The 2002–03 football season was Plymouth Argyle Football Club's 99th consecutive season as a professional club. It began on 1 July 2002, and concluded on 30 June 2003, although competitive games were only played between August and May.
Season summary
The club began the 2002–03 season in the Football League Second Division, following their promotion from the Third Division. They finished in a creditable 8th position, with a record of 17 wins, 14 draws, and 15 defeats, from 46 games. Their leading goalscorer was Marino Keith with 12 goals in all competitions. The club reached the Third Round of the FA Cup, drawing 2–2 at home with Dagenham & Redbridge before losing the replay 2–0. They entered the League Cup at the First Round stage and were eliminated away to Crystal Palace 2–1 after extra-time. They also competed in the Football League Trophy where they reached the Second Round before being defeated 2–0 at home by Brentford. Notable players to begin their careers with the Pilgrims this season included David Norris, Tony Capaldi, Hasney Aljofree, and Nathan Lowndes.
Legend
Football League
League table
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!width=30|Pos
!Club
!width=30|Pld
!width=30|W
!width=30|D
!width=30|L
!width=30|GF
!width=30|GA
!width=30|GD
!width=30|Pts
|-
|7||align="left"|Tranmere Rovers
|46||23||11||12||66||57||+9||80
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|8||align="left"|Plymouth Argyle
|46||17||14||15||63||52||+11||65
|-
|9||align="left"|Luton Town
|46||17||14||15||67||62||+5||65
|}
<small>Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points</small>
FA Cup
First Round
Second Round
Third Round
Third Round Replay
Football League Cup
First Round
Football League Trophy
Southern Section First Round
Southern Section Second Round
Players
First-team squad
:Squad at end of season
Left club during season
Statistics
Appearances and goals
Key
# = Squad number; Pos = Playing position; P = Number of games played; G = Number of goals scored; 13px|alt=A yellow card = Yellow cards; 13px|alt=A red card = Red cards; GK = Goalkeeper; DF = Defender; MF = Midfielder; FW = Forward
Statistics do not include minor competitions or games played for other clubs. All players who were provided a squad number during the 2002–03 season are included.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan="2" |#
!rowspan="2" |Pos
!rowspan="2" |Name
!P
!G
!P
!G
!P
!G
!P
!G
!13px|alt=A yellow card
!13px|alt=A red card
! class="unsortable"|Notes
|- class="unsortable"
!colspan="2" |League
!colspan="2" |FA Cup
!colspan="2" |League Cup
!colspan="2" |Total
!colspan="2" |Discipline
!
|-
|align="left"|||align="left"|GK||align="left"|
|43||0||4||0||1||0||48||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|||align="left"|DF||align="left"|
|43||0||4||0||1||0||48||0||4||0||
|-
|align="left"|||align="left"|DF||align="left"|
|19||1||2||0||0||0||21||1||4||1||
|-
|align="left"|||align="left"|MF||align="left"|
|36||6||4||1||1||0||41||7||8||0||
|-
|align="left"|||align="left"|DF||align="left"|
|42||5||4||0||1||0||47||5||3||0||
|-
|align="left"|||align="left"|DF|| style="background:skyBlue; text-align:left;"|†
|1||0||0||0||0||0||1||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|||align="left"|MF||align="left"|
|15||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|15*||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|||align="left"|FW||align="left"|
|16||2||0||0||1||0||style="background:#98FB98"|17*||2||4||0||
|-
|align="left"|||align="left"|FW||align="left"|
|42||4||4||1||1||0||47||5||3||0||
|-
|align="left"|10||align="left"|FW||align="left"|
|37||5||4||2||1||0||42||7||1||0||
|-
|align="left"|11||align="left"|MF||align="left"|
|24||2||2||0||1||0||27||2||3||0||
|-
|align="left"|12||align="left"|MF||align="left"|
|37||2||4||0||1||0||42||2||2||0||
|-
|align="left"|13||align="left"|MF||align="left"|
|4||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|4*||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|14||align="left"|MF||align="left"|
|39||2||3||0||1||0||43||2||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|15||align="left"|DF||align="left"|
|43||8||4||3||1||0||48||11||6||0||
|-
|align="left"|16||align="left"|MF|| style="background:skyBlue; text-align:left;"|†
|9||0||1||0||1||0||style="background:#98FB98"|11*||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|17||align="left"|MF|| style="background:#faecc8; text-align:left;"|‡
|5||1||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|5*||1||1||0||
|-
|align="left"|17||align="left"|FW||align="left"|
|1||0||0||0||0||0||1||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|18||align="left"|DF||align="left"|
|19||1||1||0||1||0||style="background:#98FB98"|21||1||3||0||
|-
|align="left"|19||align="left"|FW||align="left"|
|37||11||4||0||0||0||41||11||2||0||
|-
|align="left"|20||align="left"|MF||align="left"|
|25||1||2||0||0||0||27||1||2||1||
|-
|align="left"|21||align="left"|FW||align="left"|
|20||1||3||0||1||1||24||2||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|22||align="left"|MF||align="left"|
|5||0||0||0||0||0||5||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|23||align="left"|GK||align="left"|
|3||0||0||0||0||0||3||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|24||align="left"|DF||align="left"|
|3||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|3*||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|25||align="left"|MF|| style="background:skyBlue; text-align:left;"|†
|0||0||0||0||0||0|||0||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|26||align="left"|MF|| style="background:#faecc8; text-align:left;"|‡
|33||6||3||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|36*||6||4||0||
|-
|align="left"|27||align="left"|DF|| style="background:#faecc8; text-align:left;"|‡
|4||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|4*||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|27||align="left"|MF|| style="text-align:left;"|
|1||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|1*||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|29||align="left"|MF||align="left"|
|10||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|10*||0||1||0||
|-
|align="left"|29||align="left"|GK|| style="background:#faecc8; text-align:left;"|‡
|1||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|1*||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|30||align="left"|DF||align="left"|
|2||0||0||0||0||0||2||0||0||0||
|-
|align="left"|33||align="left"|GK|| style="background:#faecc8; text-align:left;"|‡
|0||0||0||0||0||0||style="background:#98FB98"|0||0||0||0||
|}
Transfers
In
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%;width:65%; text-align:left"
|-
!Date
!Player
!From
!Fee
|-
| 8 July 2002 || David Beresford || Hull City ||Free
|-
| 8 July 2002 || Nathan Lowndes || Livingston || Undisclosed
|-
| 13 August 2002 || Stuart Malcolm || St Johnstone || Free
|-
| 30 August 2002 || Hasney Aljofree || Dundee United || Free
|-
| 14 December 2002 || David Norris || Bolton Wanderers || £25,000
|-
| 23 December 2002|| Paul Bernard || Barnsley || Free
|-
| 27 March 2003|| Kieran McAnespie || Fulham || Free
|-
| 30 April 2003|| Tony Capaldi || Birmingham City || Free
|}
Out
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%;width:65%; text-align:left"
|-
!Date
!Player
!To
!Fee
|-
| 6 September 2002 || Martin Gritton || Torquay United ||Free
|-
| 9 September 2002 || Sean Evers || Woking || Free
|-
| 18 December 2002 || Neil Heaney || Free agent || Released
|-
| 1 January 2003 || Kevin Wills || Torquay United || Free
|-
| 2 June 2003 || Osvaldo Lopes || Free agent || Released
|-
| 13 June 2003 || Craig Taylor || Torquay United || Free
|}
Loans
In
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%;width:65%; text-align:left"
|-
!Start date
!Player
!To
!End date
|-
| 9 October 2002 || David Norris || Bolton Wanderers || 13 December 2002
|-
| 6 November 2002 || Danny Milosevic || Leeds United || 10 November 2002
|-
| 20 November 2002 || Tony Barras || Walsall || 1 January 2003
|-
| 11 March 2003 || Grant Smith || Sheffield United || 4 May 2003
|}
Out
In
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%;width:65%; text-align:left"
|-
!Start date
!Player
!From
!End date
|-
| 5 August 2002 || Martin Gritton || Torquay United || 5 September 2002
|-
| 29 November 2002 || Kevin Wills || Torquay United || 29 December 2002
|-
| 24 February 2003 || Craig Taylor || Torquay United || 4 May 2003
|}