2001–02 Premier League

Premier League 2001-02
Season information
Winners	Arsenal
Relegated	Ipswich Town Derby County Leicester City
Domestic cup winners
FA Cup	Arsenal
Worthington Cup	Blackburn Rovers
FA Charity Shield	Liverpool
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League	Arsenal Liverpool Manchester United Newcastle United
UEFA Cup	Leeds United Chelsea
Intertoto Cup	Fulham
Season statistics
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1001
Average	2.6
Top goalscorer	Thierry Henry (24)
Highest scoring	Tottenham 3 - 5 Man Utd
← 2000-01	2002-03 →

The 2001–02 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons) 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 race turned into a battle between four different sides – Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United.

Arsenal clinched the title on 8 May 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, their second under the reign of Arsène Wenger, who showed his commitment by signing a new four-year deal with Arsenal.

The season started on 18 August 2001 and ended on 11 May 2002.

Season summary

At the start of 2002 the title race was wide open, with the likes of Newcastle United and Leeds United contesting at the top of the table along with the usual likes of Arsenal and Manchester United. Newcastle, after back-to-back away wins at Arsenal and Leeds during the Christmas period, confirmed themselves as genuine title challengers and led the league at the turn of the year. Leeds had topped the table at Christmas prior to losing at Elland Road to Newcastle.

Despite being top of the table at the start of December – eleven points clear of Manchester United – Liverpool underwent a severe slump, falling to fifth place, five points behind United. Would-be contenders Chelsea, Newcastle United and Leeds United had by this point disappeared into the chasing pack.

January saw Liverpool travelling to both Highbury and Old Trafford in the space of a fortnight. Liverpool's Danny Murphy scored a late winner to give the Merseyside club all three points against United, and John Arne Riise then salvaged a point for Liverpool against Arsenal, allowing Manchester United to top the table for the first time that season.

In March, Arsenal were installed as strong favourites for the Premiership title after Liverpool's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal's April triumph against Bolton Wanderers brought them to within three points of a second Premier League title under Arsène Wenger.

Fittingly, the Premiership title would be decided at Old Trafford as Arsenal and Manchester United faced one another in a decisive encounter. Arsenal only required a draw to guarantee their second title in five seasons to go with their FA Cup victory against London rivals Chelsea four days previously; United had to win to take the title race to the last day. In the end, Arsenal emerged victorious as their record signing Sylvain Wiltord scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal was confirmed Premiership champions with a game to spare. Manchester United's disappointment was compounded by Liverpool leapfrogging them into second place by virtue of their 4-3 victory against Blackburn Rovers.

On the final day of the season Liverpool confirmed second place by trashing soon to be relegated Ipswich Town 5–0 at Anfield. Arsenal rounded off their successful league campaign in style, beating Everton 4–3 at Highbury. Manchester United limped to a poor draw against Charlton Athletic, completing a disappointing campaign for the deposed league champions.

For the first time in the history of the Premier League, all three promoted teams avoided relegation – Fulham, Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers. Blackburn Rovers & Bolton Wanderers avoided relegation until 2011–12, when the three promoted teams of 2010–11 coincidentally avoided relegation again, whilst Fulham avoided relegation until the 2013-14 season.

Fulham had splashed out £34 million on new players during the close season, their owner Mohamed Al-Fayed one of the wealthiest benefactors in English football. He even boasted that they would win the Premiership title in 2001–02, and most pundits tipped Fulham, managed by former French international Jean Tigana, 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, causing an upset by beating Gérard 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 confirmed in the penultimate game of the season.

Blackburn Rovers were the most successful of the promoted sides. Graeme Souness' men 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, finishing 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 Dave Bassett in early October; six months later Bassett joined the club's board to be replaced by former 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 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. Manager Jim Smith was sacked 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 had qualified for the UEFA Cup and earned manager George Burley the Manager of the Year award the previous season after finishing fifth. 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, and their relegation was confirmed on the final day of the season by a 5–0 thrashing at Liverpool.

Promotion and relegation

Start of season

Teams promoted from the First Division 2000-01

• Fulham (Champions)
• Blackburn Rovers (Runners-up)
• Bolton Wanderers (Playoff winners)

End of season

Teams relegated to the First Division 2002-03

• Ipswich Town
• Derby County
• Leicester City

Teams

Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Fulham, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers, returning after a top flight absence of thirty-three, two and three years respectively. This was also Fulham's first season in the Premier League. They replaced Manchester City, Coventry City and Bradford City. Manchester City were immediately relegated to the First Division while Coventry City and Bradford City ended their thirty-four and two year top flight spells respectively.

Stadiums and Locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Arsenal	London (Highbury)	Arsenal Stadium	38,419
Aston Villa	Birmingham	Villa Park	42,573
Blackburn Rovers	Blackburn	Ewood Park	31,367
Bolton Wanderers	Bolton	Reebok Stadium	28,723
Charlton Athletic	London (Charlton)	The Valley	27,111
Chelsea	London (Fulham)	Stamford Bridge	42,055
Derby County	Derby	Pride Park Stadium	33,597
Everton	Liverpool (Walton)	Goodison Park	40,569
Fulham	London (Fulham)	Craven Cottage	24,600
Ipswich Town	Ipswich	Portman Road	30,300
Leeds United	Leeds	Elland Road	40,242
Leicester City	Leicester	Filbert Street	22,000
Liverpool	Liverpool (Anfield)	Anfield	45,522
Manchester United	Old Trafford	Old Trafford	68,174
Middlesbrough	Middlesbrough	Riverside Stadium	35,049
Newcastle United	Newcastle upon Tyne	St James' Park	52,387
Southampton	Southampton	St Mary's Stadium	32,689
Sunderland	Sunderland	Stadium of Light	49,000
Tottenham Hotspur	London (Tottenham)	White Hart Lane	36,240
West Ham United	London (Upton Park)	Boleyn Ground	35,647

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Arsenal	Arsène Wenger	Tony Adams	Nike	Dreamcast
Aston Villa	Graham Taylor	Paul Merson	Diadora	NTL
Blackburn Rovers	Graeme Souness	Garry Flitcroft	Kappa	Time
Bolton Wanderers	Sam Allardyce	Guðni Bergsson	Reebok	Reebok
Charlton Athletic	Alan Curbishley	Mark Kinsella	Le Coq Sportif	Redbus
Chelsea	Claudio Ranieri	Marcel Desailly	Umbro	Fly Emirates
Derby County	John Gregory	Darryl Powell	Erreà	Pedigree
Everton	David Moyes	David Weir	Puma	One 2 One
Fulham	Jean Tigana	Andy Melville	Adidas	Pizza Hut
Ipswich Town	George Burley	Matt Holland	Punch	TXU Energy
Leeds United	David O'Leary	Rio Ferdinand	Nike	Strongbow
Leicester City	Micky Adams	Matt Elliott	Le Coq Sportif	LG
Liverpool	Gérard Houllier	Jamie Redknapp	Reebok	Carlsberg
Manchester United	Sir Alex Ferguson	Roy Keane	Umbro	Vodafone
Middlesbrough	Steve McClaren	Paul Ince	Erreà	BT Cellnet
Newcastle United	Bobby Robson	Alan Shearer	Adidas	NTL
Southampton	Gordon Strachan	Matt Le Tissier	Saints	Friends Provident
Sunderland	Peter Reid	Michael Gray	Nike	Reg Vardy
Tottenham Hotspur	Glenn Hoddle	Tim Sherwood	Adidas	Holsten
West Ham United	Glenn Roeder	Steve Lomas	Fila	Dr. Martens

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Middlesbrough	Bryan Robson Terry Venables	Mutual consent	5 June 2001	Pre-season	Steve McClaren	12 June 2001
Leicester City	Peter Taylor	Sacked	30 September 2001	20th	Dave Bassett	10 October 2001
Southampton	Stuart Gray		1 October 2001	12th	Gordon Strachan	1 October 2001
Derby County	Jim Smith	Resigned	7 October 2001	19th	Colin Todd	8 October 2001
	Colin Todd	Sacked	14 January 2002	19th	John Gregory	30 January 2002
Aston Villa	John Gregory	Resigned	24 January 2002	7th	Graham Taylor	5 February 2002
Everton	Walter Smith	Sacked	10 March 2002	16th	David Moyes	16 March 2002
Leicester City	Dave Bassett	Promoted to director of football position	6 April 2002	20th	Micky Adams	7 April 2002

League table

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Comments
1	Arsenal (C)	38	26	9	3	79	36	43	87	Champions League First group stage
2	Liverpool (Q)	38	24	8	6	67	30	37	80
3	Manchester United (Q)	38	24	5	9	87	45	42	77	Champions League Third qualifying round
4	Newcastle United (Q)	38	21	8	9	74	52	22	71
5	Leeds United (Q)	38	18	12	8	53	37	16	66	UEFA Cup First round
6	Chelsea (Q)	38	17	13	8	66	38	28	64
7	West Ham United	38	15	8	15	48	57	-9	53
8	Aston Villa (Q)	38	12	14	12	46	47	-1	50	Intertoto Cup Third round
9	Tottenham Hotspur	38	14	8	16	49	53	-4	50
10	Blackburn Rovers (Q)	38	12	10	16	55	51	4	46	UEFA Cup First round
11	Southampton	38	12	9	17	46	54	-8	45
12	Middlesbrough	38	12	9	17	35	47	-12	45
13	Fulham (Q)	38	10	14	14	36	44	-8	44	Intertoto Cup Second round
14	Charlton Athletic	38	10	14	14	38	49	-11	44
15	Everton	38	11	10	17	45	57	-12	43
16	Bolton Wanderers	38	9	13	16	44	62	-18	40
17	Sunderland	38	10	10	18	29	51	-22	40
18	Ipswich Town (R)	38	9	9	20	41	64	-23	36	Relegated to the First Division
19	Derby County (R)	38	8	6	24	33	63	-30	30
20	Leicester City (R)	38	5	13	20	30	64	-34	28

Source: Barclays Premier League
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd goal difference; 3^rd goals scored.
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points;
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (Q) = Qualified to respective tournament; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

Premier League 2001-02 Winners
Arsenal 2nd Premier League title 12th English title

Top goalscorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Thierry Henry	Arsenal	24
2	Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink	Chelsea	23
	Ruud van Nistelrooy	Manchester United	23
	Alan Shearer	Newcastle United	23
5	Michael Owen	Liverpool	19
6	Ole Gunnar Solskjær	Manchester United	17
7	Robbie Fowler	Liverpool/Leeds United	15
8	Eiður Guðjohnsen	Chelsea	14
	Marians Pahars	Southampton	14
10	Andrew Cole	Manchester United/Blackburn Rovers	13

Overall

• Most wins – Arsenal (26)
• Fewest wins – Leicester City (5)
• Most draws – Aston Villa, Fulham and Charlton Athletic (14)
• Fewest draws – Manchester United (5)
• Most losses – Derby County (24)
• Fewest losses – Arsenal (3)
• Most goals scored – Manchester United (87)
• Fewest goals scored – Sunderland (29)
• Most goals conceded – Ipswich Town and Leicester City (64)
• Fewest goals conceded – Liverpool (30)

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month	Player of the Month
August	Sam Allardyce (Bolton Wanderers)	Louis Saha (Fulham)
September	John Gregory (Aston Villa)	Juan Sebastián Verón (Manchester United)
October	Glenn Hoddle (Tottenham Hotspur)	Rio Ferdinand (Leeds United)
November	Phil Thompson (Liverpool)	Danny Murphy (Liverpool)
December	Bobby Robson (Newcastle United)	Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United)
January	Gordon Strachan (Southampton)	Marcus Bent (Ipswich Town)
February	Bobby Robson (Newcastle United)	Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United)
March	Gérard Houllier & Phil Thompson (Liverpool)	Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal)
April	Arsène Wenger (Arsenal)	Freddie Ljungberg (Arsenal)

External links

• 2001-02 Premier League Season at RSSSF

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