 |
1-0 |
1-1 |
3-5 |
1-0 |
3-0 |
2-0 |
3-0 |
0-1 |
'XXX
|
Final league table
Last updated May 13, 2007
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
1Blackburn Rovers qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners
2Since Arsenal qualified for the Champions League, their place in the UEFA Cup as FA Cup winners went to Chelsea, who were the FA Cup runners-up
3Despite relegation, Ipswich Town qualified for the 2002-03 UEFA Cup Qualifying Round as Fair Play Award winners
| Premier League 2001-02 Winners |
| Arsenal12th Title |
Arsenal
Arsenal were in the title race for much of the season, but in the end they won it by a comfortable margin thanks to winning their final 13 games of the campaign and securing the title in the penultimate game of the season thanks to a 1-0 win over
Manchester United at
Old Trafford on
8 May.
Four days earlier, they'd triumphed in the
FA Cup final with a 2-0 win over
Chelsea, and the win at Old Trafford made them only the second team in English football to have won the "double" on three occasions (the other being Manchester United). Unusually, this double was secured in reverse, with the Premiership title won four days after winning the FA Cup against Chelsea.
The end of the season saw Arsenal's two longest-serving players call time on their playing careers. Club captain and centre-half
Tony Adams, approaching 36, announced his retirement after 19 years at the club - 14 of which were spent as captain. During that time, he inspired them to no less than ten major trophies. Full-back
Lee Dixon, in his 38th year, decided to hang up his boots after spending 14 years of his 21-year career at
Highbury.
Arsenal's
new 60,000-seat stadium is going through the final stages of planning permission and chairman
Peter Hill-Wood hopes to have it ready for
the start of the 2004-05 season.
Aston Villa
John Gregory announced his resignation after four years as
Villa manager on
24 January. A host of names were linked with the vacancy, including
Alan Curbishley and even
Ray Graydon. But in the end it was
Graham Taylor, who took them to promotion in 1988 and second place in the league in 1990, who was appointed manager. Villa were some way behind the leading pack when Gregory left, and Taylor was unable to bring anything better than an eighth place - which was hardly amazing but it at least meant that Villa would be finishing in the top 10 for the seventh year in succession.
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn had little time to savour their
Worthington Cup glory that resulted from a 2-1 win over
Tottenham on
24 February - they were deep in the relegation mire and occupying third place from bottom. But
Graeme Souness inspired his side, bolstered by the arrival of striker
Andy Cole, to a considerable turnaround in form which saw them climb to 10th place in the final table.
UEFA Cup qualification had already been achieved thanks to the Worthington Cup triumph, but the club's fans were left wondering whether it could have been achieved automatically had it not been for the club's dismal first half of the season.
The end of Blackburn's season also marked the end of one of the most illustrious playing careers in British football. Striker
Mark Hughes, 39 later this year, hung up his boots after a playing career spanning 22 years that had yielded two
league titles, four
FA Cups, a
Cup Winners' Cup and three
League Cups.
Bolton Wanderers
Three wins from their first three Premiership games put newly-promoted
Bolton on top of the table, and manager
Sam Allardyce was boasting that his side were capable of winning their first-ever league title. But the strong start to the season wasn't followed up, and in the end they finished 16th - just enough to avoid relegation.
Charlton Athletic
Despite being without several key players for long periods of time due to injury,
Charlton did well in their 11th season under the management of
Alan Curbishley. They were in with a real chance of
UEFA Cup qualification as late as March, but a failure to win any of their final 10 league games dragged them down to 14th.
Chelsea
Chelsea were a more than competent force in the Premiership during
the 2001-02 season, but few people ever rated them as serious title challengers. Their best hope of success came in the
FA Cup, where they reached the final but had their chances of silverware finished by a 2-0 win for
Arsenal.
Derby County
Derby manager
Jim Smith rejected the offer to become
Director of Football and resigned on
7 October after more than six years at the helm. His assistant
Colin Todd, who won two league titles with the club in the 1970s, was promoted to the manager's seat, but by this stage the Rams were deep in relegation trouble. A shock 3-1 home defeat against
Division Three strugglers
Bristol Rovers in the
FA Cup Third Round proved the final straw for the directors, and Todd was sacked days later after a mere three months in charge. By the end of the month,
John Gregory had taken over at
Pride Park just six days after quitting
Aston Villa. Two quick wins and a draw against
Manchester United suggested that Gregory might be Derby's savour. But seven defeats from their final eight games condemned Derby to relegation.
Everton
The
Everton directors finally lost patience with
Walter Smith when they sacked him on
13 March.
Preston boss
David Moyes was named as his successor, and did a good job of steering Everton clear of the drop zone - though they finished 15th in the table. Fallen icon
Paul Gascoigne was one of the first players to head for the exit door at
Goodison Park following the transition, signing for
Burnley on transfer deadline day.
Fulham
Fulham's return to the top flight after a 33-year exile saw chairman
Mohammed Al Fayed boasting that his team could win the Premiership title. But a hefty outlay on foreign stars including
Steve Marlet and
Edwin Van Der Sar failed to bring anything more than a 13th place finish in the final table, and an
FA Cup exit in the semi-finals put paid to any chances they may have had of qualifying for the
UEFA Cup. Speculation that Al Fayed would be signing
England captain
David Beckham quickly fizzled out, as Fulham failed to achieve anywhere near as much as most people had expected them to.
Ipswich Town
A year after finishing fifth in the Premiership and earning
George Burley the title of
Manager of the Year,
Ipswich dropped back into
Division One after two years among the elite. A dismal start to the season saw their
UEFA Cup dream end in the third phase of the competition, while after 18 games they were still bottom of the Premiership with just one win. A turnaround then followed and seven wins from eight games pulled Ipswich up to 12th and appeared to have secured their survival. But another slump set in and this time they were unable to halt it. Any lingering hopes of survival were ended on the final day by a 5-0 defeat against
Liverpool.
Despite losing their Premiership status, the Tractor Boys will still have European action to look forward to next season. They have attained
UEFA Cup qualification via UEFA's fair play league, and will also begin
the new season as many people's favourites for promotion.
Leeds United
Leeds topped the Premiership for much of the first half of the season, but they gradually fell out of touch during the final weeks and ended up finishing fifth - having to settle for another
UEFA Cup campaign. This was despite the wealth of options available to manager
David O'Leary who at several points in the season had several international class players on the bench or in the stands - for example
Robbie Keane who despite his talent in front of goal was used sparingly. Some contribute their downfall to their FA Cup 3rd exit at Ninian Park. Table topping Leeds played Cardiff City who were mid table in Division 2 but suffered a 2-1 defeat with goals from Graham Kavanagh and Scott Young. Leeds didn't look like the same team after this. After the end of the season, chairman
Peter Ridsdale decided that enough was enough and sacked manager David O'Leary after four years and tens of millions of pounds in new signings had failed to translate into silverware. Many also link the infamous book - "Leeds United: On Trial", written by O'Leary himself - as destroying morale in the dressing-room and accelerating his departure from the club. In came former England manager
Terry Venables as his successor. Harry Kewell scored and assisted in some crucial games of the season.
Plans were unveiled on
5 September for a new 50,000-seat stadium at
Skelton to replace
Elland Road.
Leicester City
A terrible start to the season saw
Peter Taylor sacked at the end of September and
Dave Bassett named as his replacement, with
Micky Adams joining as assistant manager. For a while, it looked as though Bassett was capable of keeping the Foxes in the Premiership, but a four-month winless run beginning in December killed their survival hopes and they were relegated on
6 April after losing 1-0 at home to Manchester United.
Just before relegation was confirmed, Bassett became Director of Football and Adams was promoted to the manager's seat, with former
Cardiff boss
Alan Cork being named as his assistant.
On
12 May 2002, Leicester playing their final game at
Filbert Street before moving into their
new 32,000-seat home. They ended up beating
Tottenham 2-1 to attain some satisfaction from winning the final game at their 111-year-old home. It was only their fifth league win of the season, and the cost of relocation combined with the money lost from relegation has plunged Leicester into a serious financial crisis. The priority for next season will be to secure the club's future financially, before thinking about a promotion challenge.
Liverpool
Liverpool's progress under
Gerard Houllier continued, as they led the Premiership at several stages during the season and ended up finishing second. In doing so, they attained their highest finish for 11 years, and also prevented Manchester United from breaking their own record of 10 successive top-two finishes. The biggest disappointment of the season was an early exit from the Worthington Cup at the hands of unfancied
Grimsby Town, and the fact that Liverpool finished the season without any trophies a year after collecting three.
Manchester United
Manchester United endured a rare, trophyless season. This was despite heavy investment which many felt would result in domestic and European success -
Ruud van Nistelrooy signed for £19million and
Juan Sebastian Veron signed for a then record £28million. Six defeats in seven games in the later part of 2001 cost them the title, and pushed them down to third place in the league - their first finish outside the top two since 1991. Early exits from both domestic cup competitions were a major disappointment, though they hung on in the
Champions League before bowing out on an away goal in the semi-finals. The shock sale of defender
Jaap Stam early in the season was seen by many as the undoing of United's defence.
The good news came in February when
Sir Alex Ferguson went back on his decision to retire at the end of the season, and agreed to stay on for at least three more years.
The close season saw United break the British transfer record by signing
Leeds United and
England defender
Rio Ferdinand. On their way out of the club were long-serving defenders
Denis Irwin and
Ronny Johnsen, who had both played key parts in the club's glories but had both started to look like bit part players during the last year or two.
Middlesbrough
A slow start to the season - and
Steve McClaren's management career - suggested that Boro were in for another season of relegation struggle. But they progressed well during the second half of the campaign, and a top-10 finish looked within their reach. They also challenged in the
FA Cup, reaching the semi-final before their dream was ended by Arsenal. This was followed by a succession of four Premiership defeats that put paid to their hopes of a top-10 finish and dragged them down to 12th - but it was an improvement on last season's 14th place finish.
Newcastle United
Sir Bobby Robson felt that his side could aim for eighth place in the final table as the season began, but they were soon looking like unlikely contenders for the Premiership title. This brought renewed hope for the club after four seasons of struggle, though in the end they couldn't quite win the title that they've coveted since 1927. But a fourth place finish was their highest since 1997, and brought them Champions League football for only the second time in their history.
Southampton
The move to
St Mary's Stadium was seen as the way forward for
Southampton Football Club after 103 years at the dilapidated
Dell. But a terrible start to the season saw relegation looking certain, and cost manager
Stuart Gray his job after barely six months in charge. His successor was
Gordon Strachan, who had just left
Coventry a short time after their relegation. Strachan quickly turned Southampton's fortunes round, and they gradually climbed to a secure 11th place in the final table.
The end of 2001-02 also marked the end of
Matthew Le Tissier's playing career. "Le God" decided to hang up his boots after 16 years firing in goals for the Saints, but he'll remain at the club as a coach.
Sunderland
A shortage of goals hindered
Sunderland's progress after two successive seventh-placed finishes, and a season that many people had envisaged as a chase for Europe ended up being a battle against relegation. Luckily, they put their survival beyond all doubt on the final day of the season with a draw against already-doomed Derby. There were continued chants of "Reid out" on the
Stadium of Light terraces for the final weeks of the campaign, and
Reid responded by delving into the transfer market and signing
Marcus Stewart and
Tore Andre Flo to bolster his attack for next season.
Tottenham Hotspur
Glenn Hoddle's return to
White Hart Lane as manager was seen by many as the revival of
Tottenham after many seasons of mediocrity. An early lead in
Worthington Cup Final saw Spurs fans filled with hope that Hoddle's comeback would result in instant success, but Blackburn then turned the tables to win 2-1 and Tottenham's silverware bid was ended. Unremarkable Premiership form ended their
UEFA Cup hopes and they'd to settle for ninth place in the final table.
West Ham United
The knives were out for
Glenn Roeder after a dismal start to the season left the inexperienced manager's
West Ham side in danger of relegation. But an impressive run of form during the second half of the season saw them climb to seventh and head the teams who had failed to qualify for Europe - though they were still 12 points behind the sixth-placed side, and were left wondering what they might have achieved had they performed well all season.
Season Statistics
Biggest Home Win:
|
Blackburn Rovers 7-1 West Ham United |
Biggest Away Win:
|
Ipswich Town 0-6 Liverpool |
Most Goals:
|
Tottenham 3-5 Manchester United - 8 |
| Total Goals: |
1,000 |
| Average Goals per game: |
2.6 |
| Longest Winning Run |
Arsenal - 14 |
| Longest Unbeaten Run: |
Arsenal - 38 |
| Longest Losing Run: |
Derby County - 7 |
| Highest Attendance: |
Manchester United v Middlesbrough (67,683) |
| Lowest Attendance: |
Leicester City v Middlesbrough (15,412) |
| Average Attendance: |
34,249 |
Top goal scorers
Further Information
Get more info on 'Fa Premier League 2001-02'.
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